--- In [email protected], "L B Shriver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[...] > > Nevertheless, I think that the greatest source of outrage against movement > excesses is the > pain of waking from a murky slumber, induced by a sleeping potion heavily > laced with > denial. In my own case, for example, there were certain assumptions about the > nature of > the organization that I clung to far beyond any evidence for their > usefulness. I would > guess that the broadest general category of such misimpressions has to do > with the cult > nature of the TMO. To deny that it is a cult is to place oneself outside the > domain of > mainstream rationality. Once it is acknowledged to be a cult, however, it can > be allowed > that some of its policies may in fact be reasonable, given that context. > However, almost no > assertion of irrationality can be dismissed out of hand. It must be > considered on the basis > of the evidence. TM isn't a cult. TM is a meditation "practice." > > This is often difficult to do from a distance. To live in Fairfield, however, > is to have access > to a great number of disturbing reports which would normally not circulate > outside of > Jefferson County. Some of them turn out to be false and unfounded, but on the > whole they > paint a picture that resembles a giant version of those plastic tokens that > look like one > thing when looked at one way, and something entirely different when looked at > from a > different angle. In other words, you've got a distorted view of the TMO by being TOO close to it. > > Personally, I feel that the "purity of the teaching" as I have understood it > has already been > lost. There is very little there left preserving, and that which is worthy of > preserving can > best be saved outside the context of the organization. > So which branch of Christianity has done the best at preserving the oral tradition? The TMO has been set up specifically to preserve its oral tradition. That is NOT the case for ANY major branch of the Christian religion, and it shows, IMHO. Whether or not the TMO approach will work for any length of time remains to be seen. What we CAN be sure of is that most, if not all, other approaches have not seemed to work. Look at Benson's Relaxation Response, based on numerous interviews with TMers. Look at Chopra's own meditation technique, and how he presents it to people. We can see the results of the telephone effect immediately (within a generation of second-handness). Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's techniques, useful or not, aren't deemed central to his organization, as far as I can tell, because his charitable works are the only pretty much the only thing discussed here. MMY has always been consistent in his representation of what he believes is important, and I find it amusing that people criticize him for building an organization specifically designed to preserve that which he deems most important. 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/
