--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "suziezuzie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > What's your opinion about rich people in the movement who have > inherited their money and like the people you describe, never have > worked a day in their lives. While it's true that they never have > to beg, they still are being given funds from a trust or inheritance > having been created by another, their parents, etc. I knew people > like this at MIU in the 70s and they lived the good life, going on > courses whenever they wanted, vacations during the winters to avoid > the cold, and generally being able to be in the best TM positions > on courses, ie., be with MMY etc. But do you have the same opinion > about these people?
I don't know them, so I can't say. I only met one super-rich guy during my "TM time," and he was a neurotic mess, someone whose life I wouldn't trade for mine for a million bucks. Others may be happy; I don't know. Then again, much of the time my friend seems happy. I get where he's coming from -- he really feels that it would be an affront to God to doubt Him enough to have to work for a living. :-) To some extent it's the Buddha's "tantrum yoga" thing. Buddha sat down under a tree and threw a tantrum and declared that he wasn't going to move until he got enlightened (in some variants of the story, at least). And it *worked* for him. Go figure. Maybe Dakota's trip will work, too. To his credit, he *is* trying to find ways to do some teaching of these things he's learned on the twice-yearly "visa breaks" they have to take so all the students can leave India and get their visas renewed. And if he wound up in my area teaching (unlikely), I would certainly attend and hopefully learn a little some- thing. But at the same time I don't think I could recommend his lifestyle to others. > I think the life you have described for Dakota is pretty sad. > MMY was also broke when he started the movement. Lutes will > attest to this so how would you characterize the difference > here. Is it that MMY worked 22 hours a day on his mission? > Maybe it was that focus and energy that eventually attracted > the resources he needed. This is probably a better example > of what, "Let God's Will Be Done" means. Yeah, that's true with Dakota as well. When he is involved with one of his gurus he works his *butt* off for them, probably *more* than an eight-hour work day -- on postering, creating web sites, what- ever. He's *dedicated*. The only work he doesn't do is to support himself. It's an interesting approach, and we've talked about it in the past. He doesn't fully "get" my view, and I clearly don't fully "get" his, but I hope that we remain friends. I think that the thing is he has spent so many incarnations doing this in ashrams and monasteries -- *giving away* all the credit for everything he might have done, laying anything good he might have accomplished at the feet of his guru, that he's more than a little afraid at this time to accept that *he* has any value. Forget these latest courses -- Dakota could have set himself up as a spiritual teacher decades ago and had flocks of students around him; he's that charismatic. But he really *can't*, because it would be *him* doing it, and he really does feel there is something *wrong* with that. He has to be "in service to" someone, a student, a disciple. He gets uneasy when he is "between teachers" and he *isn't* in service to someone, someone he can give all the credit for his good works away to. It's really an interesting life and an interesting lifestyle. And I love the dude, even though I don't quite under- stand him and his motivations. He's as "un-understand- able" as St. Francis might have been, or Milarepa him- self -- a true off-the-wall, off-the-map dedicated seeker, who just can't do anything *else* but seek. And there may be a value in that, both for the indi- vidual and the world; I don't pretend to know. I've just been "thinking out loud" here after receiving his latest blog update. I wish the man well, and may even contribute to his well-being myself; I haven't decided yet. Like I said, I've just been thinking out loud; thanks for listening.
