I have reached a similar conclusion myself. This is how I have conceptualized it:
Most of us Movement "lifers" (NOT to be confused with Fairfield Lifers, although there is significant overlap between sets; "lifer" is used here as it's used elsewhere, in cases where one joins upor is committedfor "life", ie the remainder of one's days)most Movement lifers who are also Americans are facing not just one, but two huge disappointments. Of those who held out highest hopes for the Movement, I am guessing most (except True Believers) are disappointed. For those who were idealistic and committed, joining the Movement meant that one had become one of the elect few who were going to save the world. Literally. I know it sounds silly now, but that is what many of us believed. Now it is difficult to find the faintest shred of evidence that the world is being "saved". So the Dream is Over, and the disappointment for many is huge and painful. [Yes, I know that some of you who read this were too smart to be taken in and are saying "What disappointment?", but in this instance I am addressing the fate of those who truly believed. And we were many.] At the same time, many are discovering that their deeply ingrained concepts about America (US of A) were likewise illusionary. What we had thought to be the land of the free and the home of the brave has turned out to be the Evil Empire. Not only is the world not being saved, but we are the ones who are fucking it up. Either one of these disappointments by itself could prove quite painful, but both at once is, for some people, simply to painful to bear. Not only that, but our fundamental paradigms have been so brutally shaken that it's difficult to see where the crumbling of reality will end. Hence the fear. Hence the denial. And the anger. So I agree with your observation. The general state of mental health in this country is not very good, nor among TM people, either. The stress levels are very high. People are literally out of control, as witness much of what happens in this very forum. I would add one point. There is no logical answer to this dilemma. Awakening, which is NOT a logical answer, but a change of awareness, does nothing to the dilemma as such, but at least releases the awakened from the suffering. Aside from thatin the world as I see it now, there is only one commodity which is really useful: kindness. Unfortunately it is seldom in evidence in this forum, although it does manifest from time to time. A few weeks ago, Tom Pall genuinely apologized for one of his posts to Dr Pete, spontaneously and almost immediately after sending it. The significance of that event eventually was buried under the subsequent avalanches of neurotic posts which seem to charactize this list lately. I am not against this, by the way, although my interest in participating is somewhat limited. I have already adopted the "skimming" approach that others have recommended, and yes, it does make it easier to catch up. L B S --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This issue of one or more persons (sometimes the > majority of active posters) perceiving one partic- > ular poster as consistently angry, and abusive > because of that anger, suddenly "clicked" for me > this afternoon. I had known that it reminded me > of something, but I had not been able to figure > out *what* it reminded me of. > > Bingo! Got it. It reminded me of visiting America > recently, my first trip back in over two and a half > years. > > Unless you've lived *outside* the country for a while, > and are just re-entering it, you really aren't going > to get (or believe) what I'm saying, and in fact you'll > get angry about it, and say to yourself, "He's full of > shit." I know this going in, because that's the very > phenomenon I'm talking about. > > I would say that MOST (and by "MOST" I mean 80-90% of > the people I interacted with during my week in America > were ANGRY. The *first* thing that hits you, if you've > been away for a while is the level of F E A R in the > air. Almost everyone is afraid, all the time. And if > you mention this perception to them, they'll tell you > they're not. And THEN they'll get angry at you for > having noticed that they're afraid. And THEN they'll > deny that they're angry. > > It's just the weirdest thing. Why I think it relates > to issues here on FFL is that a number of the posters > whom a lot of people agree are out-of-control angry > DENY that they're angry. Well, I don't think that they > KNOW consciously that they're angry. Anger is their > *baseline* state, the thing they settle back *down* to > and "relax" into when their out-of-control moments settle > down. Anger is so much a part of their lives, so much > the "background soundtrack" of those lives, that they > think it's normal. So they get even angrier when some- > one points out that they're angry, because they don't > want to admit that they're angry all the time. > > Sadly, this is my (and a lot of Europeans') view of > America and Americans at this time. They're so afraid > all the time that it makes them angry almost all the > time. But they cannot admit either the anger or the > fear to themselves because that would be...uh...like > Un-American or something. :-) > > And even more sadly, that is the scenario in and around > a lot of spiritual traditions in which people have been > pursuing enlightenment for 20-30 years with no real sign of > progress. They can't really *admit* the lack of progress, > because that would be "off the program" and would make it > sound like they were doubting the all-holy teacher and > tradition, but they're very *aware* of their own lack > of progress. ESPECIALLY if someone comes around and > talks about a basically normal, everyday experience of > enlightenment, something that really *should* be normal > and everyday in a real happening tradition. The people > hearing this often get really, really, really, really > PISSED OFF. > > And in my opinion that's what you're feeling around FFL > right now. > > This is just my opinion, and I'm just throwing it out there > for other people to bounce off of. I'm not going to get > involved in defending these ideas or arguing them with > some self-styled spiritual drama queen, just because > they're in need of an argument today to make them feel > alive . They're just ideas. Do with 'em what you want... > ------------------------ Yahoo! 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