--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" <curtisdeltablues@...> wrote: > > -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, maskedzebra <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > LOVE IT! THANKS. GOT MY ATTENTION. You prove my pet theory: when a person's > > first person perspective comesunwittingly, adventitiouslythrough their > > so-called attempts at a third person perspective (e.g. what you are telling > > me here) and what you get is strong and healthythen time to: BECOME ALERT. > > > > I am, via your post, alerted to the contingent solipsistic tendency in meI > > have never shaken this since I was a small child. But you are the first > > person on this blog to convince me I should be aware of the need to mortify > > this temptation whenever my putative enlightenment is undergoing a > > vivisection. > > It kind of comes with the territory of discussing your experience doesn't it? > I wasn't suggesting that you were more that way than I would be if I were > doing the same. It wasn't as pointed as that. I was speculating on why > Turq's reaction was different than my own in relating to you here. I could > understand why he went that way, but for me it is not how I believe I will > get the most from our interaction. I would never take part in a vivisection > of someone's important inner life. (well that doesn't mean I can NEVER come > off like an asshole here!) We all have to set our own boundaries for > discussions here. It is easy to be kind of flip and mean with things other > people cherish. I mean if you came back and said blues is repetitive crap > played by people who never mastered the guitar, I really wouldn't care, even > though I like it so much. As the Roman's say, there is not accounting for > taste. But no matter how much the blues is my life, it is never my identity > so I don't personalize someone's different musical taste as a statement about > me. It is about them. And it does tell me something about the person. > > But when dealing with the identity level experiences in Maharishi's programs > or other spiritual experiences, we don't have that separation usually. > Although I think it is intellectually healthy to develop that ability. > > > > > Will try to maintain some credibility on this blog, as I have already > > learned a lot (e.g. CDB on the blues). You'll keep me honest, Curtis. No > > doubt about THAT. > > > > So, as GWB said: Bring it on. > > I took some time to connect with you on an emotional level first so we could > see each other through the kinder lens of rapport. I cherish my skepticism > about all things spiritual, but I don't want to be a dick about it. I want > to relate to people here as if we have already had our first beer and found > out we both love Mario Batali's regional Italian cooking show. (Do you get > him up there, he is my Italian cooking guru from the food network.) > > > > > I am aware that the Mission is NOT Accomplished (mission = perfect > > self-knowledge, perfect disinterestedness, perfect understanding). > > Acknowledgement of being human is always a good start. Frankly if you said > anything else I would become instantly bored. > > < It's just that I can only respond meaningfully to criticism which stands > apart in its merit from the motives of my critic.> > > Although you have gotten some posts that have been critical, nobody knows you > here really. I personally don't think you deserve criticism for sharing your > perspective here. You are understandably sensitive to some harshness coming > your way. But there are a lot of responses that come from a more accepting > place, Whynotnow and Rick for two examples. And Vaj should have some more > interesting comments on how your experiences fit into the Vedic tradition. > I'm sure I am missing others. > > But I doubt you will find me a "critic" here. We already have a friendly > connection. I am not interested in squandering that potential for > communication on trying to be more "right" about something than you are. > Let's just explore where we draw our different lines of reality and assume > that the other person has good reasons for the lines they have drawn. I am a > fan of the concepts around maintaining healthy emotional and intellectual > boundaries. You don't have to share my perspective for me to try to > understand yours, and vise versa. It is only if we can acknowledge and be > cool with the differences that we have a chance of expanding our views. > > > > > It's going to be fun, Curtis. I appreciate the warning and the hidden > > admonition. > > I'm not sure that was my intention but OK. You got outside yourself > completely in our discussion of the blues, letting me spread my little wings > and fly. Much appreciated. > > > > > But don't you DARE question the truth of my enlightenment, OK?> > > I don't question that you had a shift of your internal state that was radical > enough for you to associate it with the terms Maharishi used for higher > states. My experience of the term is based on my own experiences with his > programs, so we may differ on what we mean by the term "enlightenment". I'm > not sure how clear Maharishi himself was on the concept of it or what he was > experiencing. I am interested to understand the reasons you came to that > conclusion, and whether or not there were reasons that would be compelling to > someone else, like me. > > In other words we will never have this kind of non discussion: > > You: I experienced Unity Consciousness. > > Me: Hell you did! I got yer Unity right heagh. (makes obscene crotch grabbing > gesture popular among young men in Brooklyn NY.) > > You: I am a mighty Orc, and will crush your head with my club. > > Me: I am too swift with my poison elfish arrows and you will fall like a tree > under the rain of the swift deadly shafts I will unleash on you. > > Wait a second, I need to amend that a bit. I will never have the first two > lines of that dialogue, the second two are too good to take off that table at > this early time! > > > > > That's where we part company. Just be as flattering, fawning, and > > sycophantic as you can.> > > > > When it comes to my beautiful achievement of Unity Consciousness.> > > I can do better than the boring F F and S program. I can deliver genuine > interest in what you experienced sprinkled with questions about details that > will prompt you to write more. The topic of what you experienced and why you > have come to the conclusions you have about it, interest me. > > > > > I'd like to be taken somewhere through writing on this blog. > > I find people who inspire you to write here to be a real resource. It is one > of the few places where such discussion can take place. It is as imperfect > as we all are compounded by the shitty drizzle of rain that obscures > communication devoid of visual cues. But your way of explicitly creating > rapport bonds cuts through a lot of that for me. > > > > > So keep delivering, Curtis baby. > > > > You STF have so far. > > Back atcha brother!
RESPONSE: I got intellectually swarmed after starting to post on this blog, so after reading this post of yours, I just attempted to fight off all my closing-in-for-the-kill critics. I have never had the experience afforded to me by posting on this blog: the kinds of conversations and disputes that erupt spontaneously and never-endingly. It has, in a certain way, been quite wonderful for me, as I have found myself forced to respond in a multitude of different ways to the omnidirectional bullets fired at my head. I can't even account for my experience exactly; all I know is that, since I put down my enlightenment days, I have never had such a necessary work-outand not just by my mind. I have found myself forced to draw upon everything I have to survive the testing and provocation that has come my way. I am really quite grateful, especially for being able to get down that lengthy post this Sunday. After getting all that business out, I felt: Ah, I have explained my heterodox view of enlightenment and Hindu spirituality (as taught to my body and soul by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi). I am not sure how long I will continue to post here, as my motive is purely selfishat least in this sense: I wish to make use of the prickly, abrasive, pungent, agile, and sparkling minds that I have encountered on this blog. I don't know, but it feels as if, without necessarily any conscious awareness of this, that as a whole, the persons who contribute to this blog make up a distinct, unique intellectual community. I never knew I would be doing so many wind-sprints so soon. I thought I might come close to puking for a while therebut all in the nice sensation of the kind of calisthenics which make one's body limber and flexibleand ready to be jostled as one tries to stay in one's own lane. The best, most hospitable and exhilarating response has come from yourself. I hope I do not do anything to jeopardize this generosity and trust. I haven't tried Mario's recipes, but I like Jimmy Fallon a lot, and JF is effusive in his love for MBwho is manifestly loveable. If we do ever meet, I know it will be fast, intense, and break-down funny. Meanwhile, you can be sure I have profited from your counsel regarding what goes on around here (i.e. the character of and the characters on, this blog). And the orientation I should have to make the most of the privilege of posting here. (By the way, I had no idea there was 50 post limit, and I thank the powers that be for making an exception for this "newbie"that is, in not meting out the one week banishment.) The only thing I will never agree to, is to try to get Enlightened once again. What a loss you must have been for the Movement. They're still grieving.
