--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I guess my questions for the group as a whole are: 1. *Is* it important to you to believe that Maharishi was/is enlightened? At the time, I think it made me feel really special that *I* was so special as to have found a great teacher. Personally, I think the mystical aura Mahesh cultivated around himself, quite intentionally, both stroked his ego and enhances his marketability. 2. If so, *why*? As above. 3. What *difference* do you think that would have made in his ability to teach you what you have learned from him? That's a matter of what I know now, isn't it. I really admired the compelling structure, uniformity and graspableness of the way he taught. *** With respect to what you say below, I kind of agree. It's one thing to know your stuff, it's another to let it ripen (and I am talking about this business of spiritual stuff we perceive in what little we know of Guru Dev). Without being "established" in that purity of the perfectly controlled ego, the teacher is always at great risk. Mahesh may indeed have felt he had fooled Guru Dev (oh, see how absolutely devoted I am to you! I am so wonderful.) But I suspect Guru Dev could see through the devotion or at least the appearance of the great actor playing god and perceive the risky business of the ego beneath that. It's good to hear what Sattyanand had to say. He was there. He certainly knew. If only someone could have interviewed him the way Mahesh interviewed people: picked their brains and got everything. > As usual when I post an honest, heartfelt, and > *non*-putdown opinion of Maharishi, one of the > terribly attached TBs reacts to it as if it was > a putdown (not true), and as if she were feeling > terribly threatened by the opinion itself (true). > > Allow me to clarify, for those who are less anal > retentive about the things they believe. > > In the past on this forum, we have discussed > whether it would really *matter* to people with > regard to the benefits they have received from > TM if Maharishi had, in fact, had sex with a > bunch of his female students. The general > consensus was No, it wouldn't matter. > > Why then are so many people so attached to the > idea that he is enlightened? > > Would it really *matter* if he wasn't? Would > the benefits they have received from practicing > TM be any less? By their actions -- overreacting > almost any time this subject comes up and getting > all defensive about their belief (and that is all > it is) that he is enlightened -- one really has > to assume that it *would* really matter to them. > My question is, Why? > > My completely honest, no bullshit, pondered-over- > for-almost-40-years opinion is that Maharishi is > *not* enlightened, and never has been. In all the > time I spent in the TM movement, I never once > heard him claim that he was, and based on reports > here, I don't think he ever has. And yet people > persist in believing that he is. Again, why, and > more important -- *what difference would it make?*" > > My perception of Maharishi is of a well-meaning > ordinary guy who had the fortunate experience of > spending some time around someone who *was* > enlightened, was inspired by that experience, > and who decided *on his own*, and against the > advice of that teacher, to try to spread the > inspiration that he felt around, so that other > people could feel as inspired as he did. > > This is *NOT* a putdown; it's a compliment. I > *commend* Maharishi for his devotion to this > desire to inspire. By contrast, I've worked with > several other teachers who periodically threw > tantrums and decided to *stop* teaching; Maharishi > never has. That, in my book, makes Maharishi far > more devoted to his desire to inspire others > than the other teachers were. > > I *do* believe that he went against the direct > advice of his own teacher in making this decision > to teach, and at his own peril. Spiritual teaching > is a perilous task; there are pitfalls and dangers > in it, especially for those who still have a strong > ego that would be easy prey for these pitfalls and > dangers. *That* is what I believe that Guru Dev > had in mind when he told Maharishi not to teach, > and to follow his *own* example and spend his time > in meditation, far away from the teaching process. > (This information came from Sattyanand, many years > ago.) We are talking, after all, about a guy (Guru > Dev) who tried as hard as humanly possible to *avoid* > being forced into the position of being a teacher > himself. He *understood* the pitfalls and dangers. > When they tried to make him the Shankaracharya, he > literally disappeared for 21 days, hoping that they > would change their minds and choose someone else. > I think he had Maharishi's best interests in mind > when he made the suggestion that he *not* teach; > he must have known that Maharishi was not *ready* > to teach, and *would* fall victim to the pitfalls > and dangers that awaited him if he chose that path. > And I believe that Maharishi did, in fact, fall > prey to them. > > But that doesn't mean that I don't feel gratitude > to him for what he taught me. TM, as cobbled-together > and untested as it was, helped to start me on a > spiritual path, and I am grateful to Maharishi for > having made it available. But at the same time, unlike > most of the other TM teachers I have met, I have never > really considered him enlightened, and still don't. > > Many people would *like* Maharishi to be enlightened. > They have various reasons for why they believe that. > I have my own reasons for believing that he is not. > My reasons may be correct or they may not, but it > doesn't really matter, because it wouldn't *matter* > to me whether he was enlightened or not. The benefit > for me was in learning a useful beginner's technique > of meditation, one that left me open to more inter- > esting experiences with other techniques and other > traditions. Maharishi didn't need to be enlightened > to accomplish that. > > Haven't you ever considered the possibility that > Maharishi coined his "learning to read" analogy (you > remember the one -- the kid goes to school and learns > "A, B, C" and then goes home and teaches his younger > brothers and sisters "A, B, C") to describe *himself*? > > I guess my questions for the group as a whole are: > > 1. *Is* it important to you to believe that Maharishi > was/is enlightened? > > 2. If so, *why*? > > 3. What *difference* do you think that would have > made in his ability to teach you what you have > learned from him? > 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! 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