Ditto -- she did us a good one. Edg
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Damn, you hit that one out of the park Sista Sledge! Best post of the > week and it is only Sunday. Really well said! > > I agree that FFL is excellent for helping to get a handle on how you > feel about the movement, among other things. Great intellectual resource. > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "ruthsimplicity" > <ruthsimplicity@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Stanley" > > <j_alexander_stanley@> wrote: > > > > > The ridiculously named "TM-Free" blog is anything *but* TM-Free. It's > > > all TM, all the time. Unhealthy-TM-Obsession Blog is a more accurate > > > description. > > > > > > I checked the blog out. Seems no more unhealthy than this place--we > > have no idea the extent of anyone's obsession. I can understand the > > desire to put out the other side of the story as the TMO never sees > > anything wrong with itself. Both that blog and this group reflect how > > people deal with the paradox that Peter mentioned. And the original > > poster mentioned. > > > > I am coming to the very personal conclusions that: > > > > (1) MMY probably believed strongly in himself and his cause, but was > > manipulative, lacked empathy, was prone to exaggeration and I don't > > believe he was enlightened. He as the founder is ultimately > > responsible for the organizations that have evolved under his tenure. > > > > (2) Meditation 20 minutes twice a day probably does no harm and > > likely does a fair amount of people some good. A chance to step back, > > relax, let go. Maybe it has some physical benefits but they are not > > pronounced. The psychological benefits are harder to quantify. > > Spiritual benefits? The jury is out for me. I wouldn't pay the > > current price. The price is elitist. > > > > (3) I question whether the advanced techniques and the siddhis have > > any benefit whatsoever. The promised benefits have not been shown. > > The claims are exaggerated. The teachers say you need no faith to > > practice the techniques, but why would you practice the techniques > > unless you had faith that they worked? Super highway to enlightenment? > > I don't see it. If it is a superhighway, I know plenty of people who > > have been on that highway for more than 30 years, still going around > > in circles. I think that any benefits people perceive are in large > > part due to justification. You invested a lot of time and money; > > dissonance theory makes it likely that you will exaggerate the > > benefits and minimize the detriments and never know you did so. > > > > (4) Excessive meditation, like rounding, may be dangerous to some and > > is good for almost no one. > > > > (5) The TMO is a collection of various corporations and entities that > > are not financially transparent which leads to considerable > > speculation as to where the money goes. It is paternalistic and not > > democratic, inconsistent with many western values. Its leadership > > structure and asset ownership structure is obscure. It has blinders on > > as to the TM techniques and its affiliated scientists often refuses to > > cooperate with outside scientists and they ignore potential problems > > in some meditators. Its inside scientists do not behave as scientists, > > they behave like religious fanatics. Yet, as a religion it fails. The > > various religious type pronouncements are inconsistent (think Nader > > and heaven vs. the more mystical hindu view) and it has no real > > ethical or moral teachings. Trying to make it a religion without an > > underlying morality is dangerous. Yet many TBs seem to make it a > > religion. And, after all, the TMO says it is NOT a religion. > > > > (6) Given the exaggerated claims, the unproven benefits, why would > > anyone then buy into the siddhis, the food supplements, the natural > > law party, the vastu architecture, the pulse diagnosis, the yagyas, > > the consciousness based education, all the things that the movement > > wants to sell? A rational person would want damn good evidence. Or > > they would have to be religious about it, taking these things on faith > > because they trust what their religion says about these things. Well, > > I already have concluded that as a religion the movement fails. And it > > professes not to be a religion anyway. I already have concluded that > > I do not trust MMY enough to take his pronouncements on faith alone. > > > > > > Thanks the the forum for helping me think through what I believe. > > >
