--- In [email protected], "Ravi Yogi" <raviyogi@...> wrote: > > Wow this is the first time I'm reading a message of yours that > seems to include words such as sadhana, spiritual practice, > belief, shakti, transcendence with positive connotations without > bashing the usual suspects.
So someone is OK in your book if they use the right bullshit buzzwords. Did I get that right? :-) > Good luck and enjoy your time there !!! Careful, Ravi. You haven't been here long enough to know that saying something good about me can land you on the Enemies List. > --- In [email protected], turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > As I've mentioned a couple of times, I've recently gotten to share > > cyberconversations with a group of former Rama students. It's > > interesting for many reasons, but one of them is that we all studied > > with a guy who was a former English professor. > > > > One of his one-liners was that "Writers write to figure things out." > > Rama not only expected us to do this -- everyone was encouraged to > keep > > a Journal in which you recorded your spiritual experiences and > thoughts > > -- he required us to do it. We had writing assignments. > > > > We wrote stories about our experiences with him, or essays on some > > aspect of Buddhist thought. As an example, we were once asked to write > a > > 20-page paper on the Four Noble Truths. I still have that one, because > I > > had so much fun writing it. He read all of these stories and papers, > but > > he never "graded" them or really much commented on them. The point was > > getting his students to experience the writing process itself, not > what > > they wound up writing. At any rate, the point I'm trying to make is > that > > we got used to figuring things out through our writing. Writing was > just > > as fundamental a part of our spiritual path as meditation was. > > > > Not everyone on a spiritual path has that kind of relationship with > the > > writing process, and is able to see it as a form of sadhana. On this > > forum, I think Curtis has come closest to explaining this idea, and > the > > benefit that writing on Fairfield Life has for him. It's a way of > > working through ideas, pulling them out of the abstract and making > them > > concrete, to see if they hold up in the relative world. > > > > I think Internet chat forums provide a very powerful sadhana for the > > spiritual seeker, if they just take advantage of it. The ability to > > write about one's spiritual experiences or beliefs is IMO a powerful > way > > of *integrating* those experiences or beliefs into daily life. The > > experiences may be subjective, but writing about them is anything but; > > it's very objective. And in my experience the writing process is very > > occult -- it has the effect of drawing the power or the shakti or the > > transcendence or whatever you want to call it out of the world of > > subjectivity and integrating it into your objective life. Writing > about > > one's spiritual experiences is very grounding. It's the opposite of > > spacing out. > > > > Anyway, that's why I'm enjoying this other forum. Everybody knows > this, > > and puts some impeccability into what they write. Not because they're > > trying to impress anyone, or gain strokes from anyone, but because > it's > > writing, and writing matters. > > >
