"Rama's "third level of writing" is something I'm not sure I've ever achieved,
but I still aspire to it. That's when you manage to capture enough of the
energy and mindset of an extraordinary experience that *someone else* can get a
hit on it, and feel a little of the original energy and wonder."
If my experience is any indication, you have achieved that third level for sure.
--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 1/17/14, TurquoiseB <turquoi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy, is a terrible thing.
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 17, 2014, 8:09 AM
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson
wrote:
>
> I am still reading - its a pretty extraordinary book,
to me anyway. You are quite the writer and should I ever be
able to write to that level, I will be a happy man.
>
> I am still feeling energy, sometimes with a Capital
"E." Some I might expect such as the account of
Rama allowing the golden light to glow and glow and glow in
the room, the Buddha meditation in the Hawaiian
restaurant...,
Ah, yes...good moments, both of
them. The latter story was written at the time, which
possibly makes a difference. Fred Lenz was, after all, an
English professor before he became a guru/cult figure, and
so he highly recommended that everyone keep a Journal, and
when they had extraordinary experiences, to write them down
*as soon as possible* after they'd happened. His theory
was -- and I fully believe it is true, based on personal
experience -- that many of these experiences happen in
alternate realities that you can't easily access or even
remember when you're "back" in your normal,
everyday reality. He felt -- and again I agree -- that if
you have some whiz-bang experience that if you don't
write it down in the first day or so after it happens, much
or most of the experience will be lost to you forever. When
trying to "go back" and recapture it, you'll
end up adding too much fiction and moodmaking into the
writing, because you won't be able to remember how it
*felt*. You can't "recapture" the state of
attention you were in at the time because you are no longer
in it.
On the other hand, his theory was that if you *do* write it
down at the time, you can then go back later and
"polish" the writing (as I did with some of the
stories), but more important, the writing now serves as kind
of a doorway or portal "back to" the state of
attention you experienced while the original events were
going on. He called this "the second level of
writing," creating a catalyst for yourself such that,
when you read it again in the future, it "takes you
back" to the mindset of the original experience and
allows you to experience it again. That certainly happened
for me when writing some of the stories, and still happens
sometimes when I go back and read some of them.
Rama's "third level of writing" is something
I'm not sure I've ever achieved, but I still aspire
to it. That's when you manage to capture enough of the
energy and mindset of an extraordinary experience that
*someone else* can get a hit on it, and feel a little of the
original energy and wonder. I've certainly experienced
that when reading some of my favorite
authors.
> ...but some of the strongest Energy was when I read the
chapter "Style" about how you live your life when
no one else is watching (and how you decorate a house) -
Maybe I am just wanting to feel a lot so I am doing so at
odd moments.
Whatever. A lot of these stories
were written -- like my Paris cafe stories -- sitting down
at a cafe in Santa Fe with essentially a blank mind and a
blank canvas, and just *writing*, to see what came out. At
the time of that story, I was just having SO much fun
decorating my house that I guess that's what came out.
:-)
> Anyhow I am gonna take a break for the night and see
what tomorrow brings - thanks again for sharing this link -
I'm getting a lot out of it.
No problem, and I hope it
answers some of your questions. He was definitely an odd
guy, clearly the oddest I've ever met in this lifetime.
Much of my experience studying with him was wonderful, and
mainly because -- in contrast to the TMO where I'd spent
the previous few years -- so much of it was FUN. We went to
movies together; we went to Disneyland together; we went to
Hawaii and Paris and Amsterdam together. We'd dress up
in tuxes and evening dresses and have lavish dinners at The
Pierre in NY or at Windows On The World. Nothing about the
trip was "reclusive" or aspiring to head off
someday and live in a cave. It was very much a Tantric trip
-- not only about living in the world, but about living in
the world *well*, and with some style.
When it began to be less fun, I wound up having to make some
decisions about whether to bail on it or not, and wound up
bailing. Many friends stuck it out for a couple of more
years, but then Rama wound up bailing on *them*, kinda
leaving them floundering for some time. I consider myself
fortunate that I had made my own decision to leave before
then, and thus didn't have to deal with that sudden
absence.
Anyway, to quote the Grateful Dead, it was a "long,
strange trip," and even though I'm not part of it
any more, I'm glad I wrote some of it down. Heck, if I
hadn't, by now I'd be half convinced that I imagined
it all. :-)
But I didn't.
> --------------------------------------------
> On Thu, 1/16/14, TurquoiseB turquoiseb@... wrote:
>
> Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy, is a terrible
thing.
> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 7:47 PM
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson
> wrote:
> >
> > I am still feeling tons of palpable energy even
as I go
> about my day. Will get back to you on that in a
while.
>
> Interesting. I always wondered
> about that.
>
> I know that I often felt incredible waves of energy
while
> writing many of the stories, but I didn't know
whether
> that could "communicate" or come across to
someone
> who wasn't there. I've had other Rama students
tell
> me that they "felt" something, but they
were
> there, and thus could just be having some memory
being
> triggered.
>
> I haven't gone back and read RTM myself in quite
some
> time, so it's difficult for me to even remember
all that
> I wrote back then. But what I can remember is that
the
> "highest" stories from my point of view
were
> probably the tsakli stories (by definition some of
the
> highest moments of my life) and the two scorpion
stories.
>
> > --------------------------------------------
> > On Thu, 1/16/14, TurquoiseB turquoiseb@ wrote:
> >
> > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy, is a
terrible
> thing.
> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
> > Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 7:21 PM
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael
Jackson
>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > I changed my day so I could delve into what
you
> had
> > written - I have gone through a lot of it and
it
> answers
> > most of my questions. Mainly I wanted to know if
you
> thought
> > Rama was legit in the beginning and if you
witnessed
> any of
> > the power or sidhi demonstrations he did.
Obviously
> yes to
> > both.
> >
> > If by "legit" you mean
> > enlightened, I don't know. What I do know is
that
> in the
> > beginning he was a nicer guy and a better
teacher, and
> was
> > obviously going through *something*. What that
> something was
> > I still don't know; all I know is that it
radiated
> so
> > strongly you could feel it. Meditate with the
man and
> there
> > was no issue of stopping thoughts. You
couldn't
> *have*
> > thoughts. The silence was that profound.
> >
> > As for the performance of sidhis, yes I
witnessed
> them, as
> > did literally thousands of other people over
the
> years, but
> > again, I can't claim to "know what was
> > happening." All I can say is that it DID
happen
> for me,
> > subjectively, and that it was kinda neat to see.
I was
> never
> > as wowed out as some people were by the sidhis,
> strangely
> > enough because I stilled believed in something
> Maharishi had
> > said earlier (and later changed his mind about),
that
> sidhis
> > did not mean enlightenment, and vice-versa.
Apples
> and
> > oranges. No relation between the two.
> >
> > Interestingly enough, especially given your
next
> comment,
> > the real phwam! of seeing these things was not
so
> much
> > seeing them but FEELING them. *Whatever* was
going on,
> there
> > was a palpable field of energy that surrounding
it
> that just
> > knocked my socks off.
> >
> > > I had a hard time reading much of it
because I
> began to
> > feel a great deal of energy as soon as I
started
> reading, I
> > mean LOTS of energy. So I am taking the reading
in
> stages.
> > Read a little. Sweep my floors a little, clean
the
> > bathrooms, come down off the energy a little and
read
> a
> > little more.
> >
> > Interesting to hear that you
> > felt something while reading it. I certainly
did
> while
> > writing it.
> >
> > > Two minor questions I have are:
> > >
> > > Did you know this guy? Mark Laxer
> >
> > Yes. We were friends in the
> > early days, but he was one of the early
defectors, and
> I
> > just haven't run into him since. I'm
sure he
> had
> > some interesting things to say in his memoir
piece
> about
> > Rama, but I haven't read it.
> >
> > > Have you ever read his book Take Me for a
Ride:
> Coming
> > of Age in a Destructive Cult Paperback?
> >
> > No. It's difficult for me to
> > read other students' books about Rama,
because 1)
> > I'm not really that interested in the guy
these
> days,
> > and 2) what they experienced was what *they*
> experienced. It
> > may or may not map to my experience, and neither
of us
> is
> > "right" about what we saw and
experienced,
> or what
> > we think of him. We just saw and experienced
what we
> > experienced, that's all.
> >
> > > If so is it accurate?
> >
> > Can't help you. As I said, I
> > haven't read it.
> >
> > > That's all - back to the energy now
and
> thanks for
> > talking and thanks for writing about Rama and
all the
> other
> > things you wrote about.
> > >
--------------------------------------------
> > > On Thu, 1/16/14, Michael Jackson
mjackson74@
> wrote:
> > >
> > > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy,
is a
> > terrible thing.
> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
> > > Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 4:02 PM
> > >
> >
> > > Thanks Barry - I am gonna read what
you
> have
> > > written and if I have any questions after
that,
> > I'll
> > > send 'em.
> > >
> > > Got a busy day today, but I intend to
start
> reading it
> > later
> > > tonight.
> > >
> > >
--------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > On Thu, 1/16/14, TurquoiseB turquoiseb@
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy, is
a
> terrible
> > thing.
> > >
> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
> > >
> > > Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 8:21
AM
> > >
> > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,
Michael
> Jackson
> >
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > I would like to have a conversation
with
> you
> > about
> > > your
> > > time with Rama if you are willing. I am
more
> than
> > happy to
> > > do it privately if you like cause I know
some
> on here
> > are
> > > going to revile you no matter what you
say. So
> can
> > we
> > > talk?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I don't mind, as long as you
> > >
> > > understand a few things at the outset.
First,
> I
> > rarely
> > > even
> > >
> > > think about the dude any more, except
when
> something
> > >
> > > triggers a memory, as something you said
in one
> of
> > your
> > >
> > > posts did yesterday. Second, I don't
waste
> my
> > time
> > >
> > > either condemning or defending him -- he
was
> what he
> > was,
> > >
> > > and I don't much care what anyone
thinks
> about
> > him.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Third, however, and as you say, if we do
it
> here you
> > can
> > >
> > > expect a lot of "piling on"
from
> stalkers
> > here.
> > >
> > > They'll do it for various reasons.
Some
> will
> > start
> > >
> > > piling on when they hear tales of
thousands of
> his
> > > students
> > >
> > > witnessing siddhis they've *still*
only
> read
> > about,
> > >
> > > after 30 years of pursuing them and
after
> paying
> > thousands
> > >
> > > of dollars to supposedly learn them. Some
will
> pile
> > on
> > >
> > > because they don't like me, and they
> mistakenly
> > > believe
> > >
> > > that if they diss a former teacher I
still have
> some
> > >
> > > positive feelings about, it'll push
my hot
> > buttons the
> > >
> > > same way me saying things about MMY
pushes
> theirs,
> > and
> > > thus
> > >
> > > I'll react and get into one of the
> Robin-like
> > >
> > > "confrontations" with them they
so
> hope
> > for.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > That's not gonna happen, so we might
as
> well do
> > it
> > > here.
> > >
> > > :-) But I'll warn you ahead of time
that
> my
> > attention
> > >
> > > span for "things Rama-related"
is
> pretty
> > damned
> > >
> > > short these days, so if you have
questions,
> make the
> > first
> > >
> > > few "count," because at some
point
> I'll
> > get
> > >
> > > tired of the whole thing and bail. :-)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > That said, ask anything you want, and
I'll
> do my
> > best
> > > to
> > >
> > > answer your questions as honestly as I
wrote
> > "Road
> > > Trip
> > >
> > > Mind." That would be a good place to
start
> if
> > you are
> > >
> > > actually curious about the dude. I wrote
it to
> get
> > the
> > >
> > > Rama-monkey off my back, and it worked.
I
> don't
> > > actually
> > >
> > > have a great deal more to say about the
guy
> than I
> > said in
> > >
> > > that book.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> http://www.ramalila.net/RoadTripMind/index.html
> > >
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > >
> >
>
