--- In [email protected], turquoiseb wrote:
>
> Some would say that is has a great deal more to do
> with reality than believing in things you've only been
> TOLD about by others, with no experience of personally.
> Or correct me here...how many pujas have you performed
> in your life, Jimbo? I've done thousands. And *on the
> basis of that experience*, I think that their supposed
> "effect" can be almost completely written off to the
> placebo factor, and moodmaking.
>
> I *understand* that others -- IMO those who still cannot
> break free from the conditioning of what they have been
> TOLD about the puja, during the same instruction in which
> they were TOLD to moodmake while performing it -- may not
> agree, and may hold to "good experiences" they had while
> performing puja. Me, I have no such allegiances to the
> past, or to past beliefs. I never noticed much of an effect
> from the puja, even after following all of Maharishi's
> instructions to the letter, and trying to moodmake myself
> *into* having a "good experience" the way I was told to.
> Therefore, in retrospect, *based on my own personal
> experience*, I have to believe that what I was TOLD about
> the puja was flowery bullshit.
>
> Please explain to us the basis on which you believe it's
> more than that. We'll wait.
>
I don't think there's any harm in sharing the following from "The Holy
Tradition" booklet that was given to new initiators on the early courses...in
other words, I don't remember being instructed not to share it. It makes
perfect sense to me that performance of the puja (referred to as the Invocation
in the following) being on one level a very mechanical process whereby all the
parts come together, no matter how briefly, to give the experience of
enlightenment...that is, if you believe such things. Although the days of 20+
initiations in a single day are long past, there can be no doubt that the
initiator was in an altered state at the end of a Saturday full of initiations.
Instructed to moodmake on TTC? Not at all...in fact, we were warned not to. We
were taught to follow the mechanical steps of the teaching to both protect the
consistency...dare I say purity...of it, as well as with practice becoming so
good at all the parts simultaneously flowing together, as in the case of the
puja, that we caught a glimpse of our very nature.
>From "The Holy Tradition":
"How does the procedure of the Invocation help the initiator's awareness to
reach the deeper levels of his inner consciousness while he yet remains alert
and active? It is not enough to let his awareness reach those quieter levels
which meditators experience when they have a few moments of silence during the
day. In order that he may operate while awareness maintains a deep level of
silence, his intellect should be awake.
"The traditional procedure of the Invocation is such that awareness
automatically reaches the required depth and picks up the mantra to be passed
on to the one being initiated. The mechanics by which this process brings the
initiator's awareness to deeper levels lie basically in the ability to
pronounce the words of the Invocation while making the movements of the
offerings as his intellect floats on the meaning of the spoken words. This
harmony of thought, speech, and action is a counterpart of the harmony between
his ego, intellect, mind, and senses. As practice advances, this harmony
increases and he fathoms deeper levels of silence while still maintaining
activity of thought, speech. and action.
"Being able increasingly to maintain deep inner awareness along with thought,
speech, and action is a direct means of developing cosmic consciousness. In
this way, the initiator is rising to cosmic consciousness as he leads each new
initiate into transcendental consciousness. This explains why and how the
initiator feels more and more surcharged with rising waves of cosmic
consciousness which bring greater intelligence, energy, happiness, and
fulfillment."
