For me and for other group members the Self Inquiry meetings had become increasingly uncomfortable as Corina became more severe.
When Art Ticknor ran the group he would carry a box of books to sell to the meetings on the topic of Self Inquiry. At some point Corina said that she wanted to start bringing that box of books as Art had. During the summer of 2013 Corina visited Art’s home in Florida and met with him about the Self Inquiry group in Pittsburgh. I cannot know what went on when they met, but I do know that when Corina returned, she had an unpleasant fanaticism about the way that Self Inquiry “should be” practiced. I felt that Corina had somehow taken on a burden of teaching the “right” way to practice Self Inquiry after meeting with Art.
When she got back she talked about how, “Self Inquiry isn’t for everyone,” and “If people aren’t dedicated to Self Inquiry, they shouldn’t be in the group.” She became critical of anyone joking or laughing in the meetings, a number of group members said that they felt she was, “staring them down,” and one person described that she was being “like a school marm.” After returning from a weeklong Self Inquiry retreat, not only was Corina more critical of my group members, but she also spoke negatively of many long-time Self Inquiry practitioners at the retreat. I later learned that she had offended several people at the retreat and that she would not be welcomed back.
The general format of my Self Inquiry meeting was a period of discussion before the meeting began, a review of the process of Self Inquiry for new group members, and then the body of the meeting where members would take 15-20 minute turns expressing their experience and taking questions from other group members. In response, members of the group are to ask questions that help the individual move past what may be self limiting beliefs. Central to the process of Self Inquiry is that no group member is to tell another what they should do to solve their problems. The person being questioned is to stay focused on their own development and the other group members are to remain focused on that person.
In one particular group there was a new member who was expressing his individual views on a particular topic before the meeting. It was unfortunate that this person continued talking until the meeting began, and that his time expressing his ideas in the meeting became his turn. Rather than informing the man that we had now started the meeting, what Corina did was verbally berate him for failing to follow the rules of Self Inquiry. I felt that Corina was being too severe with the man and tried to intervene. At this point, Corina became harsh with me, and rather than start a scene in our meeting location I left the room. Other’s who remained later told me how uncomfortable Corina had made them feel, and no other member who attended that meeting ever returned.
Retrospectively, I should have done was just remove Corina from the group that evening, but I didn’t want to create a conflict in what I saw was a small recreational social group. In hindsight dealing with this conflict at that time would have prevented Corina’s complete destruction of the group later.
The end of Corina’s time in the group came when she started insisting that we follow the “Strict rules of Self Inquiry” as she saw them. The rules themselves were not so severe, but the way that Corina imposed them was. Here is an email sent by Corina followed by my comment to another long time group member. In this email you can read Corina’s increasingly severe view toward group members.