--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <rick@> wrote:
> >
> > I got some chuckles out of that. So what is it about FFL?
> > Most of us have a TM background. Is it that there's little
> > emphasis in the TMO on becoming a nicer person, as there
> > is in Buddhist circles and some other spiritual groups?
> > In fact, egotism is intentionally cultured, with crowns,
> > titles, and a pecking order determined by net worth.
>
> Not to mention being "the best" and "the highest path."
>
> > I remember a political cartoon illustrating the "Reagan
> > end run" in which thoughts would bypass that part of his
> > brain which, in most of us, edits and sometimes censors
> > the nonsense thoughts that might otherwise come out of
> > our mouths. It seems that some here suffer from the same
> > syndrome. If they're in a rage, or feeling nasty toward
> > someone, they somehow feel justified in venting it, and
> > there's no indication of any introspection causing them
> > to pause and consider the consequences or even the
> > legitimacy of their perspective.
>
> I can't disagree with what you say here, but what
> interests me more is that there are some who seem
> to *feed* on losing control in this way. It's as
> if the times when they are out of control and lost
> in some over-the-top emotional moment are the highest
> points in their lives, so they go out of their way
> looking for more things to be outraged about, so
> they can feel more of them.
>
> > Maybe Emily Post should be required reading for FFL
> > membership.
>
> It couldn't hurt.
>
> I was thinking more along the lines of, "If you think
> that you know enough to write a book, or to preach to
> someone else about how they should live their lives,
> you can't join until you get over it."
Rick,
In all honesty I think that subsequent followups
to this exchange answered some of the questions
you pose above.
You stated an opinion. I stated one in reply. One
person saw that exchange of two opinions as
"preaching" to her about how she should live
her life.
If there is one thing that characterizes the TMer
in my experience (as opposed to seekers in other
spiritual traditions), it is the tendency to view
any opinion other than their own as an attempt to
"preach" to them or "convert" them in some way.
I honestly think that a lot of this comes from the
approach taught to TM teachers ("Every question is
a perfect opportunity for the answer we have already
prepared.") and drummed into the heads of TMers
in every lecture. TM teachers, like Maharishi, tend
to be *incapable* of saying, "I don't know." They
also (like Maharishi) tend to be dogmatic in their
statements, implying that the answers they give to
every question are the "definitive" answers, the
"correct" answers, the "Truth."
Therefore, when someone who has been exposed to this
for years or decades encounters an opinion that is
different from their own, they tend to think that
the other person is doing what *they* do when they
express *their* opinions -- attempting to state that
their opinions are "definitive," and "correct" and
the "Truth," and any other opinion is wrong.
Some of us aren't. I don't think you do that when
you post your opinions to FFL. I don't think that
Alex does that, or Marek, or Hugo, or many others.
They're just expressing an opinion, one among many.
There is not an *ounce* of trying to "sell" these
opinions in what they write, or of trying to "con-
vert" others to consider them "Truth." They're just
opinions.
These are the people I resonate with most on FFL.
Conversations with them are easy and wonderful,
because nobody is trying to sell anyone anything.
They're just expressing opinions.
And yet many of the diehard TM believers see these
very conversations as provocative, or challenging,
or even as attacks on their beliefs. Go figure.
As a real followup to the questions you posed in
your original post, I think that part of the reason
that FFL degenerates into argumentation and noise
is that so many people were systematically *taught*
to react to any opinion that is different than
their opinion *as if* it is some kind of attack.
That's the whole rationale behind being "Off The
Program," that these people who have chosen to
believe something "improper" or "wrong" are doing
HARM to the faithful True Believers by holding
these erroneous opinions. They must be *stopped*
from holding them, and if they *can't* be stopped,
they must be Sent Away, where they cannot infect
the True Believers with their heresies.
Why is there so much argumentation on TM forums?
Because TMers have been *taught* to argue for the
supremacy and "correctness" of the TM dogma, and to
actively *suppress* any opinion that deviates from
the TM dogma.
This is my OPINION, and I'm sticking to it. At
least until my next post, in which I might have a
different opinion. :-) This OPINION is not intended
as "preaching" to anyone, or as a suggestion as to
how they should lead their lives. If they get off
on getting offended by opinions that differ from
their own, *by all means* they should continue to
do so. I'll continue to laugh at them, and that
laughter is an opinion in itself. The laughter is
not a form of preaching; it's just an expression
of being amused.
