There are many things that still surprise me about the things that long-term TM TBs believe and that I no longer believe, but I admit to having been somewhat taken aback yesterday at Lawson's seemingly unquestioning acceptance of what he was told about the nature of enlightenment. That is, that (according to MMY) once one is enlightened, a person cannot possibly do any wrong, because all of their actions are "run" by God, or the Laws Of Nature, or whatever/whomever they believe is pulling the strings.
I personally consider this belief THE most negative and THE most destructive in all of the "spiritual" mythologies that have built up around the concept of enlightenment. And I say this *knowing* where the belief comes from. It comes from the subjective experience of a brain fart that makes one feel as if one is "not the doer." THAT, plus the experience of having some dissociative "distance" from one's thoughts and actions that one has been taught to associate with "witnessing" have been the cause of most of the bad things that have taken place in the history of the pursuit of enlightenment. The fascinating thing from my point of view is that this particular brain fart can be created in a laboratory, through the use of medications, or by overloading the normal electrical impulses of the brain by stronger impulses, applied to certain areas of the brain. When this happens, the subject begins to feel as if they are "not the doer," and that something ELSE is "running things." All because of an induced brain fart. Enlightenment traditions that glorify this brain fart teach that this mysterious "ELSE" is God, or the workings of the "Laws Of Nature," and thus anything the person in Brain Fart Consciousness "finds themselves doing" while in this "not the doer" state is the RIGHT thing, the GODLY thing, the PERFECT thing. I -- having experienced this brain fart myself many times -- call bullshit. Brain Fart Consciousness is Just Another State Of Attention. It is no "better" or "higher" or "superior" than any other. People just believe it is because they've been TAUGHT to believe that. If they had never heard any of the myths of the enlightenment traditions, and had just stumbled upon this brain fart themselves, they would probably consult a psychiatrist, who would diagnose their condition as dissociation. But they HAVE been taught that this "witnessing" brain fart is not only a form of "Something good is happening," it's the BEST form of something good happening. It's an indicator -- in their brainwashed minds, that is -- of enlightenment. And why? Because, in my opinion, these people long for a state in which they can consider themselves Not Responsible for anything they do. The 60s comedy group The Firesign Theater used to do some great routines based on this concept. "Park and Lock It -- Not Responsible." The whole idea is that the person selling something or doing something is Not Responsible for whatever happens to those buying it. People who believe in this Brain Fart Consciousness model of enlightenment seem to feel that they can do or say ANYTHING and *get away with it* because it's not really *them* doing it. It's God, or enlightenment, or the Laws Of Nature. THEY are off the hook. The thing is, I don't think either the material world OR the more sensible world of enlightenment work that way. The person in the lab who has had this "not the doer" brain fart induced may FEEL as if their actions are being performed by someone/something ELSE, but THEY'RE NOT. If a subject in such an experiment, completely convinced that they were "not the doer," chose to do something like rob a bank or kill someone, they would be convicted in a court of law faster than shit through a goose. And rightly. What they "feel" about "who" or "what" is pulling the trigger is simply not in question. If it was their finger on the trigger, THEY are responsible. But in spiritual communities who have been conditioned to believe the SAME myths about "what enlightenment means," people who claim to be in this witnessing Brain Fart Consciousness do and say stuff every day that the people around them *let them get away with*, because these toadies have been taught to believe the same myth. People who have claimed to be enlightened have committed crimes, have raped people, have lied, have smuggled money across international borders, and have done any number of other heinous deeds, and their followers not only *let them get away with it*, they make excuses to justify these actions. All because all of them have been brainwashed with this idea that once a person has become enlightened, that person is Not Responsible any more. Being enlightened "trumps" any notions of law or morality or even decency. Whatever the person in Brain Fart Consciousness "finds themselves doing," that is RIGHT, PERFECT, a veritable manifestation of the Laws Of Nature. You'll have to forgive me if I find people who believe in this model of enlightenment pitiable. What a low-rent "goal" in life -- aspiring to be no longer responsible for one's own words and actions. It's IMO the lowest of "low hanging fruit" in all of spiritual mythology. In my view, every human being is COMPLETELY responsible for his or her actions at all times. There is *never* a state of consciousness in which this is not true. Those who try to convince you otherwise are trying to get away with something.
