--- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > On Jul 24, 2011, at 10:51 PM, authfriend wrote: <snip> > > Mark, it's a pity we have a few deeply malicious people on > > this forum. Most of us have been enjoying your reminiscences > > and reflections. I hope you don't let the conflicts between > > the former and the latter groups drive you away. There's no > > need for you to get involved in them. > > > Thank you, again, Judy, and don't worry about this. I didn't > really understand that "2 Vags" email so I just deleted it. > If I fall away it's because I must focus on other things or > because my usefulness here seems to be dwindling.
I suspect your usefulness to others here has a long way to go before it dwindles, but it's certainly your call. More important is whether it's useful to yourself. > But I really did have resistance to the flying. I think I > was the last one in my group to start. I remember saying > something like "Can you imagine angels doing this? This > seems like it's more for monkeys." It seemed very > undignified to me. Very unlikely on its face as a means to development of consciousness, but obviously what happens "inside" is of more significance than the outward appearance. > But once I started I did have a lot of thrilling bliss with it. I took the flying block at MUM with my then-boyfriend. Shortly after we began the actual practice, my boyfriend started feeling utterly miserable physically and psychically. He was told to stay in his room and given a special program; his meals were brought to him. He never told me what the program involved. The second day of this, I paid him a (strictly verboten) visit. He looked frighteningly haggard; he looked *dark*. I was worried that the special program wasn't doing him any good. He did tell me he hadn't done any hopping in the flying hall. But he stuck with it, and a few days later emerged seemingly transformed. He went back to the flying hall, started hopping almost immediately, and glowed with bliss for the remainder of the course. Me, I started hopping the third or fourth day, with a bit of insomnia the first couple of nights my only negative experience. I certainly enjoyed it, but I didn't have any bliss until years of regular practice later. For me the benefits were and still are more in daily life than in program. I suppose the bottom line is that we all get what we need, one way or the other, and that it's folly to judge our experiences by comparing them with those of others.
