This guy comes off as the TMO equivalent of a fanatical born-again Christian...more responses interweaved below...
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Letter from Jon Kelly Kirkpatrick to the editor of the Fairfield Ledger, > August 11. If you feel inspired to write a letter to the editor in response > to this, send it to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Keep it under 500 > words. Include your real name and where you live. It doesn¹t have to be > Fairfield or even the US. > > To the editor: > Erik Gable¹s piece on the TM movement and Ammaji (sic) was good but missed a > few underlying points. When someone begins TM he is told what its > theoretical basis is. One can practice TM quite well without really > understanding that basis. However, if one really understands what Maharishi > is saying, one is left with just two possibilities. When someone claims > total knowledge as Maharishi has, it gives us a great epistemological > advantage. How can anyone claim total knowledge unless he either has it or > is a fake? It doesn't have to be either of these two extremes. It could be he has total knowledge but does flawed things and makes flawed decisions in the relative world...and, thus, would NOT be a fake... > Can you think of anything in between? If you consider saints, > none of less than the highest knowledge would claim to have it. (That, > apparently is the unexamined conclusion about Maharishi of many who claim to > respect him.) that leaves non-saints. But any non-saint who claimed to have > the highest knowledge would be a fake and evil. Hence, we have two choices. > Maharishi is either everything he says he is or he is a fake and evil. I reject this silly either/or argument. > Those who reject Maharishi as fake and evil at least show internal > consistency. Those who claim respect for Maharishi but seriously pursue > other gurus do not. Well, then, your argument is not consistent with a statement that MMY himself made: as long as you do TM twice daily, you can do 100 different techniques...which obviously includes following other gurus, as you put it. And another thing: since when is MMY a guru to be followed as your arguments suggest? He has stated that he does not have followers and you do not need to "follow" MMY in order for (1) TM to work; and (2) get enlightened through TM. > One cannot respect someone who claims total knowledge > unless one believes he has it. Respect has virtually NOTHING to do with the TM Program. Therefore, if one respects Maharishi one must > believe everything he says. > Moreover, the very nature of higher knowledge is its superior organizing > power. Therefore, it would also follow that no other knowledge system (not > to mention a fake system) could improve on the evolutionary practices > derived from Maharishi¹s knowledge. Of course one should pursue one¹s > interests, but the pursuit of other gurus or their techniques, when one > claims respect for Maharishi, indicates more than just spiritual ambition. > It indicates spiritual confusion. > Regarding Maharishi¹s movement leadership, he tells us how to improve it. > Maharishi¹s Absolute Theory of Government states that a leader is an > innocent mirror of the group he leads. That means that if the TM movement¹s > leaders have shortcomings then the meditators whom they lead, as a group, do > too. In other words, entreaty is a waste of time until the group > consciousness has improved. And group consciousness improves only when the > individual, as the component of the group, improves. > The best way to improve the individual, it would also follow if you believed > Maharishi, is to own the movement. That is to say, to take charge of the > movement. If one believes that Maharishi is who he says he is, then one must > believe that this prescription is right and its claimed rewards should be > put to the test. A quiet way to do this is Maharishi¹s group practice of > yogic flying which he describes as the most powerful technique for > individual and community evolution. > Of course not everyone, for various reasons, can always participate in group > program or even, for that matter, do their program. For some that is because > they can¹t follow the logic of their own premises. > > - Jon Kelly Kirkpatrick, Fairfield This guy is a representation of the reason why the TMO has become a cult. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
