TurquoiseB wrote: > There is a phenomenon one tends to see on the > Internet in the so-called spiritual chat groups. > Spiritual chat groups?
> And the funny thing, from my point of view, is > that the two anti-guru gurus who have set up shop > at FFL lately have a public act that is the opposite > of what is really going on. > This is funny: an avowed atheist materialist lurking on spiritual chat groups and complaining about the believer's "Whining" and then flaming the believers on a spiritual chat group, FFL. It must get really lonely sometimes at the bar on the beach at Sitges. > That phenomenon can be called by many names. So > far I have been referring to it by its generic > name, Whining. But in this little essay, I'm > going to get a little more specific. > > Have you ever noticed that the people who take > up the "anti-cult" banner and wave it fiercely > all over the Internet tend to use the EXACT > SAME TACTICS AS THE GURUS THEY'RE AGAINST? > > They make unsupported statements and expect > everyone to believe them, just because they said > them. They claim to have special, secret know- > ledge that they just can't reveal to us just > yet, but which makes all of their claims OK. > When someone doesn't *buy* their act, and calls > them on it, they tend to fly into a rage and > do everything they can to undermine the critic's > reputation. > > In other words, these anti-guru crusaders act > remarkably like gurus. > > And they don't realize it. > > Like the gurus they rant about, these individuals > are primarily after one thing more than anything > else -- attention. They want people to *focus* > on them, to consider them "authorities," more > "knowledgeable" than other people. They want to > be seen as *wise*, as if the things they are > saying are better and more evolved than the things > the people they're preaching to are saying. They > want to be seen as more "advanced" or further > down the evolutionary road than those poor folks > they're trying to enlighten about the "real" > nature of the world and How It All Works. > > Sound familiar? > > And the funny thing, from my point of view, is > that the two anti-guru gurus who have set up shop > at FFL lately have a public act that is the opposite > of what is really going on. They like to think of > themselves as having progressed further in their > quest for knowledge than the other people here on > FFL, the ones they're so ready and willing to > preach to. > > But as I see it, with a very few exceptions among > the posting population of FFL, the anti-guru gurus > are the ones "lagging behind." Both of them are > stuck in mindsets that most of the rest of us worked > through and dispensed with 30 years ago. Or 20 years > ago, or 10. Bottom line is that most of us on this > forum really *have* been there done that with the > angry Whiner mentality. We went through it for a > short time when we were first coming to grips with > our own illusions about our respective spiritual > paths, and we were probably *just* as whiny back > then as Bronte and Angela are now. > > But WE GOT OVER IT, man. 30, 20, or 10 years ago. > And now when some newbie rolls into town running > the same act that we now find laughable in our own > pasts, all we can do is laugh at them, too. > > When are people going to learn? You don't convert > anyone to the anti-guru stance by ACTING LIKE > A GURU. You don't make a case for how intellectual > you are by ACTING LIKE AN IDIOT. > > Both Bronte and Angela are *potentially* bright > people, who might actually have something to say > if they could ever get past this whiny shit. But > they don't seem to be in the market *for* getting > past the whiny shit. Instead, they have chosen to > roll around in it like a pig rolling in mud. They > have chosen to rail against the things that offend > them using the EXACT tactics as the people they > are railing against. And then they're surprised > and hurt when we laugh at them? > > Get over it, babes. If you do, there will be some > interesting people here for you to talk to. Not > preach to, talk to. There's a difference. >
