--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Robert Gimbel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > *In the mystic business, ones ways and means must appeal to the > > > mystic and unknown. > > > > > > That's the mystic business. > > > > > > This other stuff is the actuality, but the mysticism must > > > remain ever beyond. > > > > That's actually well said and perceived. For those who > > are given to the formulaic approach to self discovery, > > there is formula, and the belief that the mystery of > > life yields to formula. For the mystic, the mystery > > rules. You try your best to surf it and stay on the > > board, not to understand it. * > > So, the thing is, how do you integrate these two opposite values. > The corporate mind and attitude, is pretty rational and focused > on 'That which can be structured' > How do you sturcture a mystical approach in an enviornment, that is > opposed general to this vibration; > Which is why people like Maharishi, needed to retreat to Uttar > Kashi, in the Himalayas... > So, how do you structure that kind of purity in the midst of > impurity?
Take Two on these excellent questions: flexibility. It's a fine, cool summer morning in Paris, and the coffee in this cafe is great and the scenery walking by is great and I feel great, and the combination of all these things and your questions has gotten me thinking of the Rama fellow I studied with for a long time, and the thing I am most grateful to him for for teaching me. That thing is flexibility, and the controlled folly approach to self discovery I talked about in my previous response. Rama was eclectic. He came from and owed allegiance to no particular lineage or tradition. In his talks and transmitted teachings, he could veer from Zen to Advaita to Occultism to Bhakti to whatever, all in the same talk. He could start out a talk from the point of view of Unity, *while "wearing" the state of mind of Unity and "broadcasting" it so powerfully that we in the audience had to "wear" it, too, and then over the course of the talk switch to another state of mind that was *completely contradictory* to the point of view he began the talk with. And when he got to the second, seemingly contradictory point of view, he'd be "wearing" and "projecting" *that* state of mind, too. So you'd sit there in the audience and experience *both* states of mind, experience the truth of *both* points of view, all in the space of an hour or so. Rama presented *many* different paths and sets of practices and forms of meditation and ways of living, all of which we were free to "pick and choose" from, to come up with a melange of practices and techniques that seemed to resonate best with us. It was not unusual to encounter two Rama students who had *completely opposite* paths and approaches to their self discovery, while studying with the same teacher. I think, in retrospect, that this was a neat thing to teach. The teaching was not based on presenting "the best" approach to self discovery, but on deter- mining the *most appropriate* approach to self dis- covery *at the time*. If you'd been pursuing a more Zen path in life and it didn't seem to be working for you in the current real world situation, no problemo. Switch to another path and try that for a while, to see if it might be more appropriate. I wrote a little story about this eclectic teaching method once, which is still up on the Web at: http://ramalila.net/RoadTripMind/rtm24.html Anyway, I guess if I were trying to...uh...formulate suggestions for how to resolve these seeming contra- dictions that come up along the Way, I think the approach I might suggest is flexibility. Don't be afraid to stray "outside the tradition" and try some- thing new and different. It might just "work better" for you. For a while. But it probably won't "work better" for you forever. When that point comes, try something else, or go back to your previous set of practices and beliefs. It's a lot like surfing. You really can't "preplan" a ride. Every wave is different, and presents dif- ferent challenges. You can't ride it by practicing a preplanned formula; you have to remain flexible and intuitive and just adopt the stance that seems the best *at the time*. Surfing is real Here And Now stuff. So is self discovery, in my opinion. Unc ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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/
