--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@...> wrote:
>
> On Dec 7, 2011, at 5:21 PM, Susan wrote:
> >
> > Well, $85 is rather inexpensive. Good for the TMO not
> > to overcharge!!! Hope it really works for people. I
> > always liked the parallels between the cosmic and the
> > individual physiology. And in response to Barry, yes,
> > sometimes placebos do work - at least for a while and
> > more often with certain types of problems (pain). There
> > is an interesting article in this week's New Yorker about
> > placebos and the research being done at Harvard on the
> > whole area.
> >
> > Well, if I were out there, I would spring for this course.
> > Sounds at the least sweet, and perhaps really powerful.
> > And since I love all the astronomy and universe/multiverse/
> > black holes info and photos and concepts then this will at
> > least feed into that fascination.
> >
> > Did MMY himself develop this with Rajaram? Or is this
> > really Rajaram's invention?
>
> That's his whole trip for years now. It's what his overpriced
> and overhyped book is about. But the question I'd want to know
> is "how does this enhance my spiritual practice?" I'm afraid
> the answer is: not at all, it's just knowledge, special
> knowledge.
>
> It's just groups of correspondences. What's the big deal if
> it doesn't awaken me more, integrate me further or expand my
> capacity for love?
Exactly. Interesting insights, Vaj. I was going to
let my "LED Visible Man" comment stand on its own,
but you've gotten me thinking about this, so I'll
rap some more. Or, as some would put it, "stink
the place up." :-)
On one level, based on the little they've actually
said in the video or that Buck has hinted at, it seems
like very little more than an expansion on Maharishi's
"feel the body." Which is not a valueless exercise,
any more than the "Age Of Enlightenment" techniques
that some have compared this to is. There is IMO very
little actual harm in the process of placing one's
attention on various parts of the body. On the level
of the placebo effect, it may even have some value.
On another level, however, I think one can see this
as yet another example of Vedic Fundamentalism, yet
another WASSBWKHEW ("We Are So Special Because Ee
Know How Everything Works") technique. I see it as
almost a purely intellectual technique, similar to
Kabbalists gazing at and focusing on that study's
intricate diagrams of *their* fundamentalist theories
of How Everything Works. Or Westerners doing the same
gazing/focusing on cards from the tarot.
It's IMO a technique in which True Believers in a
philosophy that they have been told is "the highest"
or "the best" or 'really' How Everything Works are
taught to focus on the minutiae of those philosophies
or theories *to jumpstart an emotional reaction*. The
emotion (of having one's belief that one knows How
Everything Works and that you're oh-so special because
of that) is then translated in the practitioner's mind
into "subtle perceptions" (read "moodmaking") that the
focus is actually DOING SOMETHING.
That's what I suspect is going on here. All dressed up
in the TMO's clueless presentation layer. Even TBs
will have to admit that "My tummy feels fine" is right
up there on the Cheezy Scale with the Maharishi Vedic
Honey ads. :-)
As someone in this thread opined, what they should have
done is make this essentially guided meditation into an
app. It would be *perfect* for one. Write it for the
iPhone or the Android platform and sell it for $4.95
on the Apple Store or the Android Store. Even better,
if you're an organization sitting on as much cash and
real estate as the TMO is, *give it away for free*. If
they really believed it would help people, that's what
a truly spiritual organization would do.
But that wouldn't achieve the other (IMO) goal of
bringing out this "new knowledge," which is to come
up with yet another excuse to get people into rooms
together so that they can feed off of each others'
moodmaking energy and feel all "special" because they
are in the room and the Great Unwashed aren't.
Part of what makes the placebo effect work is "group
mind." Placebo-based techniques testably "work" better
when performed in a group of people who all already
*expect* them to work than they do when performed on
one's own, at home. So *of course* they're going to
sell this as something that 'has to' be done in a
group. It's part of the overall control freak mentality
that drives the TMO. Put enough TB TMers into one room
and show them a *porn video* ferchrissakes, and many
of them are going to come up with "testimonials"
about how it revealed to them visions of Shiva
gettin' it on with his consort. :-)
Based on what little has been said about this "new
technique" (which is the furthest thing from that),
I don't see it doing much physical harm. And, as I've
said, it might actually do some individuals a little
good, on the level of what it really is, "feeling
the body." The moving of attention from one area
of the body to another has proven value, again if
on no other level on the level of the placebo effect.
But I do feel an overriding sense of *embarrassment*
for King Tony and for the TMO that this is all they
can come up with in terms of "new knowledge" or
"new techniques." I can't see anyone who isn't
already a TM TB (or who was one in the past) looking
at it and saying "I just can't wait to sign up
for this."
But by far your most insightful comment, Vaj, was
speculating as to whether this moodmaking technique
does anything to create true spiritual balance in
those practicing it. Are we likely to see them
develop more compassion, or love, or a sense of
equality with their fellow man as the result of
staring at the LED Visible Man?
I don't think so. I think the appeal is yet again
to "We Are So Special Because We Know How Everything
Works" elitism, and the underlying message is yet
again, "You don't get to feel this special unless
you're on our approved list of People Who Are As
Worthy As We Are and we issue you a pass to let
you into the room, as soon as you've paid us for
the privilege."
But YMMV. I, for one, look forward to more "testi-
monials" from the TBs about this one. That should
be amusing. My tummy feels better just anticipating
the laughter. :-)
