This particular over-coffee-on-a-Saturday-morning rant is a tribute to my personal nominee for the position of Grandmother Divine, Clara Peller.
Clara was the spokes-cutter-through-the-bullshit of one of the most famous ads campaigns in advertising history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0 Her message was clear and unequivocal: "Where's the beef?" Clara looked at the McDonalds and Burger King burgers that their ads claimed were "the best" and found only "big buns." "Big fluffy buns." No beef. Clara wanted to be shown the beef. Well, after quite a few years on TM-related forums hearing all these great marketing ideas about TM and its "big buns," I think it's about time to ask, "Where's the beef?" I don't see much beef. Hell, I don't even see very many big buns, except on the backsides of TMers whose only exercise in decades has consisted of bouncing on them. :-) So tell me -- "Where's the beef?" If, as promised in your advertising, TM is the fastest, most effective technique to produce enlightenment in the world, "Where are the enlight- ened?" Show them to me. If, as promised in your advertising, living accord- ing to Vedic principles and ideas creates an ideal society, "Where is this ideal society you speak of?" Show it to me in Fairfield. Show it to me in Vlodrop. If, as promised in your advertising, practitioners of the TM-Siddhi program are learning how to levitate, "Where's the levitation?" Show me the floaters. (And I'm not just talking about the turds that emit from the "big buns.") I'm sorry, but I think that there is a distinct lack of beef. And one of the reasons IMO is that TMers have been trained for decades by Maharishi to believe that *the idea is more important than the reality." The *idea* of an "ideal society" is what's important; forget that we have never produced one. The *idea* of TM creating enlightenment is what's important; block out of your minds the fact that we have never in 40 years named even a single person as enlightened. The *idea* that siddhas can levitate is what's impor- tant; never "dwell on the negative thought" that no one has ever done it. Well, call me Clara, but I'm not forgetting and I'm not blocking this stuff out of my mind. I want to be shown the beef. When McDonalds and Burger King couldn't show Clara the beef, she took her business to Wendy's. Well, if you can't show the public the beef promised by your ad campaigns, I don't see how you can expect them to do anything but go to other spiritual and self- help traditions that can. Some people are content with only the ideas. They are so content and complacent with these ideas that they continue to spout them after *decades* of never seeing the beef. Me and Clara, we'd like to see some beef.
