That's the problem of "testimonials" -- its ironic that some TM critics use the
same tired tactic as did some TMO studies.
First, assuming the testimonial is true -- (I am not challenging that this sort
of contrast did not occur, but then again there is no reason to take a 25 year
old, snippet of a quote from an unattributed source as inherently valid) how
many times did this observer actually sit in a lecture and then follow MMY back
to his quarters, or meet in small group, and observe this behavior? Once, five
times? Out of almost 20,000 days/nights of potential observations. Maybe 50,000
given MMY may have generally talked to a larger group, then soon after a
smaller group, 2-5 times a day. The seven blind men and the elephant syndrome.
"yeah, I saw what I saw, but who knows if my little slice of it, be it a few
times, or a few years on Staff, looks like in the context of the whole."
TM testimonials were funny. My little slice that I saw, and did, was we would
periodically get questionaires on courses or TMO facilities that were then used
in some study or promotion. Of course we put all the answers in the best light.
It was not intentionally deceptive but rather enthusiastic reinforcement of
what experiences we believed a TMO'er should have, and a selective bias in
focusing on elements tin our lives that supported that belief and view. Its
only years later that I, and it appears many others, were willing or able to
look at all of the experiences, all of the evidence, as a larger whole and
objectively and critically examine and analyze it. (And in FFL many of us are
still doing some of the unwinding of spin.)
Spin doctors, perhaps BRoth is an example, excel in capitalizing on such
selective bias -- from others, and in their presentations reflecting their own
whole mind set.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "seventhray1" <steve.sundur@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> I am not sure what the value is of posting a statement like this without
> any attribution as to who said it. What is the point?
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@> wrote:
>
> > "He [the Maharishi] would display a perfect stage persona as the
> friendly enlightened teacher to his students, but once he was off stage
> with his teachers and other insiders his whole demeanor would change. He
> would become a gruff, coarse boss who insisted we 'sell more mantras'
> and pick up on the cash flow. It was such a shock to see the real man
> was so different from the face he showed to the public."
> >
> > -interview with TM teacher, Washington DC, 1987.
> >
>
