Gaudiya Discussions Archive » COMMUNITY, MODERATION AND FEEDBACK

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Welcoming New Members - take care for the stranger for he or she may beam you to devotion

Talasiga - Fri, 23 Jul 2004 10:09:46 +0530

This is a thread for welcoming new members
who have joined us without giving any background information
about themselves in their profile.

They, therefore, may remain strangers full of surprises and latent riches.

I will start from after my own joining date
as how could I welcome someone who preceded me?

Firstly, a warm welcome to
suryaz
who is well known from many different sites.

Looking forward to more questions than answers, suryaz.
Questions weave the fabric of the search
and hide the treasures of the find .....

Talasiga - Fri, 13 Aug 2004 10:59:32 +0530

Vishvatma,
the latest new member who isn't "full"
posits and pleads in his or her profile:-

QUOTE

My experiences, recent events in Iskcon, and in related organisations like Gaudiya Math, confirm for me that the whole question of non-Indians joining a Hindu belief system is deeply problematic and probably flawed beyond hope, at least apart from a few rare souls with deeper insight.

I therefore join this group as an extreme skeptic who doubts its universalist aspirations - its reason for existing. I hope that will not be a problem - as google shows, this is what I have been doing on the internet for the last 5 years.

To reveal such thoughts is very courageous.
It is deep and very telling but still not enough about yourself
to warrant you being a "full" member it seems.

Perhaps you could tell us more personal stuff about yourself
so we can get to know you better?

Madhava - Fri, 13 Aug 2004 17:58:14 +0530

He is a full member now.

jijaji - Fri, 13 Aug 2004 18:34:02 +0530

Hey where's those old VNN threads..

I was in those trenches!

suryaz - Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:32:54 +0530

QUOTE (Talasiga @ Jul 23 2004, 04:39 AM)

Thank you Talasiga! [chuckle]

Talasiga - Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:49:28 +0530

QUOTE (Anand)

@this other topic
One who chooses not to be a full member is automatically restricted in his postings. By this arrangement there are good chances that good contributions will not be made.
..........

Yes, this is true. And when one complies with the Full Membership requirements one may also find oneself restricted. A Full Member may be apprehensive about sharing experiences of deep spiritual states or visions even though a profession of this may be critical in the context of discussion, particularly where the focus is a mystical tradition which is necessarily experiential rather than armchair. The member may wish to test his or her understanding of the experiences with the advantage of discursive company but, because the Full Membership works against constructive anonymity, the fear of breaching Vaisnava etiquette regarding experiential disclosure may severely handicap the participation.

And then, if the member "universalises the personal", by conveying the experience through the medium of poetry, the postings of the member may deemed entertaining at best and not critical to substantial discussion.

Personally, I feel that members should be equally treated and have the right to choose how much of their mundane personal situation they wish to reveal without compromising their entitlements. Some of my most valued and intimate devotee friendships began with engagements with "anonymous" entities whose anonymity enabled a greater honesty about their inner, and often necessarily secret, spiritual world. Ultimately it is intuition that will test the bona fides of such exchanges - that very intuition that may one day recognise the Guru.

jijaji - Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:25:06 +0530

Talasiga..

got a question for ya bro..

where did you get that term 'personist'.....?

isn't that an old worn out iskcon term used only in that small corner of existence..?

I am sorry but it buggs me...

call me a sahajiya I don't mind..in fact it gives me goosebumps..!

Anand - Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:59:08 +0530

The central point here is not anonymity but relevance of what one presents of him/herself.

Requirement for full membership was instated NOT to exclusively terminate anonymity but to encourage general sharing of personal information that would be relevant, meaningful to the building of the community. It was stated (by one of the moderators) that the full membership was to promote a sense of shared commitment in the community, from which all could benefit. It is simply very obvious to me that if I share, for example, the information that I am fond of pebble painting and that therefore the future looks bright for me, I might make for very good entertainment but will fall a little short of contextual relevance.

Those who decide to actually refrain from presenting superficial aspects of their identity, might be contributing more substantially for the growth of the community than those who do present themselves superficially. By the present system those who do decide not to share superficiality are not allowed to post. So the system needs improvement.

Talasiga - Wed, 18 Aug 2004 09:16:28 +0530

QUOTE (Anand @ Aug 18 2004, 03:29 AM)

........
Requirement for full membership was instated NOT to exclusively terminate anonymity but to encourage general sharing of personal information that would be relevant, meaningful to the building of the community.

..........

Those who decide to actually refrain from presenting superficial aspects of their identity, might be contributing more substantially for the growth of the community than those who do present themselves superficially. By the present system those who do decide not to share superficiality are not allowed to post. So the system needs improvement.

Very well said. What is relevant may not be the mundane. Mundane details may confirm the bona fides of a person in the sense of their day to day indentity but these may have little relevance to the discursive company. My point is that the mundane details may destroy the anonymity of the person to an extent that the person may be disinclined to share his or her deepest experiences and insights. Yet, these are the things that are salient in frank and sincere exchanges.

Madhava - Wed, 18 Aug 2004 19:33:21 +0530

QUOTE (Anand @ Aug 18 2004, 05:29 AM)

Requirement for full membership was instated NOT to exclusively terminate anonymity but to encourage general sharing of personal information that would be relevant, meaningful to the building of the community. It was stated (by one of the moderators) that the full membership was to promote a sense of shared commitment in the community, from which all could benefit. It is simply very obvious to me that if I share, for example, the information that I am fond of pebble painting and that therefore the future looks bright for me, I might make for very good entertainment but will fall a little short of contextual relevance.

Those who decide to actually refrain from presenting superficial aspects of their identity, might be contributing more substantially for the growth of the community than those who do present themselves superficially. By the present system those who do decide not to share superficiality are not allowed to post. So the system needs improvement.

I believe we have been rather clear on what we expect our members to fill into their profiles. You can read our suggested guidelines here. I believe pretty much all we (moderators) have to say on the issue has been said there. If there is something in particular that you disagree on our rationale for the way we do things, I suggest you present your disagreements in that thread, commenting on where the flaw in our line of reasoning resides.

If you do not wish to share something of yourself superficially, then share something substantial. All the better.