There is a term called ideological immunity, and some sociologists think this
is a factor in what holds communities together.
Fairfield, Iowa, the meditator part, is basically based on a set of ideas.
Ideological immunity means the ideas that help a community cohere are resistant
to change in that population.
If Fairfield were isolated from the rest of the world, this might work. But
Fairfield is not isolated, new ideas, new forms of the same ideas filter in all
the time. The TM movement itself is a variant of ideas primarily sourced from
India.
Each generation seems to have at least a slightly different framework for
understanding the world, so in an open society, where new influences come in,
the old and younger generations will always be out of sync.
Those who hold the keys of power in an ideological based system always tend to
resist change. That is the lack of flexibility, and flexibility is a key
principle in SCI. The question is where do you bend to accommodate new
thinking? Maharishi placed a lot of emphasis on "sameness of teaching."
"Sameness of teaching" seems to be a key point in the problem of Fairfield. How
far does it reasonably extend? The smallest circle of sameness here would be
the right start of the mantra, and this might apply to mantras too, but the
evidence is, this is not quite as critical.
So if the mantra is satisfactory, and the use is correct, and the person goes
off and meditates without any further knowledge, what will happen? How much of
the supporting ideology is required for enlightenment? Some of it, all of it,
none of it?
The world has produced multiple systems for enlightenment, and some arguably
work better than others, but it is not clear that the ideology of the TM
movement is better than the others even if it were acknowledged that the
meditation system of TM is superior.
Most people seem to have spiritual ideas that are a mix of various influences,
especially religious ideas indoctrinated prior to learning meditation, so the
ideology of a particular system is never "pure" in the minds of most of its
practitioners. This seems to be where the problem always arises.
Like a blade of grass that bends in the storm, an ideological system has to
have a method to evolve or it will break apart. The one part of TM that cannot
be bent is the right start of the mantra. Anything other than that probably
requires some flexibility, and more flexibility as you get farther from this
core aspect.
I see the problem as this -- spiritual progress is a series of instructions and
activities that free the spirit. The instructions are useful until the spirit
is free, and then they are not needed. These instructions however tend to be
regarded in total as "The Truth" rather than as facilitators to discover truth
which in this case is beyond the mind's ability to understand, beyond thought
and conceptualization.
Thus truth cannot be put into words, so the words that define the nature of a
spiritual practice are in fact, not true, they are facilitators for discovery
in helping the mind to stay on track in its day-to-day process of just letting
go in meditation.
As a result emphasis falls from the right start of the mantra to doggedly
maintaining that everything that surrounds this simple practice must be
invariable, yet the practice itself, once started, is out of individual control
-- take it as it comes. Therefore there is only one thing in the TM movement
that has to be prevented from bending -- the right start of meditation.
Everything else has wiggle room.
If meditation can be understood in the light of anything, then anything can be
used to explain it. The explanations are not truths but metaphors to help
stabilize practice. The truth dawns with the realization of enlightenment, not
the explanation of it.
On Sunday, December 10, 2017, 2:36:57 AM GMT, [email protected]
[FairfieldLife] <[email protected]> wrote:
Trending? Earlier this year I had a list gathering of more than a dozen
friends of the TM community here who have recently sold their homes and left.
People who have retirement means. This is unsettling in that to have a viable
community there needs to be critical mass available in people. Studies by ISU
of small towns shows that towns need at least 800 to have a viable sustaining
local economy. One could worry for the Fairfield meditating community seeing
the holes in the local economy when people with money resource move away.
This was written about in another context as “Elders in Transition”...
“Within TM this trend is seen too as TM elders who facilitated the late 1950's,
60's, and 1970's TM movement with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi have pretty much all
passed away now, with their check-books gone too. There are some baby-boomers
who are able and community minded with resources but they are fewer now too
from the heady days of a large and popular movement of a few years ago. Some
lots of middle and upper-middle-class TM meditators also left or moved away
from the TM movement during the 1990's. “
See: Elders-in-Transition”
“The evident consequent of those deeper check-books moving away is the loss of
their ready support to their local Unity churches and the larger Unity
movement. In trend, the baby-boomers are not necessarily as able or as
interested in keeping up this financial support of churches behind their
parents.”
Posted as, Meditating Fairfield, Iowa and Unity Village Kansas City, Missouri
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/communal-studies-forum/esh_5TjbCpQ
Kindly,
---In [email protected], <[email protected]> wrote :
Actually I am staying put in meditating Fairfield, Iowa. It is way too much
communal fun here to consider pulling up stakes, selling, or leaving for long.
I like well enough visiting other places but I am always glad on returning home
to the community of meditating Fairfield, Iowa.
I forwarded this guy’s notice of selling his condo and leaving Fairfield. An
old time initiator TM movement person going back to the late 1960’s and 1970’s
courses with Maharishi. This kind of thing is an alarming trend for the
community here.
Serious trending..
This kind of thing is alarming, old TM'ers, initiators, moving away with their
resources. I was keeping a list of people I know, old friends, who along with
their means have decided in the last little while to pull up stakes and move
their home away from Fairfield.
John Roberts is moving...sale this weekend!
Yikes!
---In [email protected], <[email protected]> wrote :
Doug,
What country are you moving to? If we may ask?
---In [email protected], <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote :
Please forgive the impersonal nature of this announcement. JR
As some of you know, I am moving out of the country at the end of December. As
such, I am selling my condo at Heartland Park, (Fairfield,Ia.) and I am
emptying it of its contents. All of the big stuff (except recliner) has been
sold. What remains is miscellaneous, including lots of nice kitchen items, some
small appliances and some decorative items. My asking prices constitute real
bargains. I simply have to get this stuff out the door. This weekend, I will
have an indoor moving sale on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 to 4. My address and
phone number as well as a description of some of the items are below. There's
no junk - many useful things. Tell your friends, especially anyone who needs to
equip a kitchen.
Lazy-Boy Rocking Recliner... Retail... $299... My Price...$75
Hoover Upright Vacuum.....Retail $110... My Price... $39
“Thumper” Professional Massager....Retail... $319... My Price... $110
“Breadman” Bread Machine....Retail... $159... My Price... $45
Treadmill (Pro CrossWalk Fitness Trainer)... Retail $599... My Price... $49
Champion Juicer... Retail $265... My Price... $36
All-Purpose Side Table/Storage Box w/Cushioned Seat... $39
“Seagull” Steel String Guitar... $129
Reverse Glass Painting “Lady in Kimono”... $39
Iron & Ironing Board... $25
VCR... $19
Water Distiller...$19
Rebounder... $33
There's more... Cookware, Dishes, Glasses, Utensils, etc. NICE STUFF!
Sat/Sun Dec 9th & 10th from 10:00 'til 4:00
701 East Lowe Ave, #223
Left side, rear, top floor of 1st building in the Heartland Park Condominiums
