Q: A role of working social justice service in grounding spiritual experience?
FF Satsanga Observations: A: The world of consciousness is branched way beyond alpha brainwaves. A: Spirituality is taught by ‘the mothers’ as: 1moral cultivation, developmental education in moral values, 2cultivation of spiritual practice, and 3active service to others to help others; Those three things together. that is the cultivation of the whole. One without the others is not complete and will leave people ungrounded. A..that Compassion is different than mood-making and this is different than just narrow cultivation of consciousness. This like the difference between the state of compassion and the emotion of love. One can have loving thoughts or loving feelings which are distinct. Not that these are not great things, these are expressions. Those are expressions of the heart for sure. But the heart state, the state of compassion, is a steady thing. It is not a conditional thing. It is a pretty steady thing. It is not a conditional thing like, ‘I feel this and I become Compassionate’. It is a state, of compassion. It is, ‘If I am compassion then I observe’. It is a state. It is not, ‘oh I see this and I become compassion’. It is a state and it is a state of heart because of the energetics of the heart chakra that can embrace with a capacity to digest, to take in without fear. That requires stability. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Great observation, the exercising the polyvagal and the hologram of the wholeness of the subtle human system. Look at the aspect of the ™ movement that is doing well, the David Lynch Foundation (DLF) of teaching ™. . DLF is highly attractive to gen-x and gen-millennial youth because iDLF is not just some sect of meditating but doing service work to need. For good reasons DLF is engaged in teaching meditation to veterans, in violent schools, to single moms, at UN peacekeeping camps, teaching meditation in prisons, etc. DLF foci being of social service to peoples in need. The visioning people at the top of DLF were old successful field teachers, differing by a long shot from the stayed rigid old Vlodrop people,. The DLF cohort are anything but complacent in adaptation to need. Internally there has been quite a lot of argument and conflict with conservative ideologues inside over adaptation. Directed by science data and more empathetic scientists DLF as a group DLF has been able to go around conservative fanatics who would hold things back. Looking at the ‘go-fund-me’ fliers that were up all over town this last summer and fall here before the recent teacher training course started in Bali the requesting for help was so that the candidate could become a teacher of meditation to serve particular populations in need. The urgings were very idealistic in sympathy and empathetic for needs of the time. Polyvagal in nature. Much more of the heart than just in the head. yifuxero writes Old ideas often fade away only when the old generation dozes off. The Old Guard at MUM may change but it doesn't look like it. For example, take the connections between Consciousness and biology relating to the Polyvagal nervous system. The key ingredient is Compassion (the feeling of Compassion resulting from more Empathy). The old idea is that this would be a type of mood making and contrary to the notion that people are to meditate and "take it as it comes" No. Compassion must be worked on diligently and over time: the Quakers are an example. It's a type of culture that grows and evolves, but first the idea must be introduced. This is unlikely in the MUM atmosphere since Compassion doesn't bring in $. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : “How can CEOs learn from Kodak’s failure?”. Fabulous article for our meditating Fairfield communal purposes. From the last two paragraphs it could be said we are ‘in Kodak’ mode still. “..Of course strategy sessions with the BIG CEO went nowhere. Of course all the people buried in the hierarchy who saw the oncoming problems and had ideas for solutions made no progress. Their bosses and peers ignored them.” Yes we just accomplished a strategic removal of an unable/disabling old leadership for the university community yet in what touches the Fairfield meditating community there are no tools or skillsets to use yet inside there that would help facilitate a communal transition. Being available to listen and share is not where the Rajas have been with this. The work that got done to remove Bevan was done ad hoc by the community and forced on them. Yes things are being done now at the level of Hagelin but it is autocratic and not apparent because it still does not sit with, listen or engage with the meditating community outside the university and movement bubble. Same old problem. A desire is there for transition but no method/practiced skillsets to facilitate innovation. These are school teachers and ‘administrators’ by experience, not leaders in the sense of effective CEO’s. Effective leadership of this would require training old dogs in new methods of listening circles, non-violent communication listening skills, intergenerational work, and restorative justice work that might actually acknowledge the past in going forward. Because of a leadership character of where a past leadership has for so long taken us we are starting a communal climb out from way down in a hole. The last paragraphs of the Kodak article are useful to read as to a way out.. Kodak article: “How can CEOs learn from Kodak’s failure? Historically, Kodak was built on a culture of innovation and change. It’s the type of culture that’s full of passionate innovators, already naturally in tune to the urgency surrounding changes in the market and technology. It’s these people – those excited about new ideas within your own organization – who keep your company moving ahead instead of falling behind. One key to avoiding complacency is to ensure these innovators have a voice with enough volume to be heard (and listened to) at the top. It’s these voices that can continue to keep a sense of urgency in your organization. If they are given the power to lead, they will continue to innovate, help keep a culture of urgency and affect change. ... The organization overflowed with complacency http://www.kotterinternational.com/kotterprinciples/urgency/complacency. I saw it, maybe in the late 1980s. Kodak was failing to keep up even before the digital revolution when Fuji started doing a better job with the old technology, the roll-film business. With the complacency so rock-solid, and no one at the top even devoting their priorities toward turning that problem into a huge urgency around a huge opportunity, of course they went nowhere. Of course strategy sessions with the BIG CEO went nowhere. Of course all the people buried in the hierarchy who saw the oncoming problems and had ideas for solutions made no progress. Their bosses and peers ignored them.” Barriers to Change: The Real Reason Behind the Kodak Downfall http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#5011be473698 http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#5011be473698 Barriers to Change: The Real Reason Behind the Kodak... http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#5011be473698 Dr. John Kotter discusses the real reason behind the Kodak downfall: complacency. Read on to find out how Kodak let complacency take over, and how to avo... View on www.forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#5011be473698 Preview by Yahoo ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <emily.ma...@yahoo.com> wrote : "Restorative justice." Nice term. So is this happening in Fairfield? Awareness without action, or in other words, "complacency" is not a good strategy. Reenvision! Barriers to Change: The Real Reason Behind the Kodak Downfall http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#b02a9e136985 http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#b02a9e136985 Barriers to Change: The Real Reason Behind the Kodak... http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#b02a9e136985 Dr. John Kotter discusses the real reason behind the Kodak downfall: complacency. Read on to find out how Kodak let complacency take over, and how to avo... View on www.forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/05/02/barriers-to-change-the-real-reason-behind-the-kodak-downfall/#b02a9e136985 Preview by Yahoo ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : For a small place, Fairfield, Iowa has a number of open performance venues and open space parks that are actively used. The music and performing arts communities are developed and busy here all the time. In fact Fairfield is known with booking agents as a place with venues and a sophisticated audience that turns out for talent. A lot of people traveling in the various arts put Fairfield on their tours. Fairfield is an easy drive between St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City and Omaha. I like the architectural link. An artistic family here in Fairfield rehabilitated a classic old brick railroad freight house into a new performance space that opened this last year. That is all fine. However, it is evident in history that where spiritual practice groups like ours diffuse into other things, absorbed in business, social or political cause and they get away from their formative spiritual practice it is not long before their communal assets get sold off. Bankruptcy got headed off last year for the university with a timely change of leadership. An evident challenge now for survival of the Domes is that the previous administration spent 36 years separating meditators from the collective practice. There is some deep hurt here to remediate. Turning the Domes in to open space for mundane performance or sports would really signal the end. No, there is work to do at reconciliation now. It likely is going to take some brave leadership to pull it off. See: Engaging Restorative Justice in Reclamation of Community https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/433528 https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/433528 ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <emily.mae50@...> wrote : How about turning that iconic dome into a public space! Re-envision, repurpose it for an open, inclusive and rockin' venue.....e.g., you could do a "concerts in the dome" series. How are the acoustics? Sructure a public-private partnership with the Town of Fairfield. Public Space architecture and design | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/search/projects/categories/public-space http://www.archdaily.com/search/projects/categories/public-space Public Space architecture and design | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/search/projects/categories/public-space View on www.archdaily.com http://www.archdaily.com/search/projects/categories/public-space Preview by Yahoo ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : Archer, from a distance view that is fine, your philosophical of ‘no-doing do-nothing’. Some of us live in Fairfield, Iowa, though, with this amazing facility for meditation that has just a couple hundred people meditating in it now. The question, (..what can be done?) is operational, what can be done in the community to better utilize the place by way of facilitating the meditating community that came here to meditate. Some damages clearly were done to a feeling of cohesion of the meditating community, what might the remediation look like to have more people meditating collectively again in Fairfield, Iowa? Archer Angel writes: ..that nothing need be done. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : Should we create a dispensation for the meditators who do not attend group meditation in Fairfield, Iowa? What can we do? One could correlate from what science that we do know about group meditation that a large part of the tense psycho-spiritual problems we collectively face is rooted in the absentee meditators living here, those who do not attend to the collective meditation of Fairfield, Iowa. All those Art of Living people, the Oneness people, the Amma satsang and others. They seem to not care that they are given this opportunity, even at the weekday no-badge group meditation, and they make no effort. Those satsangs don’t even show up to meditate with others in collective group meditation as a practice where there is offered invitation. It is like they have a spiritual aloofness, a type of arrogance that keeps them from doing the spiritual work. What can be done to motivate them to open their hearts to communal practice? -JaiGuruYou ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : In Transcendentalism, this becomes MMY’s great legacy along the line with George Fox or Jesus Christ "Where two or more are gathered..". This modern development, of natural sciences correlating with transcendentalism in modern time as the practical role of collective meditation, not only an individual experience is compelling in transcendental meditationism but now by virtue of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's articulation there is the evident science of collective practice of meditation on the whole. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : The evidence for the Maharishi Effect continues to mount up. Another compelling, new study came out in February of this year, again based on publicly available statistics. This is a scientific breakthrough that outstrips all others in its power to do good for ourselves, our nation, and our world. Jai Guru Dev Raja John Hagelin ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : When a person waters the root of life, when they begin to experience the transcendental field of their own existence, which is the treasure house of inexhaustible energy, and intelligence, and harmony and bliss then that as we know gets infused into their lives and their lives become so much better. They evolve, they grow, and they start to live in such a way that automatically their actions are in harmony with the laws of nature. "The public are invited to experience some degree of the power of a group meditation," ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : " Meditators notice that even in a group of two there is a greater settling of the mind, and this effect grows in accordance with how many people gather, says Colin. "Regular meditators have reported much stronger experiences of silence and bliss than they normally experience alone or in their usual groups of 2050 people. ..The public are invited to experience some degree of the power of a group meditation," -explains TM teacher, Colin Beckley ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : Right from the beginning of his movement, Maharishi predicted that even a small number of the world's population practicing his Transcendental Meditation technique could neutralize the stress being built up in the world consciousness, thus averting conflicts and wars. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : The Meissner-like Effect of Collective Meditation.. As early as, “In 1960 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation program, predicted that a transition in society toward a more orderly and harmonious functioning would occur when a small fraction -on the order of one percent- of a population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique (6), and in December 1974 we found that crime rate did decrease in four midwestern U.S. Cities in which one percent of the population was practicing the TM technique.” Candace Borland, Ph.D., and Garland Landrith III, M.A., 'Improved Quality of City Life Through the Transcendental Meditation Program: Decreased Crime Rate' in Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program: Collected Papers, Vol. I, eds. David W. Orme-Johnson, Ph.D., and John T. Farrow, Ph.D., West Germany, MERU Press, 1976 ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : Yep, group meditations were always used as part of the mix but you are right as to its relative promotion in the earlier ™ movement. Group meditations clearly were an activating aspect for meditators in coming along in a deepening experience with meditating. As I look around now for teachings that speak to the value of meditating in groups the quotes that I do readily find are from other sages about the spiritual practice of group meditation as an adjunct to individual or isolated practice. Maharishi evidently employed the value of collective meditation practice but I am not finding earlier comments from Maharishi related to simple group meditation of the pre-sidhis ™ movement before the TMO went Sidhis-centric. He probably did speak to it, like at the time of calling meditators together during the Cuban missile crisis with the Soviet Union. .. The quote below concerned a special event in which "The saints and Mahatmas of Uttarakhand" gathered together. This does not address the claim that there is some special value to ordinary lay meditators practicing in groups in golden domes or elsewhere. I was very much involved in the TM movement for several years in the mid-1970s and I do not recall a single instance in which any special value was placed on group meditations. The emphasis was always on rounding in the privacy of your own room. I must have watched several hundred video tapes of MMY and I do not recall a single one in which he spoke about this. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : He was employing group meditation as part of the mix from early on in his teaching. The call for meditators to come together [ Catalina Island retreat] during the 1962 US Cuban Missile crisis with the Soviet Union. Again in 1965 in the triangulation of ramped up and extremely incendiary rhetoric and between the Soviet Union, The People’s Republic of [Maoist] China, and these United States over an invasion of South Vietnam by communist North Vietnam that was happening right then. These calls to group meditation were each particular calls for meditators to come together as a spiritual practice in group meditation. Read the description below from 1965 for his interpretation of it. That practiced [effective] meditators have a societal responsibility to sit in groups meditating/ for the world. The science is pretty convincing on this now. Certainly a failure of the ™ movement in the last few decades was to have let it go so badly for itself and have separated so many people from the meditating movement and its group meditations. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : I learned TM in 1975 at the Manhattan Center. As I recall, we were told there was a group meditation (20 minutes) every evening that we were welcome to attend. It wasn't pushed on us, nor was there any dogma about how it would have greater benefits, but it was clearly presented as an opportunity to be taken advantage of if we could. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote :