I'll comment on this just to point out something I've noticed along the Way, and was reminded of this morning when I found an old email from a former FFL member who left because he found the place full of people he could no longer identify with. The reason was that they seemed to focus on and get off on *the spiritual experiences of others*, rather than doing what is necessary to have spiritual experiences of their own.
I tend to agree, and it's something I just don't "get." I have a good friend who now makes his living as a traveling spiritual teacher (not guru, to his credit) doing slide shows and presentations about the great sidhas and saints he finds inspiring. So, obviously, do the people he's presenting to; they show up in droves and support his evangelism so that he doesn't have to...uh...work. And while I admire him dedicating his life to inspiring others, I admit to just not "getting" WHY they're so inspired. What is it about hearing stories (or reading stories) about people who have supposedly mastered some sidhi or done some miraculous (and possibly mythical) thing like "attaining the rainbow body" that people GET OFF ON? Maybe I'm jaded, but such stories don't do anything for me but bore me. I'm more interested in people who put their self discovery to work and actually *do something* that is of benefit to others. Like feeding the poor or writing beautiful poetry or making music. Or just being nice to the people they meet, ferchrissakes. THAT kinda stuff I find inspiring. But tales of people claiming to have become enlightened (as if that was "special" or meaningful) or having "attained" some power that they never put to any kind of practical or compassionate use -- nada. Just doesn't float my boat. I've asked some people about this, and they say that hearing about these people inspires them and makes them "keep on keepin' on," working towards attaining such supposedly lofty heights themselves. Me, I don't quite believe it, because my experience tells me that the people who get off on Other People's Stories tend to wind up living for decades without ever having any Experiences Of Their Own. So I guess what I'm saying is that this fascination with the flashy or miraculous "special" spiritual figures strikes me as being a lot like the spiritual counterpart of porn. When you look into it, people who watch porn seem to *only* watch porn, and aren't gettin' any sex themselves. People who focus of the lives of supposed "masters" similarly seem to never develop any mastery themselves. Just my opinion... ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2014 4:00 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] St. Gemma Galgani, the Gem of Christ A fact probably much appreciated by the MUM people: she was also a levitator; but in the completely misguided and dishonest notions of the TM TB at MUM and elsewhere, her capacity to levitate cannot be attributed solely to her advancement in Self-Realization. The concepts relating to ontological BEING are not even addressed nor recognized by most modern Catholic theologians. Historically, St. Thomas Aquinas attempted to reconcile the two viewpoints of "BEING" and dualistic devotion to Jesus. But having failed to accomplish that task on an intellectual level, he gave up the egghead approach of philosophy and became a true mystic. He may have gotten close to or actually attained MMY's Unity, but we may not know for sure at this time. ...In any event, like St. Gemma Galgani, Aquinas was an accomplished levitator (in spite of his hefty weight). .http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/12/st-gemma-galgani-lover-of-jesus.html
