Did you read either the post that starts this thread or the 13-year-old post I linked to?
What parts do you disagree with? Are there any points you do agree with? Are there things you'd like to add? Wow, Lawson, your post is so far off the mark, I don't know where to begin. If you read my counseling site, you'd see that I don't actually list any groups as cults. I talk about "cultic relationships" between groups and certain individuals. I would like to see TM reform and perhaps become successful again. I have never stated a desire to see TM end. Quite the opposite. On balance, I believe the Maharishi's marketing of meditation to the West has been very beneficial in many regards. I certainly don't believe that TM is a cult at all levels. I believe that the vast majority of people who were involved with TM had no cultic experience whatsoever. It's my experience that the vast majority of people who learned to meditate had great experiences. TM made, or makes, them happy. Who could wish for more for them -- or anyone? Some individuals do tell me they had cultic relationships with TM. I know I did. Some people have experienced damage at TM's hands. But I leave it up to the individual to make that determination for him or herself. I've never found that attempting to convince people they were in a cult had any beneficial effect at all. That's one reason I don't take part in exit counseling or cult intervention. I've been writing about reforming TM for 13 years. It's important to me to keep a balanced view of both the parts that were good for me AND the parts that were not. I encourage my clients to do the same. I've never said that people who don't believe TM is a cult are deluded. Where did you come up with that? I believe a very small number of people who were in TM or similar organizations need professional help. But that too is a decision that is best left up to the individual. It seems a case of black/white thinking to me to say that because I disagree with some of TM's policies, procedures, and practices I must be against everything TM. You and Judy are really howling at the wrong guy. There ARE people and organizations that would like to see TM destroyed. But that ain't me. Unfortunately it seems you have not distinguished between TM's "enemies" and someone who just wants to see what one poster here called "common sense" reform. J. > Ahem, are you saying that you know John well enough to make this kind of > evaluation of Judy's response? How do you know that Judy's response isn't > completely on the money? > > My experience with John is that he has no interest in making the TMO work > better. He believes that it is a cult at all levels and that anyone who > believes > otherwise (or who doesn't give a crap either way) is deluded to the point of > needing professional cult recovery help, preferably from him or his friends. > > Lawson >
