More same old-same old demonizing of those perceived to be True Believers from Barry. Can anybody find anything in this current rant that Barry has not said here before multiple times?
--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > He did say this [become in tune with my thinking] > > > > explicitly. Many times. On International Staff it was very > > > > much in the air. At Poland Spring, he said ³right now I¹m > > > > saying one things and 1,000 things are being heard.² > > > > (referring to the number of people in the audience.) > > > > ³Eventually you¹ll all hear the same thing.² (Meaning > > > > we all will have attuned ourselves to his thinking.) > > > > > > Or attuned to Reality which is one and therefore the same to all > > > knowers of Reality. > > > > Eggzactly. > > Segue time again... > > ************************************************************ > > The "the" Word > > What *is* the phenomenon that manifests itself in the > True Believers of the TMO? The *mechanics* of the > phenomenon are clear -- they treat every criticism of > TM, TMers and the TMO as if it were a personal attack. This mantra one of Barry's many unexamined assumptions that he takes to be The Truth. And it may be in some cases, but by no means all. There's more than one "mechanics" involved, depending on the individual in question. > But what *is* it in them that feels attacked? Barry obviously doesn't perceive the irony in asking such a question in a rant that itself personally attacks those he considers True Believers. > I think that the answer lies in one word used by one > poster here in a recent exchange. Rick suggested, "It's > based on the assumption that Maharishi has a handle on > Absolute Truth." The respondent Moi, of course. If Barry were to think about it for a moment, he'd have to acknowledge that I challenge anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism, and male chauvinism in precisely the same way and with the same forcefulness that I do unreasonable criticism of MMY/the TMO. The only one of the groups targeted by such bigotry to which I belong is the female sex, so it's pretty clear that with that one exception, in these cases I couldn't possibly feel personally attacked by the bigotry. It's the bigotry itself that offends me. It's in my nature to challenge unfair attacks of groups of people and was long before I ever started TM. On what basis would Barry claim that when I challenge unfair attacks on TM, in that single case I do so because I'm feeling *personally* attacked? > insisted on redefining Suggested redefining, Barry means. > Rick's statement using her own definition: "Or, that he > has a handle on the truth about the nature and mechanics > of consciousness." > There is a word in that sentence that in my opinion > speaks volumes about the TM mentality, and what it is > in them that feels threatened and "attacked" when other > people question the TM dogma or propose other ways of > seeing things. Anyone get what it is? > > It's the word "the." She specifies that Maharishi has a > handle on "the truth," not "a truth." Barry fails to notice that I was redefining Rick's statement *down*, from "Maharishi has a handle on Absolute Truth" to "Maharishi has a handle on the truth about the nature and mechanics of consciousness." > What the TBs are attached to, so much so that they don't > even realize it when their own language gives them away, > is the belief that there is only *one* truth. The problem with Barry's contention is that the notion that there is only one Ultimate Truth pervades teaching about enlightenment and is perhaps the single principle that the vast majority of enlightenment traditions hold in common. Whatever the specific metaphysics of the various traditions, the assumption is that all who reach enlightenment, no matter the tradition, will experience the same Ultimate Truth. > They cannot admit to the possibility of there being > another truth, or multiple truths, or even worse, contra- > dictory truths. Like in the Highlander movies, "There can > only be one." And naturally, these people feel that they > know what that single, solitary truth is. <snip> > I'm sorry, but the people who think and act like this > strike me as being really silly fucks. I mean, how much > experience with life could they possibly had to believe > that there is only one truth and one reality? It's just > fascism posing as spirituality. Continuing the theme of Barry's inadvertent irony, Barry feels that he knows The Truth: that there *is* no "single, solitary" truth. >From the way Barry compulsively demonizes anyone who expresses a different view, as he does in this post, it's clear that he feels personally attacked when The Truth he believes in--that there is no single truth--is challenged. He's completely oblivious to the fact that he's subject to precisely the same tendency for which he demonizes those he calls True Believers. He's just as much a True Believer as any of them. (One further irony is Barry's difficulty with metaphysical concepts. What he mocks as "the single, solitary truth"--the one virtually all enlightenment traditions hold in common, TM included--is that All is One, "All" encompassing every last one of Barry's "multiple truths" and realities. If it's contradictions he is attached to, "All is One" would appear to be the Ultimate Contradiction.) 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/
