--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> While all of this is true, and possibly applicable to the TM > movement, I have a feeling that it's a lot simpler than that. > Maharishi may have displayed some narcissistic tendencies > over the years, but more than anything I see him as having > re-created the only environment he's ever been comfortable > in -- an ashram. *** I see his behaviour being what it is because it is the only reality he is capable of living, when it comes to relating to others. Either be in a position of controlling others or be controlled by somebody. This is essentially the narcissistic level of functioning. Like that has most probably been his childhood environment also. The idealized ashram environment is an effort make this kind of relating to work in a decent way. There is no understanding present that one could transcend this whole structure and that there are better, more evolved ways to relate to others. India is a developing country compared to the west in this respect. The poverty of the country is a reflection of this problem. Being a skilful manipulator MMY was capable of creating successfully in the west a similar milieu he was familiar with, now being himself as the controller. The shift from being controlled to the controller happens easily whenever the opportunity arises. It is not a more advanced way of functioning. *** This kind of environment is not natural in the west because the societies have grown beyond those ways of relating. Many people are however attracted to these settings, because they still have residues of this kind of relating in their personalities, usually as disowned parts of themselves. Because of the disowning they project that part out. One result of the projecting can be the idealization of a charismatic guru, whose personality has qualities of the disowned part. This part can now be seen as very positive, because the guru creates a false grandiose image of himself. And at the same time the guru gets his "shine", that he by now is desperately dependent upon, through the adulation he receives. Without it he would be just a dry raisin. > > The ashram, Hindu-style, is the most artificial of environ- > ments. There is one leader, whose word is never to be > questioned. There is no dissent; in an "ideal" ashram, it > wouldn't even come up, because everyone would assume > at all times that the guru is correct about everything. Since > the artificial ashram environments of the TM movement are > far from "ideal," this lack of dissent has to be maintained > via threats of censure or excommunication. > > The ashram is also not a part of the real world; it is con- > sidered *superior* to the real world. It is considered a > privilege to live in the ashram, and not to have to live in > the gnarly, low-vibe real world. It's a world of men, for > whom the model is that it is clearly better to be celibate > than to be a householder. If women are present, better > for them to be either celibate themselves, or invisible > wives. Children are right out; there is no place for them > in an ashram. > > No one really has to *work* very much in an ashram. > Hours spent in meditation are *always* considered more > important than the need to earn a living. Money just > arrives mysteriously, as a result of donors. It is some- > one *else's* responsibility to provide for those who live > in the ashram. *** Whatever states or stages one has experienced in that kind of milieu, efforts has to be taken to live that reality in the ordinary life of a householder. And it has to make the householder's life better. Only then the state one has experienced in the recluse life has proved itself to be of permanent value. > > Think about Maharishi's descriptions of the "ideal" "Vedic > Society." How many of them are really extensions of the > ashram environment, with a few householder communities > thrown in for those who are not evolved enough to see the > wisdom of celibacy? Maharishi has essentially been in an > ashram all of his adult life. He was in one for years with > Guru Dev, and his world was shattered when he died. > > Almost the *only* period he has *not* lived in an ashram > was the few weeks when he left India and went to America. > And within a few days of arriving there, he was back in an > ashram again, surrounded by adoring followers who treat- > ed him as he had treated Guru Dev, who took care of all > the gnarly details of life like feeding him and putting a roof > over his head, etc. The ashram kept moving, from private > home to private home, then from hotel to hotel, and finally > from purchased building to purchased building. But it's > always been an ashram. > > I honestly think that Maharishi's ideas about the real world > are so off-base sometimes because he can't even *conceive* > of the real world. He hasn't lived in it since he was a kid. > > I think this is a little kinder way to view Maharishi than the > "narcisscist" view. The latter is more appropriate for some > spiritual teachers, the Rama guy I studied with definitely > included. But I think that on one level it's more accurate to > see Maharishi as a guy who has spent his entire *life* > avoiding contact with the real world, and who has created > a dream for his students that assumes the same fear of > and unfamiliarity with the real world that he has. He's trying > to protect his students from the big, bad boogeyman, by > trying to create a world in which boogeymen are not allowed > past the ashram gates. > > The problem is that the artificial environment breeds boogeymen. **** That wasn't kind either, but can be true. These people may be protecting themselves from the darkness of the outside world. But actually that darkness is also embedded in an unseen way in themselves, and is trying to come out to the awareness, because it is felt as an disturbance. If a person all the time removes those disturbances from his awareness, he is putting a stop to his evolution, and maybe start to devolve. With devolving I mean a process of disowning more and more of one's personality. Irmeli 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/
