I think I overstated Blake's point. It often happens that movements become
rigid and doctrinal, as indeed happened with both the Shakers and some sects of
Quakers as well.
----- Original Message ----
From: dhamiltony2k5 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2008 10:44:48 AM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual Practice Since Blake
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@ yahoogroups. com, "dhamiltony2k5"
> > <dhamiltony2k5@ > wrote:
> > >
> > > Spiritual Practice Since Blake:
> > > A lot of spiritual practice has gone on since Blake & it has
> > > continued or ended in various ways not absolutely stale,
> > > authoritarian and rigid. There has been a progression which is
> in the American experience with it.
>
> Yogananda with SRF is a good example of how a group can survive the
> death of a founder. Theirs is not unblemished in story; however,
> they are active and currently guided by a founding generation who
> knew the guru.
> SRF will likely be in transition again as an aging
> founding generation themselves pass things to a next generation who
> may not have known the guru personally at all. That time in
> particular seems is really a point where groups are apt to become
> extra or ultra doctrinal and potentially splinter over doctrine.
> Generational moves from the shakti experience of the spiritual
> practice with the founder and the founding generation towards the
> next generation where the reference becomes the word of `what was
> said' and the doctrine of that as that word is re-read, re-played
>and
> re-told by a following generation. It can become dead
>administration
> & and dead doctrine at that point as the shakti of a teaching is
> administratively let out.
Utopian spiritual practice in America is
filled repeatedly and sequentially with variations on this theme.
>
> -Doug in FF
>
Or, another example: the Society of Believers… the Shakers lived as
spiritual practice ashrams with their at least twice-daily spiritual
practice of a sitting dhyanna silent meditation (by community
ordinance) retiring to their rooms to sit upright in half hour silent
meditation, not reading, not talking, not sleeping not idling or
doing stuff otherwise; but, silent inner experience before then going
to group worship which included more meditation in group, Was the
point of their community and industry, to have the time & the
material resource to do spiritual practice.
Their communities functioned well this way for this purpose
specifically for some decades after their founding guru, Mother Ann
and the shaker founding generation beyond their deaths. Shakers
lived well as spiritual practice communities doing this specific
practice for some decades after the founding generation.
In time they went in to doctrinal spin with generational transition.
After some time they did away with the silent meditation as community
practice, and then did the shakti dwindle. Shakers in time became
doctrinal as this all happened such that in their time they did not
survive the social and industrial change and circumstances then.
Their shakti experience of the spiritual practice that held them
together dwindled. Times changed simply towards a form of a dying
hollow doctrine & work, work, work. So people left seeking fortune
elsewhere, on their own hook.
Or, likewise again with the Quaker movement in American history.
Early founded on spiritual practice of group meditations, a silent
Patanjali-like practice on the discernment of bhuti and purusha
though using the nomenclature of the 17th Century. They became
doctrinal in generational sequence in other ways in the face of rapid
social changes of the 19th and 20th century. They lasted about 300
years with shakti before evangelical doctrinism broadsided them in
the midst of the rapid social and economic changes of the 19th
century whence their spiritual practice got split off, plowed asunder
and over-run by doctrinal religionists. So it went.
Yet even today within the Society of Friends (conservative) in the
middle of their form there is a spark of light to be found.
Likewise it seems in a sequence with European and American
transcendentalism of the 19th century. Spiritual practice of
transcendentalism contending with doctrinal `mistake of the
intellect' religionism in sequence. Seems though that about every
generation someone comes forward and re-lights the way. Hence, in
sequence of spiritual progress a lot has happened since Wm. Blake.
& this progress is very much part of the American experience.
-Doug in FF
> >
> > > According to William Blake, movements always end like this--
> stale,
> > authoritarian, rigid.
> >
> > Differently, an exact opposite of this kind of stale doctrinal
fate
> > like of the TMmovement could be:
> >
> > -J.Krishnamurti, 1929 Speech Dissolving his organization, post
7513
> > http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/FairfieldL ife/message/ 7513
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > For example, Yogananda's group SRF now seems to have survived
the
> > > death of their guru. They do have enduring active spiritual
> > practice
> > > communities facilitating that work. Again last summer they
> > gathered
> > > for an annual week `convocation' near LA for about 10 days of
> long
> > > group meditations with about 4000 people. In their communities
> > they
> > > do regular long powerful group meditations as part of their
> ongoing
> > > spiritual practice.
> > >
> > > By a same kind of coin as with TM, it could be as easy to say
> that
> > so
> > > much of the `positivity' of late that the TMorg points to as
> > evidence
> > > is actually due to the SRF 4000 meditators in practice together
> > last
> > > summer. The powerful lasting influence of a larger n=squared
> > number
> > > by contrast. After all, exponentially 4000 powerful
> SRFmeditators
> > > sitting in practice is a lot more strong than 1700 sleeping TM-
> > sidhas
> > > in recline in group. Sit with the shakti of a SRF group
> > meditation
> > > if you have not, to judge it. They got shakti that is alive in
a
> > way
> > > that by contrast the TMmovement group meditations are only a
> > forlorn
> > > disheartened hope over what could have been with their
movement.
> > > -Doug in FF
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In FairfieldLife@ yahoogroups. com, Angela Mailander
> > > <mailander111@ > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > According to William Blake, movements always end like this--
> > stale,
> > > authoritarian, rigid. They begin with fiery spirit and end in
> > > ashes.
> > >
> > > >He describes the process in some detail and at great depth in
> > > >his "Book of Urizen," which I read when I first got my
children
> > > >involved with TM, and I thought, hmm, here's a test case, and
it
> > has
> > > been amazing to see how it went down exactly like the man said
it
> > > would.
> > >
> > > >So, perhaps, there is no need to speak of failure. Instead,
we
> > can
> > > realize that this is the natural process for any movement.
This
> > does
> > > not mean that there is anything wrong with the technique.
> > > >
> > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: "Maharishi Effect" Quantum-
Failure
> > > Essay
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
<!--
#ygrp-mkp{
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:14px 0px;padding:0px 14px;}
#ygrp-mkp hr{
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}
#ygrp-mkp #hd{
color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:bold;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0px;}
#ygrp-mkp #ads{
margin-bottom:10px;}
#ygrp-mkp .ad{
padding:0 0;}
#ygrp-mkp .ad a{
color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}
-->
<!--
#ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc{
font-family:Arial;}
#ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc #hd{
margin:10px 0px;font-weight:bold;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;}
#ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc .ad{
margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;}
-->
<!--
#ygrp-mlmsg {font-size:13px;font-family:arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;}
#ygrp-mlmsg table {font-size:inherit;font:100%;}
#ygrp-mlmsg select, input, textarea {font:99% arial, helvetica, clean,
sans-serif;}
#ygrp-mlmsg pre, code {font:115% monospace;}
#ygrp-mlmsg * {line-height:1.22em;}
#ygrp-text{
font-family:Georgia;
}
#ygrp-text p{
margin:0 0 1em 0;}
#ygrp-tpmsgs{
font-family:Arial;
clear:both;}
#ygrp-vitnav{
padding-top:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-size:77%;margin:0;}
#ygrp-vitnav a{
padding:0 1px;}
#ygrp-actbar{
clear:both;margin:25px 0;white-space:nowrap;color:#666;text-align:right;}
#ygrp-actbar .left{
float:left;white-space:nowrap;}
.bld{font-weight:bold;}
#ygrp-grft{
font-family:Verdana;font-size:77%;padding:15px 0;}
#ygrp-ft{
font-family:verdana;font-size:77%;border-top:1px solid #666;
padding:5px 0;
}
#ygrp-mlmsg #logo{
padding-bottom:10px;}
#ygrp-vital{
background-color:#e0ecee;margin-bottom:20px;padding:2px 0 8px 8px;}
#ygrp-vital #vithd{
font-size:77%;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:bold;color:#333;text-transform:uppercase;}
#ygrp-vital ul{
padding:0;margin:2px 0;}
#ygrp-vital ul li{
list-style-type:none;clear:both;border:1px solid #e0ecee;
}
#ygrp-vital ul li .ct{
font-weight:bold;color:#ff7900;float:right;width:2em;text-align:right;padding-right:.5em;}
#ygrp-vital ul li .cat{
font-weight:bold;}
#ygrp-vital a{
text-decoration:none;}
#ygrp-vital a:hover{
text-decoration:underline;}
#ygrp-sponsor #hd{
color:#999;font-size:77%;}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov{
padding:6px 13px;background-color:#e0ecee;margin-bottom:20px;}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov ul{
padding:0 0 0 8px;margin:0;}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov li{
list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;font-size:77%;}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov li a{
text-decoration:none;font-size:130%;}
#ygrp-sponsor #nc{
background-color:#eee;margin-bottom:20px;padding:0 8px;}
#ygrp-sponsor .ad{
padding:8px 0;}
#ygrp-sponsor .ad #hd1{
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;color:#628c2a;font-size:100%;line-height:122%;}
#ygrp-sponsor .ad a{
text-decoration:none;}
#ygrp-sponsor .ad a:hover{
text-decoration:underline;}
#ygrp-sponsor .ad p{
margin:0;}
o{font-size:0;}
.MsoNormal{
margin:0 0 0 0;}
#ygrp-text tt{
font-size:120%;}
blockquote{margin:0 0 0 4px;}
.replbq{margin:4;}
-->
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
