I occasionally reflect on the fact that Fairfield, as a New World Kumbh Mela, would not exist were it not for Maharishi—and, by extension, Guru Dev.
While I concur that reverential regard for either of the two is not and should not be a requirement for participation in this forum, today I feel inclined to make a few personal remarks. Maharishi remains controversial; in the world at large, in the Movement, and on this list, one finds a wide range of clinical evaluations and gut level emotional responses. When I traveled in India, I also found a wide range of attitudes where Maharishi was concerned, but only the highest respect for Brahmananda Saraswati. Brahmanandaji has never disappointed me. Even though his teachings on the status of women were somewhat disappointing in the context of our perspective, they reflected his tradition more than anything else. Personally, I believe his tradition was somewhat corrupted in that area. (By the way, I offer these remarks not as an apologist for Brahmanandaji, but to forestall the necessity of having to be reminded of it.) Brahmanadaji walked his talk. Whatever criticisms people have about Maharishi, without him it is unlikely that many of us would ever have heard about Brahmanandaji. In the big picture, without knowing what kinds of tools and resources were available to Guru Dev, I'm happy that Maharishi undertook his mission, whatever his motives may have been. Despite elements of the Movement that in the past I have found unappealing, and which I continue to find unappealing, I continue to sense Guru Dev's presence there also. Whatever our complaints about our own lives or about the Movement, I think we can feel some gratitude in knowing that a life like that of Guru Dev has touched our own existence, however distantly. Jai Guru Dev, L B S ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Dying to be thin? Anorexia. Narrated by Julianne Moore. http://us.click.yahoo.com/AQDrNC/sbOLAA/d1hLAA/0NYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
