> I see it as a race against time and betting on creating a higher level of
> consciousness through current work (pundits, yagyas, groups, etc.,)so that
> people will be attracted to TM - though this last point will be like a red
> flag to a bull for some here on FFL.
>
> If the number of people in the TMO continues to decline through age/death
> etc., and there are no new people coming in, money/buildings and so on will
> not work.
>
> When I was still aligned with TMO, even in early 90's it was clear to me from
> friends who worked closer to the inner circle than me (not difficult), MMY
> clearly stated to his inner circle that he realized that he was not going to
> achieve what he had intended in his lifetime ("in this generation").
>
> Science
>
It's quite sad really. It's a hail mary pass with nearly zero chance of
success. I can see that the general idea is that people inside the TMO think
the reason people outside aren't attracted to learn TM is because of lack of
"coherence" in collective consciousness. So the reasoning goes that by doing
yagyas and creating large groups of flyers more people will be attracted. It
allows the idea to develop that because there's going to be a phase transition
and suddenly everyone will bow down to the almighty Rajas that it's OK to piss
people off and flush all the goodwill down the toilet because new goodwill will
be generated "after the phase transition".
What's happened, and to an extent is still happening, is that the real value,
the human resources and general goodwill is being run down and replaced with
fantasy value in the form of buildings and land. For an organization that wants
to get its idea across, buildings and land have very little value compared with
credibility and goodwill in the world. You can easily convert goodwill into
property, but it's hard to go the other way.
But of course we know that the reality is that loads of people would learn TM
anyway if only the price was right, teachers could earn a living and the people
in the TMO didn't behave like a lot of idiots. TM on it's own is very good,
most people get some benefit and a lot are willing to encourage others. The
fact that people who leave the official movement and teach independently have
no problem attracting customers is an irritant in more ways than one. Firstly
it's irritating because the TMO doesn't get the money, but mostly it's
irritating because it shows up the TMO and makes people inside the TMO start to
doubt the overall strategy and think that maybe, just maybe the reason more
people aren't learning TM isn't because of lack of coherence, maybe they're
doing something wrong (duhhhhhhh!). We're dealing with very slow learners here.
At some point the slow learners might realize that charging very high prices,
taking all the profit away from the teachers, dressing up as kings and living
in a fantasy world might not be the best way to attract lots of people. Some
cracks are starting to appear and reality is starting to dawn, but it's like
dealing with a mental patient who's coming out of a very florid psychosis or
someone coming down from a very intense acid trip in which they've lost the
plot. There's a growing half recognized feeling that things which they believed
to be true, aren't actually true, but insight into their condition hasn't yet
broken through.
Currently the donations from wealthy people are supporting the delusionists.
The DLF makes it look like if only some money could be got together for one
last push then everything would come out right. In 5 to 10 years time that idea
will be wearing a bit thin.
Eventually people might realize that the reason Maharishi couldn't achieve what
he wanted "in this generation" wasn't lack of coherence, but simple stupidity
and delusional thinking. If the TMO hadn't gone off into a fantasy world but
had stayed engaged with reality and stayed focused on just teaching TM, then
the situation would be a lot brighter than it is.
At that point, the fact that all the real wealth, in the form of intangible
goodwill has been sucked out of the movement over the last 30 years to support
plans that haven't worked is going to be a very hard idea to get to grips with.
All those buildings and property assets that Maharishi put his faith in will be
seen as worthless when there's no one to fill them or make use of them. It will
take time, but that awful realization will come, and then the movement will
have a chance again to grow.
What would help people get out of their delusions is if they could see the full
extent of all the dubious business dealings that have gone on in the last 20
years. There are very good reasons why Bevan refuses to publish a full
independent audit of the entire global operation. Like you say the full extent
of the property assets will not become generally known. Which is why people
should try to piece together a full picture from whatever scraps are available.
If people at the top of the organization want to keep people away from finding
out about the finances then that's a good reason to find out as much as
possible.
It's not hard to begin to get a rough idea from published accounts that are
available online. The tricky bit is finding out about the finances of the
Indian movement so cash flows can be matched up. Also all the property deals in
foreign places need tracing. Where could we start?
