> Janet Luise <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I remember someone telling about that visit when Muktananda & Co were > at Seelisberg probably Chotti (Charlotte Uhlenbusch Roeder but maybe > some other German lady) > – that there were lots of similarities between groups > Western followers — both groups consuming huge amounts of sweets etc > That MMY made lots of points with Muktanadas followers by having MUk > sit HIGHER than MMY because he was a Brahmin. > Muktanada's followers were chanting the Guru Gita & at some point > Muktananda himself left while they continued chanting. > > MMY commented (& I don't know if this was while the other group was > there or afterward) that did people notice the quality of their > chanting was different when Muktananda was present? That Muktananda > was taking their karma as they chanted .... > so that sounds like the Aussie story. > > I actually wonder how they happened to BE in Seelisberg. Thanks for > the story!
>> Rick Archer wrote: >> I spent the summer of '76 in New Jersey with John Gray, Billy Clayton, >> and two other guys. Maharishi sent us there to "inspire the local >> teachers" during the NJ court case. John and Billy visited Muktananda >> a lot that summer and invited him to visit MMY in Seelisberg. Reportedly, >> MMY was pissed that they did that on his behalf without consulting him, >> but when Muktananda and his entourage showed up, MMY made the best of it. > >> After Muktananda left, MMY met with the folks in Seelisberg and reportedly >> asked them some questions that implied he was concerned that their devo- >> tion to him might have been swayed by their exposure to another saint. I >> wasn't there and can't relate anything more extensive than that, although >> I later saw a videotape of MMY's meeting with Muktananda. Dear Fairfield Lifers, I was there at this famous meeting in 1976 between Maharishi and Swami Muktananda. Parts of the information in the 2 e-mails above seems in- accurate; here's what I remember: Swami Muktananda was traveling on tour throughout Europe with a large entourage of his followers. A meeting was arranged with Maharishi in the big meeting room in Seelisberg where Maharishi held evening know- ledge meetings for the international staff - in the beautiful gold meeting hall that you see in many videos. Muktananda and his entourage were the guests of honor that evening, and the meeting was, in essence, turned over to them as I remember. Maharishi was seated on the stage on the central couch, as usual. Swami Muktananda was seated on another couch to Maharishi's right (a place of great honor - the teacher often is on the right when he sits with a student, as in a TM initiation). Neither was higher or lower than the other. (Muktananda seemed quite happy with the seating arrangement, and didn't express verbally or physically any desire to change it - till the end - but we're getting ahead of the story!) The audience was the entire international staff, 108's, faculty, VIPs, etc. - plus the participants on my course (a year-long, ex- perimental course where Maharishi was giving us a lot of personal attention). He specifically invited our course to this special meeting - sent a bus all the way around Lake Lucerne and had us travel over an hour to get there, which messed up our routine and only happened on very special occasions (celebrations, special an- nouncements, guests, etc.). So Maharishi knew that something spe- cial was up - Swami Muktananda did not arrive as any kind of sur- prise. That evening, to begin the meeting, Maharishi said some brief, but very uplifting and honoring remarks about Swami Muktananda. Maha- rishi then asked Swami Muktananda to speak, which he did, through his interpreter (a young woman), and during that talk he spoke highly of Maharishi. He also spoke quite forcefully about the ig- norance and superficiality of Western science when compared with deep, vedic knowledge. After he spoke, Swami Muktananda and his followers chanted the Guru Gita (which is a part of the Skanda Purana, and contains some sig- nificant components of the TM puja ceremony). During all of this, all throughout his talking or chanting, Swami Muktananda did what he does with his students - had them come sit right near him for a minute or two, and then sent them back to their seat in the audience and replaced them with another of his students, apparently giving them powerful darshan. Basically, Maharishi turned over the program for the evening to Swami Muktananda, and sat quietly, often with eyes closed, after his own opening words. He didn't interact on the surface (make remarks, do commentary, exchange looks, etc.). He seemed very deep within. To me, and a number of my friends on my course, it seemed like a kind of friendly, cosmic "contest" was developing: which of these two powerful saints was going to "make the other move". It was obvious, almost palpable, that there was a great flow of love, respect, and especially cosmic power, between these two. And the contrast was very clear - Swami Muktananda manifesting his power through activity (forceful speech, moving his disciples about, group chanting, animated gestures) and Maharishi manifest- ing his power through silence and non-movement. Almost like the polarity of Goddess Shakti and Lord Shiva, the two great polar opposite fields of life. The polarity of this silence and activity was intense. Obviously, something had to give. And, at a certain moment late in the even- ing, right in the middle of saying something to or about Maharishi, Swami Muktananda abruptly stopped talking, quickly got up, sat down right next to Maharishi on his couch, and hugged him in a big bear- hug. Everyone, the followers of both Masters, were shocked and amazed, and the room became VERY agitated! Suddenly, people were up out of their seats, moving about, taking pictures of the two Masters, talking, etc. The silence, the chanting, etc. were obvi- ously over. To the best of my knowledge, no guest had ever sat down next to Maharishi on his couch, nor snuggled up against him, nor wrapped him in a hug! Maharishi didn't seem upset, and didn't look any more uncomfortable than you'd be if you'd been deep in silence and somebody bounced down onto the couch next to you and grabbed you. Maharishi didn't appear to try and pull away or get up. The two of them exchanged a few private words in the midst of this chaos, then both arose and exited the meeting hall together, leaving the room in turmoil. Some of Muktananda's followers, in their enthusiasm, and stirred up by the excited energy of what had just happened, not aware of the normal etiquette, rushed for the door to follow their Master, liter- ally climbing over chairs. The men from my course waited a few min- utes for the chaos to settle down and the exits to clear, and then we eventually got back on our bus and rode an hour back to our quiet hotel on the other side of the lake where we spent our days deep in meditation. The consensus among us was that we'd just seem something cosmic and powerful. Some incredible tension (not of a negative nature) had been generated, and eventually burst into that final action by Swami Muktananda. When Maharishi came to visit with us the next day on our course, we asked him about what we'd seen. We said that it had looked like the meeting of an immovable object with an irresistible force, or something like that. Maharishi confirmed that. He said that it was a matter of which one of them was going to move to the other, and that we had seen activity magnetized to pounce on silence. He implied that silence was always the most irresistible, and with a twinkle in his eye he said that Swami Muktananda had ultimately succumbed to that irresistibility. There was the implication that something deep, something invincible, had been revealed to us in that exchange between these two great souls, something about the power of silent Being, and that's what he had invited us there to witness. Never having seen Maharishi touched, especially so enthusiastical- ly and explosively, we asked him something naive like "Wasn't it strange to have someone touching you like that - how do you main- tain your purity?" [In retrospect our question was kind of silly, and reflective of our own spiritual misunderstanding, since Maha- rishi was not reclusive or disconnected from the world - quite the opposite, he was so dynamically involved in the world of activity in those days - much more than most of us ever will be.] Maharishi replied: "I just stayed on my Self", which seemed to answer more than we had asked. Namaste, Michael Michael Dean Goodman, Ph.D. The PremYoga Center, Co-Director PARA - The Center for Realization, Director The Relationship Institute, Director International Governor, World Government of the Age of Enlightenment Boca Raton (Palm Beach County) Florida 561-350-3930 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dedicated to removing the constrictions to the full flow of life - whether they be physical, mental/emotional, or spiritual - and to the unfoldment of peace, freedom, awareness, love, and ecstasy Spiritual guide (ashtanga yoga/meditation, tantra, vedanta, ayur veda) Counselor * Life Coach * Speaker/Educator * Author Private Sessions * Classes * Workshops & Retreats * Satsangs (Self-inquiry) Clients and programs throughout the United States, Europe, and India Working in person or by phone Free initial consultation to discuss your needs and goals To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! 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