--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Feb 28, 2006, at 8:22 AM, TurquoiseB wrote [to trinity, who speaks first below]: > > >> I didn't say that the experiences they have had are exactly > >> the ones that were described. But I believe most of them had > >> experiences of one sort or another, which made them go for > >> these very books, etc. For example, somebody had an experience > >> with TM - following a set of instructions laid out by the > >> MMY - and therefore tends to believe that MMY knows about > >> higher states of Consciousness. His belief is therefore > >> reinforced by experience. Acting on those beliefs he may > >> come across another experience, - again not necessarily > >> identical to those described, but sort of in the same > >> direction, and therefore tends to give some more authority > >> to MMY, therefore the experience is reinforcing his beliefs > >> once more. > >> > >> This is how it works for most people, and therefore what > >> I say is perfectly true. > > > > Not "pefectly," but you're right...people do tend > > to re-believe the people they've believed before. > > This often tends to be an enormous trap, as when > > they believe that Maharishi says about politics > > is valid just because what he said about how TM > > seems to work was valid. > > Really a key point here is the validity and authenticity > of the teacher. There are real teachers and there are > charlatans--both go by the same name: teacher.
Ah, but who gets to "validate" or "authenticate" the "real" ones? Again, we're back in the realm of "trusting experts." I'd say instead that a more relevant "key point" is the willingness to retain one's critical faculties and perform one's *own* "validation and authentication" of the teachers one encounters and what they teach. This is, sadly, a fairly rare trait. More common is "belief out of habit." If the teacher in question seems to have said something valuable in the past, many people tend to *stop* evaluating what that teacher says in the future. Instead, they just buy into it out of habit. > Furthermore some people by their own obscurations > and karma will instinctively find the latter, others > possessing different patterns which are free of such > concerns, find someone to point out their true nature. Again, though, who gets to say what is the student's "true nature?" I'm not arguing that there aren't charlatans out there; there are. But even the charlatans may teach valuable stuff, just as the "real" teachers may teach garbage. The key to me seems to lie in preserving that tendency to evaluate each thing that one's teacher says on its own merit, here and now, in real-time, *without regard for* the things the teacher may have said in the past. Easier said than done. We're all creatures of habit, and tend to take the easy path rather than the one that requires a little effort. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/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/
