What would you actually recommend to a person wanting to learn meditation? Do you recommend a book? Anything of Rama? I think you said that you wouldn't need to require personal instruction or an elaborated course. I sometimes meet people, and I cannot follow them up, they ask me for advise how to meditate. (I had this Russian lady driving to the airport yesterday).
I may even initiate somebody TM style again, after so many years, some friend asked me for it, so I guess I will probably do it, without money, org, and leaving all dogma aside. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > [ Caveat: What follows is my opinion, and in fact my > considered opinion, arrived at after decades of being > part of the TMO from the inside and observing it and > its members from the outside. You are well within your > rights to believe something else, because after all, it > is nothing BUT opinion. But so is what you believe. ] > > I figured that, on the heels of my "Echo Chamber Effect" > post, I should delineate some of the ways in which I > think TMers have, in fact, been indoctrinated to believe > certain things, disbelieve others, and adopt a funda- > mentalist defensive stance towards the former and an > offensive, "attack mode" stance towards the latter. > This is how I view the "TM Learning Process," after > having participated in it and observed it for 44 years: > > 1. You are taught to meditate, having been "pre-taught" > exactly what is going to happen when you meditate, and > how you "should" interpret what happens. Periods of > thought stopping are not "just" thought stopping; they > are "transcendence," merging with the Home Of All Know- > ledge, entering into a "higher" state of consciousness. > > 2. Your "innocent experience" of TM (which is anything > but) is then followed up by three nights of indoctrin- > ation into *more* of "what your experience 'really' > means and how to interpret it." You are told that not > only is each meditation an experience of some mystical > "universal field" of consciousness, doing it regularly > is your only real way to eventually experience an even > "higher" state of consciousness, enlightenment. You > are told what enlightenment "means," and told that it > is the "highest goal" anyone could ever aspire to. > > 3. In the three nights of checking, and every time you > walk into a TM center after that, you are encouraged > to "learn more." That is, you are encouraged to attend > hour after hour of lectures on -- essentially -- Hindu > thought and theories, "sanitized for your protection" > by describing them as "Vedic" thought. At no point are > any of these concepts presented *as* theories; they > are presented as Truth, the "highest knowledge" avail- > able on the planet. > > 4. After a few of these "advanced lectures, you are > encouraged to attend residence courses, during which > you "round" (meditate so often that you are considered > so spaced out and such a potential danger to yourself > and others that you are not allowed to leave the > facility in which the residence course is being held). > You are also forced to sit in front of TVs and watch > hours and hours of additional indoctrination on Hindu > thought and concepts, many of them delivered by > <genuflect> Maharishi Himself. > > 5. By putting "Maharishi Himself" in scare quotes, I > am hoping to capture the way that MMY is presented to > new students. That is, as the ultimate authority, an > enlightened being whose every word reflects the Truth > about the world and how it works. Even if it's not > expressed in words, the deference and sense of obeis- > ance that the TM teachers feel towards him is conveyed > subconsciously to the students, so much so that when > they first have an opportunity to meet him, they > cannot conceive of doing so except in the "accepted" > manner -- standing in a line and deferentially offer- > ing him a flower. By the time they actually do meet > him, they can no longer even conceive of *challenging* > any of the things he says; the lesson has been driven > home to them by this time that such behavior is > inappropriate and disrespectful. If Maharishi says > it, it's not only true, but Truth. > > 6. Then (at least in the past), if you want to "dive > further" into the TM "knowledge," you have to take SCI. > Which is basically the equivalent of being forced to > sit in front of hours and hours and hours of the most > boring and pretentious drivel you have ever seen on > television, while pretending that it isn't boring. > More indoctrination into "Just STFU and let the > waves of Ultimate Truth wash over you." > > 7. All along the way, TM is never once presented as > just another spiritual path; it is always presented > as The Best such path, the "highest path." The TM > teachers, in fact, respond to questions about other > paths (including the path taught by the real Shank- > aracharya tradition MMY comes from) by putting them > down, as they were taught to do on their TTCs. > > 8. Other sources of information about meditation or > the spiritual path are systematically put down and > demonized, and accessing them actually punished. I > have seen several people told that they were not > allowed to attend long residence courses or go TTC > because they had "the wrong kinds of books" on their > bookshelves, or admitting to having read such Off > The Program books. This is *still* being punished > in Fairfield and in other official TM locations as > those who dare to actually go see some other spiritual > teacher are declared heretics, and excommunicated. > The lesson being taught is simple and obvious -- > "Only *we* have the 'right' answers and interpret- > ations about spiritual practice; listening to anyone > else's answers or interpretations is dangerous for > you and will not be tolerated. > > 9. All along the way, subjective experience is > presented as tantamount to "proof." And this is done > while ignoring completely that almost all of the > interpretations *of* TMers' subjective experiences > were generated *after* having been indoctrinated > into what such experience "really mean." Think about > the ludicrous scene on IA courses, in which Maharishi > came up with a new buzzphrase experience, and the > next week dozens of people walk up to the microphone > to announce that they have "had" such experiences. > Pure programming, and by people who *don't even > realize* that they've been programmed. > > 10. Any criticism of TM, the TMO, and Maharishi is > characterized by TM teachers as an "attack," and > students are encouraged to view it as an attack on > *them* as well, and to respond to it with counter- > attack. The TMO "party line" when dealing with any > critic is to attempt to portray them as "having an > agenda" or "attempting to destroy what we all know > is the 'highest teaching.'" After seeing this > behavior modeled for them by the TMO as an organ- > ization and by TM teachers as a group, naturally > the students start to display this behavior, too. > > 11. The idea that there is a "right" way to describe > experiences during TM or spiritual concepts is drummed > into the students' heads, and punished by disfavor or > mockery if they dare to describe such things differ- > ently. Soon they start 'piling on' to other students > to mock them when they express things "wrongly." > > 12. The most far out, Woo Woo nonsense is presented > as if it's normal, and the people who believe in it > normal. Belief in astrology, the Woo Woo effects of > which side of your house the door is facing, or which > way your head faces when you sleep. Belief in siddhis > or "special powers" that no one has ever seen any > evidence of are presented as normal, and so often > that the people sitting in lecture halls sucking all > of this up come to believe that they *are* normal. > > 13. At some point, the siddhis are trotted out, at > the point when the students have been so thoroughly > taught to believe in Woo Woo as if it were normal > that they no longer react rationally when told that > they are going to learn how to FLY, ferchrissakes. > Rather than laugh, they buy into it, and plunk down > their money. Platitudes are told to them about how > they might not FLY through the air immediately, and > that they might spend a little time in the "first > stages of Yogic Flying," but it is always assumed > that Yes, someday they will really FLY. By this time, > the brainwashed dweebs in the audience actually buy > this. > > 14. Moving behind the closed walls of TM communities > starts to become encouraged. Despite the fact that > TM was first sold to them as a way to interface more > effectively *with* the world, moving *out* of the > world and into a TM Echo Chamber community is now > presented to them as the only way they can make > significant spiritual progress. > > 15. The road goes ever on. That is, just as in The > Hobbit, the goal constantly becomes further and further > away. Newer and "higher" states of consciousness or > abilities are announced, to attain which you must > attend such-and-such course and pay such-and-such > additional amount of money. Each one is presented as > "the course that will finally do it for you," and by > this time the indoctrination is so ingrained that no > one notices when it isn't, or remembers when the next > such course is announced that the previous one did > nothing for them except drain their bank accounts. > > I could go on and on, but I suspect that anyone whose > mind is still open enough to have read this far gets > the point. There is one enormous SHITLOAD of indoc- > trination in the way that TM is taught. My contention > is that this indoctrination has gone on for so long, > and has been tolerated (if not embraced) by many on > this forum for so long that they are actually in > denial that it ever took place. > > But it did. And that's why you believe the things > that you do. It's NOT that they are inherently true, > or Truth. It's that you have been told they are, > and you bought it hook, line, and sinker. > > It's fine to continue to believe that they are, but > shouldn't you at least be willing to admit that the > reason you believe the things you believe is that > you've been *told* to believe them, systematically, > for decades? If you can't, in my view that charac- > terizes you as not only a fundamentalist, but a > fundamentalist in denial. >
