--- In [email protected], "wayback71" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], Sal Sunshine <salsunshine@> wrote: > > > > On Sep 23, 2006, at 12:26 PM, Rick Archer wrote: > > > > > College kids these days aren't spiritual seeks, by and large. They're > > > on a career track and not many are going to rush off to spend 8 hours > > > a day meditating.
That may or may not be the case. But its almost entirely irelevant to the premise I suggested. You are looking at very high level averages and trends of a cohort (18-29 year olds) that is 45 million strong. I am simply suggesting that out of that 45 million, there may be 2000 who, IF exposed to TM/Sidhis in a 3000 YF dome environment, might get as "stoked" as we did. I don't think fundamental human response to core things really changes that much from generation to generation. I find it astonishing, that people (speaking broadly to a number of posters) who had that experience of TM/YF in LARGE groups (I am not talking 10 people at the local center, but many 100's or several 1000) cannot even imagine that 1 out of every 22,500 18-29 year olds might also get atracted, excited and motivated to do more, IF they were exposed to it. Thats .004% I am talking about. Not 1000 times that, 4%. Its clear the current 18-29 YOs are not flocking to do meditation type things. Nor were the same cohort in 1965. But WHEN the latter cohort was exposed to it, they flocked to it -- at least a few percentage did. I am simply suggesting that IF a core of say 100 students (such as the Lynch Lecture attendees) were exposed, as a group, to something a lot more powerful than TM itself -- YF in a group of 1000-3000, some would get highly jazzed and word would spread and 2000 students taking a year "sabatatacal" for a FREE course of ret, self-development, world peace -- and the hope of some hot women/guys, is quite plausible. NO MATTER what the other 99.9996 % of their cohort choses to do. > > That's a silly and unfounded over-generalization, Rick, and New's > > right...you could easily have said that about us, or about anyone at > > any time. Yes. And was. In early 1967, at 16, I told one of my best friends (1600 SAT guy who went on to Harvard) that I was going to a lecture on meditation -- did he want to come too to check it out. His mother, a great lady, well read, very open minded, said "new.morning is interested in meditation!!!????. Its like the last thing whe would have thought I would be interested in. And of any of the local moms' she probably knew me best. And ironically, my friend was the more mystical one. Anyone knowing us would have clearly picked him as more inclined towards meditation and things mystical. In 1969, ski-bumming in colorado, at times i hung out with two guys -- roomates. One seemed TM-inclinded, and i would mention it periodically. The other, a great guy, but it seemed to me, way not inclined towards meditation. Surprise. i arrived in Fuiggi to do some rounding after my TTC the year before. And there was Rick, the one I pegged as having no inclination towards meditation -- he was on the video crew, earning credits for a TTC. He even convinced his non-TM girl friend to start and come. Other stories ... So, based on my experience, I don't think anyone can say this person or group is inclined towards meditation. Peoples inner worlds, inclinations and drives are not always obvious. Even to themselves. But when exposed to IT, new visions of what they want to do may change radically. > > Maybe the reason nobody's rushing to this course is because it sounds > > boring and not terribly healthy to sit on your ass for 8 hours a day Yes. Who would want to do that. But if exposed to IT, and IT blossoming in livliness, it becomes not about butt bouncing in an Iowa cornfield, but about this extremely kewl vibe from 3000 people doing this incredible thing as a group, and intensely awesome feeling /thing inside bursting out. > > (not to mention it might also be because the TMO has a rep for being > > manipulative and dishonest.) If hardly anyone our age wants to > > participate, it should come as no surprise that people younger and more > > active would be turned off. Think through how much that is going to influence someone who just got a full blast of IT and is offered a FREE full year course to enliven THAT more. Wise, jaded FF Elder: "well you know young butthopper, TMO has a rep for being manipulative and dishonest. Prospective Butthopper: "But like they are paying for all my room and board and tuition for a year, right?" Wise, jaded FF Elder: "well, yes, it appears so." Prospective Butthopper: "Dude, what is the problem? what is your problem? They are giving me a huge pile of stuff. How are they going to rip me off? Let go of your 30 yr old "stuff"." > I think Rick is correct. If you go to any of the saints (incuding the Dalia Lama) touring the > USA, the average hair color is gray. I think AMma has more young people than most. My experience of SSRS courses, up to 2000, was that there were lots of 18-29 year olds. And a lot of greyish ones. The "kids" loved the "old TM course at a Grateful Dead concert, freedom in the air vibe. And my comments about 2000 kids could sooon migrate to FF is not TMO centric. If Amma, SSRS, or some buddhist group offered a FREE one year course, I am sure that would be flocked too. Maybe/ probably more. The TMO does have its stodginess factor. >Back > in the 60's and 70's, the average attendee was 18-25yrs old. Yoga classes are by and > large populated by middle aged women. Not in my limited experience. > The current younger generation in college now is > not only career minded- but also service minded, as in volunteering and "doing good > deeds." Much more so than the Boomers, Oh you led a sheltered life in the 60's. :) As judy mentioned: peace corp. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"! I was only 10 when JFK lit that lamp, but even at that age, i could see it lit up a generation. Or some part of it. The Freedom Riders in the south for voter registration drives is a good example. That was not "lets be candy-strppers" at the hospital volunteerism. It was putting your life on the line. As well, this cohort stopped a war, and drove a president from office. It wasn't nice, sterile and all laid out for them, like many volunteer ops open for kids today. it was often untrodden soil. Creative exploration. Social change was a HUGE ethos of that period. And what drove that? self-created volunteerism, IMO. I think SIMS exploded do to that volunteer / social change ethos that fueled the boomers. >who wanted to do good by meditating, getting > doped up, That was ALL you saw from 1966-74? Wow! >refusing to go to war. If that is not a huge act towards social change (for many), I don't know what is. Do you know what a huge decision, commitment, and "loss" that represented for many? I am saddened that far more of todays "volunteeristic" youth are not directly trying to slow, stop recruitment. "Girls say no to guys that say yes". I don't know what it would take to tip the balance for the > younger kids, but so far they are more interested in cation/karma and not interested in > spirituality/meditation- at least not in large numbers. I suggest what could tip it: actual exposure to a "tight core group" to various meditation and yogic practices. For what ever reasons, today's 18-29 year olds curently are less exposed than we were. But, at least in SIMS, we were exposed by something that grew rapidly from nothing. I am simple suggesting some spark could do the same for .004% of the current "kids" cohort. 1/22,500 The FREE year course is a huge pile of dry kindling waiting for that spark. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! 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