On May 25, 2005, at 5:30 PM, Patrick Gillam wrote: > Much of the impetus behind independent TM > teaching comes from making the knowledge > available at more affordable prices. But I'm > curious how people who've been following the > discussions here would handle other aspects > of the teaching that might be a bit more problematic. > > For example, we typically say the mantra is a > meaningless sound. Would you all stick with > that description? Or would some of you disclose > the provenance of mantras? > > Another issue: We say on the third night of > checking that cosmic consciousness is a state > in which one's every act is spontaneously life- > supporting. But a popular topic among us has > been the questioning of that dogma. What would > you say? Would you just skip that part of the teaching? > > And if we start fiddling with the teaching, are we > teaching TM, or something inspired by it? > > The larger subtext: does knowledge really get lost?
This is a really good question. This is the question I was addressing when I talked the other day about the upside of the pundits. It will really be these guys who will preserve the true tradition. Unless people take the time to train themselves in the texts behind this tradition, they would be clueless. Why? Because when you were taught SCI you were not given the source for these teaching. Nor were you given the source behind many of the advanced lectures. The science of the gap, the sandi, is all in Sanskrit. In other words, the real tradition has been hidden behind a facade of scientific materialism and dispensed. The only real option is to bootleg the SCI tapes and the advanced lectures, etc. And how will you train new teachers without all of the video and audio tapes? Another issue is who will teach the advanced techniques? The very real upside of the pundits--even if it ends up being only half of the number stated--the upside is they have the full knowledge of the tradition AND the practices. So it's a good thing that they are learning what they are learning. The karma-kanda aspect of M.'s teaching really is only preserved by Brahmins--and that represents a significant part since what he teaches is essentially karma yoga for householders. 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/
