Replying to the first Robin2 below: Robin, it sounds like you're saying that you sensed you were getting the real me and not my beliefs. But OTOH you were very likely wrong. Given this assessment of me by you, I'd prefer to suspend communication with you. Apologies if I've misunderstood and in that case, I hope we can work things out.
Good luck with Michael on the 20th. All the best always, Share ________________________________ From: Robin Carlsen <maskedze...@yahoo.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2012 5:12 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Eastwooding: "I'm not going to shut up; it's my turn!" --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@...> wrote: > > Share: > > > ________________________________ > From: Robin Carlsen <maskedzebra@...> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Tuesday, September 4, 2012 4:09 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Eastwooding: "I'm not going to shut up; it's my > turn!" Dear Share, Robin1: You must excuse my presumption here (because it is very likely I am wrong) but I must tell you that in this post I get to feel the most Share that is there severed (perhaps not consciously:)) from her philosophy. It just *seemed* to me that all you wrote here came out of your experience unmediated by any final beliefs about what is real. Like a beautiful accident of Share making herself available beyond what would be possible were she solidly, as she almost always is, behind her spiritual orientation to people and reality (which, in the weaponry and ordnance deployed by some of us more irascible FFL posters, is sometimes--silently, mind you--denigrated as being overly positive--and therefore impotent:)). Share1: hi Robin, yes I will excuse your presumption if you excuse my not going down this particular rabbit hole again. You know, the one about my being so positive yada yada. As for my being impotent, it's not been my intention to be, uh, potent. So no problemo. Sigh, btw, I notice I'm feeling grumpy this morning. Blaming it on the sugar I ate yesterday. Somehow I've become very sensitive to sugar. Anyway, Robin, apologies for taking it out on you. Robin2: All that I was trying to communicate--and I said I was "very likely...wrong"--was the sense I had in reading your post to me that *I was only getting the human being Share Long*--and no belief system. This was my honest and undeniable experience. I had to be true to that experience, and I thought it noteworthy; I took the chance on making this experience known to the person who had produced that experience inside of me. My approach here was the only one that seemed available to me--with all the qualifiers which I thought would obviate the need to retaliate. :-) I found in the assumption that I was correct: i.e. I was only getting the person Share here--that somehow you came across more powerfully and beautifully this way--But, again, this is only an impression I have: Perhaps in your post you were aware of asserting your philosophy all the same. You must understand me here, Share, so that you do not construe my post as some kind of hint to you: viz. Hey, Share: how about laying off the positive philosophy and just talking to me as the real person you are! It was not this at all; it was my confessing to you how your post influenced me and what I assumed was the cause of that influence. Nothing more than this, Share--no matter how it seemed. And I even take responsibility for you being slightly offended by what for you--if I am interpreting you truthfully--was my attempt to be didactic. I just had a different experience of you and I tried to tell you what that experience was. I will suspend my attempt to make that experience intelligible to me, and just say: great post, Share. :-) Robin1: Yes, Share, I felt I knew something about the beauty of the Russian soul--its utter distinctiveness from any other peoples in the world--after viewing that video a number of times. The feeling of collective warmth and passion, it seemed so real and natural to me. Changed my perception of Russia, I think. Even of Putin. I think Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, from wherever he is now, must be happier about his Mother Russia--unless nationality counts for nothing after death, and one becomes, unavoidably, a universalist. But it made me want to be there among those young people--and made me have confidence about the future of Russia. Share1: Good! Because I agree with something Susan said recently about how expectations in the classroom influence a student's performance. Perhaps your confidence about future of Russia will have a good influence. Robin2: Well, I am not sure about the metaphysical implications of my realization of the startling beauty of the Russian soul, based upon what these young people conveyed to me; but certainly I believe my experience liberated me totally and irrevocably from some resentment and prejudice--against the Russian people--for their own acquiescence in the Gulag Archipelago. And for the stultification of the human soul in those countries in Eastern Europe which Stalin insisted on annexing into the Soviet Bloc after the defeat of Nazi Germany. I felt something miraculous, Share, in the feeling I had that *all this was over with*; Russia was starting afresh--and these young persons bore no legacy of guilt or shame for the iniquities of the Soviet system. This seemed merciful to me. They were separated from all that history. And they seemed as attractive as any collection of young human beings I had ever seen. Robin1: I was curious about the ginkgo bilobia reference: but I have used it daily to ward off the dementia which would be Barry's revenge against me. I am meeting with LK on the 20th of September here in Toronto. I aim to reprogram him as best I can so that he comes back onto FFL and says that I am more perfect than I was when I was in Unity Consciousness. Share1: I've heard it helps with memory and mine can be quite faulty. I resist supplements but every now and then I think I should add that one to my repetoire. Very exciting about you and LK. Want me to check if that date is auspicious? Robin2: Sure: give me the read-out on the stars for that day. If it looks auspicious, that will no doubt have some subtle effect--Meanwhile my existential intention will be to do justice to LK--and I will try to get him afterwards to write a book fully exonerating me and testifying to the truth of my complete rehabilitation. I am determined to get him to disavow every cruel and bitter word he posted about me on FFL--So: wish me luck! Robin1: I find myself, once I started to experience the effect of your words upon me, acquiescing in your decision to let that karma (as *you* call it) burn off without having to go back to where we had those delightful exchanges--*that was good for me, Share*. :-) But now like a previous lifetime (*definitely* a metaphor for me, inside the first person subjectivity thing--won't use the O word, because Steve, in his earnest desire to get as near to the truth as possible, has expressed some disquiet about the intrinsic denotation of that word) it seems to be very much in our past. We will let the good God assign its value, whatever it might have been, when we come to die, Share. Share1: Somehow you've gotten what I said all jumbled here. Anyway, what exactly was good for you? Robin2: I thought you were just saying: We burned off some old karma together through those conversations, and that in searching on FFL (as I had requested) for the last three posts, you had come to this realization, and there seemed to be no support to renew those particular conversations. This is all I was trying to say here, Share. What was good for me was your warmth, your wit, your intelligence, and your genuine insights. I should say that for the most part I did not find that your philosophy was intruding in the least, so in a sense I have refuted myself--that is, I have contradicted what I said in the opening of the post to which you are responding here. But I suppose I was just making a generalization from all your posts--and I read every one of them. *You* were good for me, Share--and I know you must have felt this. I hope I can restore your your confidence in my good faith in this matter. :-) Robin1: "What a funny old world it is"--Yeah, can't you tell? It is funny as it can be when Share Long has to reconcile all her dissonant loyalties around here--Ravi and Barry: trying to do justice to both. In any case, Share, I like the spontaneity (if you will let me call it that) of your letter to me, and I will be alert to the contingency of another wholly different form of conversation that may be in our destiny together here on FFL. *Something* sure is up these days. But I would not know what it is. Share1: The only conflicting loyalties I'm experiencing are my fond memories of Curtis from 37 years ago vs. my liking of Ravi. But I have a lot of practice from childhood dealing with such. Robin2: Well, I deem those divergent loyalties much like that of the Palestinians and the Israelis: my Orthodox Jewish brother declares: "It is a divinely irreconcilable conflict"--He, fiercely loyal to Israel and with formal academic affiliations to that country. The question posed by Ravi and Curtis is: Where is the truth here? And that is a hard and agonizing question. If your "practice from childhood dealing with such" can actually provide you some context within which you can assess the merits of each side here, such as to provide you with a perspective which you know is true to both of your friends, then you have indeed achieved something which might just make me sign up for your next workshop. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uKdHT7bquM Share: Thank you so much for this. Very haunting and beautiful. Robin2: Well, that's the only response I could think of to the Russian video. If it were not for the Sixties, Maharishi and TM would never have been anything: something happened back then and it made me reject the West and become a lover of the East (without entirely realizing what was happening). But LSD meant that Maharishi had to be right--but TM was better than LSD--and enlightenment: Well, that was beyond anything I could have imagined--but everything Maharishi promised it would be. Share PS: Hey Robin, ever watchful of my posting amounts, I want to ask you here about something you wrote in reply to Rick's Gary Greenfield story. What did you mean when you said that there are all kinds of problems that set in after a while. Sleeping elephants start waking up? Is that one way you would describe what happened to you? I also like what sparaig said about things getting sticky. I think that's inevitable on any spiritual path. Heck, in any area of life. There's always a honeymoon period that comes to an end. But then the real love can arise and grow. But perhaps that's just my first person thingie talking. Robin2: Oh, Share: it's all in my FFL posts. It is so complex. Suffice to say that when I said "all kinds of problems set in after a while" I meant that reality (for me) is not in agreement with the metaphysics of the TM-Maharishi paradigm. And the truth of pre-Vatican II Catholicism (which is unable to attest to its empirical supernatural integrity nowadays) tends to demonstrate this. What happened in the end, Share, was that what is real confronted the mystical state of my enlightenment, and began to furnish irrefutable evidence that the universe and the soul and God were not what TM tended to make them seem to be. I think in the lives of the majority of TM initiators, or even just regular meditators, this fact: that reality--consciously or unconsciously as experienced by the TM Teacher or meditator--insidiously begins to undermine the assumed truth that the experience of TM is actually bringing one into alignment with the metaphysical truth about the universe and the human person:--that this is subconsciously felt by the person. And this would constitute my definition of "problems" setting in. The reality of TM remains a dream. Therefore I think TM and Maharishi wrong about what reality is. I had the miraculous fate of embodying a reality--Unity Consciousness--and then learning through a kind of revelation that I was profoundly deceived--mystically deceived. As I say, dear Share, I have talked a lot about this here on FFL. I think I more or less have got the story out--although my readership is not entirely happy with the conclusions I have drawn from my experience. Thank you for writing with your customary warmth and openness. I shall do my best not to get you wrong again, Share. It's a nice experience--always--writing into the person that you are. Robin > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> wrote: > > > > I love their spirit too, Robin. Especially because it is in such > > contrast to the gray sky, grey stone, relentless snow. All bundled up > > against the bone deep cold and still they can turn somersaults. And not > > just on the physical level, if you know what I mean. Very > > wonderful! I love that they chose Putting On the Ritz. > > I love the inclusion of the bride and groom. Wondering where the heck > > that bouquet got to. Libra rising dontcha know! > > > > Ah, I see your psychic abilities have not diminished in the interim. > > Yes, I'm careful about posting amounts. Being accustomed to an > > unlimited situation posting wise, a few times I've lost count and come > > precariously close to posting out. Horror! > > > > > > Right, it was around the time Lord Knows showed up that you stopped > > replying. I'm not even sure of the date LK showed up much less the post > > numbers or even the subject lines of those epic exchanges. Definitely > > need some ginkgo bilobia here! Did a quick search and could not > > find. Anyway, I vote for letting those be the river well on its way to > > the ocean which is the FFL archives. I sense some old karma between us > > got gently toasted. I'm happy with that. Actually the gentle > > toasting of karma seems to be the main reason for my being on FFL. What > > a funny old world it is. > > Share  > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Robin Carlsen <maskedzebra@> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Monday, September 3, 2012 10:38 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Eastwooding: "I'm not going to shut up; it's > > my turn!" > > > > > >  > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> wrote: > > > > > > Wow, Robin, best recent youtube post IMHO. thank you. > > > These young peeps are ALREADY changing the world for the better. > > > > Dear Share, > > > > Well, when I was last in Moscow in 1985, the existential possibility of > > something like this was zero. The feeling generated by these young Russians > > reveals the terrible truth of the Soviet experiment. Regardless of the > > depredations of unchecked capitalism in the aftermath of the collapse of > > communism, the soul of the Russian people has been liberated. In fact, > > Share, I formed an impression of Russia in watching this video which began > > to neutralize the baleful memories of twenty-seven years ago. > > > > If you don't mind using up a precious post, could you send me the FFL post > > numbers of those three posts of yours which represented three different > > continuing conversations we were having. I think the advent of the LK > > episode sidetracked me. Not that I promise to respond to them now (as if > > *that* is any big deal!), but I would like to look them over. > > > > The video you liked, Share, for me it says there is something beautiful > > about those Russians. I understand now how a person can be very proud to be > > a Russian. The collective vibration of these young Russians, it was more > > compelling to me than the collective vibration of a love-in in the late > > Sixties. I loved their spirit. > > > > Robin > > > > > ________________________________ > > > From: Robin Carlsen <maskedzebra@> > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > Sent: Monday, September 3, 2012 8:30 AM > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Eastwooding: "I'm not going to shut up; it's > > > my turn!" > > > > > > > > >  > > > > > > > > > http://www.youtube.com/embed/KgoapkOo4vg?rel=0 > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > > > As sad as it may be to keep twisting the knife that one > > > > of the TMO's poster boys for the awesome power of TM > > > > to enhance creative intelligence plunged into himself > > > > may be, I must, because it provides such a perfect > > > > explanation of the dynamics of FFL. > > > > > > > > The term "Eastwooding" has now entered the vocabulary > > > > used to describe crazy people. That term will outlast > > > > his screen legacy. Which is good in a way, because now > > > > we at Fairfield Life have that term to describe the > > > > actions of those who -- affronted dearly by something > > > > someone has done, or has said about them, or didn't > > > > even say but the Eastwooder imagined them saying it -- > > > > feel the need to preach or yell at them, long after > > > > the offending person has stopped listening. > > > > > > > > http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/01/in-a-friday-night-special-jon-stewart-celebrates-clint-eastwoods-fistful-of-awesome/ > > > > > > > > "You will not silence me, invisible Barack Obama!" > > > > > > > > Substitute "Vaj" for "Barack Obama" in the sentence > > > > above. Or replace that name with "Curtis." Or with > > > > "Sal," or even -- 12 years after he last appeared -- > > > > "Andrew Skolnick." Or finish the sentence with > > > > "invisible Barry," and then continue yelling at > > > > the empty chair for...wait for it...17 years. > > > > > > > > To quote Jon Stewart in this awesome bit, "But I > > > > could never wrap my head around why the world and > > > > the President that Republicans describe bears so > > > > little resemblance to the world and the President > > > > that I experience. Now I know why. There is a > > > > President Obama that only Republicans can see." > > > > > > > > Continuing the "replacement game," replace the > > > > words "the world and the President" with any of > > > > the names I suggested above. Replace the word > > > > "Republicans" with "crazy people." And instead > > > > of spending 12 minutes demonstrating the crazy > > > > by trying to convince others that these people > > > > the crazy person hates are the root cause of > > > > everything wrong with the world, spend 17 > > > > years doing it. > > > > > > > > > >