--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wayback71" <wayback71@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote:
> >
>>>> As it turned out,
> > > > at the height of this experience he was giving advanced
> > > > techniques and I got to go up and sit by his side,
> > > > literally at his feet, and have him spend a few minutes
> > > > with me one on one, talking to me first and then giving
> > > > me the advanced technique. He didn't notice a thing.
> > > >
...
> > > > There was a line of others waiting for their techniques
> > > > so I didn't bother him with any questions at that time,
> > > > and before I had a chance to do so the experiences had
> > > > faded and my questions and any "confirmation" from him
> > > > would have been irrelevant.
> > > >
> > > > I've actually heard the same experience from others.
> > > > At the height of their highest experiences, mapping
> > > > from their perspective one to one to his descriptions
> > > > of CC, they got to be close to Maharishi and he never
> > > > noticed. So much for the notion of "like knows like."
> > > > Either that or he really didn't care enough about his
> > > > students to notice them, period. Or any other "explan-
> > > > ation" you prefer.
> > >
> > > I agree - this is odd, to say the least - that your Master
> > > (at the time) would not say something to you quietly just
> > > to acknowledge the experience you were having.
> >
> > Thank you again for yet another thoughtful reply. Yes,
> > that thought occurred to me, even at the time. And yet.
> > And yet I was at that point -- 5 months into "rounding"
> > and not yet made a TM teacher -- such a TB that I found
> > ways to "write off" this experience as Not Particularly
> > Significant. I mean, what could be significant about it?
> > One of his students having subjectively realized the goal
> > he'd been selling all this time? Even if the student was
> > just experiencing "early on" experiences of the enlight-
> > enment process and not fully established in CC, if you
> > were a Maha Rishi, shouldn't you have noticed?
> >
> > And yet. At the time, I was such a TB that I felt that
> > any fault -- if there was one -- had to be mine. Here I
> > was, experiencing word-for-word the goal that he'd sold
> > me five years earlier. What sweat off his balls was that,
> > I told myself. He has far larger concerns.
> >
> > Such is youth. :-)
> >
> > > It never occurred to me before that MMY seemed not to
> > > talk to people one on one about their experiences.
> >
> > It occurred to me, early on, because I had experienced it.
> >
> > > When I had one of my more major experiences, I was late to
> > > get to the lecture hall in Humboldt (could not figure out
> > > how to come out of meditation since I thought I had to
> > > cause the experience to end before opening my eyes!
> > > Finally just gave up, opened my eyes, and went to the
> > > cafeteria anyway). So I was late to dinner and then
> > > showed up at the lecture hall about 15 minutes into the
> > > talk he was giving. I was still having the experience,
> > > just the beginning of a fade. I walked in the door way
> > > at the back of this huge hall, and it seemed to me that
> > > just as I entered MMY turned his head and looked right
> > > over at me, right in the eye and nodded - I felt he
> > > knew exactly what I was experiencing and nodded to say
> > > so. That could have all been wishful thinking. But I
> > > continue to think he knew.
> >
> > And I, for one, am not going to dispute it.
> >
> > This, for me, is a fundamental part of the wonder of the
> > spiritual path. What significance do we give our personal,
> > subjective experiences? Do we consider them true, because
> > we experienced them, or even Truth, because We experienced
> > them, or are they just more data in the input queue of our
> > internal AI servers?
> >
...
> > And he'd notice. Sometimes he'd even come up to me after
> > the meeting and talk to me about it, asking "What have you
> > been up to that has you glowing so brightly?"
> >
...
> > He looked at me, not having seem me for a few weeks, and
> > said, "This place agrees with you. I haven't seen you
> > this happy and this full of light in years."
> >
> > Go figure. Go fuckin' figure.
> >
>
> I know. We were so young then that we did not have the simple wisdom to ask
> the obvious questions, like what do you make of my current experiences (to
> MMY), or how can this be if I have been smoking dope for the past week? And
> we were settled into a mode of thinking that shied away from being so direct
> and even thinking like that (at least I was) and we were young and respecting
> our older revered teachers. I heard from others at the time that Rama was
> able to do these incredible things witnessed by hundreds, not just a few.
> How in the world do you explain that and then have him say what he did to
> you? Yeah, go figure sums it up.
>
My experience and observation was that MMY was quite involved in acknowledging
and providing feedback on experience. First, in every flower line (4-8 per day)
he would stop at at particular person and say "Hmm, enjoying", "Hmm, very good"
or something similar -- which appeared to be an acknowledgment and
encouragement of their particular state or experience at that time. For
example, as MMY entered into the lecture hall, a woman (said later) she was
seeing the heavens open up, and hordes of angels or such descend as MMY entered
the hall) and he stopped and said "Hmm, its beautiful, yes".
And he acknowledged personal situations. At the beginning of my TTC he asked
each of us to come forward, to approach him (I think we gave him a flower, or
simply bowed our heads) and he said to me "ah, you made it". Prior to that,
while I had been on two courses with him, up to that time there was no reason
for him to know who I was - I had not met privately with him or been at the mic
for questions. But it had been a big production to get to TTC -- and he somehow
knew that and acknowledged it.
Some years later, a friend who had been teaching in a distant land came back to
see him and the first thing MMY said was "Hmm, so you have been bored, yes?" My
friend was very clear in his mind that MMY was referring to his many dalliances
with local women.
And at TTC a large part of each session with him was about experience. People
asking all sorts of stuff about this or that experience. He provided feedback
--but often quite understated -- never making a big deal over even
extraordinary reports. This may have been because he knew in some cases it was
unwinding / unstressing, mood-making or wishful thinking. And for those
experiences that seemed more solid, still he treated it as normal, or nothing
to get excited about -- but gave some helpful and guiding words here and there.
My sense is that he took that inside of himself -- and would monitor peoples
progress silently over time. Understated, composed in wholeness, and subtle was
my experience and impression of how he guided and acknowledged experiences.
And at least in the earlier days, you could always just go see him in his
quarters and discuss things. I did this several times and I know a number of
others that also did. It was an opportunity that was not generally abused --
but it was always available.
And he was available by phone.
And sometimes, it was just a look he gave - and that was all that was needed.
Or, he would just start lecturing on a point that was on someones mind (which
may have been coincidental -- but happened a lot.)
And he gave tons of guidance, when asked, on personal matters. Possibly too
much -- making some falling into a "well, I should ask MMY" paralysis. He came
out in 74 or so as I recall saying we should be more self-sufficient and trust
our inner wisdom and intuition -- and go with the knowledge he had given us as
guide posts. Definitely a push to self-sufficiency -- which included trusting
ones own experience. I think all of the mic time Q&A about experiences was his
way of culturing a self-sufficiency and self-diagnostic capability in teachers.
No need to get personal confirmation or answers from him -- you already knew
based on the huge library of Q & A in your head.
And on the 6-mo courses, there were the (in)famous monthly reports -- which he
repeatedly requested that we continue with -- and he had a lot read to him I
understand.
And I heard, he would just call someone up at times, out of the blue
and give some useful guidance -- just right a the time.
