Very nice post Bob. You've articulated many of the things I have sensed and wanted to voice as well.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bob Price <bobpriced@...> wrote: > > Robin, > > Thank you for your response. I'm always impressed with the care you put into your posts. Whether this will be our last exchange on this subject I'll leave > in your good hands. Although, at times, I find your writing style challenging- no more than some of the great 19th century authors I feel compelled to read, > I see that more as my limitation than yours. > > I believe we may have had slightly different experiences with Maharishi. I never had any experience of CC, GC, UC or BC. although like many on this forum I did have experiences of transcendence and other intense personal experiences that "seemed" to be brought on by Maharishi's presence. My direct experience only lasted 5 years and involved a lot interaction with people who knew little of TM and Maharishi followed by intense periods of rounding and time around Maharishi. I was in the group that executed what I believe was the scope of work Maharishi tasked his initiators with when he made me an initiator, at 20, in 1972. There were many ways to be close to Maharishi and in my time initiating a lot of people was near the top.  > > I initiated 900+ people. As I'm sure you know that gave me a lot of time around Maharishi; I was in Humboldt twice, Majorca for 6 months and Fuiggi for 3 months-where he made me an initiator, I was on 3 six week ATR courses in Europe, as well as the first 6 month course, and I quit the TMO and stop mediating by the time I was 24 ( I'm serious they still owe me a bunch of ATR credits). I had three one on ones with him (including when he made me a teacher) and by luck I slept one night in the room next to him at the Hotel Du Palais in Biarritz which I believe precipitated one of the most dramatic experiences (no proof) I've had in my life. And yet with all that, when I left, I left completely and knew what I was doing the right thing for me. I tell you all this to put myself out there a little more, as I feel you've done, and to point out that although I did not have your profound internal experience I believe I was as "all in" as you > were, as most were, when I made my break. Other than the skin boys and the inner circle I believe for a short intense period I got to see and be with Maharishi as up close as most. > > IMO, to imply that Maharishi was not a world class thinker and iconoclast says more about your feelings toward him than it does about him. I believe it points to a > Western (so called monotheistic), and surprisingly post modern , bias towards specialization. Agreed he was not a world class specialist like many you've mentioned but he > was certainly a world class generalist and a true "Renaissance man" in the best sense of that term. If you were in Queens you will know of what I speak. Maharishi could hold > his own with any of the top specialists of our time, take their insight, add to it, and integrate it into his own thinking. From a little rug bag and a short haul airline ticket he build an empire with a significant presence in many countries of the world. Please tell me by what metric he would not be considered brilliant? Certainly, The Beatles and Merv were > incredible branding catalysts but that does not limit his achievements in the least. > > One of the things I enjoy about your writing, in addition to the irony, is your understanding of subtext. As you know this and character are two of the most difficult elements to execute in narrative and you seem to have an innate understanding of subtext. You also have a talent for telling people what they want to hear-a talent Maharishi had too much of this quality as well (I use the 5-8 years to enlightenment as an example of this). This coupled with your talent to provoke makes it easy for  me to see how you acquired a following. This brings me to my push back on some of your more recent posts and I state sincerely I'm here to learn. > > Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel your attacks on Maharishi are getting more personal and certainly more dramatic. Before this post I noticed your use of the word "condemned", and if memory serves the use of the word "damned" in reference to Maharishi's soul. I've also started to notice a strong resentment towards not only Maharishi but Hinduism in general being expressed in the subtext of your writing.  Would it be too strong of me to say you believe that Maharishi, the mantras and Hinduism are evil? If I'm wrong about this please correct me, but its what I'm picking up in the subtext of your writing. On the other hand, if I'm right, IMO, the resentment you feel is as binding on the soul as any sin real or invented by the Catholic Church.  > > IMO, if there is a hell, its flames are made of resentment. You're obviously such a talented guy but so much of what you share seems to be a reaction to > Maharishi and looks so much like resentment. As someone who has suffered greatly from resentment I was taught that praying for the object of my resentment > will set me free and I can confirm from experience that this is true. I don't believe in any hell that isn't man made. In yours Maharishi may be trapped in eternal > damnation but in mine, at the end of the day, he was an exceptional human being with strong religious and political beliefs and at the very least he deserves my respect. > Anything in my experience with Maharishi I want to complain about I have to look to my own part in it because thats the only place knowledge dwells. > >  I heard this quote from a film trailer last night. > > > "Half the people believe things just won't work out and the other half believe in magic." > > > Although I call no man master and pray to a God I don't aways believe in, I do believe in magic. > > PS: If you decide to stop posting again I may follow you out the door. The wife is starting to leave little > messages on post-it stickers around the house. Here's one: > > "He's powerless over FFL and it makes his life unmanageable." > Â
