On Jan 26, 2011, at 7:24 AM, seventhray1 wrote: > I find this kind of funny, and I think I have mentioned it before, (but I am > rushing this morning), but it seems to me that a student, any student > approaches a teacher with a somewhat open mind. He may engage the teacher > with questions, and sometimes may disagree with the teacher, or not get the > answer he wants. So, are you suggesting that he, (or she) endlessly > question the teacher in an effort to nail down some point? I have been in > situations, in person, where people have questioned Maharishi, and he spent > time attempting to answer the question, and the follow up question, and then > the follow up question. And it is all interesting until everyone else in the > room wishes the person would just STFU. > > I think in the the spiritual game when looking for a teacher you question the > teacher, but there comes a time when you either decide to get on board or > move on. It doens't mean, at least for me, that you surrender your > intellect, or give a whole hearted buy in.
I think whenever hostility enters the equation, from either side, the whole thing pretty much goes to hell~~and generally the teacher has more "power" in those situations than the students, esp. if everyone else is just kind of sitting there nodding while perhaps only one student wants clearer or deeper answers. I think that is maybe what Barry is getting at (not that I want to put words in anyone's mouth). I also agree that nobody should have endless leave to waste everyone else's time with answers that perhaps only he wants. OTOH, if *any* follow-up question is treated as some kind of challenge that needs to be struck down, with the teacher setting themselves up as some kind of god... well, all I can do is with them luck. And then it *is* definitely time to move on. (PS, I don't know that MMY did that at all, I wasn't there for hardly any of it. By the time I got to see him, he was much older and just sitting up there without saying much of anything.) Sal
