"Actually, in the TM movement it's even stranger. The guys who have the title of "Raja" not only didn't get the title in lieu of a raise, they had to pay their boss one million bucks for the title. No, I'm not kidding."
HOLY Jai Guru Deva-Dip, Batman!!! This story just gets better and better. A million bucks to be called "Raja"? Who are these people? Where can I meet one? Just goes to show a spiritual sucker is re-incarnated every day. P.T. Barnum would be green with envy. Hilarious!!!! "Don't assume that everyone here takes seriously the things that the TM movement takes seriously." You mean to tell me there are actually people involved in all this nonsense, who see the con behind the "Maharishi Iron Curtain".... and still go along with it? Well, that's downright obtuse. What you're describing is a "sheep" mentality normally associated with people who have been institutionalized. Either that, or they are so trapped financially in Fairfield that feel they have no choice but to go along with this assault on their common sense. Call me crazy, but it sounds like these folks are living under a spiritual tyranny to me. I must have missed that section of the Bhagavad Gita. Please tell me you're pulling my leg. "If you get off on mocking the afflicted and feel- ing superior to them (which seems to be the case), you might want to aim your own lack of humility at the right targets." Duly busted. But hey, you're in America and poking fun at people & things that take themselves too seriously is a constitutional right. Getting around that first amendment of of the Constitution is pretty tough even there in Fairfield. Sorry. The TM Movement, smothered in its ludicrous titles and huckster financial scams is a prime target for ridicule if there ever was one. Surely, even the powers that be must see that setting up a monarchy, printing confederate money, and calling themselves things like your Majesty in IOWA is beyond absurd. Ever heard the expression, "delusions of grandeur"? "Power has a way of undermining judgment, of planting delusions of grandeur in the minds of otherwise sensible people and otherwise sensible nations." Another expression for this is of a person suffering from Megalomania.... a person convinced of their own genius and omnipotence. Sound like anyone we know? Spiritual Megalomania is another section of the Bhagadvad Gita I seem to have missed. Maybe the reason Arjuna hesitated in killing the Kauruvas was he was thinking about the revenue he would lose from the Joytish & Amrit Kalash concession. Do ya think? Really TurquoiseB, you're better than all this TM hog-swallow. If you want to work for a tyrant, you can do a lot better with some sleazy corporation on the outside that pays a decent wage and has a good dental plan... and there's no his Majesty this or his Holiness that.... you get to call the boss the same name everyone else does... Mr. Asshole. Best regards, Raja "Funeral Gawker" ( I didn't pay a dime for that title)