On 01/21/2013 10:48 AM, salyavin808 wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 wrote: >> >> salyavin: >> "I don't know of any who left the TMO to make money out of teaching, >> it was all to do with freedom from the excessive rules and stupidity like the >> Scorpionland debacle. And they are endlessly being >> threatened with legal action. TM must be the most fraught relaxation >> technique...." >> >> ALL the so-called "independents" I know do so because they want to keep the >> initiation-fee for themselves. Without exception. They are motivated by >> greed and I certainly hope they will be sued from "A-Z and back" unless the >> give what they teach a different name. > Um, they already have given it a different name. It was the > first thing they had to do to avoid the lawsuits... > > And they aren't "so-called independents" they *are* independents > as they teach independently of the TMO, and I don't know any > who didn't leave the TMO because of the way it was run. For > instance, one guy left because Marshy said it was imperative > to teach more people in order to save the world, and then he > tripled the price - thus putting most TM teachers out of work and undermining > what the whole thing is supposed to be about. > > Most teachers just took all the stupidness of the TMO for fear > of rocking the boat but a few didn't and left to carry on what they saw as > their mission in life, and if they are doing what the TMO failed to do > because of off-putting high prices and high weirdness, how can any TB's > actually complain?
The other thing is not to be stupid enough to think that only TM has the right meditation technique. Compared to most meditation taught it is really a dime store product and honestly sold as such back in the 1970s. Now it is a dime store product at Neiman-Marcus prices. The "independents" not only needed to step away from the TMO but also look into other traditions and paths. Books on meditation and mantras have been around at least 100 years in the US. Look up Arthur Avalon and Sir John Woodroffe. Same guy different pen name and according to a doctorate thesis published as a book believed to actually be the writings of an Indian tantric associate of Woodroffe's. But again these people would have to "step out" into what they might have considered "fringe worlds" of Indian astrologers, many of whom are tantrics and will often share their knowledge. They would also need to learn to separate the charlatans from the real deal. For that I would recommend Dr. Robert Svoboda's trilogy on tantra. Robert used to give workshops (probably still does but I may be a bit out of the loop) where one could ask questions. My late tantra teacher used to take me to visit different teachers and ask I thought they were real or not. Teaching meditation is no big deal but a process best learned from a teacher with qualifications. To me, teaching TM outside of the movement just looks naive and not someone worth wasting your time on. Find someone who has invested in learning another path whether they are a former TM teacher or not.
