--- In [email protected], Michael Jackson wrote: > > I changed my day so I could delve into what you had written - I have gone through a lot of it and it answers most of my questions. Mainly I wanted to know if you thought Rama was legit in the beginning and if you witnessed any of the power or sidhi demonstrations he did. Obviously yes to both.
If by "legit" you mean enlightened, I don't know. What I do know is that in the beginning he was a nicer guy and a better teacher, and was obviously going through *something*. What that something was I still don't know; all I know is that it radiated so strongly you could feel it. Meditate with the man and there was no issue of stopping thoughts. You couldn't *have* thoughts. The silence was that profound. As for the performance of sidhis, yes I witnessed them, as did literally thousands of other people over the years, but again, I can't claim to "know what was happening." All I can say is that it DID happen for me, subjectively, and that it was kinda neat to see. I was never as wowed out as some people were by the sidhis, strangely enough because I stilled believed in something Maharishi had said earlier (and later changed his mind about), that sidhis did not mean enlightenment, and vice-versa. Apples and oranges. No relation between the two. Interestingly enough, especially given your next comment, the real phwam! of seeing these things was not so much seeing them but FEELING them. *Whatever* was going on, there was a palpable field of energy that surrounding it that just knocked my socks off. > I had a hard time reading much of it because I began to feel a great deal of energy as soon as I started reading, I mean LOTS of energy. So I am taking the reading in stages. Read a little. Sweep my floors a little, clean the bathrooms, come down off the energy a little and read a little more. Interesting to hear that you felt something while reading it. I certainly did while writing it. > Two minor questions I have are: > > Did you know this guy? Mark Laxer Yes. We were friends in the early days, but he was one of the early defectors, and I just haven't run into him since. I'm sure he had some interesting things to say in his memoir piece about Rama, but I haven't read it. > Have you ever read his book Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive Cult Paperback? No. It's difficult for me to read other students' books about Rama, because 1) I'm not really that interested in the guy these days, and 2) what they experienced was what *they* experienced. It may or may not map to my experience, and neither of us is "right" about what we saw and experienced, or what we think of him. We just saw and experienced what we experienced, that's all. > If so is it accurate? Can't help you. As I said, I haven't read it. > That's all - back to the energy now and thanks for talking and thanks for writing about Rama and all the other things you wrote about. > -------------------------------------------- > On Thu, 1/16/14, Michael Jackson mjackson74@... wrote: > > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy, is a terrible thing. > To: [email protected] > Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 4:02 PM > > Thanks Barry - I am gonna read what you have > written and if I have any questions after that, I'll > send 'em. > > Got a busy day today, but I intend to start reading it later > tonight. > > -------------------------------------------- > > On Thu, 1/16/14, TurquoiseB turquoiseb@... > wrote: > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Apostasy, is a terrible thing. > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014, 8:21 AM > > --- In [email protected], Michael Jackson > > wrote: > > > I would like to have a conversation with you about > your > time with Rama if you are willing. I am more than happy to > do it privately if you like cause I know some on here are > going to revile you no matter what you say. So can we > talk? > > > > I don't mind, as long as you > > understand a few things at the outset. First, I rarely > even > > think about the dude any more, except when something > > triggers a memory, as something you said in one of your > > posts did yesterday. Second, I don't waste my time > > either condemning or defending him -- he was what he was, > > and I don't much care what anyone thinks about him. > > > > Third, however, and as you say, if we do it here you can > > expect a lot of "piling on" from stalkers here. > > They'll do it for various reasons. Some will start > > piling on when they hear tales of thousands of his > students > > witnessing siddhis they've *still* only read about, > > after 30 years of pursuing them and after paying thousands > > of dollars to supposedly learn them. Some will pile on > > because they don't like me, and they mistakenly > believe > > that if they diss a former teacher I still have some > > positive feelings about, it'll push my hot buttons the > > same way me saying things about MMY pushes theirs, and > thus > > I'll react and get into one of the Robin-like > > "confrontations" with them they so hope for. > > > > That's not gonna happen, so we might as well do it > here. > > :-) But I'll warn you ahead of time that my attention > > span for "things Rama-related" is pretty damned > > short these days, so if you have questions, make the first > > few "count," because at some point I'll get > > tired of the whole thing and bail. :-) > > > > That said, ask anything you want, and I'll do my best > to > > answer your questions as honestly as I wrote "Road > Trip > > Mind." That would be a good place to start if you are > > actually curious about the dude. I wrote it to get the > > Rama-monkey off my back, and it worked. I don't > actually > > have a great deal more to say about the guy than I said in > > that book. > > > > http://www.ramalila.net/RoadTripMind/index.html > > Â >
