“The best thing is, whenever exploitation, sexual abuse or money abuse happens, make them public.”
The Dalai Lama
I ran across this quote as I was sailing through cyberspace and it made my heart skip a beat. I hope the Dalai Lama said it and there’s no reason to believe he didn’t. (There goes my skepticism again.) He is a religious leader, not a cult leader.
The essence of bondage seems to lie in secrecy. When abuse is made public, there’s no more room for speculation, shame or fear. That’s why a free press is SO important and why cults do everything in their power to suppress the expression of free speech.
I strongly believe in the freedom to open the lockbox. That was a major motivation in why I wrote my memoir, Losing the Way. I decided to make my abuse public as a way of ensuring that it wouldn’t happen again – not to me, not to anyone else.
The Bible talks about this all over the place but I’d have to look long and hard to locate the scriptures – they’re all about confession and walking in the light and shunning things done in darkness– something like that. (Perhaps this is an indication of my recovery- that I’ve actually forgotten where some of the verses are. Either that or its early onset Alzheimer’s.)
Anyway, I’m so glad to have found this quote and wanted to share it with you. Hope you find solace in it as well.
2 comments:
Great quote from the Dalai Lama about exposing abuse. Too often we are afraid to speak or we're not even aware we've been abused. We make excuses for it, we say "well, I gave my money freely, no one was making me give it" but we forget the context of the giving. We forget the manipulation behind our giving, such as: We're afraid of losing God's hand of protection on our lives if we don't tithe to a certain group simply because the leader claims to be the teaching the best interpretation of the Bible, etc.
We're lucky to have a free press in this country. It's a hallmark of democracy, isn't it?
Wonderful quote and sentiment.
I think that cults are long overdue to get their "spotlight". I recently talked to someone my age (30ish) who said, "I don't think cults exist anymore. They used to be really bad." That was when I realized how tucked into the shadows they really are - by their leaders and our country's leaders, just one more blemish that no one wants to recognize.
Congratulations on your recovery.
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