---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote :
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : Dan, what Edg didn't catch is that we were all thrown into that same gigantic, cosmic washingmachine. We lived for a dollar a day, in Europe, in the USA and in Asia for tens of years and it was OK. What mattered was the idea that by doing so Maharishi would connect us to something bigger, something greater. For some that "greater" was more personal power and riches, perhaps to meet a lovely lady, for others it was longevity and good health, but for most of us it meant that by His Grace we could shake hands with Godhead. I'm communicating with many of the friends from that time, and I can assure you; whatever their desires were, with the blessings of their own good karma and with the help of the most competent Guide, their aspirations are fulfilled. A very interesting feature is when you meet an old meditator who has simply done TM twice a day, someone who perhaps met Maharishi in the 60's. With 0 expectations, yet they find their lives mysteriously fulfilled on levels they had not even imagined. I can't see thru Edg's eyes (or experience thru his consciousness). But speaking only for I, I got no complaints. Maybe lower expectations? I see three factors contributing to how one feels about their TM experience if, in the end, they feel it was negative. 1) the level of their expectations 2) their personality and character that is unique to them 3) the amount of time, energy and money they spent on all the things you can spend time, energy and money on with relation to the Movement. If you have the "perfect storm" of all three then you can end up with some individuals feeling pretty angry or contemptuous or downright murderous about it all. But, whether you are talking about a failed spiritual path or a failed investment strategy it still comes down to the choices and the character of the participant. This does not mean that there are not spiritual paths or investment opportunities that are scams and manipulative but it does mean that it takes at least two to tango. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : Speak for yourself, Edg. You say, "We were hustlers with shiny shoes, a $200 suit and a $200 car. We were fucking chumps." But what you actually mean is "I was a hustler with shiny shoes, a $200 suit and a $200 car. I was a fucking chump." I have always had beautiful shoes (most recent pair of Red Wing desert boots custom made for Brooks Brothers, they phone when something special comes in). My suits are stylish and my car 'clean and neat'. I am also honest. Big difference between us Edgy. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : Maharishi never gave a damn about us ever understanding "a philosophy made necessary" if the concept "transcendental" is the basis of it. Except for learning puja and checking notes, we never had "general philosophy 101" classes, never had exams, never had sub-leaders who could lead a discussion about philosophy, never were encouraged to study the Gita or other scriptures, never had any "must memorize" commands, etc. We were forbidden to read any other spiritual books. Yeah, Maharishi taught us by answering the mike-questions, but that was always informal and there was no "lesson plan" for the "students." In short we were put out into the public wilds completely unable to defend TM with concepts and logic.....except such as we were able to individually pony up when the moment came that someone asked a deeper question. We were JOKES, and we didn't know it, but because most of our audiences were as un-scholarly as we were, so we could bullshit to the max. Any PhD in philosophy candidate could have us tied up in knots and sweating buckets. Oh, we were told we were Totakacharya types.....the nice folks who were stupid but who would do great works none-the-less. We swallowed that shit like it was caviar. So don't go pushing Chapter 7 on me -- it's just window dressing in a billion dollar scam. I read the first six chapters and wore out three copies of the book underlining and adding comments and questions in the margins. After I got into Advaita, I read MMY's Gita one last time and I WAS APPALLED at the lack of consistency of how key concepts were used. Go ahead, try to find out what Maharishi would say are the defining DIFFERENCES "being, consciousness, isness, amness, transcendent, awareness, witness, soul, etc." I'll wait. No one....I repeat, NO ONE came off a TM teachers' training course being able to define these words without paradox or treating most of them as if they were synonyms of each other. We were hustlers with shiny shoes, a $200 suit and a $200 car. We were fucking chumps.
