Rav, I hope you don't take offense at this, and I know this is real life serious stuff, but I think this could have the makings of a good Indian Soap Opera, or maybe a Reality Show.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Ravi Yogi" <raviyogi@...> wrote: > > There will be always a cult of followers who would take the words of a > teacher literally, but why should it cause us to completely negate the > concept of a teacher and the importance of a belief. > I was married to a cult follower. It was because of her that I was > introduced to spirituality and my teacher, she took everything > literally, used spirituality, astrology to paint me as "low vibe" > "slimeball" materialist. Anyone else would have formed strong opinions > against spirituality, teachers - however my teacher's love unknowingly > bound me. Her attacks initially caused me to aggressively defend myself, > cause a lot of pain and self-doubt. In spite of her "I-Am-Rightedness" I > was intelligent and intuitive enough to not discard spirituality. With > my own samskaras and the guru's grace I took greater interest and found > the real value of spirituality, that was beyond any belief, in me. > So this "I-Am-Rightedness" person, who caused me pain, torment was my > real Guru, her aggressive behavior was a blessing in disguise, since it > caused me to protect myself, my samskaras, my innate strengths. It led > me on a path of incredible journey to find the real value of > spirituality. From a spiritual perspective any person who causes us > grief, pain, discomfort is indeed the real Guru. > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb no_reply@ wrote: > > > > What is there about the I-Am-RIGHT mindset that seems to -- > historically > > -- go hand in hand with developing a cult of followers? It's as if the > > only clear "career path" presented by the traditional spiritual path > is > > to 1) listen to your teachers, 2) believe everything they say and do > > exactly what they say, 3) get all enlightened yourself by following > > their advice, and then 4) set up shop for yourself and re-run the same > > movie, but with you playing the role of the teacher this time. > > > > If the seeming certainty of the I-Am-RIGHT mindset is so certain, why > do > > those who wear that mindset often seem so anxious to get other people > to > > mirror it back to them by gazing at them with reverence and adulation > > and saying, "Dude-ji, you are SO RIGHT?" > > > > I mean, not meaning to be disrespectful or anything, but haven't you > > ever noticed that many spiritual teachers tend to be a > > little...uh...needy? If they're so enlightened and all, why do they > need > > all these followers hanging around them saying or thinking 24/7 "You > are > > SO RIGHT?" And have you ever noticed a tendency in these same teachers > > to...uh...not react gracefully when one of the students says, "Now > wait > > a minute...there is a point here I am not convinced you are RIGHT > about. > > Can we talk about that a bit?" > > > > My feeling is that the big problem with the four-step spiritual career > > path I delineate above is in step #2. There is no need to believe > > everything your spiritual teacher says is true or to do everything he > > says to benefit from studying with him. I doubt you did that with your > > high-school teachers or college professors; why do it with your > > spiritual teachers? Furthermore, I would suggest that being brought up > > in a spiritual environment in which #2 is assumed to be true tends to > > "set up" new generations of seekers to expect that *for themselves* > when > > they get all enlightened. Other people, they come to believe, should > > just be able to see the I-Am-RIGHTness radiating off of them -- as > they > > did with their teacher -- and automatically believe everything they > say > > and do exactly what they're told to do. > > > > I'm thinkin' that my spiritual career path is fucked up, because it > > perpetuates the myth of the mindset of I-Am-RIGHTness always being > > right. I am not convinced that it is always right. I think, in fact, > > that we can safely dump not only step #2 but step #4. There are much > > more interesting things in life one can do post-realization than go > off > > and become Yet Another Spiritual Teacher. > > >
