---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <mjackson74@...> wrote:
That's a pretty damn good strategy - had not thought of that.
For me, TM was never going to be the "answer" for very much, let alone
"everything". For me it sounded like a great way to obtain all sorts of
physical and psychological benefits as well as a chance to explore
consciousness. Then, given the opportunity to do all of this with a few hundred
people in a scholastic setting and in an atmosphere of non drug taking and
teetotalling it felt like a great thing to do (attend MIU in 1975-1980).
Especially after having transferred from another ivy league Eastern-based
college and witnessing fraternities with their never-ending drinking binges and
watching my dorm mates get carted off to the hospital in alcohol induced comas,
I had had enough.
But TM as the answer to world peace or as a way to ensure all humans who
practice it get enlightened? Not on your life. Perhaps having had lesser
expectations I have zero bitterness or even disappointment about any of it. I
had a really fun and rewarding time at MIU, I emerged unscathed emotionally or
physically and it just became another life experience to carry forward with and
reflect on occasionally.
--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 1/10/14, steve.sundur@... mailto:steve.sundur@... <steve.sundur@...
mailto:steve.sundur@...> wrote:
Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] RE: "If Another Country Was Doing This To Our
Kids, Wed Be At War"
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 10, 2014, 4:45 AM
And yet you have had
experiences that you would put in the spiritual category,
IIRC. And I think I have as well. If I had a
technique now, it would be to pretty much ignore those
experiences if they come about, and even push back against
them somewhat, to see if they continue to assert themselves.
And it has been interesting to see what sticks around,
and what goes away. Not to be too cryptic about
it.
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,
<mjackson74@...>
wrote:
You know, I do
appreciate your views on this. I too used to be a starry
eyed TM fanatic who absolutely believed that TM was the
answer to everything (even though it obviously was not, as I
saw and ignored especially when I was living in Fairfield
and working on staff at MIU.)
After that I rubbed elbows with a vast number of people all
of whom engaged in various sorts of alternative spiritual
endeavors - everything from Sedona folks who banged on a
Native American drum every time the moon showed a sliver of
itself in the night sky, to folks who believed the
"Galactics" were gonna come down at juuuuuuuust
the right time and save us all, to the wiccans most of whom
have no idea where wicca actually comes from, to people who
claim to have the inside track to God, to those who are
determined warriors on the war path with all things tech and
money based and on and on.
If only I had known about UG Krishnamurti in those days a
talk or two from him might have saved me a lot of time.
These days I feel that about 90% of all this new agey
spiritual doings is about as much use as tits on a bo'
hawg. That is southern slang for a male hog, a boar.
Not that there is not some use in what all spiritually
minded folks do but most of it just seems designed, albeit
unconsciously, just to make us feel better. And that is all
it does, it makes us feel better emotionally, even though
our lives suck. And what better way to feel better than to
believe our very special and wonderful chosen path will lead
to some sort of salvation for all humanity.
Its good to feel good, but when I see that most of the
practitioners of all this new agey stuff are STILL unhappy,
still unhealthy, still un-wealthy and still having crappy
relationships, I see that even with the practices, beliefs,
icons and things and people to follow it doesn't seem to
do the trick except that we fool ourselves into believing if
we stay on the path, we will eventually get to where we want
to be (really happy).
As Edg would say "Bah!"
--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 1/10/14, steve.sundur@...
<steve.sundur@...>
wrote:
Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] RE: "If Another Country
Was Doing This To Our Kids, Wed Be At War"
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 10, 2014, 3:24 AM
Thanks for your comments. (I wish I could
still do the interspersing)
I've been reflecting on
how my outlook has changed over time.
From being an energetic foot
soldier in Maharishi's Army confident I could change
the
world, to having now a much more sober vision of how
things
really are. And I thank God for that more sober
outlook.
And although I'm afraid
to say that the opposing forces, broadly defined as
materialism, are going to prevail, there are still going
to
be many inroads made by those of a more spiritual
bent.
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,
<noozguru@...>
wrote:
Remarks
below.
On 01/08/2014 06:51 PM, steve.sundur@...
wrote:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=CLDgDxHNu1oC&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=CLDgDxHNu1oC&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1
I listened to several
interviews with this guy.
Among the things he
writes about is that income disparity is
pretty much
here to stay. But instead of 1% and
the rest, it is
more likely to be about 15% who have
resources, with
most everyone else just scraping
by.
Indeed lots of people I talk to are just scrapping
by. A lot of
people are too proud to admit it though. You have to
pry
sometimes
to find what their case is. A lot of the
unemployed are highly
educated and have a lot of experience.
People's futures have been
stolen and they should not be depressed, they should
be
downright
angry.
He also points out,
(either correctly or incorrectly) that the
catalyst for
social upheavals in the past was because
people did not
have enough to eat, and that is not likely
to be the
case now.
The riots in Spain and Greece are do to people not
being
able to
afford food. Do you do the grocery shopping in
the
family? Have
you notice food prices going up faster than the rate
of
inflation?
Or food packages getting smaller but still the same
price? Or the
ingredients in something now are cheaper or more
fillers
than when
you bought the product several years ago?
Also, technology, being
so accessible, is able to provide enough
comfort and
satisfaction so that people will be okay
with a lower
standard of living.
The last time the US economy was in balance was in the
1970s. After
that it started going wacko. Much of the
"prosperity" of the
country was based on credit and people tricked into
buying things
they really didn't need. It's like there
was a scheme to put
everyone in debt.
Yes, technology is one thing that has gotten
cheaper. But people
don't need to be activists 24/7 so some recreation
is fine. A lot
of folks wanted to downsize too as they got older but
it
has been
difficult to sell their homes and renting something
smaller often
costs as much as the mortgage they are already
paying. It's crazy.
Another
thing said is that stats will continue to
drive most
decisions. Just as in sports stats
have become dominant
in measuring every nuance, this will
continue in one's
personal life, determining credit
worthiness, and into
areas not yet so affected in this
way.
And a lot of stats aren't at all, many stats are
propaganda. Be
sure to consider the source.
