--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Dean Goodman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > THE STRUGGLE OF INDIVIDUALITY TO PERPETUATE ITS ILLUSION
BIG SNIP > 1. THE PERSONAL-CONTACT RULE FOR TRUE BHAKTI > > Someone commented that I couldn't claim devotion to Maharishi if I > haven't seen him (his relative body) in person for a long time. (So > I'm curious, where does the boundary line come that distinguishes real > devotion? Does seeing Maharishi far off across a big lecture hall > count? Does it count if he's in the next room, speaking over a sound > system? What about seeing him live on TV - but from the next room, > the next town, the next continent? What about streaming live internet > video? Or videotapes/CDs - how recent do they have to be? Do audio- > tapes count - you're not literally "seeing" him? What about telephone > calls, letters, etc.? How close in time/space do I have to get to him > to qualify as a "true devotee"? How often do I have to get that close? > Does it count if he's thinking of me, or if I'm thinking of him? How > often?) Obviously, from my laughing sarcasm, in my experience this > person's comment reflects a very limited, relative, basic-level view > of devotion. > > It's not Maharishi's relative body that I relate to much anymore; it > is his expanded reality, his cosmic presence, his omnipresence, the > awareness that he is. He lives in me, as my Self. I live in him. > It's his thinking, in his role as a reflector/conduit of That, that > I attune myself to and become ever more deeply. Our relationship is > on that level. I think the last paragraph above is a very nice description of true bhakti. I agree completely that true devotion to a guru or to anyone for that matter is not based on physical proximity or other "superficial" measures of closeness. I certainly didn't mean to imply in my previous post that status in the TMO necessarily implies anything about one's level of devotion to MMY. However, any relationship that is not based on direct physical interaction and communication is obviously open to misinterpretation, and even a glance into the guru scene reveals a great deal of delusion among their devotees. Sincere bhaktis generally keep themselves open to feedback to make sure they're not going off the deep end. R Carlson is the most well-known case of this. He made all the same pts as MDG to support his enlightened unity with MMY, but MMY called his bluff and supposedly called him an "idiot" in his videotape to the court case. I'm not sure even this dissuaded Carlson from his viewpt since once one adopts that cosmic type of bhakti there is no objective info that can crack it (though Carlson did keep his promise to FFld if MMY publicly disowned him). I don't mean to equate MDG with Carlson, but just the dangers of that purely internal definition of bhakti and the need for constant feedback to test it. On all the tapes I saw MMY was very clear what he thought of people who came to the mike with stories of getting instructions from him in their dreams or in their meditation. In one case he said something to the effect that he does know how to use the phone. The Guru Dev story MDG tells is a good one to illustrate the deep nature of bhakti, but don't forget the ending - GD's masters reveals to both GD and the ashram the true status of their relationship. No doubt some devotees were exiled for real from that ashram - who knows how many of them spent their lives thinking it was just for show? In short, I don't think the deep, non-physical nature of true bhakti necessarily means you completely ignore or contradict the expressed level either. Does MDG ignore valentine's day rituals with his girlfriend because their love is so above all those superficial expressions? If so, his tantra practices that night were probably non-physical also. PS -- I always admired john black who got exiled from int'l and banned from courses for a little mistake. He left as told but continued to successfully teach tm for decades at a local center. He showed great devotion to MMY's teachings by continuing to teach even though he kept getting turned down from courses. He never made a big deal about being a cosmic bhakti, he just lived it very simply. ------------------------ 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/
