---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <awoelflebater@...> wrote :
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <awoelflebater@...> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <mjackson74@...> wrote : You are being too kind - Actually, I thought I was being successfully rather sarcastic! I thought it was a really good post, I gave it two stars. Not too shabby, especially as I've got a stinking cold. Maybe double-edged would be a better description than sarcastic. I was serious though, even though I don't believe in it I think it's good that it's being tested again and with so many that it will leave us in no doubt. I can't imagine what the TMO will do when they don't have a leg to stand on regarding the Maharishi Effect. I know they'll just carry on regardless but they should take heed that we'll always be able to point to this and say "what about...". Unless it turns out they are right of course, in which case it'll be humble pie for the sceptics unless we're all too enlightened to care! Here is the thing, why isn't a meditation technique good enough to hang your hat on as a Movement? Why bother to start claiming all sorts of "Maharishi Effects" when all anyone really needs is a sound meditation technique? I don't know if TM is the greatest or bestest out there because I don't like sitting during my waking hours with my eyes closed when there is so much else to do and see so I simply don't scope out other techniques to compare. But the ME? I don't believe any of it for a minute. But why is the ME even necessary to put out there? If human beings are benefiting personally from a technique then the whole world should benefit due to the individuals becoming happier, calmer, more grounded. I quite agree, but you don't know the half of it. The movement has simply the most extraordinary worldview with revolutionary ideas encompassing and governing literally every aspect of life - the constitution of the universe. You don't just have a human body, you have one that's created by vedic literature. You don't just have a mind, it really is the unified field of all things and only TM can show you the truth of the way things are. I think it's about self aggrandisement, instead of being just a technique it's about being the greatest group of any kind ever. Something to feel elite about, and it has the secret language that keeps the brethren close and reinforces the belief system. It's also better for the organisation that instead of just meditating you are creating world peace - once you've swallowed the concept of non-local consciousness you find there is a range of "technologies" like yagya's for you to invest in that help both you and the world. When you get into thinking in a TMO way, the world is a very different place and the completeness of it is impressive, health, education, war. All controlled by this unified field thingy that, if you are in touch with it, brings you great advantage in life. Nature support is what they call it, people who meditate get better luck. At least according to the theory. I never noticed it and never saw it in anyone else, just like I didn't with any other of the products they sell. As a body of work vedic "science" is highly impressive, consistent and has an internal logic that - if it was true - would be the greatest discovery ever. Which is exactly how it's promoted, you get into it bit-by-bit until you've been on enough courses for it to sink in and it takes over how you interpret everything. I was lucky in that I'd read a bit of physics and knew that the unified field hadn't been discovered and that, even if it had, it wasn't likely to be consciousness for a great many reasons. That helped me stay at a distance from it but I did inevitably get sucked further in when I went to work for them. As religious belief systems go it's harmless enough, probably no worse than the Jehova's Witnesses or ISKCON, you can at least function in the real world as long as you don't try and tell your work mates about the Constitution of the Universe! Would they have been better off just teaching TM? Maybe not, with a hardcore of devotees that think they are creating world peace by bringing back the greatest wisdom the world has ever seen, you can maybe get more teaching done than if it was taught casually by part-timers. It's also self-perpetuating now that anyone they approve of can become a teacher and the knowledge is highly protected, more so than if it was something you could get out of a book that just help you feel a bit refreshed on the train on the way home from work. The belief system was also fantastic at making money, at least for a while. Not really sure how well they do in the internet age, especially as there are independents taking a big cut from the central office. I like meditating but as for the rest of it, does it make sense? not really. Is it a good explanation of reality? I don't think so. Might even be the worst I've come across. Does it matter? People can believe what they like, my only problem is when they teach children but that goes for any religion. That people accept it at all is interesting as it all stems from the sense of unboundedness you experience in meditation, to get such a huge philosophical leap from that is impressive but I think it's in error as an explanation for the experience, but I know where the devotion for it comes from.
