--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > > > > From my perspective, a lot of the rancor appears to be > > > > a function of the True Non-Believers' difficulty > > > > dealing with anybody who is neither a TB nor a TNB but > > > > somewhere in between. TBs can just be dismissed, but > > > > a mixture of views on MMY and the TMO, some positive > > > > and some negative, in the same individual is perplexing. > > > > > > Yeah, that's what all TBs say when they're trying > > > to convince themselves that they're not one. > > > > > > :-) > > > > > > Sorry. Couldn't resist stating the obvious. > > > Letting it drop now... > > > > So the person who claims to be moderate is automatically > > extremist? Where does that leave YOU, I wonder... > > Look, it was just a funny line, man. But I *do* > believe in its accuracy, because of how I define > "True Believer." You see, I don't pay any attention > whatsoever to what people *claim* to believe. In > my opinion, that's just the jive they tell them > selves to keep them selves unenlightened, so it's > not as if I'm going to believe any of it. > > I fall back on a maxim from a teacher I spent some > time with: "Listen to what people say, but watch > what they DO!" > > In other words, if they *claim* to be moderates or > skeptics or whatever the flavor of "I'm not really > a TB" is that week, one ignores completely what > they *say* about what they are and just watch how > they act. If in *most* cases these people 1) react > in a seemingly knee-jerk fashion almost every time > the dogma of the TMO is challenged, 2) act in a > fashion *supportive* to the TM dogma every time > they react in a knee-jerk fashion, and 3) almost > *never* admit the possibility that they might be > wrong about the TM movement's "true" intentions > or the inherent value of its teachings, then Yes! > I'm gonna tend to class such a person as a TB.
Yeah, Barry, but by those criteria, I'm distinctly *not* a TB. I don't comment on most of the challenges to the "dogma" of the TMO. I *agree* with many of them. When I do react negatively, I'm more often reacting to the cynicism or inaccuracy or illogic or extremism of the challenge. (Fact is, there are far too many such challenges here for even the devoutest TB to react to more than a small percentage.) The one thing I *am* a TB about is, as I've said many times, MMY's teaching on the nature and mechanics of consciousness and the value of his techniques for personal development. But that doesn't extend to the Maharishi Effect or to the possibility of levitation and other paranormal feats, or the purported value of proper Vastu or Ghandarva-Veda or Jyotish or yagyas. As I told Sal (to her apparent profound confusion), I don't "believe" in any of that stuff--but I don't rule it out, either. Unlike Sal, I don't pretend to know for certain what is and isn't possible. I rank things like that on a probability scale. The further fallacy in your (and Sal's, and Vaj's) thinking is the notion that anyone who attempts to articulate a particular teaching of MMY's does so *only because they believe in it*. I'll never forget when the Pet Rock (as we fondly called a particularly egregiously obnoxious former- TMer-turned-fundie-Christian who used to hang out on alt.m.t) and I were arguing about whether infant baptism was Scriptural. Fundies don't believe it is, but most other flavors of Christians do. I was making the case for it because he had announced, as if it were established fact, that Christian belief was that one had to be an adult to accept Christ. This confused him mightily, because he was under the (entirely correct) impression that I was not a believer in Christian doctrine generally. He absolutely *could* not understand why I'd be making the case for infant baptism if I didn't believe in it. It was hilarious. And here Barry makes the identical mistake. Barry's whole rant here is a perfect example of the kind of TNB reaction I was talking about, the desperate need to label anyone who is anything but 100 percent negative about MMY and the TMO as a TB, so their opinions can be dismissed without consideration. For some reason, they find moderate viewpoints threatening. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
