Dude, haven't you figured out by now that the *you* you think you are is "made up" too?? LOL, and as you say, Big Whoop.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@> wrote: > > > > On May 18, 2011, at 3:40 PM, Xenophaneros Anartaxius wrote: > > > > > Perhaps a useful question is this: just how deep does the > > > "purity of the teaching" have to be to ensure that a meditator > > > has a correct experience of TM, or some other technique. From > > > what teachers told me, there seem to be two elements. A mantra, > > > and the correct way to use it, which is the right start of > > > meditation, and then everything mostly takes care of itself. > > > > The simple answer is it needs to be an intact line with an > > appropriate delivery method. We now know two things: > > > > 1. Maharishi was NOT authorized by Swami Brahmananda to teach > > nor was he trained in how to do so. > > While, from what I hear, this is true, that doesn't > matter to me. The *whole TM technique* was made up. > So was the puja. Big whoop. > > > 2. Puja diksha is an authentic method for mantra initiation, > > but it requires a) an authentic teacher, which Mahesh was not, > > and b) an authentic means. The "puja" Maharishi created is a > > hodge podge of different goods, tacked onto one another. The > > important thing here is that we now know that the puja is > > largely derived from a student of Swami Brahmananda who was > > a poet and scholar. When Brahmananda was told of this poem, > > poem, he explicitly asked Mahesh to destroy it and throw it > > into the Ganges. Mahesh instead kept it and used it, against > > the direct wishes of his guru. > > Again, big whoop. I don't buy *anyone's* definition > of "authentic," including yours, Vaj. While I under- > stand your right to believe in the Woo Woo Theory > Of Mantra Delivery, I don't see it as fundamentally > different than the TM TB's theory of why the puja > is so important. Both are based on a belief in the > essential Woo Woo nature of the puja, or of it some- > how "enlivening" the mantra, and both are based on > things somebody said, and that you seem to have > accepted as true. > > I've received mantra-based teachings adorned with > bells and whistles (a puja or something like it) and > I've received them with no fanfare whatsoever, the > mantra just being delivered (spoken aloud) to a group > of people in a room, all at once. I have never > perceived the slightest difference. > > Some may claim to, and that is their right. But I > cannot help but laugh at those who cling to the idea > that TM is somehow a "science," but who then cannot > even for a minute conceive of it not being taught > without the Magical Woo Woo Ceremony. > > To me clinging to the puja as magical while denying > that they believe in magic is akin to denying that > the TMO is fundamentally a religious organization > while attending the performance of a yagya. Just > doesn't compute. >
