--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson <mjackson74@...> wrote: > > I'm taking the word of one of Marshy's skin boys whom I > spoke with on the phone about a week ago.
Translation: My mind is made up; don't confuse me with the facts. No kidding, Michael, that's a pretty pathetic response. > From: emptybill <emptybill@...> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2013 2:52 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: David Lynch Is Back > > >  > Outside of your personal opinions, your statements about the TM technique > are not accurate. > > M.Jack says: > > TM isnot a simple mental technique making use of > meaningless sounds. > It is in fact a Hindu devotional practice of chanting > (silently) the names of Hindu goddesses. > > In reply, here is a previous post discussing the differences between > meditation-mantra and devotional-japa. > > ************************************************************************* > > Recently I have read here on FFL an argument > professed by some former TM'ers who stopped practicing because they claimed > they were deceived about the "meaning" of mantras. > Their fundamental claim is that a mantra is the > name of a Hindu god. The claim is that a mantra, by definition, encapsulates a > method for worshiping a Hindu god but that this fact is withheld from > practitioners. Within the domain of this argument, these claimants will often > quote some text from a Hindu Tantra. These are passages usually assigning a > particular deity to a particular mantra and sometimes even assigning a set of > deities to each of the Sanskrit letters composing the written forms of the > mantric sound. This textual assignment is sometimes done haphazardly and > occasionally is done in the Vedic format of rishi-deva-chhanda. > Along with the quoted Tantric text is sometimes a > statement by MMY, declaring that a mantra is a "sound whose effect is > known". This argument quotes the TMO claim that a mantra is used in TM for > the beneficial effects it produces in causing the spontaneous refinement of > perception. This explanation is then paraded as an example of shameful > exploitation of Western ignorance of the "Hindu" foundation of TM and > of any other Indian meditation that does not confess itself as a form of > "Hindu devotionalism". This devotionalist criticism is further > paraded by pointing to various Indian swamis and cross-eyed yogis who make > these same claims and arguments themselves. > Some considerations about these claims: > SBS taught in India. MMY began teaching in India > before coming to the West. They both taught within the context of the Indian > Hindu cultural model. Although they taught in India, where there are many > Muslims, they did not present their teaching within a Muslim cultural model. > Although Buddhism is from India and many Indian consider Buddha one of their > own, neither SBS nor MMY taught within a Buddhist cultural model. Rather, they > taught within the cultural context of their listeners. > After coming to the West, MMY continued speaking > and teaching within a similar Indian cultural model - for a while. It > was the teaching model established by Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda > â" > partly religious, partly philosophical and partly yogic. However the cultural > context of this form of teachings was the 19th and 20th century paradigm of > Western Modernity. > When MMY realized the limitations brought by this > model and of religious language here in the West he took a left turn. That > divergence left some of his teachers behind - Charlie Lutts being an example. > This is one reason that pointing to early religious > language by MMY or SBS is an inaccurate over-simplification. > As far as the "it is all a deceit" claimants, the two > groups that are the most antagonist and strident are the materialists and the > religionists. Materialists claim mantras are the mumbo formulas of hindoo gods > and that the concept of gods/god is a false idea propounded by power brokers > to > enslave the masses. This is a truncated Marxist view popular among the > half-educated. > Contrary to this, the religionists claim that mantras are > secret demonic traps devised to enslave us to hindoo devils. This is the view > of true-believer adherents of the Abrahamic religions â" Jews, Christians and > Muslims. This is not simply a fundamentalist diatribe from TV evangelicals. > This was the original view of Christians from the second century C.E. forward > and after Constantine's ascent to Roman power was used as incinerating > ideological propellant for killing polytheists.   > What is obvious is that both groups are unable to > rationally consider the facts because they are ideologues entrenched in a > priori conclusions. One example of > this is a clear demarcation about the difference between yoga and religion. > Materialists dismiss such an idea because yoga historically emerged within in > a > Hindu cultural context. Semitic monotheists condemn this idea for the same > reason. > If we consider the role of yoga, it is apparent > that most meditating Westerners are functionally ignorant about the nature, > range, depth and complexity of yoga lineages - whether Vedic, Hindu, Buddhist > or Jain. Most of them do not know the difference between Vedic, Puranic and > Tantric lineages of practice. They also do not understand how these three > streams developed and then intertwined into Hindu temple rites. They don't > know vidhi from vedi.* > Even more surprising, most swamis and imported, > so-called  "yogis" are not > Pandits, Indologists, or Sanskritists. Very few are formally educated in the > yoga traditions of the Indian subcontinent. Most are only trained in asana, > pranayam and japa. A little bhakti here, > a few Upanishad citations there and "om > tat sat" - I'm a guru. > Faced with this, most of us Westerners who meditate > are at a disadvantage when presented with claims that we are not educated to > conceptualize within an informed view. > So, to counter-point this misunderstanding, I am > providing a short but authoritative quotation from an impeccable yogic source > about the difference between mantra practice in both yogic and devotional > sadhana practice. >  Hari > Dass Baba (the upa-guru of Ram Dass) > Quotes on > the difference between Mantra practice and Japa practice. > 1.     Mantra > is the repetition of sounds or words which have power due to the vibration > of the sound itself. > 2.     Japa is the rhythmic repetition of a name of > God. >  It (Japa) consists of automatic Pranayama, > concentration and meditation. The main idea in doing Japa is to make the mind > thoughtless. Then automatically body consciousness disappears. If your body > consciousness disappears, it means your sadhana is going well. The body is the > medium of sadhana and the body is the hindrance in sadhana. Japa is a > formal method of worshipping God. It should be done privately > and preferably with a mala, or rosary. >  Silence Speaks: from the chalkboard of > Baba Hari Dass, 1977 (my bolding). > *vidhi is a specific method of puja. Vedi is the altar > used in yajna. > As an addendum: Western Buddhists are slightly more > educated about the various streams of Buddhism but on the other hand they read > a lot. In reality they don't know much about the differences in viewpoints or > sadhana practice between Theravada, Mahayana and Tantra. They know even less > about the differences in basic view between Zen, Tantra, Mahamudra and > Dzogchen. > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson <mjackson74@> wrote: > > > > So since they aren't posting my comment - here it is: > > > > > > I began TM in 1974 and enjoyed it enough to become a real TM > > fanatic and cheerleader. As the years went by, I left the TM Movement due to > > the huge disconnect between the promises of TM and what it actually > > delivered, > > especially the awful, arrogant deceitful behavior of even the low to mid > > level > > managers of the TM organization, much less the leaders of the Movement. > > > > Lynch is spearheading a very carefully orchestrated effort > > to sanitize the TM's image to a pre-1976 luster. 1976 was the year their > > Maharishi announced the TM Sidhi program to the world. The TM Movement can > > honestly be characterized as a decades long flow of dishonesty and deceit, > > taking money under false pretenses and very unpleasant behavior on the part > > of > > those who administrate the Movement. > > > > I had the pleasure of speaking at some length with someone > > who spent years as Maharishi's personal secretary and for all his praise of > > the > > man, this person told me that it was clear that the leader of the TM > > movement > > was totally focused on sex, money and personal power. What the Big M > > created, > > his Movement perpetuates. > > > > TM is not a simple mental technique making use of > > meaningless sounds. It is in fact a Hindu devotional practice of chanting > > (silently) the names of Hindu goddesses. And that is alright as long as you > > are > > upfront about what you are doing. For my money and in my experience, TM is > > one > > big scam. After more than 20 years I stopped doing TM and never looked back. > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: obbajeeba no_re...@yahoogroups.com > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Friday, February 22, 2013 8:52 PM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: David Lynch Is Back > > > > > > à> > I hope you can post your comment here. Please, please, please!? > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson wrote: > > > > > > thanks nabby for posting - I put my own nice comment there - let's see if > > > they have the guts to post it. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > From: nablusoss1008 no_re...@yahoogroups.com > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > Sent: Friday, February 22, 2013 3:11 PM > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] David Lynch Is Back > > > > > > > > > Ãâà> > > Advertise on NYTimes.com > > > David Lynch Is Back âââ¬Ã¦ as a Guru of Transcendental Meditation > > > > > > David Lynch for The New York Times > > > David Lynch took a self-portrait at Idem Paris, a fine-art printing > > > studio, in December. > > > Ãâà> > > Article at The New York Times here: > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 > > > > > >
