--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Why is john Hagelin a coward??? > What is he afraid of??? > > ...that I AM NOT AFRAID OF???!!! > > Why is john Hagelin a coward??? > What is he afraid of??? > > ...answer this
Ah, a perfect opportunity to re-emerge after my shorter- than-expected vacation. It's been fascinating being away from the fray, traveling about and being around normal people most of the time. :-) On returning from my Road Trip, I spent about an hour "catching up," and I thank those who encouraged me to stick around. I've decided to take you up on the offer, at least for a little while, and with some self-imposed restrictions. I plan to spend a maximum of 20 minutes a day :-) reading FFL, and then to do so very, very selectively, reading only what catches my eye, and avoiding those posters whom time has proven a waste of time. If I post, it will be as an exercise in writing, not as a prelude to or an invitation to argue. One of the spiritual teachers I worked with used to say, "Writers write because they're trying to figure things out." For the record, that's all I'm doing...trying to figure things out. These raps are not my idea of What Is True, and I'm not trying to sell the ideas in them to anyone or convince anyone that they're "true" or "right." I post the comments as what they are, Just My Opinion. I will not respond to any comments others make about them, and to be honest can't even promise to read the followups, if there are any. Unlike many of the people here, I don't really feel any need to defend my opinions as anything other than what they are -- just my opinions, made at a particular point in time, possibly changing at another point in time. If others want to comment on them, that's their business. The posts themselves are the only comments I have to offer. Here's the first of them: ************************************************************ Reading some of the FFL posts from the last month, pretty much at random, I came across a few (both the opinions of FFL "regulars" and quotes from others in the TMO) that suggest to me that TM has degenerated into a path in which the few lingering True Believers are acting out of a profound fear of CC. No, not Cosmic Consciousness. I'm talking about Cosmic Cooties. Over the decades, the TM faithful have been told, by Maharishi directly and by those he trained to parrot his words, that certain things in life contain Cosmic Cooties, and that to come in contact with these things is to chance getting the cooties on yourself. To doubt the infallible Truth of the TM dogma is definitely courting cooties. There can be no question of this -- all you have to do is watch and see what happens to those in the TMO who give expression to their doubts. They are whisked out of sight and quarantined as quickly as a leper would have been chased out of a medieval village. Doubt cooties are *contagious*, after all, and you can't allow those who have them to mingle among the uninfected. The other thing that definitely is infected with these highly contagious cooties is being open to knowledge from or representatives of other spiritual traditions. The attitude could be emblazoned on a T-shirt: SEE A SAINT, GET COOTIES! Such is the fear of Cosmic Cooties at this point that the official TM organization won't allow anyone who has *admitted to* any contact with either of the cootie- infested behaviors to be part of civilzed...uh, I mean evolved...company. They are weeded out and sent off to the hell world that the TBs have been trained to believe awaits them. I believe that this is a really sad phenomenon. Not just for the organization that espouses it, but for the indi- vidual seekers who buy into this dogma of fear as Truth. What it creates in them is a path based on self hatred, because *they* have doubts, and cannot admit them. And *they* are still curious about spiritual experience in other traditions, and they cannot admit that, either. The True Believers who have been trained to be terrified of Cosmic Cooties have also been trained to LIE -- not only to the organization they belong to (which is sad in itself), but to *themselves*, which is heartbreaking. *EVERYONE* who has ever pursued a spiritual path has had doubts. Mature spiritual traditions accept this, and accept that these doubts are a natural and a positive aspect of the spiritual process. They have mechanisms in place so that seekers within their traditions can safely express their doubts. If the doubts grow strong enough, these traditions have no problem with wishing the seeker well on his or her Way as they take a leave of absence to explore them, and then they are always willing to welcome the doubter back into the fold when they have come to some sense of balance about them. This strikes me as sound spiritual policy, one that has its roots in a legitimate desire that the students really evolve, not stay the same out of a sense of shame and fear. *EVERYONE* who has ever been attracted to one spiritual tradition strongly enough to devote decades of his or her life to it *also* is curious about the experiences of and the teachings of other traditions. Again, it's natural, and mature traditions actually *encourage* their students to see other teachers and read books from other disciplines. There is none of the "Don't do that...you'll get cooties!" fear-based dogma one sees in the TMO. I find the position adopted by many of the TBs really sad, because of what it does to *them*. You can see the fear in their writings, and hear it in their "voices" in the things that they say. They are TERRIFIED of cooties. And in almost every case, they know that they already HAVE them. They *do* have doubts, but feel so paralyzed by self hatred and fear of exposure that they cannot bring themselves to express them. They *are* curious about other techniques and other forms of spiritual practice, but they can't admit it, to others or to themselves. So they react angrily, vehemently, expressing their distaste for this "disgusting" behavior on the part of those who *can* admit it. But who is it that they're really disgusted at? I think it's themselves. They have bought into this fear of cooties for so long -- all the time knowing that they themselves are closet cootie carriers -- that their form of spiritual practice has become self hatred. The anger you hear in their words is really aimed at THEMSELVES. The disgust you hear in their voices is at THEMSELVES. They *have* cooties already, and they know it, but rather than deal with this shadow side of their own being, they project it at those who are more honest than they are, those who have left the FOC (Fear Of Cooties) operating system behind them. I suggest all of this as a way to help the more balanced posters here feel more compassion for some of the more strident voices among them. The angrier these voices get, the more they demonize others who think for themselves and are honest about their doubts and their "extracurricular" interests, the more angry they really are at themselves. The more they demonize these cootie-infested individuals, the more they internally demonize themselves. These are really sad people. Yeah, I know that they're strident and nitpicky and obnoxious, but that's just because they're treating others in their words the way they treat *themselves* in their inner thoughts. IMO these people really *hate* themselves, for the crime of being NORMAL. That's really what this FOC operating system is all about. Those who have bought into it only consider mythically-perfect enlightened beings worthy of their respect. Normal people have cooties, and thus are to be despised. Well, that's not the way I see it. I say LONG LIVE COOTIES! Don't resist them, don't demonize them, don't rail against them -- EMBRACE them. Your cooties -- your natural doubts and your natural curiosity -- are your strengths, not your weaknesses. As the Buddha told us, only normal people ever realize enlightenment. Those who hate their own normality, and project that hatred of normality onto others, are hating their own enlight- enment, and pushing it further away every day. COOTIES RULE. Doubt and curiosity are the cornerstones of a successful spiritual practice. Hate them and you end up hating yourself, and spirituality itself. ************************************************************ 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/
