About matching practice to predilection, I wonder if it's best to try to balance the individual. Confront their issues? Help them be in the moment? It seems, and this is from personal experience, that different teachings have different emphases.
Also I'm reminded of something John Newton said recently: the present moment is the best guru. ________________________________ From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 11:52 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hello FFL - --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@...> wrote: > > So do other traditions have a different kind of sadhana? > Inquiry? Seva? An excellent question, and thank you for asking it. I'll let Bharitu post his own reply, but mine would be that -- in my experience, which is different than 'according to what I've been told' -- there are many, many different forms of spiritual sadhana. NONE are in my opinion any "better" or "higher" than another. Spiritual organizations I've interfaced with other than the TMO have all seemed to understand the notion of predilection. Not all seekers are created equal. Oh, all of them have an equal shot at enlightenment or awakening or whatever you call it, but they may take different paths to get there. And none of those paths are inherently "better" or "higher" or even "faster" than any other. What is important is match- ing the recommended sadhana to the individual, and to his or her predilections in life. Some organizations I've interfaced with talk about the importance of one's life *outside* of meditation or overt spiritual practice. You know, that stuff you do more hours of the day than you do meditation? They emphasize the value of "right action" in your interactions with others -- or in your approach to career -- as much as they do the value of meditation. Many organizations emphasize the value of selfless giving. There is really nothing like doing something nice for someone other than your self to get you the fuck out of being stuck in that self. I would suggest that the number of different sadhanas practiced or recommended by spiritual organizations is pretty much equal to the number of organizations themselves. And that's the way it should be. Predi- lection. As an individual, as a group of individuals. > ________________________________ > From: Bhairitu <noozguru@...> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 11:11 AM > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hello FFL - > > I found it interesting that other traditions were amazed that TMers > meditated daily. In other traditions it wasn't emphasized. In fact > Rick even he'd noticed the same thing when I brought it up. Some gurus > give temporary meditations to take care of problems for a while such as > planetary complications. > > On 06/11/2012 04:44 AM, Share Long wrote: > > But then could they really be called TMers? Perhaps there are gradations > > of TMing (-: > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: turquoiseb<no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 6:38 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hello FFL - > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long<sharelong60@> wrote: > >> Logically the only thing that one can say about TMers is > >> that they practice TM. > > If that. :-) I used to know meditators and former > > TM teachers in L.A. who hadn't practiced TM regularly > > in years, but pretended to so that they could go to > > Charlie Lutes' Friday night talks to partake in the > > social scene. > > > >> ________________________________ > >> From: Vaj<vajradhatu@> > >> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > >> Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 6:11 AM > >> Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hello FFL - > >> > >> On Jun 10, 2012, at 6:51 PM, iranitea wrote: > >>> In these dialogues I found Lawson and most of the pro > >>> TM-ers here extremely dense and blocked by their typical > >>> TM concepts. (concepts I can still use for teaching, but > >>> in a less dogmatic way, and with more openness.) > >> If there's one thing you can say about TMers, they are > >> locked into their paradigm and have a hard time stepping > >> outside that box. > >> > > > > >
