You know, indiff, you haven't been hanging out on FFL for more than a few days. It may not be appropriate for you to go around hurling the "cultist" label at folks you don't know very well. This group, and its members' relationships to Maharishi and the TMO (and to each other), are complicated and multifaceted, with a wide range of attitudes.
I don't know much about Amma's organization, but I have the distinct impression there are some major differences between it and the TMO per se, and even more so between the members of the respective online groups. Instead of attacking the folks here who don't appear to agree with you about Amma, you might want to avoid trying to draw one-to-one parallels as if all such groups were more similar than different. Take your time and scope it out, and you may be able to have some interesting and productive discussions with us in which everyone learns something. If you go around alienating folks right off the bat, that's not likely. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote: Very good to know, thanks for clarifying that. I don't know Eileen personally, clearly she has spent a lot of time close to Sai Baba. I myself have a spent of lot of time in Amma's cult and know all the characters mentioned in her book including Amma, Swamis, Gail, the woman Anu Iyer who attacks Gail viciously on the website Rick posted. I will be happy to engage in any discussion, I can't speak for Eileen but looks like she could too. And then it becomes a moral imperative when cultists start attacking Gail who has was so severely abused. People like Rick forwarding attack sites or philosophies espoused by Buck such as evolutionary altruism or suggestion by cultists like Share that Gail is clearing some karmas by being abused by Amma. Pathetic. Sad. Sickening. ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote: Not sure where you got the notion that I had "dismissed" Eileen or questioned her motives. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote: And authfriend please don't dismiss Eileen so lightly or question her motives. You can briefly check who she is here - http://www.saibaba-x.org.uk/22/divya.html ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote: Hi - no worries authfriend, I have no issues with discussion since I have been around the Amma scene for a really long time. The only reason I was compelled to post was because of Rick who posted what was nothing but an attack website from Amma org. I can shut up now :-) ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote: indifferent_netizen, I don't recall having seen you or Eileen on FFL before. Are you here only to publicize Tredwell's book and counter criticisms of it? I don't have a dog in the pro/anti-Amma fight. I'm just curious, wondering if your presence on FFL is sort of the other side of what's been portrayed as an effort by the pro-Amma folks to discredit Tredwell and her book. You seem pretty anxious to discredit anyone here who takes a pro-Amma stance. You may not be doing your cause much good by insulting them, if I may say so. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote: Hi thank you Eileen for your comments. I had a chance to read your journey and experiences at Sai Baba's ashram online and they were very interesting. Thank you for taking such a courageous stand against the pedophile Sai Baba. Interestingly some like Rick Archer talk against Maharishi and Sai Baba and give an absolute free pass to Amma. Gotta protect the current cult you are in :-) ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <eileenweed@...> wrote: "Holy Hell" is a totally valuable book, because how often do we get an insider view from someone who was actually the personal assistant of such a big-name guru, and for two long decades? So often these gurus are two-faced hypocrites, presenting a smiling, benevolent persona to the general public, then changing into their true colors in private behind closed doors. People like Sathya Sai Baba (much of my two decades inside Indian ashrams were spent at his ashram in Puttaparthi) and Mata Amritanandamayi no doubt inspire their devotees through their idealistic teachings, but part of that inspiration always lines the guru's pockets with more wealth. The fact is, as revealed in Gail's book and backed by a number of others who were close to the 'Hugging Amma', Amritanandamayi is violent with uncontrollable anger and harshly beats her attendants, she has sex with some of her top Swamis (who control the finances of the ashram empire - and who are also rapists), she orders murders of various people who come in her way - including her own brother (several police cases were halted by the powerful ashram authorities), she has made her family members multimillionaires (and then goes on record to say she gave them nothing and it is all due to the success of their local fishing business!). So many details backing Gail's experiences in her book, are available online - including financial reports that show less than 10% of donations help the poor. So many parallels between these reports and what I personally experienced in sai baba's ashram! They are greedy rotten apples, preying on our naive devotion. :-(