I was so punch drunk last night from the Bataan Claims March I could only generate something flip. Thanks to anyone who enjoyed it and said so. I want to write two more posts about the day, one from the perspective of the Maharishi epistemology and one from my own.
Maharishi's system had checks and balances. Like our US gov, he tried to create a trifecta of, personal experience, scriptural verification, a master's interpretation of that connection and sometimes, when it was convenient, scientific verification. (Or at least the appearance of that.) Although it is obvious that this system has the major flaw that the deck is stacked in the Guru's hands, it was Maharishi's party and when I was in TM, that was just fine with me. But even he, self confident to the grandiose as he was, never said:F the scriptures I am DA MAN. He paid lip service to a system that doesn't allow someone to step up and bypass the whole Vedic teaching and what his own guru taught to declare that there is a new sheriff in town. Maharishi then went ahead and did what he wanted like selling mantras for cash which is a violation of tradition and scripture, but he upheld the principle of following tradition while ignoring the inconvenient parts that limited cash flow. (Young biddies needs they fine new saris and chains before dey gets on dem private planes.) George's message was a contradiction to the fundamental principles of Maharishi's system. It contradicted specific claims about the nature of reality that Maharishi explicitly taught. He had to paint it all as Maharishi himself realizing that he had been wrong to sell it. Maharishi's spiritual crisis after death was George saying, Maharishi was not the master we thought he was. He was a part of a team, and the whole team, (who George now conveniently represents) says THIS now. Maharishi never tried to speak with the combined authority of Guru Dev, Jehovah (who is Allah and not a personal aspect of God as Maharishi taught, but a dude like George) Jesus, Shankara (who was Vyasa's reincarnation contrary to Vedic scriptures and Maharishi) and each with a specific message to their people, through George. I find this whole thing fascinating on so many levels. Seeing it through the mindset of my past TM is as interesting as seeing it though my own POV now as a philosophical exercise. Because Maharishi did not have one guy who he trusted to be a replacement, he set up a committee. And this was another level of checks and balances that he put in place to keep one rich guy from going off the rails and pulling a "George" (patent pending) Pulling a George is attempting to elevate one's subjective experience beyond that, to usurp the whole philosophical system and turn it on its head. It is a variation of the pulling a "Carlson" (patent applied for and rejected) which is to claim to be in a state of consciousness that is on a par with your living guru and therefor capable of "improving" his system. The lesson here is to wait till your Guru is dead before busting either of these moves. Challenges like this to the movement's authority are bell weather. I was in a room with people who had FLOWN the F in to this event. I drove 10 minutes which is how it was possible for me. The discontent with the movement is the huge gap that will allow Georges to rise up bearing gifts of sandwiches and grandiose claims. I suspect that the perfect storm of his mental state and finances will be hard to duplicate. He dropped some cash on this. Well under 10 grand probably but more than 5. I'll bet his charming family (who checked me in) will think it was worth it if dad will now STFU finally! (can you imagine the dinner table discussion rolled eyes)
