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| This article is very good |  | ||
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While I don't like the take on system vs individual system as perhaps mitigating the abuser's responsibility, I do like how she analyzes these systems as an incubator for abuse. She describes the concept of Lila without using the word as well. I also wish it was ok to use the word "cult" Guru Sex: Charisma, Proxemic Desire, and the Haptic Logics of the Guru-Disciple Relationship"I suggest that in the religious field of guru-disciple social relations, followers attribute divinity to their guru, which establishes the guru as both a charismatic leader and an embodiment of the sacred. Devotional cults that exalt gurus envision the guru to be in possession of “special gifts” (a term used in both Weber and Durkheim) in the form of a spiritual force or śakti.2 Because they are believed to be physical embodiments of the sacred, they are also believed to be able to transmit that śakti to their followers through their social and physical interactions. This perceived ability to transmit this powerful force to their followers catapults the guru’s social status. It also cultivates followers’ desire for proximity to the charismatic leader that they might gain access to the perceived source of sacred power." "Special audiences, private meetings, and unconventional intimacies between guru and disciple are communally lauded as sacred. Such events are communally envisioned as a blessing for any devotee, and to reject an offering of proximity to the guru constitutes a radical social breech." "I suggest that even if the sacralization of the guru’s body does not create out-of-control hubris on the part of the guru or submission on the part of the victim, it certainly creates serious barriers to the vindication of victims of guru sex abuse. In countless examples of guru sex scandals, family and fellow community members overlook irregular physical contact and normalize private sessions with the guru as a blessing. Physical contact with the guru is coded and justified in religious language. This can invalidate victims’ allegations of abuse and can even result in fellow devotees blaming victims for misinterpreting their own experiences. Simply put, the social context of haptic logics diminishes guru accountability and creates social relationships that are readied forums for sexual abuse." "To gain access to the guru (and his or her wisdom, knowledge, insight, and power), devotees maneuver to be close to him or her. One consensus among devotees in guru communities is that it is good, that is to say spiritually beneficial, a blessing, and even a mark of divine favor, to be invited to be close to the guru" "Deliberate rejections of proximity are unthinkable within such communities, for example: leaving a position near the guru for one more distant without reason; discarding any of the guru’s possessions received as gifts; or rejecting the guru’s prasād. Instead, devotees rush to be close the guru, to follow the guru, and outstretch their hands in an attempt to touch the guru. Many gurus employ bodyguards, flanked personal assistants, and sometimes even an armed entourage to protect against this desire to touch them.11 Such entourages evidence the importance of proximity in the institutions of guru communities." "The closer one is in proximity to the guru, the more institutional power one has and vice versa; the more institutional power one has, the more proximity one is granted. " "But when devotees recognize a physical encounter with the guru as sex abuse, they are often silenced or shunned from the community of devotees. This brings the discussion to my second point, that instead of condemning the guru’s actions, devotees are much more likely to imagine that the guru’s behavior is “beyond the feeble understanding of mere mortals” (Palmer 2005, 118). Ironically, the guru’s social transgressions, including sexual transgressions, demonstrate his or her exalted status as existing outside and beyond standard social conventions." "Thus, after accusations of a guru’s sexual transgression emerge, although the most immediately affected devotees may become disillusioned with the guru, more often than not surrounding communities of devotees justify the guru’s actions." "This social structuring is based on the belief that the power of the guru is encapsulated within and emanates from his or her physical body. Enacting this veneration practice, many devotees share and sell items that come into intimate contact with the guru’s body in the value economy of the transmission of śakti. As devotees place their faith in the guru’s physical power and desire access to that power through proximity, it can lead to the glorification of physical relations and the social sanctioning of private audiences with the guru. When devotional communities sanctify the guru’s touch as an irrefutable blessing, these haptic logics have the potential to condone the guru’s touch (in any form) and to silence any objections." Modified by Susan at Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 23:46:37 |
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