http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QK9g02-dQ0
http://tinyurl.com/7fjgg6h --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > Segueing again from the idea of DIY to what in my mind is a related > subject, have you ever noticed how many (not all, but many) TMers have > been conditioned to think of the events that enabled them to make (in > their minds, at least) tremendous leaps in their spiritual progress is > synonymous with "going on a course?" > > People tend to talk about the "courses" they were on, and how awesome > they were, and how awesomely awesome their experiences were while "on" > them. Rarely have I encountered TB TMers talking about spiritual > adventures they had while *on their own*. > > Why is that, do you think? > > One possible answer is: "They've been conditioned to think this way." > Major spiritual leaps, in their minds, just aren't *possible* unless > they're "on a course," or surrounded by hundreds of other people in a > "dome" somewhere, or getting "darshan" from some teacher. > > Another possible answer is: "We PAID for it, dummy!" Courses cost money. > Every TB TMer knows that you can't make spiritual progress unless you > PAY for it. > > Yet another possible answer -- I would suggest the Occam's Razor answer > -- is: "Because they don't actually *have* experiences that radically > shift their states of attention and allow them to make major leaps in > their spiritual progress *unless* they're 'on a course.'" One that they > PAID for, of course. > > Why I think that the last poasible answer is the one suggested by > Occam's Razor is that so few TB TMers ever *talk about* having had a > major spiritual breakthrough that they managed on their own -- DIY. If > they'd had such experiences, doncha think they'd talk about them more? > > What's UP with that? > > Is it "off the program" to admit to having made spiritual progress on > one's own, without the blessing of the TMO, after having PAID them > beaucoup bucks for the blessing? Beats me. > > Me, I'm a DIY kinda guy. If I were ever asked to come up with a Top Ten > List of the experiences I've had that produced the most powerful > subjective shifts in my state of attention and my long-term spiritual > progress, only four of them would be experiences I had while in the > presence of a spiritual teacher or in a group of fellow seekers or "on a > course." The rest I managed to stumble into on my own. DIY. And I didn't > PAY a penny for any of them, except maybe travel expenses to where the > experience happened, and often not even that, because I didn't have to > go anywhere for the experiences to happen. > > I am NOT making pronouncements about "better" or "worse" or "best" here, > merely noticing trends, as is my wont. I and many of the people I have > encountered along the Way have had rip-snortin' Top Ten experiences on > our own. That's just our predilection; we're just "drawn that way." > Others feel that they can only have such experiences if they're called > "courses" and they have to PAY for them. > > No "better" or "worse" or "best" in noticing this trend from my point of > view, just noticing it. If there is any advantage to the way I'm drawn > over the way others are drawn, it's merely that it's saved me a fuck of > a lot of money. :-) >
