--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > It's not the words, Curtis, it's the investiture. > > More on "investiture," because it's an interesting > metaphor to apply to Maharishi and the TM movement. > > Almost everyone here "bought stock" in Maharishi and > in the TM movement. Some of us signed on when it was > still a "startup company." We identified with the > company's founder and its goals and thought that its > products were the niftiest thing since sliced bread. > So we *invested* in it -- our hearts, our minds, our > lives (often to the point of giving up personal goals > and dreams), our time, and in most cases a great deal > of our money. > > And then the company's stock started to slide. > > So many of the people here sold off their stock in the > company and moved their investment elsewhere. They > might still have a fondness for the company and/or its > founder, and most of them still identify with the > company's original stated goals. But after one decade > or two decades or even three decades of seeing those > goals remain unrealized goals, and all of the talk of > changing the world remain just talk, we bailed. > > In general, when someone posts something here that can > be seen as critical of the company and/or its founder, > the people who have "sold their stock" and are no longer > "invested" in Maharishi and the TMO don't react in a > hostile or threatened manner. It's the company that's > being criticized, or the company's founder that's being > criticized, not them. When they "sold their stock" they > severed the connection that had made them believe for > a time that any criticism of the company or its founder > was criticism of them personally. > > Some others have quit working for the company or never > worked for the company but *definitely* bought stock in > it. A few others still work for the company and are > still buying stock in it. > > Compare and contrast the way that these folks who are > *still* invested in the company react when it or its > founder are criticized. Not everyone does this, but I > think it is safe to say that there is a strong tendency > for "current investors" to react as if any criticism of > the TMO or Maharishi were directed at them personally, > even when it clearly is not. Being "stockholders" has, > for them, blurred the line between company and stock- > holder such that any criticism of the company *IS* a > criticism of them, or worse, an outright attack. > Ditto any criticism of Maharishi, the "CEO." > > I stopped working for the company thirty years ago. I > sold the last of my stock in it a couple of years later. > If, as I suspect, the TMO "does an Enron" and goes > completely belly up within five years of Maharishi's > death, it's not really going to affect me in any way. > I'm not an investor. It's not my company, and Maharishi > is not my teacher. Big deal. So what. > > But I have the sneakin' suspicion that if the TMO *does* > "do an Enron" and vanishes from view as quickly as it > appeared, there are quite a few "investors" who have > been holding onto their stock all these decades who are > going to have a hard time with that. If they can't tell > the difference between criticism of the "company" and > criticism of themselves, what are they going to do when > the company kicks the bucket? Are they going to want > to kick the bucket, too? > > It's just a company. It's just stock. Whatever happens > with it, or to it, it's not happening to you, only to > something you invested in. On Wall Street investors tend > to realize this, and if the company they've invested in > starts to tank, they cut their losses, sell their stock > and move on. It seems to be only in the world of "spiritual > investment" that people cling to the idea that once they've > invested, they have to hold onto their stock forever.
I have the same feeling Barry. And I worry about some of my long time friends who are still heavily invested in the TMO and MMY. When the movement implodes after MMY leaves town (I envision a financial tug of war between various Shrivastava and Varma factions....those outside the family don't have a prayer IMO) there may be a boom in mid and late life crisis exit counseling in FF.
