"> Another form of addiciton that lends itself to > this interpretation is the anti-cult cult. In my > experience, *most* of the leaders of this anti- > movement movement, when they tell their personal > stories, come to a pivotal moment for them that > goes something like this: "In meditation I got > to a point where I lost all sense of who I was. > This scared me so much that I never wanted that > to happen again, so I quit meditating, and now > I work to warn others that they might get to > a similar place." What if the "work" they do as > an "anti-cult counselor" is their way of not > only avoiding full transcendence/loss of self, > but a way to prevent others from going further > than they dared to go?"
I never met anyone who did exit counseling who fits this pattern. I don't know of any cult counselors who live in conditions that could be manipulated by cult techniques. For the most part they live in hotels on location trying to help families without a lot of emotional support from peers. It is a pretty tough job. As far as them being afraid of their experiences goes, I can only talk about the people who came out of TM and do this work. None of them expressed this feeling. The guys I knew had the normal experiences in TM but came to view the meaning of those experiences differently. The people I met who do this work have high levels of compassion and self awareness. They believe they are restoring choice to people who have lost the ability to view their participation in a group and it's effects on their lives clearly. It has a lot in common with a spiritual breakthrough when it is successful in my opinion, very liberating. I see that most people involved in spirituality on this group have the same aversion to cult tactics as cult counselors. In this case knowledge is power. Being against cult manipulation is not an indictment of spirituality, but the abuse of people in the name of spirituality. Many cult counselors still value spirituality in their own lives. --- In [email protected], "jyouells2000" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Peter <drpetersutphen@> wrote: > > > > > > > > --- jyouells2000 <jyouells@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > My experience is that the 'bound' self is built upon > > > > > the unwillingness > > > > > to be nothing, the fear of > > > > > that... Sort of a continuous looking away. > > > > > > > > Brilliant(IMHO)!! The continuous looking away is also > > > > a continuous looking for a subjective "feeling" of > > > > self that affirms (falsely) that "I exist." The mind > > > > does this every few seconds in waking state. It's a > > > > very subtle egoic habit. You can see this habit in CC > > > > because the mind turns to find something to affirm > > > > itself and nothing, literally, is found instead. There > > > > is no longer a felt-sense of "I" to affirm > > > > individuality. There is, again, literally, nothing > > > > there to find but pure consciousness and pure > > > > consciousness is something that the mind can not > > > > comprehend. > > > > > > I know this was a couple of days ago, but today > > > I found myself wondering whether the same "looking > > > away" could help to explain those with an Internet > > > addiction. They intuit that they're close to the > > > experience of nothingness, and that scares them, > > > so they post a lot and/or post stuff calculated > > > to get a response (positive or negative doesn't > > > matter, just as long as it's a response), all so > > > that the self can preserve the illusion of itself. > > > As long as the self is busy dealing with one-on- > > > one interactions, the "looking away" succeeds, the > > > illusion of self's existence is preserved, and > > > the person never has to deal with the nothingness > > > they can feel just over the horizon. > > > > For that matter, could *all* forms of addiction > > be a way to preserve the illusion of self, and > > keep selflessness at bay? It's certainly been > > fascinating for me to see the number of *former* > > seekers and practitioners of meditation who, soon > > after abandoning their path, get into some form > > of heavy addiction, whether it be smoking ciga- > > rettes or smoking dope or drinking. Some of it > > is a "I denied myself all these things for years > > and so now I have the right to indulge" thang, > > but on another level it might be related to > > a subconscious desire to keep enlightenment away. > > > > Another form of addiciton that lends itself to > > this interpretation is the anti-cult cult. In my > > experience, *most* of the leaders of this anti- > > movement movement, when they tell their personal > > stories, come to a pivotal moment for them that > > goes something like this: "In meditation I got > > to a point where I lost all sense of who I was. > > This scared me so much that I never wanted that > > to happen again, so I quit meditating, and now > > I work to warn others that they might get to > > a similar place." What if the "work" they do as > > an "anti-cult counselor" is their way of not > > only avoiding full transcendence/loss of self, > > but a way to prevent others from going further > > than they dared to go? > > > > Just thoughts on a rainy afternoon. Not trying > > to sell them to anyone... > > > > For some of those folks, even if they stop it's too late, and they still > get 'hit by the bus'. > 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/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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