The ego is what it is, it functions the way it functions. Among other things, as a created being, the ego has a vested interest in its own survival, in not looking at itself for the temporary energy pattern it is, but rather as a very pleasing Being unto itself. The ego functions by its own logic, and nothing else. Its logic allows it to do what it pleases to remain as it is, to perpetuate the basic energy patterns that make up the form of that particular ego.
The ego will use any means to continue its existence and perpetuate its own energy pattern. It will use even legitimate spiritual energy and knowledge, swooping into the energy and knowledge and using it for its own egoic ends. Thus Maharishi who had a firm grounding in Vedic knowledge began at a certain point to use the dissemination of the knowledge to fuel his own egoic agenda, which I and others have described in other posts. I think you are asking me if I am willing to concede that he had a Good Ego that did Good for the world and the answer is no I do not. He did among other gurus from the east serve to introduce more awareness of meditation into the West. Most of the people who did or do TM believe he was the major influence in introducing meditation to the West, but that is because their opinions are biased by having followed him to some degree themselves. Followers of Yogananda would give him the credit, Muktananda devotees give Muktananda the credit and so on. So Maharishi had an influence in society, and many did consciously experience some degree of Pure Awareness as a result of TM practice. So did those who did and do other techniques. The TM Movement often touts the number of people who have been initiated into TM. But many have stopped doing TM for many reasons. The TM landscape is littered with basket cases, people whose lives and ability to function and do well in the world were short circuited by practice of TM and by associating with the Movement itself. That in my opinion is one of the things that has to be addressed in any honest discussion of the Movement and its effect on the world. As to the assertion that the Maharishi Effect and Yogic Flying is going to do all this great stuff, look its been 60 years, with about 36 of those years having groups of people practicing the flying sutra together. How long do you wait? If the Movement were gonna create world peace it would have done so by now. Relationship of body and akasha – lightness of cotton fibre is not gonna create world peace no matter how much we might want to believe so. To sum up, some people did get good things from their private practice of TM and continue to do so. Few people ever get any good out of messing with the Movement. But I do realize that no one is gonna change their mind about their concept of Maharishi and his effect. The deal is that all of us identify ourselves to some extent with what we do, what we wear, social status, bank account etc. Folks on the spiritual path like to disparage doctors, lawyers and socialites for doing so while we are busily identifying ourselves with our spiritual practice or guru. There is no difference between someone who identifies themselves as the object of perception as a doctor who makes a ton of money and a spiritual meditator who is saving the world by doing TM or whatever their chosen method of spiritual practice may be. It is still being object referral rather than self-referral, identifying ourselves with the Self. So some good and some not so good has come out of M being on the planet and doing his thing. Lots of people have not been able to believe that he could have the energy he had and still manipulate and mis-use people for his own egoic ends. I do. One can have tremendous power and energy and still be in ego and mis-use the power. Maharishi did. If you don’t believe it, just look at the Movement. It is his Movement, his creation. Look at the way the Movement and its leaders have always behaved. That is his creation. Many have for years created in their minds a separation between M and the Movement. It isn’t logical to do so. When people create something the energy of the creator goes into it and perpetuates it. If you believe that he was this pristine icon of do-gooder-ness and the Movement people just screwed everything up on their own, then he would have to have been completely oblivious to what was going on around him and would have to have been an incompetent manager and he most certainly was neither. ________________________________ From: Buck <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 11:14 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Saniel Bonder in Fairfield visits --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson <mjackson74@...> wrote: > > In response to what is quoted here from Robin, in my opinion the problem was > always that with someone with the tremendous energy of Maharishi (and by > energy I mean the palpable energy field around him that some people could > feel) coupled with his oratory abilities and his drive and knowledge, but > PRIMARILY because of the energy around him, no one ever stopped to consider > that a person can have that kind of energy and charisma and STILL have ego. > > Think of your own ego, and imagine the energy you felt around M funneled > through your ego and guided and co-opted by that ego - that is what we had > with Maharishi - tremendous Divine Energy funneled through a big ego. > > I still say if you believe he was enlightened in the way enlightenment is > described in the Vedas, then much of what he did personally and nothing of > what the Movement did makes any sense. If you realize he was using his power > and energy to have a hell of an ego trip, replete with lots of babes, oodles > of money and the oft repeated experience of manipulating people AND getting > to set himself up as the Big Cheese then everything he did and everything the > Movement did and continues to do makes total sense. > > Jackson, Your diagnosis puts him as Big Cheese egomaniac funneling Divine Energy. Could that put a capitalized letter 'E' on the ego of maniacal, and then also all for the capitalized 'Good'? Do you go that far? -Buck > > > > ________________________________ > From: khazana108 <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 6:38 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Saniel Bonder in Fairfield visits > > > Â > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Robin Carlsen" <maskedzebra@> wrote: > > > I have decided that Maharishi was more seductive and entrancing and > > enthralling than the most beautiful woman in the world--the spiritual > > substituting here for the erotic. And yet for all that, I believe Maharishi > > was a lie. But I would be maybe 40% of the person I am now had I not known > > and devoted myself to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and his Teachings. And he > > allowed us to have the opportunity to initiate someone into TM: no one but > > an initiator in the early seventies can know what that was like. No one > > since Saint Peter has known what the experience was like to be around > > Maharishi. Christ took Peter away from his fishing; Maharishi took us away > > from psychedelics. It is a story that has hardly begun to be told. > > > > Oh well... > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8RhZDGLEXM >
