=--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, tartbrain <no_re...@...> wrote:
> I have only seen one BudPump, but seek to watch more. > > The contrast of unfettered description of change in ones inner life (kind of > ironic huh) from the high-tea, silk couch, victorian approach of the TMO, to > a more blue jeans approach of BudGas, <snip> I agree and think the conception of this project is brilliant no matter where you stand on the "higher states" thoery. I have listened to 3 of them so far and think Rick is doing an excellent job in providing a safe venue for people to expose something pretty intimate while throwing in some good questions to keep the ball rolling. I'm sure their openness has a lot to do with Rick's friendly acceptance. I've been trying to collect the specific claims about what has changed in their lives. Predictably the people who are still very Maharishi directed use his terms and people who look elsewhere for their intellectual framework use those terms to describe their inner states. Very little to put in a wheelbarrow as should be expected. But the language is so vague and imprecise that is it difficult to pin down what exactly is being claimed. Objects appear more "transparent", their "self" expands. Terms that used to mean so much to me but now seem so empty outside the language system of spirituality. Believing that your "self" is the "Self" of everything is poetic. Does it really matter? I'm not sure. I do believe that trans-personal experiences can be helpful but I'm not sure if taking this long to have them might develop a type of internal state, self-fascination that strikes me as odd. It might be best for people to drop a hit of whatever, embrace the feeling of being everything for a while, and then drop back into daily life refreshed but without years of self-absorption. That might give most of the claimed benefits. And despite the strong opinions to the contrary, most of my psychedelic insights have brought permanent shifts in my perspective. It just depends what you want to pay attention to. They certainly are on a par with anything I got out of meditation for permanently shifting my inner states. Nothing has convinced me that this is more than a POV on their inner experiences. People who enjoy thinking this much about their inner state of mind who become more and more expressive of every shift and change. I have had enough shifts of mind myself to believe that they aren't making this up, but believe they may be making a big deal about states that the rest of us take for granted. There are some whose admitted mental history should give us some insight into how radically their minds might shift at any given time. If this time it made them feel better, good for them, I hope it stays that way. Most of all it is a bit hard to get through entire interviews because their micro fascination with their own internal states lacks a language that does it any justice. Describing it head on may be the poorest way to express these states. It may be that for me it is art that does it best. Perhaps if I saw the dancer in the series dance I might be more impressed that she was different in a way that mattered to anyone outside herself. Maybe it is that people who can convey inner states though the arts can actually move and inspire me in a way that these descriptions can't. What is it in art that moves us that shifts our states and conveys such beauty. Why is that inspirational quality lacking in these descriptions? Or perhaps it is just me. I may have drifted too far out of the insider perspective that fills these descriptions with glowy charm. I sense that these people are experienced in describing their new states of mind and have honed their narrative to in corporate the reactions they have had to their phrasing. We are not the first audience for these stories. But if these people are expressing true significant shifts of consciousness that would benefit humanity then Rick's project is going way beyond the movement in opening them for examination. I think either way Rick is really on to something with this project. By now we should expect people living in the states Maharishi described vaguely and promised repeatedly. Hearing from them is a great resource for all of us interested in evaluating these claims. > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" <dhamiltony2k5@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Is quite cool, are a lot more posted to the site now. Rick Archer > > > obviously has been quite busy interviewing. Is some great journalism > > > And good commentary too about spirituality. Thanks for taking the time to > > > do this Rick. > > > > > > http://batgap.com/ > > > > > > > FF Buddhas at the gas pumps. > > > > Funny that Rick has scooped the TM movement on this. Interviewing and > > publishing the 'awakened' this way. These various Fairfield neighbors > > (buddhas at the gas pump) seems are all of old TM movement. > > > > > > In the domes Bevan calls in every day to hear and commentate on the > > meditating experiences. Has been doing that for months as his domain. > > Those tapes available to publicly listen to? YouTube? Folks on the IA > > course have to stay put and listen to that commentary there as part of > > their program there. > > > > Rick's found buddhas out at the gas pumps of the larger meditating > > community would all welcome, in the domes as old meditators? A large irony > > of course is that they all seem to give credit to TM along the way yet by > > 'guideline' of the TM movement they mostly would not be welcome in the > > domes as most have visited with other holy people, saints or gurus. > > > > I have only seen one BudPump, but seek to watch more. > > The contrast of unfettered description of change in ones inner life (kind of > ironic huh) from the high-tea, silk couch, victorian approach of the TMO, to > a more blue jeans approach of BudGas, (The greening of the TMO -- a reference > to another 1970ish book that had a lot of impact "The Greening of America" by > Reich) raises the question of what other different kinds of change may be > manifesting in people's inner and outer lives. Stuff that may not be the > darling spiritual catch phrase of the moment. Stuff that may not sound hot > and sexy -- more mundane. > > And parallel to my adjacent post on social change, is the change > accelerating? Is it manifesting in new and unexpected ways? Can there be > opposite, multi-varied change that is far outside the spiritual-cafe norm". > More spiritual or inner core "outliers". Can anyone define (and limit, by > that definition) what inner change consists of? > > If change is accelerating, it may be unsettling. Like a rapid build > construction site, if you just saw the demolition of the old site, and the > deep excavation of the new, you might thing something bas was happening. > Without seeing more of the totality, it may seem bleak. > > Are different parts of the change related -- and if so how? Are outer > peoples change and pattern an pace of change related? > > > > > > > > > > > > I just listened to the Andy Schulman interview. Honest and cogent. I > > > also like the first three or so minutes in this Schulman-buddha interview > > > as Rick describing how people might see or react to spiritual-ized > > > people. Seems a good real categorization of what one hears around. Can > > > see that kind of variation in the skepticism in > > > anti-meditation/anti=spiritual response and TM-deniers on FFL too. > > > > > > http://batgap.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Transcendental Fairfield: > > > > > > > > > > "People everywhere are undergoing a shift to an Awakened state of > > > > > consciousness which is transforming their understanding of themselves > > > > > and the world. For some, this shift has been abrupt and dramatic. For > > > > > others, it has been so gradual that they may not have realized it has > > > > > occurred. Such shifts, or "awakenings," are not new: Christ spoke of > > > > > the "Kingdom of Heaven within," Buddhists speak of Nirvana, Zen > > > > > masters of Satori, Hindus of Moksha, but these traditions generally > > > > > regard these states as rare and difficult to attain. > > > > > > > > > > Many people are therefore skeptical of claims of higher states of > > > > > consciousness. They find it hard to believe that apparently ordinary > > > > > friends and neighbors might be experiencing something extraordinary. > > > > > Maybe they expect Enlightenment to look as remarkable on the outside > > > > > as it is reputed to be on the inside." > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > About, > > > > > > > > "This show will attempt to dispel skepticism and misconceptions by week > > > > after week, allowing otherwise ordinary people to relate their > > > > experience of spiritual awakening. The terminology is tricky, because > > > > there are no universally agreed upon definitions to describe this > > > > experience. Also, enlightenment is not something that an individual > > > > person "gets". It's not even something that the mind can grasp. It's an > > > > awakening to that which contains the mind and all other things. So it's > > > > not surprising that language is inadequate to convey it." > > > > > > > > http://batgap.com/ > > > > > > > > > >
