--- In [email protected], "feste37" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> As for her article in the Source, I happened to overhear
> someone in a restaurant here in Fairfield--an out-ot-town
> visitor—talking on his cell phone about this article and
> how he had been inspired by it. So not everyone reacts
> as you and others on this board have done.
What I found interesting (if not inspiring) about this
article after forcing myself to get all the way through
it was how accurately it paralleled the *other* article
posted yesterday, the excerpt from Kramer and Alstad's
"The Guru Papers." (If you haven't re-read it, I highly
recommend FFL Message #115245.)
In that excerpt, the authors talked about the two common
"phases" of spiritual movements -- the first outward phase,
in which everyone is excited about spreading the message
of hope and changing the world in a positive way, and the
second, "contraction" phase, in which the emphasis shifts
radically, and in the authors' opinion, in a not terribly
healthy direction.
I guess I'm suggesting that Sharalyn/Roses' article
*clearly* represents the second "contraction" phase of
spiritual movements, and thus might be "inspiring"
primarily to those who are suckers for that sorta thang.
GP: "...the guru's message turns pessimistic or doomsday,
voicing something like this: Soon civilization is going
to break down and face amazing disasters -- except for
us, who are wisely withdrawing to protect ourselves
and retain our purity."
What *else* is Sharalyn's/Roses' message if not an appeal
to this mindset? Its entire language is in terms of the
subjective benefit for the person who butt-bounces, *not*
for the world at large. The closest she gets to talking
about benefits for the world is a kind of psychotic
"taking credit" for crashing a plane because MUM people
didn't do program one day (an event that Rick suggests
didn't even happen; they *did* do program that day, so
her version of events seems to be just a retrospective
rewriting of history to make herself and the buttbouncers
seem more important).
The bottom line is that SH/RD's article is an appeal
to *self*. The language is totally subjective, full of
"I's" and designed to appeal to the "I" in the reader and
to the reader's emotionality.
The sales pitch (for indeed that is what the article is)
is to convince people to come to Fairfield and bounce on
their butts not only *for their own good*, but so that
they can be part of something that is "the best," "the
most," "the safest," "the ground zero of bliss." It's an
appeal to fear of the outside world and to the basic
superiority and elitism that the TMO began to emphasize
when it entered its contraction phase and stopped trying
to teach TM and attract new members.
Also notice that there is not ONE WORD in the entire
article about doing this buttbouncing for the benefit of
others, to help the world. *Everything* is stated in
terms of what it can do for the person doing the butt-
bouncing, and what it feels like to be part of such an
elite and superior group. The appeal is to "come join us"
as we huddle in our domes ("the best place, possibly the
safest place, in the world")and have 'good experiences'
while the world goes to hell in a handbasket.
No WONDER they're having trouble getting people to go
there and do their programs there! If this article is
their idea of how to "inspire" people, they've really
lost sight of the whole *purpose* of spiritual development,
which IMO is and always was to help others and to help
the world, *not* to increase the self and feed its
delusions of grandeur.
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