TM is taught in its own context. I visited a Cathedral in Puerto Vallarta recently, and the altar was beautiful, soaring columns and arches, although there for everyone to see, was Christ hanging on a cross, with thorns on his head, dying of torture. Makes the Puja seem awfully tame in comparison, don't you think?
Funny thing, I had a large (3' x 5') beautiful painting of a puja, from Bali, above the family dining room table, for as long as I can remember (now hanging in my LR). Also an intricate wooden carving of Saraswati (also Balinese) on the mantle, and a brass Krishna, with ivory eyes, nearby. Weird? Where did you grow up, on a military base, or something? ;-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Ann" <awoelflebater@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > Just as the author may have skewed things a little > > > to make her point, Judy skews things in her way to > > > make the author seem malevolent. Anything rather > > > than accept the fact that for most people, the > > > author's piece strikes a resonance, and captures > > > how insanely WEIRD TM and all the hoopla surrounding > > > how it is taught are. Judy is so far from that exper- > > > ience that she can't remember how WEIRD it all is; > > > the author of this piece is not. > > > > "Weird"? TM teachers, in their conservative clothing, > > speaking quietly and clearly about a simple technique, > > attending class room-like introductory lectures, > > attending a beautiful and settling puja as initiation > > 'ritual'... > > ...bearing fruit, flowers and a clean white handkerchief, > witnessing someone chanting in a foreign language to some > Indian guy's painting on an altar, seeing rice, fire, and > other things clearly *offered* to this guy, then finally > being told to *kneel down* in front of this Indian guy > to receive your oh-so-special-and-unique mantra (which > is neither). > > You've clearly never taught TM. I have, and have had at > least one deeply religious person (an Orthodox Jew) leave > the room at that point and demand their money back. > > You spent *years* in an environment in which all of this > was considered NORMAL, and everyday. It is not. The > author of this piece is merely commenting on how abnormal > and non-everyday it IS. > > BTW, don't try to run the "pristine and unweird" routine > on someone who actually knows what the words of the puja > actually SAY -- the number of Hindu gods named, the words > that say "I bow down" to them after each offering, and > who you're actually bowing TO at the end. You can try > to pretend that this is not a traditional Hindu religious > ceremony if you want, but don't expect those of us who > actually read the translation of the puja and "kept it > lively in our minds" as we were chanting it to agree with > you if we're not still TBs, and thus still Up Denial > Without A Paddle. :-) >
