--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "Kenny H" <kennyhassman@> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > A gal I knew from another spiritual trip had an inter- > > > esting theory about this stuff. She felt that although > > > there is a lot of variety among the spiritual seekers > > > one finds in this world, basically you can pretty > > > safely "sort" them into two categories. > > > > > > The first category is composed of the seekers who are > > > content with reading about other people's adventures. > > > They get off on scriptures and tales of other people's > > > enlightenment, and on intellectual discussions of other > > > people's experiences, and that's enough for them. > > > > > > The second category is composed of mystics, those who > > > will settle for nothing less than having their *own* > > > experiences. Reading about them isn't enough; talking > > > about them isn't enough; coming up with entertaining > > > (but essentially worthless) models to "explain" the > > > experiences isn't enough. They want the Real Thing, > > > and if the spiritual group or teacher they're assoc- > > > iated with isn't providing it, they move on to some- > > > thing that does. > > > > > > I've always tended to agree with her assessment. In > > > general, the people in the first group say "Maharishi > > > says" (or "<Fill-in-name-of-teacher-or-historical-saint > > > here> says") a lot. Because they're not actually *having* > > > very many spiritual experiences, they assume that no one > > > else is either, and therefore they become dependent on > > > intellectual analysis of Other People's Experiences, > > > especially those of their teacher, whom they *imagine* > > > is having all *sorts* of good experiences. > > > > Barry, there is no way you/we can know whether "...they're > > not actually having very many spiritual experiences..." > > Of course there is. If you're part of the spiritual > group, and if the group (unlike TM) encourages its > members to freely discuss their experiences, all you > have to do is listen. :-) > > > Who knows who "they" even are, how they would define > > spirituality, what they were really looking for, how > > their interpretations of their own growth in life > > have changed, etc. > > My feelings on this are colored by who I studied with. > The Rama guy, when I first ran into him, gave unmis- > takably clear instructions about the importance of > having one's own experiences. His instruction to us > was, "If you are studying with me and go for longer > than a month without having at least one spiritual > experience that completely and totally changes your > life and rocks your world, it's time to move on." > > I stuck around for fourteen years. > > Suffice it to say that the frequency of strong, clear, > unmistakable spiritual experiences is not the same in > all spiritual groups as it is in the TMO. >
Not surprising since TM is about changing one's LIFE, not about having spiritual experiences. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/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/
