Oh, I missed Barry's point about "sweet poison". Oh, okay, well I guess MMY wasn't inclined to give SSRS a ringing endorsement. If that's all that's leaked out of MMY's supposed denigrating of Ravi's technique, I guess it's pretty mild.
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : I think Barry sorta missed the point of Steve's question. Key words: "significant challenge." He means "somebody like Robin." As I noted, Robin wasn't just another teacher, he was actively challenging the organization--the TMO, specifically at MIU--while remaining faithful to Maharishi's teaching, insisting that the organization's behavior was destroying the value of that teaching. (In fact, he believed the TMO itself was a cult.) In that sense, he wasn't challenging what Maharishi taught--to the contrary. He thought he was supporting Maharishi, that Maharishi didn't realize what was happening, and that he, Robin, was going to turn the organization around to make it a proper vehicle for Maharishi's teaching. Rama's group, as I understand it, didn't have much of an organization per se, so one can't really hypothesize a similar situation. But it wasn't just about seeing other teachers, as Barry pretends. BTW, as I understand it, Maharishi's "sweet poison".remark came well after SSRS's parting with Maharishi and referred specifically to his breathing techniques. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <turquoiseb@...> wrote : From: "steve.sundur@... [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> I forget Sal, who is it that claims TM did not, of does not have some cultish elements about it? I mean, I know you have a minor orgasm when you come upon some new example. I left before the Robin Carlson period, but I imagine he created quite a challenge to the existing structure. So, I am not surprised that the powers that be felt alarmed. Can you imagine a similar thing happening with any other teacher? Name one. Name any. How would it have played out? What about Rama if someone emerged to present a significant challenge? Since you stepped in a big pile of it, I should point out that all students of Rama - Fred Lenz (and, in fact, every other spiritual teacher I've ever met) were not only free to see whatever other spiritual teachers they wanted, but were encouraged to do so. Some teachers aren't afraid of comparison. Maharishi was. On the other hand, the separation of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was, by all appearances, an amicable parting. So how do you explain that. That must be why MMY referred to him (SSRS) as teaching "sweet poison."
