The Oneness of the Difference, Part 4
Reactive Mix by Shiva Kavi I went to my favorite coffee house today and heard the most enlightened waitress speaking to a transcendentalist who was greatly advanced in wisdom. Another friend of mine was also there, and we spoke about the tardiness of Spring this year, and of my transplanting wild fruit tree from the midst of my small forest to the visible edge, where we humans might enjoy their colorful flowers and tasty fruits. But since I do not know much about the appearance and nature of these trees, I am not yet ready to identify which I have transplanted: whether wild plum or cherry, walnut, hickory, or berry bush. Time will bring all things to death or to fruition, and then we shall taste the fruits, which wisdom admonishes us to offer first for the pleasure of the Lord, Who creates all things for our benefit, and Whose remembrance expands the pleasure and the bliss of existence. Two other friends, already mentioned, were present, one of whom I shall call Parama Dasi, the Supreme Waitress, and her companion, the learned transcendentalist, and they were talking at the table next to the one where I sat and spoke with my friend; and reminding him that he had work which he told me he needed to complete, we parted company, promising to meet again at Dalby Hall, at the Maharishi University of Management ( <http://www.mum.edu/> www.MUM.edu) for the evening's lecture on levitation in various religious traditions. Shifting my attention to the conversation at the adjacent table, I intruded on a matter of mutual interest the specifics of which have escaped my Kali Yuga memory (the iron age or quarrel and hypocrisy is full of forgetfulness). I explained in other words what I have already set forth in the introduction to this work. Then we moved on to discuss another concern regarding the nature of tolerance and intolerance among various traditions. As an informal follower of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and the Hare Krishna movement, I am feel deeply hurt and diminished by the policy in the meditation domes which excludes supporters of other gurus in other Vedic traditions from participating in the grant given to the Invincible America Assembly course. Supporters of other gurus are not allowed to receive this grant, and if anyone on the grant is caught organizing for Amma or Hare Krishna, or such, they could lose their dome badge. A follower of Western faiths, however, has no such restrictions. One can organize for Easter, Hanukah or Ramadan, but not for Amma's upcoming visit to Cedar Rapids, local Hare Krishna sankirtan, or other Vedic traditions connected with a charismatic leader other than the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I am empathic with this policy, but I desire some adjustment. The gentleman, whose name I don't recall, and which I have not asked permission to reveal, very politely and reasonably pointed out to me that the Maharishi has the right to maintain the purity of the experiment. I certainly can respect this point of view. The intention seems to be that only those who regard the the Maharishi and his presentation of Vedic understanding as supreme should participate in the grant. If someone is thinking that some other guru or Vedic understanding is equal to or greater than the understanding which the Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation reveal, his mind and physiology will vibrate differently than someone for whom they are All in All. That is a natural fact. I gave the example, from a layman's point of view, that if you have a plutonium reactor, you wouldn't want someone to introduce iron or Einsteinium without your knowledge, if at all. Unfortunately there are some serious problems with this policy of exclusion, as there always are in any great undertaking, and I am personally affected by them in a variety of ways. I want to point out at this time that I am a supporter and admirer of the Maharishi and TM. My wife is a siddha, and has been on the IA course. We have opened our home in Louisiana many times to local TM teachers for program and instruction. I was privileged to run for office for the Natural Law Party in Louisiana in 1996 and 2000, and did much background work and made several public appearances on the party's behalf. Only those who were very close to me knew that I was personally involved with the Hare Krishna movement, and I presented the NLP platform as it was, strictly from the presentations given on the Internet and at the forums I attended. But if my wife cooks for the Sunday Hare Krishna dinner I organize at my home here in Fairfield, IA, she is not eligible for the IA course grant. If she helps me by inviting guests, she is violating a published bylaw of dome behavior. Of course, I know that, since she is my wife, and we are both supportive of TM, that this will be accepted without challenge. But what if a friend on the course grant wants to help me? That presents a conflict which will throw up some red flags. Let me exaggerate and transpose the problem to make it clearer. Supposing the policy were that no one who organizes for the Pope can be on the course grant, or no Jew need apply. That we all clearly recognize as bigotry and low consciousness not befitting an advanced meditator, and certainly not the intention of the Maharishi or anyone else in charge. But excluding any other Vedic religions from any single aspect of practice associated with TM is to be similarly closed minded, parochial, and self-defeating. There is no desire to display or foster such lower consciousness, but that is unfortunately the result in many cases. Once again, I am not unsympathetic. I recognize that there must be some awareness and control of the consciousness of those who are practicing within the dome. But awareness is infinitely superior to exclusion. The policy of exclusion fosters closed mindedness, bigotry and hypocrisy. There are many followers of Amma, Hare Krishna, and other Vedic traditions in the dome anyway. There are people on the course who follow their hearts in secret. You do not have 100% attendance by those who strictly accept the Maharishi's teachings as the exclusive superlative, and you probably never will. So why pretend? Why not try a different approach. What if you gave scholarships to a few other traditions and invited them to attend with the promise that while in the dome they will follow the practice as prescribed. Because that is already happening anyway. A parochial approach always creates hypocrisy. It sets up rules and regulations above the power of openness and understanding. I also pointed out that I have heard from numerous sources that there is a health problem created by the strict attendance policies on the grant. (I have lived in Fairfield for over two years, and I have lots of friends, so I hear about this from time to time, even from casual acquaintances. I met a visiting siddha at a laundromat once, for example, who shared the points of view I am expressing here.) People who are really too sick to attend are forced to come for fear of losing the money they need in order to survive so they can attend the course. Once there attendance falls below a certain number they loose 100% of their stipend. So there is more coughing and germ spreading going on than there would be if the strict attendance limit were adjusted to something more realistic. If you took a vote among the siddhas at the dome, I think almost everyone would agree on this point. Many will say that I have no right or business in these matter since I am not a TM siddha, and only a casual mediator. My response is Bhaktisiddhanta. The perfection of all perfections is to cultivate pure love of God. I want there to be Super Radiance as much as any TM siddha. I adore the work you are all doing here, and wish to see it increase. I can live with the differences in our traditions, in fact, I've had to do so because I'm a Hare Krishna married to a TM siddha. If I have angered, amused, clarified or confused anyone on any issue in this discussion, I beg your pardon and understanding. Emotion is an eternal and inseparable part of Eternal Nature. May our thoughts and emotions satisfy the purposes of the Supreme. OM TAT SAT Shiva Kavi, 4/26/2013 Fairfield, IA Free Online Accredited College Courses! Fairfield Center for Autonomy and Self Learning www.FCASL.com <http://www.FCASL.com> (985) 768-7060 CEO: Martin A Rosenthal, M.Ed. 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