--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > While all of this is true, there is another paradigm > in place now. "Not only is what Maharishi taught during > his lifetime the best, highest, whateverest teaching > ever, *it's all you ever need to learn*." > > There will never be any new "teachings" of techniques > from the TMO. And everyone knows it. > > There is no one that anyone would trust to come up with > anything new. > > So this new paradigm becomes a default. You have to > somehow sell the existing TBs on believing it, and on > continuing to believe it for the rest of their lives, > otherwise you risk them going to "other vendors" to > supplement what they learned from Maharishi. > > Can't have that. > > And since no one in the TMO has the believability or > charisma to sell *that*, even to the TBs, they resort > to punishment instead. Make it a "mortal sin" (punish- > able by excommunication) to visit other vendors. Come > up with a dogma that suggests that not only is it Off > The Program to "cheat" on Maharishi by "seeing other > teachers," it's somehow an insult to his memory, even > though he's...uh...dead. > > The bottom line of this policy is, "We have nothing > more we can teach you. We will *never* have anything > more we can teach you, because the source of our > teachings is now pushing up lotuses in the Ganges. > But we will punish you severely if you dare to visit > anyone who *does* have anything new they can teach > you."
Following up on this because I just thought of an amusing (to me) metaphor for this 'tude. YMMV. Think of the TMO as a vendor of products, as...uh... it is. Compare it to a vendor of automotive products, like, say, Toyota. Now translate the 'tude. What I think you'd get is something like this: "We at Toyota make the bestest cars on the planet. We've been at it a long time, and we come from a long, established line of carmakers. And we think that what we've created so far is pretty much the pinnacle of automotive perfection. "Therefore we are shutting down production of our factories and ceasing innovation. No new Toyota automobiles will be released. The ones we have now are as perfect as we can make them, and should suit you just fine, no matter how long you live. "We've done out best to accommodate every taste and budget. If you're content with just a utility vehicle, for you we make the Corolla (basic TM). It'll get you around, and it'll even get you where you want to go, as long as you don't care about how fast you'll get there or the company you'll keep on your journey. "If you want to spruce up your basic Corolla, we also sell (and will continue to sell) extra added features as an option (the TM Advanced Techniques). Add a roof to your Corolla and you can carry all that luggage you can't fit into the trunk. Add a rear spoiler and flame decals to the basic Corolla and you'll think you're going much faster than you really are. "For those with more discriminating tastes, and match- ing budgets, we offer the Camry (the TM-Sidhi program). Much more luxurious, and you'll get to hang with a much nicer group of fellow Toyota owners. They even have events where all Camry owners get together and drive them en masse. And you're invited to these prestigious gatherings, unlike the Corolla drivers. "For the truly discriminating driver and budget, we offer the Lexus (Purusha or Mother Divine or Raja-hood). Much higher initial price, of course, but the prestige factor more than makes up for that. And not only do you get to continue to attend the get-togethers that the Camry owners have, you get to attend special gatherings only for the true elite, you Lexus owners. "But if you visit the showroom of another auto manufacturer, or worse, dare to test-drive one of their cars, we cut your ass off. We'll allow you to keep driving our cars on your own, but you can't come to any of the get-togethers any more. "We think that's only fair, because you no longer share our vision that driving the vehicles we've invented so far is the highest path available to you in life, and represents the pinnacle of automotive technology. If you believe anything less, and actually act out on that belief, fair is fair. You just don't deserve to hang with us any more."
