> Good morning Uncle T: Bon apr�s-midi...I'm in a different time zone.
> > That's actually one reason I asked. There are some > > schools of thought (like TM, when I was around) that > > suggest that once realized, enlightenment is perma- > > nent. There are others that believe that it can come > > and go. I tend to believe the latter, for many reasons. <snip rant, to...> > I realize this is unpopular to say, but it is my true observation. I don't necessarily disagree, but in fairness I should point out that what you describe is far from limited to TM, or even to spiritual practice. Here in France, there is an interesting statistic that every time there is a documentary on a rare disease of one sort or another on TV, during the following week the number of people reporting those symptoms to doctors, completely convinced that they have that disease, goes up something like 500%. :-) > > How many would have the strength of character to go > > back to all those people one had announced one's > > enlightenment to and say, "Ooops?" > > It's unheard of. Actually, I've heard of one fellow who did just that. (Sorry...I forget the name, but it was in the Southwestern US.) He announced his enlight- enment, "set up shop" as a spiritual teacher, gathered a fair number of students, and then after few months gathtered them all together and said, "Ooops...it would seem I was mistaken." The person who told me this story said that most of the students appreciated the guy's honesty and stuck around. > > In several traditions this situation has come up often > > enough that they don't recommend talking about one's > > experiences as permanent until they have been present > > 24/7 for ten years or so. > > That makes sense. The state of Unity can be quite stable > and can last hours, days, months, etc. This is why I > emphasize "gaining certainty of the View" rather than > constant attachment to the idea of enlightenment. > IME TM'ers are very attached to the Fruit. I don't think that attachment is limited to TMers. I know a fairly large number of people who have had temporary experiences of enlightenment, for days, weeks, or months at a time, experiences that subsequently faded. These folks represent different traditions and paths, but the one thing they all have in common is that none of them are terribly anxious to "get to" enlightenment any more. Once you've realized that there is nowhere to "get to" and that all that is involved is the realization of something that was always already present, the "pressure is off." Unc 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/
