I wish the question and answer part was on the video but it wasn't. Hard to
believe that anyone could swallow any of this stuff from Hammond.
From: "[email protected] [FairfieldLife]"
<[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 4:41 PM
Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] George critique from the perspective of the
movement
--In [email protected], <mjackson74@...> wrote :
So what was the atmosphere like after? Were the people receptive or did they
think he was full of vedic baloney?
I couldn't get a read because I had run into an old friend from MIU and his
wife and turned all my attention on them. People were freak'n exhausted. Many
people had traveled a long way. I had some people tentatively asked me what I
thought, not wanting to commit. When I articulated some of the issues I saw
they agreed enthusiastically as if I had given their feelings the words they
needed. Most of these people have not been articulating skepticism, which is
what I pour over my cereal every morning. But I only talked with a few people
and most were certainly not on my burn the whole F'er down POV. They had more
skin in the game than I do. I did articulate my opinion to Jerry and his wife
but I didn't get the feeling that they were buying anything I was saying. They
have their own mysterious compass about all this, had traveled from Cali, and
had a lot more than just skin in this game. They had their entire lives. I
wasn't trying to piss on their parade. The message was very sympathetic to
Jerry's situation with the movement. He heard it all through a lifetime of
experiences I have no idea about.
I thought I felt a change in the room when George went through the improbable
list of his own incarnations, but it might just have been me. Now in the
questions period there was one that was interesting. He said that in his
understanding people would progress through incarnations of better and better
lives and states of development, and although he loved Mark Twain, that seemed
like a big step from Brighu, Maharishi's dad! It was an excellent point and
George danced around about judging what state anyone was in in their life. But
we all knew, his incarnations sequence was not an upgrade parade!
I think most of the people had lived with so much ambiguity in their lives with
their own maturity (we were a grey haired group) that they might not have to
make the kind of clear judgement I am comfortable with. I think they will just
pick out something they liked and forget the rest. There was a lack of
interaction between all of us that was a bit of a disconnect. I think people
were kind of processing it and were not ready to react. I feel more able to put
my feelings down today better. I am probably not alone.
From: "curtisdeltablues@... [FairfieldLife]" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 3:18 PM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] George critique from the perspective of the movement
I was so punch drunk last night from the Bataan Claims March I could only
generate something flip. Thanks to anyone who enjoyed it and said so. I want to
write two more posts about the day, one from the perspective of the Maharishi
epistemology and one from my own.
Maharishi's system had checks and balances. Like our US gov, he tried to create
a trifecta of, personal experience, scriptural verification, a master's
interpretation of that connection and sometimes, when it was convenient,
scientific verification. (Or at least the appearance of that.) Although it is
obvious that this system has the major flaw that the deck is stacked in the
Guru's hands, it was Maharishi's party and when I was in TM, that was just fine
with me. But even he, self confident to the grandiose as he was, never said:F
the scriptures I am DA MAN. He paid lip service to a system that doesn't allow
someone to step up and bypass the whole Vedic teaching and what his own guru
taught to declare that there is a new sheriff in town. Maharishi then went
ahead and did what he wanted like selling mantras for cash which is a violation
of tradition and scripture, but he upheld the principle of following tradition
while ignoring the inconvenient parts that limited cash flow. (Young biddies
needs they fine new saris and chains before dey gets on dem private planes.)
George's message was a contradiction to the fundamental principles of
Maharishi's system. It contradicted specific claims about the nature of reality
that Maharishi explicitly taught. He had to paint it all as Maharishi himself
realizing that he had been wrong to sell it. Maharishi's spiritual crisis after
death was George saying, Maharishi was not the master we thought he was. He was
a part of a team, and the whole team, (who George now conveniently represents)
says THIS now. Maharishi never tried to speak with the combined authority of
Guru Dev, Jehovah (who is Allah and not a personal aspect of God as Maharishi
taught, but a dude like George) Jesus, Shankara (who was Vyasa's reincarnation
contrary to Vedic scriptures and Maharishi) and each with a specific message to
their people, through George.
I find this whole thing fascinating on so many levels. Seeing it through the
mindset of my past TM is as interesting as seeing it though my own POV now as a
philosophical exercise.
Because Maharishi did not have one guy who he trusted to be a replacement, he
set up a committee. And this was another level of checks and balances that he
put in place to keep one rich guy from going off the rails and pulling a
"George" (patent pending) Pulling a George is attempting to elevate one's
subjective experience beyond that, to usurp the whole philosophical system and
turn it on its head. It is a variation of the pulling a
"Carlson" (patent applied for and rejected) which is to claim to be in a state
of consciousness that is on a par with your living guru and therefor capable of
"improving" his system. The lesson here is to wait till your Guru is dead
before busting either of these moves.
Challenges like this to the movement's authority are bell weather. I was in a
room with people who had FLOWN the F in to this event. I drove 10 minutes which
is how it was possible for me. The discontent with the movement is the huge gap
that will allow Georges to rise up bearing gifts of sandwiches and grandiose
claims. I suspect that the perfect storm of his mental state and finances will
be hard to duplicate. He dropped some cash on this. Well under 10 grand
probably but more than 5. I'll bet his charming family (who checked me in) will
think it was worth it if dad will now STFU finally! (can you imagine the dinner
table discussion rolled eyes)
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