Some good points.
On different responses to darshan, MMY made clear, at least from his
side, and presumably he was pretty attuned to the dynamics of SBS'
darshan, if not of a much larger group, by tradition.
{Paraphrasing} 'It all comes from the student.The student thinks it
all comes from the teacher, but it is not so. The teacher is the well
head. The water from the well flows in which ever way it is tapped.
The well does nothing. Its all from the student. Like a golden chain
is attached between teacher an student. And then everything flows. The
teacher has nothing to do with the chain. Its all in the student.'
[this was a paraphrase not a direct quote.]
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Pretty darn good questions again, New Morning. I think the various
experiences come from our varying expectations. I went to see Amma,
got real close to her, didn't do the hug thing. I was never impressed,
felt no dharshan. Yet a friend of mine swears by her -- the dharshan
for him is intense. I read a newspaper reporter on Amma saying she
felt nothing particular from the hug. Yet others claim that hug
changed their lives.
>
> Remember the movie "Leap of Faith" where Steve Martin plays the
phony faith healer? He was instrumental in an actual cure. The
crippled man sincerely believed in Steve Martin and in Christ and had
an authenthic healing. This, in turn, caused the phony faith healer
(who up til then had been a con-man and atheist) to change his heart
and believe in something beyond what his senses could perceive.
>
> As far as dharshan goes, though, I don't count it as much. In
fact, I'm suspicious of it. I saw some videos George DeForest linked
us to from this site, of David Spero, a guru, and there was little
doubt for me the guy is wired to something very powerful. Lots of
shakti, even coming through the computer screen. But what is that
energy, that shakti? Is it necessarily something benign? People say
guru shakti zaps them into a transcendental state. At what possible
cost? Who is it who's doing the zapping? Is it the Infinite One? Could
it be a being from outside this dimension, using the human guru as a
channel? If so, for malice or for good? Could the goal possibly be to
devour human individuality, turning people into empty bone sacks? Or
does that shakti really bring the spirit home to God?
>
> Yes, I know the traditional answers. But they were given us by the
zappers. When you look at their lives, do those lives typically
demonstrate something we want, do they indicate people we can trust
and respect? If our history with gurus shows we so rarely can trust or
respect them, can we trust their answers about where their shakti
comes from and the effect it is having in our lives? I don't trust any
of it. I consider the evidence, and draw my own conclusions.
>
> If a teacher is hooked up to shakti, and radiates it, that simply
means they're connected to cosmic energy. Energy is only half of the
consciousness/energy equation. What is the nature of their
consciousness? Is it nihilist, annihilating individuality? Is it
self-centered and sensual, having sex with young disciples? Is it
self-centered and greed-ridden?
>
> When such qualities are present, who cares if they have shakti?
The devil himself has shakti, I'm sure, if such a person exists.
Shakti is just power. Hitler, for instance, had incredible charisma.
Would he make a good guru?
