Maharishi's absence of celibacy vows may absolve him of accusations of hypocrisy, but it makes one wonder why he asked people in his organization to abstain from sex. The most unsavory explanation is that he did it to wield power over them. The best case scenario, I suppose, is that for those people at that time, celibacy was a good thing.
Maybe Rick can find time to poll people who abstained to get their perspectives on the experience. - Patrick Gillam P.S. I've only been following these discussions with one eye, but it's fascinating to see how we read meanings into things. It's a theme this group has come back to again and again. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Robert Gimbel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > -An old BBC interview with Maharishi, where he discusses his vow of > > celibacy and on being a monk. > > > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/maharishi1. > > shtml > > Interesting, and thanks for posting this link, but he doesn't > actually mention celibacy in the segment. He speaks in > general terms in answer to the interviewer's question, in > terms of "restraining from the worldly joys of life." > > He doesn't even speak of *vows* in this clip, merely that > he "came out of that world" that believed that to lead a > spiritual life, one must renounce the world. He says that > he renounced the world. But *then* he goes on to say > that what he *learned* was that it *wasn't* necessary > to renounce the world to lead a spiritual life. > > "I had the idea that I must renounce the world in order > to be really a spiritual man, a yogi. But what I found out > was that spiritual life was not dependent on the renun- > ciation of the material world." > > So if one were looking for it, one could see in this clip a > *rejection* of the idea of renouncing the world, rather than > a claim to still be living that life. All his references in this > clip to "renouncing the world" are in the past tense. > > So I reiterate -- has anyone *ever* heard Maharishi claim > to be celibate? Or has everyone merely *assumed* he > was all this time? > > Unc > > P.S. In retrospect, don't you find it fascinating that what you > read into this clip was, according to the Subject line, "Maharishi > speaking of his vow of celibacy?" He never mentioned celibacy, > he never mentioned "vows," and he actually *rejected* the idea > of having to renounce the world to be spiritual. My original point > was that one hears what one wants to hear. I rest my case. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
