--- Maryanne Lee-Hartman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: Maryanne Lee-Hartman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:11:08 -0800 (PST) > Subject: [Transcendental_Meditation] India: Mirror of truth - a seven year > pilgrimage > > From Chris Higgins of Natural Law Forum > > A book by Steve Briggs received from a friend in Australia > > India: Mirror of Truth A Seven Year Pilgrimage > > India: Mirror of Truth is the true story of a young American monk sent to > > India by his guru to teach meditation. His life-transforming seven-year > spiritual odyssey takes him from the coastal waters of Kerala to the high > Tibetan plateau. Along the way, he encounters saints and shamans, politicians > > and pundits, astrologers and ascetics, villagers and artisans. He visits > ancient > holy sites, meets swamis living at the source of the Ganges, participates in > arcane purificatory rituals, experiences the excitement of thirty million > pilgrims at the Kumbha Mela as guest of a maharaja, initiates India's elite > into > meditation, and shares the company of lamas at Tibetan monasteries in Ladakh > in > an awesome journey that is as culturally rich as it is spiritually stirring. > Deep within the Himalayan peaks, he reunites with his ageless Himalayan > Master > patiently waiting for his return. The author's dream of pursuing > enlightenment > is realized when he renounces his work in > order to seek spiritual liberation in an isolated mountain ashram. > > http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/159540967X > > excerpt. > > ...on meeting with Maharishi: > > Upon arriving at Maharishi's headquarters in Holland on my stopover from > the > States to India, I had been struck by the seemingly impenetrable fortress of > a > former Franciscan monastery hidden deep in a Dutch national forest. For the > next > five weeks, along with three other Americans, we met with Maharishi to > discuss > plans for two proposed projects for India: establishing management > institutes > and teaching Transcendental Meditation to corporations. It had been almost > ten > years since I had seen Maharishi, and although he had aged, he still had > superhuman reserves of energy and stamina. Maharishi was almost eighty, > forty > years my senior, but I found it impossible to keep up with him. Meetings > routinely went late into the night, but he never seemed to slow down. When he > > finally sent us off to rest a few hours before sunrise, a secretary ushered > in > yet another group for their meeting. Maharishi's stamina was legendary, his > focus unrelenting. > > Meetings with Maharishi were unpredictable, entertaining, and always a > lesson in world geography. A conference call from Latvia came in on one of > the > many phones manned by the secretaries. Later, with precision and patience, > Maharishi answered questions on a project to build a school in South Africa > and > reviewed a proposal to buy laser technology for an operating theater in a > Delhi > hospital. Line by line he reviewed an announcement for the Washington Post > and > then listened to a report from his college in Cambodia. Then a delegation > from > Thailand was escorted into the hall followed by a Bombay industrialist and > his > family who offered bouquets of red and yellow tulips to Maharishi before > catching a flight back to India. Maharishi then briefed a German general > about > implementing meditation in the armed forces. Guests and dignitaries from all > over the globe came and went as Maharishi's attention moved from continent to > > continent with the agility of an acrobat > in his relentless search for solutions to problems that even governments > refused to tackle. The backlit globe on his table spun like a top as his > index > finger came to rest on country after country. Raise the collective > consciousness > of the people and you will solve the nation's problems was his rallying > cry. > > One late night, after the guests had gone and our work was finished, we > relaxed with Maharishi in his spacious and silky suite inside the old > monastery. > I relished every minute with my guru, but those rare moments when the > planning > for the world stopped, were my favorites. An attendant served fresh juice > while > Maharishi enquired about our stay. Maharishi's long-time personal secretary, > Nandkishore, was the only other person in the room with us. Nandkishore owned > an > infectious laugh even more contagious than Maharishi's and I imagined the two > of > them shaking with laughter for hours on end. But that night, the dynamics > were > different. Whenever Nandkishore spoke, Maharishi disagreed with his loyal > assistant, a drama that went on for the better part of an hour. > > Of course, Maharishi was the master, but I couldn't help thinking > Nandkishore's ideas were sound and that Maharishi was being unfair, that he > should listen to his humble secretary. But it didn't seem to matter; > Maharishi > dismissed everything his secretary said, sometimes brusquely. But the bearded > > secretary kept his cool, even laughing now and then as his proposals were > shot > down one after the other like clay pigeons fired from a trap. > > As I witnessed what I thought was undue treatment of the long time > secretary, I had the urge to tell Maharishi that he was being unfair, that > Nandkishore was right on most of the issues. Finally I had heard enough, and > the > thought I had been suppressing pushed its way into my head. ~Nandkishore is > right' flashed like a neon sign inside my brain. At that very instant, as if > he > had read my mind, Maharishi looked at me, raised his eyebrows, and said. Hmm? > > Nandkishore is right?? Then he and his sidekick burst out laughing like two > mischievous boys that had just pulled off a clever prank. I had swallowed the > > bait and was now dangling from the end of the master's fishing pole. It had > been > a test, and I had failed miserably. > > > > > > > Maryanne Lee-Hartman > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click. __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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