Share, thanks for the nice, polite, balanced and objective reply. Usually, Judy and Raunchy blast him as liar.
Barry just has a different perception on this, thats all. Maybe the Org was like that 40 years ago and things have changed a lot. --- Share Long <sharelong60@...> wrote: > > From what you say here Barry, I'd guess that you've not spent much time in > Fairfield recently. > > Having lived here for 24 years, I've seen hundreds of Fairfield TMers do > selfless service so that their children can attend Maharishi School. Others > help aging parents or debilitated spouses. Others have worked for MIU/MUM > for decades at low wages and next to nothing in the usual benefits. Others > devote hours of practice so that they can deliver an inspiring musical > performance. Others, like Jeffrey Smith, dedicate themselves to a cause even > at personal risk. He's a world renowned proponent of food that's free of > GMOs. Others get involved in political issues, both local and global. > Others have, for the past 6 years, spent 7 1/2 hours in the Domes every day > to help create world peace. > > Yes, many of the aforementioned are compensated in one way or the other for > their service. Perhaps that puts it outside your definition of service. > Maybe we need a new definition of service, one that includes both > selflessness and self full ness. And anyway, who from the outside can really > judge whether a person's service is selfless or not? > > > As for mindfulness and afflictive states, again I'd speak as someone who's > lived in this TM community for the last 24 years. TMers seems to develop > mindfulness spontaneously tho it's called by another name. As a result, many > often express what I'll call life affirming states. > > And last but not least, even Maharishi has recommended favoring positivity > tho it might take a little effort to do so. > > > > ________________________________ > From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Monday, July 2, 2012 6:56 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Relationships: "master-disciple" or > "guru-groupie?" > > > > --- Share Long <sharelong60@> wrote: > > > > I agree that selfless service can be a beautiful aspect of > > human life. Especially when it arises from fullness. > > My point is the opposite. I've seen several generations > of TMers wait and wait and wait and wait for "fullness" > so that they can act selflessly. They're still waiting. > Meanwhile, those who actually go out and perform self- > less service as a spiritual practice actually find > fullness. > > What I'm suggesting is that Maharishi had it exactly > backasswards. > > > As for drama queenery (not sure this is a word) being a > > choice, I know for myself, I can be more reactive if I've > > eaten sugar. And in this regard, caffeine is definitely > > a no no. > > You have to remember that you're chatting with someone who > believes that all of these things are just excuses for > failing to keep one's afflictive emotions in check. > > Those who have never practiced mindfulness can talk all day > about how they really "can't" keep their emotions under > control, that they're due to things *beyond* their control > ( like unstressing, or whatever ). But that's all it is, talk. > And excuses. Those who have spent a little time in mindful- > ness knows that there is simply NOTHING in the realm of > emotions -- whether it be the positive ones or the negative, > afflictive ones -- that is outside your control. > > Who would you rather spend your time with -- someone who con- > stantly comes up with excuses for living like a drama queen, > or someone who simply doesn't live like that, and thus has > no need for excuses? > > The fascinating thing to me is that many TMers seem to have > some kind of mental barrier against even hearing about > mindfulness, much less practicing it, because they think it > involves the dreaded E-word -- effort. It doesn't. "Coming > back to" happier and more positive thoughts and emotions > requires no more effort than coming back to the mantra in TM. > > If a TMer used to indulging in anger or any of the afflictive > emotions just *waited long enough*, they'd effortlessly be > able to come back to happier mindstates themselves. But some- > where along the way they got convinced that they *have* to > wait. They don't. The thing about mindfulness is that one > gets better at it with practice, meaning that *the time it > takes to RECOGNIZE that one is in one of the afflictive > mindstates becomes shorter*. Whereas before it could take > minutes ( or in the case of some here at FFL, years :-) to > recognize that they are angry, or sad, or depressed, or > jealous, or whatever, once one learns to recognize the > *signs* of these emotions, one can recognize the mindstates > in seconds, or less. > > And recognition is liberation. Once you become aware that > you're in mindstate A, you can easily shift to mindstate B. >
