--- In [email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> ... I don't recall of M indicated this in that
> same lecture or if I heard it else where, that
> disciples of great saints often get enlightened
> when their master drops the body. So, if you have
> been regular all these years and have the
> opportunity to go to the course, My advise
> would be to GO!
While this may be true, another view on this
phenomenon, spoken of often with a smile in the
Tibetan Buddhist community, is that this idea
of "those who were with him at the end got
instantly enlightened" and/or "those who were
with him at the end are the ones who 'really'
know his 'real' teaching" is almost always
promoted *by those people*.
The smile, in Buddhist traditions, is because
such people tend to be the ones who try to
*take over* the tradition of the teacher at
that point, and use "I was there at the end"
as their justification for doing so.
It's a pretty well-known phenomenon in spiritual
circles. I certainly saw it in the Rama trip,
and it is discussed openly in the Chogyam Trungpa
and Muktananda trips.
It's just what happens -- those who "hang in
there to the end" expect to be *rewarded* for
doing it. And so they come up with stories
(which may or may not be true) as to how they
were rewarded ("I got enlightened at his funeral")
or stories justifying the fact that they took
over the tradition ("I was there at the end, and
now the Master appears to me in my dreams every
night and tells me the 'real' truths and how to
lead the movement").
There may *be* some truth to there being a nice
blast of energy when an enlightened being croaks,
but I'm just mentioning this because (ahem) TM
people seem to be blissfully ignorant of trends
in spirituality that other traditions speak of
openly and have gotten enough distance on to be
able to laugh at.
When Maharishi dies -- whether it is next week
or in twenty years -- my advice is to use one
very easy criterion to judge such stories of the
"big blast of energy" *as* he died. If the person(s)
telling you the story is using it to enhance his
or her own self importance, or to justify the
position he or she holds in the "new movement,"
remember to laugh.
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