--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Robert Gimbel" <babajii_99@> > wrote: > > > > Hi Barry, > > Hi. > > > I'm not sure how to respond to being a human being > > who has missed your point so completely...so infinitely. > > Exactly what is your point again? > > My point was that some folks -- really admirable, > spiritually-oriented folks -- seem to have become > so enraptured by the First (or even the second) > Guru They Ever Met that even after all the silliness > they've seen along the Way, they have never considered > searching for a second (or third) opinion. > > That phenomenon -- whatever you choose to call > it, and in however many spiritual traditions you > may have found it -- strikes me as pretty damned > interesting. It's a Class-A Mindfuck. I think > it's a phenomenon worthy of investigation. > > What *is* this feeling that tells some spiritual > seekers follow that it's Ok for them to *stop* > seeking, that they have found everything worth > seeking *for* > > I don't claim to know whether this tendency to > want to cling to one particular guru as the > ultimate authority is "better," or to know > whether the tendency to keep looking, to see > whether somebody else might have more of > a clue, is "better." > > I really don't have a fuckin' clue. I don't > know *which* is "better" or "worse." I don't > even think I believe in the whole *concept* > of "better" and "worse" as valid.
Interesting exercise: Read this whole post of Barry's and see if you think his claim not to rank these two approaches as "better/"worse" or "higher/lower" is confirmed by how he describes them. > So shoot me. > > I really don't know. Given a choice, I will > probably *always* keep searching, no matter who > or what I may have run into earlier along the > Way. That's just who and what I am, and where > my particular predilection leads me. > > Other seekers have other predilections, and I > honestly believe that their predilections are > neither "higher" nor "lower" than mine. They > are just the predilections that These Kinda > People prefer. > > Now, to be honest, one of the things that still > keeps me here at FFL is figuring out the puzzle > of why These Kinda People seemingly cannot > conceive of having a predilection *without* > assuming that their particular predilection is > "better" than other predilctions, or that it > is the "best" possible predilection. > > Hey. I'm weird. I *can* conceive of the path that > I choose to follow, even if I follow it only for > a short time, being no better nor worse nor more > important nor less important than any other. It's > just the fuckin' path I chose to follow for one > short segment of my ongoing sequence of lifetimes, > man. You want me to get all serious about this > *particular* incarnation and *its* spiritual > teachers? Get real. > > If you have a problem with this, might I suggest > that you take it up with the guy who implanted in > you the "the natural tendency of the mind is to > seek greater fulfillment" meme. And who then told > you to *settle* for it, to settle for the first > level of fulfillment you stumbled across, as if > it were the "best." Me, I took the guy who sold > me this meme at his word, and am still following > the natural tendency of my mind to this day. > > I kinda like where it's led me. How's your life > going? > 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/
