--- In [email protected], "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], gullible fool <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > > > > Anyone who is so brainwashed that she thinks > > > > of critics as "enemies" deserves only my pity. > > > > That's my version of behaving kindly. > > > > > > And if you're critical of the TMO, then you're the > > > enemy of The Age of Enlightenment, Heaven on Earth, > > > The Divine Plan, Sat Yuga, etc. > > > > You've gotta admit...it is a really simplistic and some- > > what paranoid world view, one that is pretty shocking > > when compared to other spiritual points of view on > > this planet. > > But not at all unusual.
Shouldn't the TM organization *be* unusual in this regard? If it represents, as it claims, the "highest knowledge," and constitutes a revival of true wisdom on this planet, (espec- ially when compared to all the other traditions the TMO has labeled as lesser than it is and inferior), shouldn't the TMO be the *exception* to this "rule" rather than a clear leader in demonstrating and perpetuating it? I'm not trying to argue here, Lawson. I'm merely pointing out that -- once again -- when presented with a criticism of the TMO with which you seem to *agree*, your immediate reaction is to try to defend the behavior in the *same* way that rightwingers and arch-conservatives defend *their* indefensible behavior when caught at it. A new revelation about the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld lies and machinations comes out, one that is inescapbably true, and their defense is, "Well, the Democrats do it, too." Or, when confronted with their own promotion of torture in Iraq, they say, "Well, look at what Saddam did." It's really a sad "defense." It's a defense that has at its heart, "We're no worse than the people we say we're better than." Shouldn't the position be, if one's organization or tradition really *is* better, to demonstrate that it *is* better than its "competition?" The Rama fellow I studied with for a long time had a good guideline: "Listen to what people (or organizations) say, but watch what they DO." The main reason I stopped studying with him was that when I applied his own guideline to him, his everyday actions did not synch up with his pretty words. It was a classic case of cognitive dissonance. If an organization *says* that its teachings and its techniques promote expansion of the mind and a greater ability to inter- act gracefully with other human beings, and then that organ- ization *acts* in a manner that suggests a rather paranoid, cultlike mindset, and actively *promotes* that mindset to its followers, then I suggest that it's another case of cognitive dissonance. If the TM organization wants to promote Sat Yuga, it might consider starting by acting sattvic. 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/
