Comments on: On Tolerance

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:12:54 +0000

I was in 3ho for 20 yrs before I left. After leaving and going back to the the people of my generation, I thought they all must be crazy because they occasionally drank or ate meat, listened to rock and roll or who knows what? I was surprised to see that in the town where I moved to the divorce rate was actually lower than 3ho and most of them were doing fine. It was a lot to digest all at once.

By: indiakids blog

indiakids blog — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:36:15 +0000

Thanks Carlitos – I’m glad you found the blog. Feel free to email any time.

By: Carlitos Gillette

Carlitos Gillette — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:34:31 +0000

This topic of intolerance has always been what struck me as the most obviously hypocritical in 3HO (and through the entire sikh religion). The blatent homophobia and sexism (and even racism) and general intolerance towards anyone who expresses themselves outwardly in any form other than a bigger turban is the main reason I chose to live outside the community as soon as India was over.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:01:46 +0000

Kelly, thank you for your thoughtful exploration of "tolerance" within the 3HO community. Great post.

-H

By: indiakids blog

indiakids blog — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:54:06 +0000

Whenever I go back someone random (who knew me "when I was this big") usually says: "Oh, your'e back!"

One time I wore a turban to service to please the folks, and everyone was gushing at how "beautiful" I looked.

email me!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:35:03 +0000

At the SSS funeral services in NM, I listened as several teenage girls, born into the community, talked about how the Sikh community (converts from the early days mostly) were referring to the non-Sikhs in attendance, the yoga students who were not *born* into the community but rather chose to be there. They called them ‘students’ – ‘oh, them, they’re just students’ like it was some kind of derogatory term. The girls were insulted at having been mistaken for ‘students’, having gone out without their turbans. I just said ‘Aren’t we ALL students here?’ I think that put it in perspective for them…

The next day I ran into an old friend of the family’s – someone closer to my mothers age, who had always treated me like a little princess. This time it was quite different. Although modestly clothed for a funeral, I made no attempt to hide my cut hair, my earrings, I wore my makeup… And so, instead of the usual warm greeting, what I got was ‘oh. It’s *you*,’ in a disgusted tone. The sudden sharp realization that the way I was treated before had absolutely nothing to do with who I actually was, was quite an eye-opener.

Working at a summer camp in the mid-nineties, I also observed/experienced the same kind of favoritism to people ‘born’ into the Dharma, although at the time I didn’t realise that was the way it was – I thought it was the exception not the rule. I was given the cushy jobs and praised, while the ‘students’ who chose to be there of their own accord (not because they were stuck there with their mother), were given the hard jobs – the kids in diapers and such – and were criticized and put down although they worked very hard…