--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, zarzari_786 <no_reply@...> wrote: > > Hmm, > > since there are so many TM teachers on this board, nay > even 'enlightened' ones, of what importance is it, that Vaj > did TM or not? We have enough information about TM right? > There are, just to cite an example many TMers here, who > will swear that TM is the best spiritual technique, without > ever trying all the others, so judging other techniques on > the basis of what one has studied oneself, is at least not > such an unusual business it seems.
However, those people do not present themselves on forums dedicated to other techniques as having been practitioners and teachers of those techniques in an attempt to give themselves credibility when they compare the other techniques unfavorably to TM. > I say all this without actually *knowing* Vaj's involvement > or non-involvement in TM. I never thought he was a TM teacher, > and, in the past, have myself expressed doubt about his > involvement. And yet, that does not mean that all he says is > invalid, in fact I find several points -on TM - where I agree > with him, and he exhibits knowledge, obviously others are > missing out. Perfectly fine for him to share his vast knowledge with us, as Xeno suggested: > > He seems well versed in other things not related directly > > to TM; I think he would have a stronger presence here if > > he just owned up that he was not a teacher, and maybe not > > even a TM meditator, and played to his strong points. <snip> > I do not join his overall judgement on TM or all things > Maharishi, as I think he is going clearly overboard here, > but it is a matter of judgement, where I see the whole > thing in an overall positive light - with all criticsim, > and he chooses to see it negative - but so what? So do many others here choose to see it as negative. But their involvement with TM is not in question. There's a meme that's frequently invoked by Vaj and other critics that TMers go after the critics simply because of their negative views of TM/MMY/the TMO. But that isn't the case; plenty of negative views are expressed without that kind of response from TM defenders. We may disagree, but we don't accuse them of deception. (On the other hand, Vaj and a couple of the other critics have a particularly nasty and unpleasant way of voicing their negative views that's totally unnecessary, including personal insults to TMers, and they come in for some well-deserved flak on that account as well.) > Do not other's here adore and eulogize TM and Maharishi > in an overly romantic way, while stating simultaneausly > it is the most deceptive way, the devil invented? Only Robin has done that. > Or did I misread something here? How honest and serious > can a person be, making simultaneously such contradictory > statements? Talking of integrity. Just sayin' If you read carefully, they aren't contradictory. As I see it, Robin had to force himself to give up something that had meant the world to him because he found it to be *ultimately*--in the full meaning of the term--deceptive. Whether or not one is inclined to agree with him, it must have been extraordinarily painful, and it's reflected in his posts about what was for him a profound loss. It's hardly unheard-of after a wrenching divorce for one former spouse to speak with great passion about the other while acknowledging the impossibility of continuing the relationship, for whatever reason (perhaps because the other cheated, to load the analogy a bit). And who are you, pray tell, to call someone's expression of their adoration "overly romantic"? For your taste, perhaps, and you're entitled to that perspective. But it isn't right, IMHO, to state it as if it were an established fact. Some here have found the posts you're referring to deeply moving, even tragic. As I recall, you've said you never had the experience of falling in love with MMY when you were in the TMO. That's fine, not everyone did. But by the same token, you aren't in a position to question the sincerity and depth of others' feelings about him when you haven't experienced what they did.
