To dana about dissertation excitement

[Guest guest]

dana wrote:

 

>> ...nama shivaya, as you may or may not know i'm getting my doctorate in

>> clinical psychology...i'm at the stage of figuring out my dissertation

topic

>> and i think i might write it on the experience of being an Amma devotee,

>> specifically interesting to me is the euphoria a devotee feels being in

Her

>> presence and the loss when being away from Mother...i'm very excited that

>> i found a chair that is also excited about my topic

>> and said i should look at previous research on the guru-disciple

>> relationship, compare it to psychotherapy and also look at Sufi

literature

>> that is rich with longing/suffering and love for the Beloved...

 

 

 

 

Dear dana ~ I trust this note means that you all well again, and I'm happy

for you. I'm also excited for you. What a wonderful topic for your

dissertation, and how terrific to have a chair that is with you on this. Before

I read

the part about his remarks, I was going to say the same thing ... the

comparison to psychotherapy and to the therapeutic relationship.

 

One of the best examples I know of this is the transformation of my sister.

She had gone to New York to study modern dance, and living there nearly killed

her. She became an alcoholic, and I did all the usual alanonic behaviors ~

trying to take care of her, inviting her to live with me, trying to be the

perfect loving person ... and I might as well have stood on my head and done

cartwheels (thought, if I had thought it would help, I'd have tried that too).

She wore out her welcome with every family member, and the final straw was

when my mom and stepfather threw her out (although, now having been through

that myself, it does make me stop and wonder). But it did cause her to go into

rehad, and she came out, met a guy, got married, took care of him and his two

children, but she was still drinking.

 

Then she found Amma. I will not say that Amma fixed her drinking problem ~

that took some additional years, but I'm sure Amma had something to do with it.

I was talking one day with my brother-in-law, and he attributed many changes

in my sister's behavior to Amma. She didn't get angry as often; she was

kinder; she was more responsible to her family and in her dealings with others.

Of course this is only the surface level ... considering that we grew up in

an extremely abusive household, there also had to be changes going on at a

very deep level.

I had even noticed changes in my sister. Her husband told me he had not been

favorable toward her association with Amma in the beginning because his

first wife had run off with her "guru" after having an affair with him. I tried

to tell my brother-in-law that this was not the behavior of a true guru, but

his fear had been very deep. It took a few years of my sister following Amma

around the country everytime She was in the U.S. for my brother-in-law to

realize that she'd still come home.

 

Another interesting side bar to this is that my niece, Laura, is literally

one of the children who "grew up with Amma," that the person with the book

project mentioned. My sister took her everywhere she went, which was everywhere

Amma went. As Laura turned into child and started drawing, she would make the

most amazing drawings of Kali and other Dieties. She would help do seva

during the tours. I sent my sister the letter from the digest, so I hope she'll

respond to him because my niece is such a wonderful example of this, and now

that she is an older teen in college, she could even write her own account of

this.

 

Aikya did a dissertation about Amma, which she shared with the group when it

was completed and after she had presented it. I hope you'll share yours too.

 

Jai Ma! ~ Linda