Dear Paul,
I look forward to answering your questions. I am driving through Georgia on my
way to Florida. I will respond to your post just as soon as I have the
opportunity. It will be nice to write into a context like yours, since you
allow me to write freely and non-ironically. Lots to say to what you have
written here. It's coming up. :-)
Robin
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "at_man_and_brahman@..."
<at_man_and_brahman@...> wrote:
>
> Robin,
>
> Paul here.... I have some questions for you.
>
> I'm big on recapping premises. Let's recap some of yours.
>
> There is such a beast as "unity consciousness."
>
> Maharishi convinced many that he was sufficiently established
> therein both to teach about it authoritatively and to ascertain whether
> others had entered said state.
>
> You entered unity consciousness, as defined by Maharishi.
>
> Maharishi confirmed that you had entered unity consciousness,
> thereby putting his own authority regarding unity consciousness on the line
> as your drama unfolded.
>
> Unity consciousness felt great, with its heaping tablespoon of
> power, integrity, and bliss.
>
> After some years, the writings of Thomas Aquinas and some other
> Catholic saints convinced you that unity consciousness is irreconcilable with
> Reality.
>
> By extension, added power, integrity, and bliss are unnatural
> and undesirable elements of the human condition; less power, integrity, and
> bliss are better.
>
> Unity consciousness consists of having one's free will taken
> over by one or more outside entities ("Mother," "Vedic gods," and so on),
> presumably to further its(their) agenda, rather than your own.
>
> Varieties of unity consciousness, or analogous states, can be
> had through a similar handover of free will and individuality to other
> outside entities (Allah, perhaps), as happened with Khomeini. These states
> may or may not feel great or be blissful, but they are at least powerful and
> integrated, again as exemplified by Khomeini.
>
> Through an act of will, you deconstructed your unity
> consciousness and have regained waking state consciousness.
>
> In so doing, your power, integrity, and bliss are now no longer
> in the red zone, and have returned to comfortably puny levels.
>
> There are more premises your actions and writing have outlined, but these are
> the ones salient to what you've written below.
>
> Before I continue, are these premises accurately stated? You write
> voluminously, and I'm trying to help clarify your essential points lying
> behind all the words and stories.
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Robin Carlsen" <maskedzebra@> wrote:
> >
> > I couldn't help but feel embarrassed and concerned when I saw this excerpt
> > from one of my books (strongly discountenanced by the way: I don't like any
> > of them: they should all be burned!) posted at FFL. And I would like to say
> > a few thingsnot in my defense, but in explanation for how it could come to
> > be that I would write so enthusiastically and uncritically about someone
> > like Ayatollah Khomeini.
> >
> > Now I have gone on the record to say that my Unity Consciousness experience
> > was both very real (enlightenment does exist, it is an actual 'style of
> > functioning' of the nervous system as Maharishi has claimed: enlightenment,
> > then, is both a mechanical and metaphysical state of consciousness: and I
> > believe it can be objectively determined; that is, one can apply criteria
> > to decide whether someone is enlightened or not enlightened) and yet an
> > hallucination. When I speak of Unity Consciousness as a hallucination I
> > mean that it produces an essentially unreal apprehension of the universe,
> > of oneself, of reality. Even though that experience is like nothing anyone
> > has ever known, even on LSD (I remember in the moment when I was actually
> > becoming enlightened thinking: Well, this is what LSD was pointing
> > towards): It is so much more profound (than LSD), and it carries with it
> > the imprimatur of what appears to be the very intelligence of the cosmos.
> > And it takes away from oneself the sense of the primacy of volitional
> > action; that is, one's actions appear to conform to Maharishi's principle
> > of "spontaneous right action"without even the capacity to make those
> > actions existentially selective. That is, originating in choice,
> > deliberation, arbitrariness. Unity Consciousness means apprehending oneself
> > as unified with what seems to be reality, while simultaneously finding
> > oneself governed in one's behaviour by that same reality, a reality which
> > is deeper and more intelligent and more all-encompassing than the
> > individual awareness which determined one's life before enlightenment.
> >
> > Now when the Iranian students seized the American Embassy in Tehran in
> > September 1979 I recognized *from within my Unity Consciousness*, from
> > within the hallucination of my enlightenment, that something essentially
> > religious as opposed to something merely political was happening. These
> > young Iranians seemed to be acting out of a religious experience of the
> > objective truthfulness of Shi'a Islam, and a conviction therefore that they
> > were doing the will of God (Allah:I believe there may be a difference
> > however :-) ) in taking these American diplomats and embassy personnel
> > hostageagainst all international law. In a sense I felt their actions, as
> > transgressive as they appeared to be on one level, to be, on another level,
> > transcendent, coming out of an experience of reality (via Shi'a Islam)
> > which was very real for them. Something, then, along the lines of
> > 'spontaneous right action'.
> >
> > I determined to get to Iran and find out more about this, and, after
> > writing a small book about the crisis, I left for Tehran in January 1980,
> > determined to interview the main players. I was unable to see Khomeni
> > during that visit, but I did enter the American Embassy where I spoke to
> > the leader (a woman) of the students who were were holding the Americans
> > hostageI didn't see the Americans, but they were not far away from where
> > this interview took place. That visit resulted in another book, describing
> > my encounter with various characters in Iran who were in positions of
> > official leadership, or, as in the case of the Iranian students, exercising
> > a decisive influence over the fate of that countryplus my observations of
> > The Revolutionwhat it had wrought up to that time (since Khomeini's return
> > from exile in France in 1979).
> >
> > However two years later I revisited Iranthis was after the Iran-Iraq war
> > had broken outa war which resulted in 1 to 2 million deaths. It was at
> > this time, March 1982, I had the opportunity to see Ayatollah Khomeini in
> > the fleshand even afterwards, to be singled out from among all the
> > journalists there, to have a one-on-one meeting with him.
> >
> > Now inside the experience and personal functioning of my enlightenment
> > (what was Unity Consciousness) my orientation, my perceptions, my
> > experience, and my actions were all determined by the state of my
> > consciousness. I had no power to do anything else. Once I 'slipped into
> > Unity' my personal freedom was taken away from me; or at least this was the
> > empirical truth by which I lived my life. Now what Unity Consciousness does
> > is to make one mystically sensitive to all the preternatural forces in the
> > universethat is, as in the case of psychedelics, it makes one see levels
> > of reality that one just never experienced prior to going into that state
> > of consciousness, the state of consciousness which was the obsession of
> > every devoted TM initiator (at least up until the mid seventies and early
> > eighties this was the caseuntil the 5 to 8 year time-line was contradicted
> > by reality). Now once Khomeini came onto the stage I experienced an
> > individual who was also in a *higher state of consciousness*. All the
> > evidence for this was immediately manifest in his bearing, in his
> > integrity, in his confidence, in his power. And the response to this
> > individual was very similar to the response of devout initiators on
> > rounding courses to Maharishi himself, only in the case of Khomeini, the
> > Shia outbursts of reverence and adoration took the form of that notorious
> > exclamation: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! ("God is great!"from which
> > Christopher Hitchens found the title of his book)TM initiators expressed
> > their awe of Maharishi by usually just "closing the eyes".
> >
> > But you understand, then, that the collective consciousness in this hall
> > when Khomeini entered and while he spoke, was no differentat the most
> > important, and vital metaphysical level of realityfrom being in the
> > presence of Maharishi on a rounding course for initiators. It is true that
> > the audience was more demonstrative, but for me, I recognized the
> > biochemistry, the psychology, the atmosphere to be the same say as Villars,
> > Switzerland in 1973 when Maharishi would visit us on our Teacher Training
> > Course. The ultimate facts, as far as I could discern them, were the same:
> > persons who were in the Khomeini audience (which included a large
> > contingent of Revolutionary Guards) were primed through the practice of
> > their religion, Shi'a Islam, to know, to detect, to be able to judge when a
> > Shi'a religious leader was near to Allah, was in fact acting under the
> > direct inspiration of Allah. Clearly they, like us with Maharishi, believed
> > he lived in perfect intimacy to God. For me, Khomeini, although saying
> > things that I did not believe, although adhering to a set of dogmas which
> > were incompatible with my Hindu and Western allegiance [Think of the
> > massacres that occurred during the partition of India in 1947 based upon
> > religious affiliation: Hindu versus Muslim: 13 to 15 million people lost
> > their livesalthough officially India was established as a secular
> > stateThese were mostly Sunni not Shia Muslims, but the differences
> > (between Islam and Hinduism) were judged to be significant by the
> > practitioners of these respective religions such as to kill each other on a
> > mass scale. The same antipathy continues to this day between Shi'a and
> > Sunni Muslims.],for me Khomeini *was speaking from the same place as
> > Maharishi, the same place where I was experiencing my life and myself*.
> > Khomeini was, therefore, 'Self-realized', and if you read his mystical
> > writings, he talks about Allah as the Absolute, and describes the ultimate
> > state of perfection in Islam (in Shi'a Islam, that is) as the unification
> > of the personal self with Allah, which is The Absoluteand leaves no room
> > for any final imperishable sense of individuality.
> >
> > So what was happening to me inside that hall was not unprecedented: I was
> > seeing someone other than Maharishi manifesting the same level of
> > consciousness: Unity. And if you follow my description carefully you can
> > intuitively sense that I could be Maharishi himself when first seeing His
> > Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati of Shankaracharya (Guru Dev). In a
> > sense I feel, by writing as I didas innocent as it wasI was trying to
> > tell the world that "knowledge was structured in consciousness", that what
> > Khomeini was, and the power he had to dominate Iran, was owing to his being
> > in a "higher state of consciousness". I simply was registering this fact
> > through my perception of him. Khomeini was a reflection of my own
> > consciousness, albeit, like Maharishi, radiating more charisma and energy.
> >
> > There is an interesting sequel to that event (which I omitted from my
> > book): Arrangements were made for me to meet Khomeini personally, alone in
> > his house. However plans changed and it was understood that I would meet
> > him outside, but only as he passed by me [No flowers proffered in this
> > instance]. He did stop to take my hand (he had been told about me, as
> > devout Shi'a Muslims in the audience could not help but notice the effect
> > Khomeini was having upon me), but when I looked into his face, something
> > extraordinary happened: *His entire countenance literally disappeared;
> > there was nothing there; no one*. Now at the instant this happenedKhomeini
> > melting into a kind of nothingness when our eyes metI was completely
> > bewildered and nonplussed. I couldn't understand what was happening;
> > however I suppressed this dissonant or peculiar factsince I could not
> > process it inside the way I was processing all the other data that has gone
> > through my nervous system up till that pointand when I went to write about
> > my experience I omitted this very bizarre and inexplicable event.
> >
> > Now I spent twenty-five years deconstructing my enlightenment, my Unity
> > Consciousness, until now I can claim that although some of the wounds are
> > still there from this spectacular alteration of my own personal
> > consciousness, I do not apprehend the universe as one with my own self, nor
> > do I feel my personal actions to be determined by anything other than my
> > own free will, for which I am therefore responsible. I have, in effect,
> > destroyed or undone the integrity of my enlightenment. But when I wrote the
> > passage which was posted on FFL I was steeped in this Hindu reality.
> > Transcendental Meditationand everything Maharishi added to thatcreated my
> > enlightenment. Shi'a Islam, as practised by Khomeini, evidently produced
> > his enlightenment, making it seem as it he was the Hidden Imam [what is the
> > equivalent for Shi'a Muslims of the Second Coming], and the exemplar of
> > someone who perpetually did the will of Allah [Maharishi in *The Science of
> > Being and The Art of Living* speaks of the enlightened person as doing the
> > will of Godwhat I would say was the will of the Impersonal God: the same
> > with myselfnot, then, the Personal God]. But on that day in March of 1982
> > I was experiencing the verification of my enlightenment, because here was a
> > human being exhibiting all the characteristics of enlightenment albeit
> > inside a context which took a different outward form than my own
> > enlightenment: Khomeini's being Shi'a Islam; mine being Hindu (with a
> > Western dramatic theme of 'individuation' thrown in).
> >
> > Now were I to see Khomeini in my present state of consciousnessnormal,
> > waking state consciousnesson that same day (March 1982), I would have
> > perceived a human being who was fanatical, deceived, mystical, and
> > ultimately dislocated from realityjust as I had been during the ten years
> > in which I acted out my enlightenment. But from what I could innocently
> > experience (and if you read the entire account from which this excerpt is
> > taken you will realize, if you are a TM initiator from the late sixties and
> > seventies, I am describing a phenomenon which is familiar to those of us
> > who surrendered ourselves to what we thought was the Perfect Master,
> > someone who was the embodiment of The Absolute) Khomeini was in the
> > identical state of consciousness that I was. Just on a grander scale.
> > Shi'a Islam had elevated him into a higher state of consciousness just as
> > TM plus had done the same thing for me.
> >
> > I tend to believe in retrospect, however, that my personal encounter with
> > Khomeini (after his speech when we met personally) tended to indicate that
> > his formidable integrity was not as stable as it should have been, since
> > the way he disappeared did not appear to me to be voluntary, nor the
> > spontaneous expression of what was perfect or beautiful or indomitably
> > real. Well, over the course of the past twenty-five years I experienced the
> > breaking down of my own integrity inside Unity Consciousnessand it was a
> > harrowing and terrifying and agonizing experienceI am sane nowat least I
> > think I am, Barry,but the person who wrote that account of Ayatollah
> > Khomeini, he wasalthough not subject to the critical consciousness of
> > anyone I met such as to challenge my metaphysical integritymystically
> > deceived, and living inside a context of reality which was created by
> > intelligences and forces beyond his own control and understanding.
> >
> > I believe the same principle applied to Maharishi himselfin effect he
> > started to 'disappear' as he got older, losing that immensity of grace and
> > power and charisma that he received directly from his own Master. Because
> > in the end reality understood and apprehended on its own terms is
> > antagonistic to the very idea of Unity Consciousness or enlightenment.
> >
> > But the great tragedy of September 11, 2001, although master-minded and
> > executed by Sunni Muslims, essentially originated in the mystical
> > experience of this religion, and my account of what happened to me in
> > watching Khomeini that day points up the profound difference between say, a
> > radical Marxist and a Sunni suicide bomber. Iraq was all about the
> > tremendous power of something mystical and violent challenging the
> > integrity of something quite different: the world view that for me seems so
> > much more real: the world view of the West. Although that war remains
> > something almost unknowable in its final and perhaps terrible meaning. I
> > would suggest what was posted on FFL today in some significant sense goes
> > to what that mystery and horror and violence was all about: Persons
> > believing and even experiencing that they have a hold of the Truth about
> > creation.
> >
> > Ayatollah Khomeini, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Werner Erhard went one step
> > further: They came to see themselvesand to convince othersthey embodied
> > this Truth. I got out with my life.
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, iranitea <no_reply@> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > > > Robin's posts weren't always easy to read, but if you
> > > > actually made the effort, they were exceptionally
> > > > meaty and perceptive.
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > > A number of the smartest posters
> > > > on FFL were big fans of Robin, including raunchy and
> > > > feste and Jim (although Barry would likely point out
> > > > that the first two live in Fairfield).
> > > >
> > > > The reason Barry tries to put down Ravi and Robin is
> > > > that both of them saw through him. Some of Robin's
> > > > posts dissecting Barry were brilliant.
> > >
> > > Now, try to judge for yourself:
> > > http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/default.asp?url=kashkul.htm
> > > (Robin describes his meeting of Khomeini)
> > >
> > > "Indeed I would say that the explosion of ecstasy and power that greeted
> > > the Imam was itself not so much a simple reflex based upon a fixed idea
> > > of the Imam; it was rather the natural and exuberant hymn of praise, of
> > > celebration that was demanded by the very majesty and overpowering
> > > charisma of this man. For once the door opened for him I experienced a
> > > hurricane of energy surge through the door, and in his brown robes, his
> > > black-turbaned head, his white beard he stirred every molecule in the
> > > building and riveted the attention in a way that made everything else
> > > disappear. He was a flowing mass of light that penetrated into the
> > > consciousness of each person in the hall. He destroyed all images that
> > > one tried to hold before one in sizing him up. He was so dominant in his
> > > presence that I found myself organized in my sensations by that which
> > > took me far beyond my own concepts, my own way of processing experience.
> > > I had expected-no matter what the apparent stature of the man to find
> > > myself scrutinizing his face, exploring his motivation, wondering about
> > > his real nature. Khomeini's power, grace, and absolute domination
> > > destroyed all my modes of evaluation and I was left to simply experience
> > > the energy and feeling that radiated from his presence on the stage. A
> > > hurricane he was, yet immediately one could see there was a point of
> > > absolute stillness inside that hurricane; while fierce and commanding, he
> > > was yet serene and receptive. Something was immovable inside him, yet
> > > that immovability moved the whole country of Iran This was no ordinary
> > > human being; in fact even of all the so called saints I had met-the Dalai
> > > Lama, Buddhist monks, Hindu sages-none possessed quite the electrifying
> > > presence of Khomeini. For those who could see (and feel) there could be
> > > no question about his integrity, nor about the claim, however muted by
> > > people like Yazdi, by his people that he had gone beyond the normal (or
> > > abnormal) selfhood of the human being and had taken residence in
> > > something absolute. This absoluteness was declared in the air, it was
> > > declared in the movement of his body, it was declared in the motion of
> > > his hands, it was declared in the fire of his personality, it was
> > > declared in the stillness of his consciousness. There was no mystery
> > > about why he was so loved by millions of Iranians and Muslims throughout
> > > the world and he demonstrated, to this observer at least, the empirical
> > > foundation for the notion of higher states of consciousness. Yes, the
> > > severity, the humourlessness, the absolutist judgement was apparent; yet
> > > given the circumstances within which he was placed, there was the
> > > affirmation of appropriateness in his every gesture and aspect. This was
> > > the most extraordinary person I had seen."
> > >
> > > Now, now, I know it's long time ago, but who wouldn't immediately
> > > recognize the same elaborate, over-emotional, overcast writing style, he
> > > also exhibited here on FFL? That he changed his opinions, world-views a
> > > thousand times during his life, and probably even at the moment you are
> > > reading this now, doesn't do a damned thing, it just should raise even a
> > > few more red flags, if you know the details, you know what I mean?
> > >
> >
>
