I think your "arms length" comment kinda says it all, Steve. That's just what "armchair seekers" like Judy DO. They never actually DO anything much to further their own self discovery...they just read about other people's, and then argue about the stuff they think about it.
One of the reasons that some of these "armchair seekers" purposefully keep from meeting the teachers they supposedly "study with" is that it's easier to preserve one's cherished fantasies about them if you've never met them. She did this with Maharishi, and she did it with Robin. She can continue to believe all the fantasies she's developed about both of them without fear of contradiction, because she's never exposed herself to the possibility of contradiction. Both of these guys -- or her impressions of them -- are tucked away in an elaborate fantasy cubbyhole in her mind, placed on a pedestal of honor there, and because she never has (or will) encounter the reality of them, she gets to call this fantasy "truth." Anyone who disagrees with the fantasy is a "liar." As has been pointed out here, Judy has arguably the *least* actual "hands on" spiritual experience of anyone on this forum. She's only done one short "rounding course" (which she, of course, considers "long"), she never became a teacher (and thus had to put other people's welfare ahead of her own), and she never met Maharishi. She never even met the Robin guy she claims to be the resident expert on. The only things she "knows" are the fantasies running around in her head. But to her those fantasies are so cherished and she *needs* them so much to keep on keepin' on that any challenge to them is perceived as a challenge to herself, her self, her very being. Challenging her idealized notions of Robin are (from her point of view) like attacking *her*, so of course she has to "take them seriously." If anyone were to believe more objective points of view expressed here about the guy, they'd begin to challenge her posturing as "the expert." And she simply cannot allow that. ________________________________ From: "steve.sun...@yahoo.com" <steve.sun...@yahoo.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 3:00 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] RE: TV's "The Following" as a treatise on NPD and psychopathy Excellent points. For most of us, it is just a chat room. A place to banter about. And so, it is sort of jarring when someone like Judy takes everything so seriously and personally. Like it squeezes most of the fun out of it. Of course you will never convince her of that. She views herself as the staunch upholder of truth and justice, and there is no battle too small for her to fight. Just like what she is going to say in response to this post. The internet age was made for her in some ways as it is easier to be friends with someone, or maintain an alliance when you can remain at arms length. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <anartaxius@...> wrote: Barry does not seem to aspire to the kind of precision you enjoy. He seems mostly to rely on his writing skills and memory when posting on FFL. And we all know human memory is exceptionally pliable. He posts things he is interested in, occasionally replies to people, and there is a certain category of his posting that is designed to keep the rats running on their treadmill, a Pavlovian thing. So checking on Barry's claims is largely a waste of time as he is proffering opinions, not facts, and is stoking the campfire so he can bask in the heat generated. He has to deal with certain factual material if he is writing about science for clients. If there other places in his life for such concepts as facts and truth, it probably is not here on FFL. This place is for the insane; perhaps there are a few amateur sociologists and researchers hanging in here collecting data, but who might they be?
