--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "Marek Reavis" <reavismarek@> > wrote: <snip> > > The problems with believing in the stories, as you say, > > is that you can start taking them personally and then > > feel personally diminished when someone doesn't buy into > > them. And everyone chafes when they're made to feel > > small. First the war of the stories, and ultimately > > (maybe), actual war. > > Great last line, tremendous insight! > > Doesn't that just say it all? I live in an area that > has seen the "War of the Stories" for centuries now. > First it was the pagan stories vs. the Roman stories, > and then the Roman Church's stories vs. the Cathars' > stories, and then the Catholic stories vs. the Prot- > estant stories. And of course it didn't take long > for the "war stories" to become actual war. > > Even though I've poked a little fun at the Byron > Katie thing lately, I do have to say that if folks > in all of these times had done "the work" on their > stories to determine if they were really true or not, > they probably wouldn't have had to do "the work" on > each other with knives and spears and swords and > torture chambers and burning at the stake.
And here we have yet another example of Barry's apparently limitless capacity for unintended irony. His flurry of posts this weekend geared to instructing us all in How to Be Really Spiritual Like Barry are all based on elaborate stories of his own devising in which he has apparently come to believe, but which bear almost no relationship to reality, particularly those about what goes on on FFL. It seems never to have occurred to him to do "the work" on his own many stories "to determine if they are really true or not." Just for instance, from another post of Barry's in this latest batch of rants: > It just explains so *much* about TM and the TM experience > and Fairfield Life and a few of the folks who hang out here > to me. Those of us who don't necessarily believe that TM is > "the best" say so, and the shit hits the fan. A few folks > just *have* to try to turn it into a debate, and "win." > And even if the person who says that they don't believe > that TM is "the best" DOESN'T make any claim saying that > *their* trip or philosophy is "best," that's what these > compulsive debators HEAR. > > They claim that people who merely suggest that TM might > *not* be "the best" -- or who suggest that there might not > be such a *thing* as "the best" -- are "really" saying > that *they* are the best. They accuse these other people > of "exalting themselves," when from my point of view often > the only thing the person did is say, "Uh, isn't your > position that you're 'the best' and your defensiveness at > any suggestion to the contrary a lot like exalting *yourself* > a bit?" They try to turn even the most civil conversation > and exchange of ideas into a debate, and then try to "win" > that debate. And when they do -- at least in their minds -- > they then move on to Phase II of the "Shankara tradition," > which judging from this website seems to be *gloating* > about having "won." It's hard to believe, but he really does not see how compulsively and consistently he exalts his own spirituality by making up stories about the behavior of others that are designed to contrast unfavorably with his own. Here's another especially egregious example: --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "matrixmonitor" > <matrixmonitor@> wrote: > > > Of course, Vaj is the incarnation of the Buddhist Tantrik > > Abhinava Gupta, who was so jealous of Shankara (MMY and TM). > > Vaj, you should have regular exams to look for fistulas. > > I can't disagree with you here. :-) As I've said > many times ( and as Judy and others claim I'm "lying" > about and that they "see" the situation "better" > than I do :-), I really don't believe much of *any- > thing* is "true" or "Truth." Made up out of whole cloth. Barry fantasizes a whole alternate reality, then comes over to the real FFL to complain about it.
