--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> > wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> > > > wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], t3rinity <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > <snip> > > > > Now > > > > > suddenly everybody here is full of respect for bhakti, why > > > > > otherwise this topic *never* comes up in any of your or > > > > > Irmelis posts. Love of Guru, appreciation of a teaching, > > > > > dedication to a certain cause is without exception ridiculed > > > > > here on this board by people like you. > > > > > > > > Not only that, but frequently people are ridiculed as > > > > True Believers *because their intellectual arguments > > > > are better*. Rather than go to the trouble of > > > > rebutting an argument that supports a point of view > > > > that challenges the True NON-Believers' ideas, the > > > > TNBs slap the TB label on those presenting the > > > > argument as if that automatically rendered it null and > > > > void. > > > > > > Professional victim 1, meet professional victim 2. :-) > > > > One of these days you'll meet yourself, Barry, but you're > > not quite ready yet, I'm afraid. > > Yeah, yeah...we know...Barry bad. :-) > > My point was
Yeah, yeah, we know what your point was; you've only made the same exact one umpty-dozen times. *My* point was that many of the True NON-Believers here, like you (but by no means only you), are just as attached to their disbelief as any TB is attached to his or her belief, and often more so. Everything you say below is equally or *more* applicable to the TNBs as to the TBs. It is not, of course, "being a victim" to point out the intellectual dishonesty of dismissing an argument that's difficult to address by labeling the person who made it a TB. Or the intellectual dishonesty of labeling them a "victim" because they point it out. That's denial and avoidance, and I'd suggest it's at least as indicative of insecurity as wanting to defend one's spiritual practice--or even just to set the record straight after it's been absurdly distorted by an intellectually dishonest TNB. I'm personally not into bhakti (nor am I a TB in any sense, for that matter), and unlike Michael I don't particularly worry about folks respecting bhakti. I *do* think intellectual honesty in spiritual discussions, perhaps more than any other kind, is absolutely essential. And you are one of the very worst offenders on this forum in that regard. simply that the people I know who are > *comfortable* with their beliefs or their spiritual > practices don't seem to have a compulsive need to > 1) constantly defend them, 2) to consistently attempt > to convince others that their beliefs or practices are > better or higher than other beliefs and practices, 3) > to portray their position as "right" and others as > "wrong," and 4) to attempt to portray those who don't > hold their beliefs or pursue their practices as damaged > or lesser than they are. Jeez, talk about being a "professional victim"! Not to mention *insecurity*. Dig yourself, Barry. > Both you and Michael do. No, Barry, we don't. That's your paranoid fantasy. Yes, I think you're badly "damaged," but it has nothing to do with your beliefs, it has to do with your inability to be honest, intellectually and otherwise, with others and with yourself. I don't think that either > of you are nearly as comfortable or secure in your > beliefs as you claim to be. If you were, you > wouldn't spend so much of your time defending > against imagined attacks on them. That's more fantasy, Barry, both the idea that we spend a lot of time defending our beliefs and that the attacks we *do* argue with are "imagined." If you could take off your blinders for a bit, you'd see that in most cases what we're doing is setting the record straight, or simply offering a different perspective. > You'll notice that I never criticize the other folks > on this forum who pursue a bhakti path, some of whom > follow the *same* bhakti path that Michael does. > That's because these other folks *are* comfortable > enough with their path to just pursue it. They never > try to sell it, they never try to say that it's > better than other paths, and they never get uptight > when someone criticizes the teacher they follow. Nor did Michael, of course. They > probably wouldn't get uptight if someone criticized > bhakti itself, something that in my opinion has > never happened here, except in the paranoid fantasies > of people who deal with their own insecurities by > imagining insults where they don't exist. You really aren't in a position to bash other people for having paranoid fantasies, Barry. > In short, I have little patience with paranoid > fanatics of any ilk. And I have little patience with dishonest, insecure, arrogant, paranoid TNBs like yourself. The minor detail of whether > they are Muslim paranoid fanatics or TM paranoid > fanatics or Amma paranoid fanatics is irrelevant. > Go play victim for someone who buys it. > ------------------------ 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/
