Peter: > I only know Vaj from his post on this newsgroup. And while it > is clear that he is no cheerleader for TM, I have always found > his posts to be interesting and quite informative at times. > Maybe he vents his spleen at other newsgroups, I don't know.
I think it is true that he vents more on a.m.t., but then I think that is more because of the nature of that particular forum and how it treats "off the program" posters than it is Vaj. From a rant I made there this morning on this subject, worth reposting here, because the phrase at the end applies, for the most part, to the people here at FFL: > ... I think True Believer Syndrome > is more related to inertia than belief. A mind at rest > tends to want to stay at rest. Therefore, such a mind > tends to want to demonize the messenger rather than > get active enough to examine the message. > > To be fair, some True Believers do both. But the thing > that *characterizes* the True Believer is that he > or she is rarely able to deal with the message *without* > trying to shoot the messenger, and without reacting to > the criticism as insulting or a threat. > > Examples of open-minded believers whom almost no one > would think of characterizing as "True Believers" are > G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien, when dealing with > criticisms of Christianity. They dealt with the issues, > and were almost never reduced to character assassination > against the people bringing up the issues. In my own > research, I have been fortunate enough to meet a number > of Catholic priests who are *more* than willing to talk > with me about the Cathars, the Crusades instigated by > the Church against them, and the Inquisition, which was > created to destroy them. These remarkable individuals > are comfortable enough with their faith to be able to > deal with my questions (and occasionally my rants) > without feeling offended or threatened. > > In my experience, as I've suggested before, I think that > one of the driving forces of True Believer Syndrome is > inertia, the fear of having to change an assumption one > has invested a great deal of time and effort in. Another > of the driving forces is fear itself, the intuition that > if they begin to question one thing about their belief > system, that they might have to question other things, > and that eventually the belief system might tumble like > a house made out of playing cards. For these fear- > driven believers, the person bringing up the critical > issue is a *threat*. They have so identified with their > beliefs that any criticism of their belief system is > perceived as a personal attack on them. In Buddhism, we > call this attachment, and a lack of self-knowledge. :-) > > On the other hand, I have found that in almost *any* > spiritual tradition, no matter how dogmatic or cult-like > the tradition may be, one can find individuals whose > faith and belief comes from the "inside out," and is > based on a strong connection with knowing who they are. > These individuals are almost never threatened by criticism > of their beliefs; they almost never take it personally or > see it as an attack; they are almost never tempted to > demonize the critic. You can almost always tell who they > are by their willingness to laugh at the very things they > hold most sacred, and to laugh at themselves. > > It is these latter individuals who give me faith in faith. :-) 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/
