--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson wrote: > > Some folks have likened TM to the McDonalds of meditation - > it's more like the prosperity gospel of spiritual endeavors.
I'm just tired of hearing those who exhibit no compassion or giving in their lives parroting Maharishi's "find yourself first" gospel as an excuse for it. They took his words as a cue to never act in a giving manner until it was "spontaneous" for them to do so. Thirty or forty years later, they're still waiting for that burst of spontaneity to hit them. > ________________________________ > From: turquoiseb no_re...@yahoogroups.com > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 7:53 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Giving > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Steve Sundur steve.sundur@ wrote: > > > > I admit, I enjoyed the Thai telecom piece over the > > "chasing your dream" piece. But I wouldn't really > > draw any conclusions about it. (-: > > I was just having a little fun, but the point is IMO > a valid one. Haven't you noticed that most of the > "goals" of TMers are self-serving? To realize *my* > enlightenment, so that *I* can become more happy > and successful. Even the "save the world" goals are > self-serving in that it's *us* who radiate such > powerful Woo Woo that *we* change the world. > > I'm just pointing out that there are strong spiritual > traditions that don't even *have* the goal of personal > enlightenment, much less the New Agey "personal success > and happiness" meme. Their whole emphasis is on giving, > and on selfless service -- "doing for others." > > One of the most extreme contrasts between these two > approaches to spiritual goals has to do with what the > different traditions think of as their Ultimate Goal. > For most Hindus (and Maharishi, as one), the UG is > for "the drop to merge with the ocean," to become > the Absolute, lose all individuality, and get off the > wheel of life, death, rebirth, and karma forever. > > Those who follow the left-hand path of Buddhism, on > the other hand, *don't* seek annihilation; instead they > seek as an UG rebirth as a boddhisattva, incarnating > over and over in endless worlds to help other people. > > I'm just pointing out that "giving" was never a big > thing for Maharishi, and thus for many long-term TMers. > *He* expected to get paid for teaching it, and the TM > teachers he trained in turn expected to get paid for > teaching it. > > I've been part of other organizations in which *no one* > gets paid to teach or further the teaching. Everyone > (including the teachers at the very top) are expected > to have their own jobs or sources of income, and anyone > who teaches 1) does so for free, and 2) pays all of the > expenses related to teaching themselves. Those who do > so (and I've been one of them) consider this an honor > and an opportunity to advance spiritually, not an > imposition. > > Perhaps this last paragraph should serve as an answer > to Buck's question about "where to send people who can't > afford TM but want to learn to meditate." *He* knows how > to teach people to meditate, if I remember correctly. > Couldn't he just do so, for free? > > And if someone dares to say, "No, he couldn't, because > the TM organization that Maharishi founded wouldn't like > it or wouldn't allow it," doesn't that kinda make my > point for me? > > Maharishi's idea of "giving" was that it was unidirec- > tional; everyone was expected to give to him. The TMO > he left behind him continues with that same expectation. > > > ________________________________ > > From: turquoiseb no_re...@yahoogroups.com > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 3:40 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Giving > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote: > > > > > > This three-minute clip is an ad, for a Thai telecommunications > > company. > > > That said, you'll want to watch it, because it contains better > > > storytelling > > > in those three minutes (not to mention a more uplifting message) than > > > most of the full-length movies produced these days. > > > > > > > > http://gawker.com/this-three-minute-commercial-puts-full-length-hollywoo\ \ > > d-1309506149 od-1309506149> > > > > I couldn't help noticing that the two ego-bots preferred the film about > > people doing something nice for themselves to the film about people > > doing something nice for other people. What do you think *that* reveals > > about the long-term effects of the TM program? > > > > :-) > > >
