14 years? Hell, boy, that ain't even gittin' warmed up! --- On Tue, 3/1/11, Michael Flatley <untilbey...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> From: Michael Flatley <untilbey...@yahoo.com> > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: A checklist of psychological traits (was: ...if > Maharishi was just a guy) > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 12:28 PM > Re-evaluation. > > > > Normal human process. > > > > I am grateful to have had my 14 years in the TMO. It > matched who I was at the time. > There is a recovery process from all the brainwashing... > and that's okay. Had there been no TMO, I probably > would've become an est-hole (ie Werner Erhard's seminars) or > similar. Bottom line for me was finding a community of > seekers. In '81, a friend took me to one of > their introductory presentations. Several hundred > estholes showed up to encourage the small percentage of > prospective estholes to get on board. > > These people had tremendous similarities to TMO folks.... I > felt at home with this group, similar to being around > meditators. I did not take the seminar... a few years > later, I took the spin-off developed by Fernando Flores from > Chile... it was terrific. Fernando is now a senator in > Chile, and est morphed into Landmark Education, which has > stagnated similar to the way TMO got more cultish over > time. > > > > You guys (and one girl?) kick ass. Funny as hell, > smart as whips. > > > > I am looking for a way to gain more understanding of the > validity of mantra meditation in general as a way of > clearing hidden interference and ideally: being more > functional. I am still open the possibility that some > of the classic mantras: Ganesh or Gayatri for example : > could be helpful. Mantra is probably my version of > prayer, and in times of trouble, I use mantra similar to > others might use a stiff drink, or valium. It's a > decent coping mechanism, and it's not easy to really know if > this is just pacifying my inner teenager, or doing more than > that. There is a deep question here, and that's part > of why I'm here exploring what others have chosen. My > hunch is that I've probably overdosed on the TM mantra, and > need > cross-training to balance it out. > > > Being highly functional throughout the aging process? > It does happen for some. Indian philosophy has such an > amazing scope on this subject, and now hatha yoga has gone > mainstream. So the other aspects of yoga will continue > to proliferate. It's good learning. > > Here's another irony. So much of what made TM > successful was the way it was presented as practical. > 20-minutes twice day to improve every aspect of life. > Instead of increasing the time allocation, wouldn't it have > been more practical to look for a way trim it down? > > We need routines that can promote heightened awareness in a > few minutes. That would be practical. And we > need something that can go into auto-pilot in the background > of activity, or even sleep. My understanding is that > 125,000 repetitions of a mantra puts it into > auto-pilot. The tissue will run that vibration as > needed without conscious participation. That might be > why MMY felt that mantras failed in India. People had > no TV, radio, etc. So there was plenty of time for > mantra, and people learned dozens of them, and got it where > too many were on auto-pilot, perhaps diluting potency. > That might've been what he was actually referring to with > "loss of purity." Getting to experiment on thousands > of westerners with a blank slate was a terrific discovery > process. Now we're getting to a point where it should > be possible to develop a treatise on how to optimize mantra > methods. > > > I greatly appreciate the opportunity to explore these > topics and the sense of camaraderie. > > > > > -Michael > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, > turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, > "Michael Flatley" <untilbeyond@> wrote: > > > > > > Thank you, Turk. > > > > > > To be always questioning everything, to be > starved for > > > substantive information, can become > tiresome. > > > > Not quite as tiresome as being demonized for > question- > > ing itself, but I get your point. :-) > > > > > The allure of a system that presented a world of > answers... > > > > "Pat" answers. Answers presented as if they were > Truth > > Incarnate, and never to be questioned, on peril of > > being excommunicated. > > > > > ...is what made me vulnerable. Answers are > like a drug. > > > > Exactly. My point is that many here are WAY strung > > out on the "pat answers" they've been parroting for > > decades, and at this point cannot live without them. > > They react to those who suggest that the "pat > answers" > > ARE drugs exactly the same way that junkies react to > > those might suggest that their neighborhood dealers > > are not nice guys who are merely filling a societal > > need. :-) > > > > > And drugs can be extremely helpful in moderation. > The > > > risk is getting addicted, right? > > > > Exactly. "Pat answers" are fine *in their place*, and > > recognized as the temporary learning aids they are. > > Few would argue that the simplistic pat answers they > > were given in kindergarten or grade school presented > > the whole story, or were all that they ever need to > > learn about a given subject. But you have people > doing > > that here with regard to the simplistic pat answers > > given to them by Maharishi. > > > > > In shamanic cultures, they had no tolerance for > self- > > > importance. The value of a tyrant is in their > ability to > > > illustrate and magnify self-importance. Tyrants > facilitate > > > awareness. > > > > > > In The Fire Within, Castenada did a great job of > explaining > > > how vital it was to locate a petty tyrant, to > practice being > > > senior... his teachers made it clear that if we > can't overcome > > > a human tyrant in this realm, then we will be > ill-prepared for > > > dealing with more signifigant predators on the > other side. > > > > Ahem. While I agree that Carlos Castaneda wrote well > > and compellingly about many things, I met the dude > and > > I've spent some time with folks who studied with him > > closely for years. Suffice it to say that he rarely > > walked his own talk. Much of what he wrote was > creative > > fiction, and had nothing to do with the cultures he > > attributed it to, modern or ancient. That said, there > > is still much to be learned from his writings IMO. > > > > > ... I noticed that most of y'all are beyond the > righteous > > > indignation, and have a playful attitude about > the foolishness > > > we bought into for as long as we did. We sucked > hard and long > > > and pretended to love it. I do see the humor > now. > > > > As much as I poke and prod at the exceptions on this > > forum -- those who cannot get past regarding the pat > > answers they were given as The Answers -- I agree > with > > you, Michael. One of the reasons I like this place is > > that many seem to have developed a sense of humor > about > > the stuff we went through, and *our own part in it*. > > > > No one could have really *forced* us to believe in > the > > guff we believed in for decades and submit to many of > > the indignities of "life in the TMO." We did so > willingly, > > because we had come to believe "the end justifies the > > means," and had stopped analyzing the means > themselves, > > and what they *said* about us, and our values. Now, > > belatedly, many are beginning to question our decades > > of non-questioning and obeisance. > > > > I think that's a healthy process, and applaud it. > Some > > on this forum use every opportunity presented to them > > to put it down and demonize it. Go figure. > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links > > > fairfieldlife-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com > > >
