--- On Wed, 2/9/11, Alex Stanley <j_alexander_stan...@yahoo.com> wrote:
snip > I can see validity of the DF thang as a subset of all > darshan experiences. After all, fervent belief can drive all > sorts of spiritual/religious experiences, even if the > beliefs are based on purely mythological constructs. > However, the impression I got from this most recent rap is > that you were now making a broad brush application of the DF > thang to all darshan experiences and invalidating the idea > that there actually are people who are "firing on more > cylinders" and that others can have recognition of it. If > that's not your position, then my impression was incorrect. > > From my own experience with Waking Down's gazing > meditation, I think there clearly are people firing on more > cylinders and that it can be subconsciously recognized. > Although WD uses the term "transmission", as if the WD > teacher is radiating magic woowoo rays, I think your old > post on the topic perfectly describes what's actually > happening, i.e., recognition and rising up to meet it. > That's why I think it's such a great post and why I keep > linking to it. > > In that old post you also mention not getting diddleysquat > from MMY, and in my experience with WD, there were teachers > that I just didn't get a "hit" off of, Saniel Bonder, the > founder of Waking Down, being one of them. Although it was > stumbling across his picture on his website that first drew > me to WD, gazing with Saniel never had any noticeable > effect. The first time I saw Saniel in FF, at an intro > meeting, I left, disappointed. For whatever reason, I just > don't resonate with him. But, a year and a half later, at > another intro meeting, I felt a very strong connection to > Pascal Salesses, a WD teacher who had just moved to FF. > Getting back to the DF thang, if there was anyone I was > putting on a pedestal, it was Saniel. He's the only reason > why I went to those intro meetings; Pascal was nothing more > to me than a complete stranger. > > Firing cylinders aside, I think there's also the issue of > resonance/connection. I've gone to see both Ammachi and > Karunamayi, and I don't get juiced up by being in the > presence of either one of them; same goes for Gangaji, > Neelam, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. My only experience with > MMY in person was being in a crowded hall, with him being > way far away up on stage, and my experience was the same as > watching him on tape: puts me to sleep. Which is not to say > that a teacher's value lies only in the darshan experience. > MMY gave me TM, and Karunamayi gave me the Gayatri Mantra, > both of which were very transformational, regardless of the > darshan experience or whether they were or were not firing > on more cylinders. > > Thus endeth the longest spiritual rap I've made in a long > time. Good post, Alex. Yes YMMV at its best with different spiritual teachers. There is much more going on here than simply the DF effect or the "internally generated" effect of experiencing what you anticipate. There are probably more people that do not experience what they anticipate from a spiritual teacher than those that do. The very first time I met MMY it was a huge blast of BBB. With SSRS it was nothing for about two years and then it was BBB. Only met Amma once and it was nothing for me. I think it just depends upon your karma/dharma with that particular teacher. > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links > > > fairfieldlife-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com > > >
