--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "geezerfreak" <geezerfr...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > > > Post of the month, maybe of the year. Comment below. > > > > > > > Thanks. You are probably the only one arising from the rabble of FFLife who > > thinks so. But I'll take the compliment. > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> wrote: > > > > > > > > TM cannot exist without the TMO. Warts and all, it > > > > is the only organization capable of teaching TM so > > > > that it remains TM, a simple mental technique, > > > > rather than some watered down version that loses its > > > > effectiveness. Maharishi's great gift to the world > > > > was a systematic way to allow the mind to transcend. > > > > > > > > IMO the foundation of Maharishi's worldwide TMO is > > > > secure enough to endure leadership foibles and > > > > growing pains just as it always has. It will always > > > > have detractors, saints, dummies and TM teachers off > > > > the reservation who will teach, who knows what. > > > > Regardless, the TMO is the only reliable glue that > > > > can hold the teaching of TM together in perpetuity > > > > or at least for a very long time. > > > <snip> > > > > > > The argument can certainly be made that the TMO > > > shouldn't be a crusading, messianic organization, > > > but that's how its founder saw it from the very > > > beginning, and there isn't really anything that > > > can be done about it now; it isn't going to change > > > in that regard. > > > > I don't believe Maharishi thought of the TMO as a crusading, messianic > > organization. Certainly, these are loaded words meant to malign. But, no. > > In the early days, it was more like, he had a bunch of unkempt hippies on > > TTC who needed direction, structure, discipline and routine, if he hoped to > > hone their ability to teach with any requisite precision. Undoubtedly, > > discipline and routine will evoke rigidity and extremism in extremist > > personalities, (usually Fascists or Communists) but so what. Organizations > > must remain organized or disband. < > > Did you ever spend a lot of time around Maharishi, Raunch? I'm not asking > whether you were in the audience at TTC (come to think of it, were you ever > trained as a teacher?) or an SCI course or something.....but did you ever > work closely with MMY? > > I was always amused when I would get back in the states and hear meditators > complaining about TMO weirdness. It was always "if Maharishi only knew what > was going on, he would fix all of this!" I'd chuckle and be a good little > soldier and keep my mouth shut but the truth, as Rick or Barry or basically > anyone here who ever worked with MMY knows, is that Maharishi was in on > EVERYTHING that went down. He was the ultimate control freak. > > So you can blame "extremism" on extremist personalities but you better > include Maharishi as the MOST extreme since he was basically at the heart of > everything that went on. > > The rajas....the ridiculous costumes, every bit of weirdness emanating out of > Vlodrop for years was not the work of a few extreme personalities. It was the > work of one extreme personality. The underlings just execute the will of the > master. > > Maharishi as the leader and full architect of a crusading, messianic > organization? You better believe it! >
Just as Judy says, this point is arguable. I was on the PAC Pal Vedic Atom. We spent four months with Maharishi in India 1980-81 and saw him just about every day, morning and evening. Images and events about that experience remain clearly engraved in memory. Talk about culture shock. India...there is no place like it on earth, so strange and beautiful. Straight away, I felt out of place wearing western clothes. I bought a bunch of saris and that is all I wore, and still I felt out of place. It was like wearing clothes that belonged to someone else. I felt clumsy and awkward. I constantly stepped or tripped on the hem or had difficulty with the end piece that was supposed to remain gracefully draped over my shoulder. My incredibly delicate shoulder drapery often found its way into my food. Try as I may I could never have fit into an Indian culture in a million years. Maharishi is a product of his culture and he was true to it. We could not have expected anything otherwise. He did not fit into our culture and he never asked anyone to fit into his. Whether he wanted to weigh Tony in gold or have men wearing golden tiaras and tutus, it doesn't matter one whit in the larger scheme of things. The only thing he ever wanted from us as teachers was to teach TM as he instructed through the TMO. The TMO is not a messianic organization. Rather, it is a product of Maharishi's good sense and planning, interleaved and inseparable from his unique culture.
