I forget Sal, who is it that claims TM did not, of does not have some cultish elements about it? I mean, I know you have a minor orgasm when you come upon some new example.
I left before the Robin Carlson period, but I imagine he created quite a challenge to the existing structure. So, I am not surprised that the powers that be felt alarmed. Can you imagine a similar thing happening with any other teacher? Name one. Name any. How would it have played out? What about Rama if someone emerged to present a significant challenge? On the other hand, the separation of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was, by all appearances, an amicable parting. So how do you explain that. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : How to tell if you're in a cult #75 Seems rather fragile this invincibility, eh? ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <mjackson74@...> wrote : I was talking to my Kentucky friend Bob the other day. Bob was MIU for eight years total, as a student for most of them, but he worked on staff from time to time. This is what he told me. "Yeah I was there during the Robin Carlsen years. I went to see him once, just once, out of curiosity really. And it was interesting, but he was kinda strange I thought. He was kinda strange. Now one thing, he did have some energy, no question about it. He looked directly in my eyes and man I felt like he was peering into all the deep dark stuff that was in there, you know? But he was really kinda strange, and from what I could see of his stuff, well he was doing exorcisms is what he was really doing with people. But anyway I only went that one time, and that was the only time I saw him except for the time he came to a Charlie Lutes talk and I was there. But anyway, I went back on campus after the Robin Carlsen thing, and went to work the next day like usual, I was working the in press at that time and about half way through the day a guy comes in and says "Bob, the Ad Council wants to see you." So I said ok and man, there were a few guys in the press that day, and none of 'em would look me straight in the eye, they all had these hang dog looks on their faces and would only look at me out of the sides of their eyes. So I followed this guy on over to where they were waiting for me, and I walk in the room and there is Bill Rist, Mario Orsati and James Beddinger. There was one other guy there too, but I can't remember who it was. They sit me down and started in on the interrogation. They asked me all kinds of questions about my going to see Robin, but the main thing they kept asking me over and over was "Do you believe in him?" So I told 'em what I knew they wanted to hear, like I thought he was flakey and I just went that one time out of curiosity and stuff like that. I guess I satisfied them, cause they didn't kick me out, but they sure did give me some lectures about how I needed to be careful about what I did as a staff or student and I needed to be careful about my behavior and my thinking. And that was the end of it, except that after that every time I saw James around campus he would give me these looks, you know, like "I'm watching you boy!" kind of looks. And I swear, you know I am a big and was a big Charlie Lutes fan so whenever Charlie would come anywhere close to Fairfield, I would always go see him. But after that "meeting" with Bill Rist and Mario and James, ever after that when I would come back on campus after seeing Charlie, there would come James. It didn't matter if I was headed to my room or the dining hall or student union, or wherever I would be, just a few minutes after getting back on campus, James would come walking by. He would just say hello, but I knew he was letting me know he knew I had gone to see Charlie. The other thing that happened was from then on any time I applied for a course of any kind, WPA or whatever my application was always held up and I had to answer questions about going to see Robin Carlsen that one time. And that went on while I was staff and student and for years after, even when I would apply to go to a WPA in Louisville or someplace, they have always asked me about going to see Robin.