Vaj, TurquoiseB -- I "discovered" a.m.t. many years ago. I just posted something there this week. It is a very sad place, but I like the militant JW's snarrling at the door .... very apt.
I read True Believer when I was at University. It still holds true, especially when you find a group of "if onlies" like the couple of mangy cats who emulate the character Danae at Non Sequitur. In the old days there it certainly brought out the worst in me (and there was not just a little of that my any means). But, interestingly, that also led me to take a look at that worst in me and try to understand where and how it came to be. So, a.m.t., for all its cesspit qualities still managed to help me learn something. It _is_ nicer here. I have posted a bit at TMControversy and found that the ever mangy Stein person has one of the lowest thresholds I have ever encountered for intolerance of anything but the sound of her own voice. What a peculiar person. Maharishi started out with something, a very learnable, doable way to achieve transcendence (although I think samadhi might be a better term). He and his early followers put together a "checking" procedure that is brilliant. It contains, as I am sure everyone here knows, everything one needs to know about learning/teaching this method. When Maharishi began to drift from what I considered the purity of his own teaching, when I saw the first signs of his organization deteriorating into little more than his goon-squad, I left and sought spiritual development elsewhere. For me, possibly not for so many, the Buddhadhamma (Thai Forest Tradition) has offered the profound simplicity that supports samadhi. Maharishi's method of approaching effortless transcendence has been of great benefit and, like a.m.t., I honour him for that. Looking back many, many years now, I see Maharishi and what he was doing in a light different from the light in which I saw him then. It's interesting to talk about, curious to speculate about, but there are, as someone said here, other, more worthwhile pursuits. Because I have been away from TM and Maharishi for so many, many years, I wonder if you can answer a curiosity for me: is his "movement" shrinking like an earthworm on a hot pavement, or is there actually growth and vitality there? I live in a city of about 4Million and there has been no kind of TM activity here (there were 5 or 6 centres in the old daze) for at least 10 years. g --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Jun 11, 2005, at 8:14 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: > > > I think it is true that he vents more on a.m.t., but > > then I think that is more because of the nature of that > > particular forum and how it treats "off the program" > > posters than it is Vaj. > > Precisely. It a very negative venue and you respond accordingly. > However when you do, with facts, it's devastating to some, so much so > that they must respond endlessly to assuage their own lack of > perspective (typically that means lack of perspective outside the TM > paradigm) or inner maturity. It's kinda like having militant Jehovah's > Witnesses at your door that won't go away. > > This negative environment is largely due to a couple of bad apples, but > the believer syndrome really renders discussion there almost hopeless. > > > ... I think True Believer Syndrome > > is more related to inertia than belief. A mind at rest > > tends to want to stay at rest. Therefore, such a mind > > tends to want to demonize the messenger rather than > > get active enough to examine the message. > > > > To be fair, some True Believers do both. But the thing > > that *characterizes* the True Believer is that he > > or she is rarely able to deal with the message *without* > > trying to shoot the messenger, and without reacting to > > the criticism as insulting or a threat. <snip> > > I thought this was a very apt point in regard to a.m.t. "Demonize the > messenger" says a lot! > > Thanks for your thoughtful post--god knows you've suffered horrendous > abuse from those on a.m.t merely because of your open-minded > observations. Sad really. > > Best, > > Vaj To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
