--- In [email protected], maskedzebra <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "seventhray1" <steve.sundur@> wrote: > > Steve: Raunchy coming through with some sharp insights. > > Robin: I have generally loved raunchydog's posts. But I don't know her > relationship to Ravi, and from what I could discern from the way Ravi wrote > to her [where he touchedvery deliberatelythe ultimate in personal > transgression], Ravi was drawing upon some context he has with her about > which I know nothing. Only raunchydog knows the extent to which she > objectively knows for a fact that Ravi's language representednot just in > some formal sense, but in some very personal sensea violation of her. She > certainly has responded as if this is the case. And all the males who came > her defence have known what true chivalry is. My point is: Was Ravi dealt > with in this instance effectively, decisively? I have my doubts. But > raunchydog, she seems a truly sane and attractive person to me. I think she > holds a certain mystery which only she intuitively senses in the experience > she got when Ravi went after her. And I think she does not believe that the > persons who felt she was being violated experienced what she experienced. I > think in a private conversation with Ravi she would have something to say to > him by way of outrage. But as it is, I cannot sense that what Ravi did to her > has been resolvedeven to her satisfaction. >
Hi Robin, I really don't know Ravi very well at all. I haven't read his posts with much interest except to notice that he has had some enjoyable back and forth banter with Denise/Emily and Bob Price. My initial experience of Ravi was about a year ago when he got into such a depressive state that we had extensive discussions about his mental health and concern that he might commit suicide. Since then I see that he has come back from the brink but rightly or wrongly, I still see him as an unstable individual with the potential to go off the rails again. Given his history, I think Alex's explanation for what might have happened with Ravi in the past seems to ring true. Alex: "I can see why many traditions of awakening get the samskara/vasana inner work out of the way before awakening, because once sole identity with the I/me story is broken, it is tempting to disregard the story as unimportant and let it act out messily. Also, for people with serious mental health issues, nondual awakening can make matters worse." As long as Ravi isn't threatening to do himself in, I don't make any claims to know the nature of his present mental stability. I'm just circumspect about it. Ravi claims he is enlightened. I don't know what that means to him or to anyone else. We all have a POV about it. Maybe I'm misjudging him, or just plain don't understand him but I get the feeling that he thinks his enlightenment gives him a pass to be Mr. Natural of inhibitions. I don't know if anyone's perception of him as enlightened has any bearing on how they choose to interact with him. Regardless, IMO it shouldn't be an excuse to treat him with deference or give him a pass if he chooses to be an asshole. I don't doubt the rawness of emotion he felt when he went off on his blow job rant. He intended to offend me. Yes, I felt offended, not for his personal attack on me but for the stench it created in the air on FFLife. Obviously, I provoked that in him by sending him some fairly stinky barbs myself. Just to be clear, I don't take his reaction to me as a lesson that I should somehow appreciate his rancor as an opportunity to reflect upon any darkness residing in the deepest part of my being. Perhaps this is the premise of those who see him as a Guru. I do not. I'll own my part in provoking him. I doubt that he owns his provocative behavior when he gay-baited Alex or dismissed me as a woman. In fact it was his stated intention to be provocative. This whole brouhaha between Ravi and me has turned out to be quite embarrassing in that I don't enjoy bringing attention to myself. I like flying under the radar, posting mostly political stuff so that I can vent my frustrations about the sorry state of the state. I think it's important to be informed about current events. I try to make sense of complicated issues admittedly from a rock solid liberal POV and that may cause me to tilt at a few windmills, but so be it, at least I care about what happens to my country. I don't know if anything I've said answers your doubts about dealing with Ravi effectively or if I've adequately resolved any remaining personal issues with him to your satisfaction, but it's the best that I've got for now. Just for the record, I don't believe in censorship. It's up to Rick if he wants to boot someone off. The minimal standard on FFLife is that we don't post anything that would cause Yahoo to give us an XXX rating. In Ravi's case, he stepped over the line using abusive, pornographic language and offended the sensibilities of what a few posters feel is in good taste, but IMO Ravi's tirade didn't rise to a level that calls for censorship. Maybe there's an element of chivalry of from the guys (deep bow), but I think it's more likely they reacted to what they personally considered offensive. Vaj and Barry regularly stink up the place and we put up with it. So there's a place in the firmament of stinkers on FFLife for Ravi as well as myself. I just hope to be a better person from the experience and consider it a lesson learned for moving on.
