--- On Wed, 5/18/11, Bhairitu <noozg...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> From: Bhairitu <noozg...@sbcglobal.net> > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] The Magical Puja Placebo > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 6:03 PM > On 05/17/2011 04:19 AM, Vaj wrote: > > Unhooking From Maharishi's Teachings: Laurie > Interviews Sudarsha about > > the Puja (Ceremony) > > Posted by Laurie at 5/14/2011 06:17:00 PM > > > > I (Laurie) left TM 30 years ago, after 10 years in the > TM movement, > > and I have been "deprogramming" myself ever since. I > now believe that > > everything I was taught on the TM Teacher Training > Course while I was > > "rounding" (meditating many times a day) bypassed my > critical > > thinking, and went straight into my belief system. > Therefore, even > > today I am still finding unexamined beliefs inside > myself that hook me > > into Mahesh Prasad Varma's system. (According to > Wikipedia, "Mahesh > > Prasad Varma" may be Maharishi's given name.) > > > > One of those beliefs was that the puja had magical > powers. Mr. Varma > > told us that the word "puja" translates as > "traditional ceremony of > > gratitude," but most other translators say it means > "worship". On my > > TM Teacher Training Course in La Antilla, Spain, in > 1974, Mr. Varma > > taught us that the puja must be performed before the > person is > > instructed in TM. Without it, he said, TM cannot be > successfully > > learned or practiced. He gave quasi-scientific and > quasi-mystical > > reasons why this was so; and I was left with fear and > trembling for > > the sacred, God-given puja. > > > > Therefore, it was helpful to my recovery to learn that > after his > > disillusionment with Mr. Varma's movement, Sudarsha, > (one of the > > co-editors of TM-Free), successfully instructed many > people in TM > > without first chanting the puja. > > > > (...) > > > > I tend to ignore these threads because too many people who > did TM didn't > move on to other traditions or organizations and learn some > of the > actual information on how these things are supposed to > work. Anyone who > knows what shakti does and knows what the TM puja is would > know it was > used to "charge" the mantra given with shakti. Those > who don't > experience shakti or maybe just don't know what it is even > though they > have increased shakti will think that is hooey. In > other traditions the > guru would observe and after the disciple is considered to > have enough > accumulated shakti to transfer it during an > initiation. The TM puja was > implemented so that people with far less experience and > accumulation > might still empower a mantra. That part of TM I have > no problem with. > > Some here have argued they have taught meditation without > using a puja > but then we don't know how much shakti they have already > accumulated. > Some people may have been born with enough shakti to > empower a mantra. > But when you teach en mass you need a way to assure that > the technique > works for everyone. These ex-TM people who spent a decade or less in the TMO and then spend the rest of their lives "coming to terms" with their cult "indoctrination" make me scratch my head. This whole discussion of the puja comes out of a complete lack of experience with the subtle aspects of the puja. If you don't experience it, like Bhairitu said, it will be all nonsense to you. If you experience it, the puja is a powerful yagya that produces powerful subtle shakti that saturates your consciousness and the environment. > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links > > > fairfieldlife-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com > > >
