[FairfieldLife] Jane Hamsher on Rachel Maddow Show
Jane: The Senate is a Beauty Pageant Very funny. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#33543206
[FairfieldLife] Re: So this is what it's like
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@... wrote: On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 6:37 AM, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: 20 POINTS - EXPERIENTIAL CRITERIA OF C.C. The more I go over these 20 points, the more I watch Rick's interview, the more I realize that I am hurtling into this state. Just in case Hugo doesn't point out that this is a classic example of reading a list of qual- ities and imagining that they apply to oneself, I will. :-) While I'm sure that Bill (Tom) has some subjec- tive experiences that convince him he's enlight- ened or approaching it, I think it's good to remember that the person imagining certain behaviors *after* reading descriptions of them is the same person who is consistently manic- depressive on this forum, lashing out at those who call him a racist *after he admits to being one* and accusing them of things they never did, like mailing him kiddie porn. This is also the same person who tried to have FFL taken down by posting porn to it and then notifying the Yahoo authorities that it was a porn site. While I wish him well in his ongoing quest for balance, I don't think anyone has to go any further than this post to substantiate Hugo's suggestion that anyone can imagine *any* behavior that has been described to them, as long as it makes them feel more self-important and less ordinary. If someone in the TMO discovered a lost tape by Maharishi in which he said that UC made your dick turn green, the next day 20 people would walk up to the microphone in their World Peace Assemblies and announce that their dicks had turned green. And some of them would be women.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: I watched it last night on DVD. Interesting treatment of Gayatri mantra on the menus and end credits. I liked the movie and it pulled together a lot of the backstory about the Cylons and what was actually going on. It sort of puts a different spin on the series and is of course a set up for the Caprica series debuting soon on Syfy. Edward James Olmos directed and is on the commentary along with the writer Jane Espenson who has also written for Warehouse 13 and Dollhouse. Well worth the watch. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286130/ While I agree that for BG fans it's worth the watch, I wonder whether EJO said anything in the commentary about whether any new footage was shot for this movie. Some have described it -- accurately, IMO -- as an entire movie made out of outtakes and deleted scenes. Having seen it, I think that is a distinct possibility. Do they say anything about this on the DVD? Don't get me wrong -- it was an *OK* movie made out of outtakes, but that may be what it was. I can see the possibility that the whole thing could have been made with a week's worth of shooting of new scenes involving only 2 or 3 of the actors and the rest gathered up from the cutting room floor. That said, having the *Cylon perspective* on the story was cool, and helps to balance the human perspective presented in the series.
[FairfieldLife] Re: So this is what it's like
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@... wrote: On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 6:37 AM, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: 20 POINTS - EXPERIENTIAL CRITERIA OF C.C. The more I go over these 20 points, the more I watch Rick's interview, the more I realize that I am hurtling into this state. There is a lot of stress flying off which at times clouds some of the experience of these 20 points, but there can be no mistake. I am at this state except for some final purification. And yes, as Raunch emphasized, silence. There's always silence. Things like joy, being motivated by what's needed by now instead of by what's perceived as deficits, enjoying everything around me, these things have come in the past year. They've come so fast that I sometimes wonder where they came from. Looks like some major stress was clouding the sun and that stress went away. I believe Rick said that enlightenment is when you're the only one at your graduation. There wasn't a commencement, but it was gradual. I don't consider the state I'm in/solidifying to be enlightenment, but it's very, very nice. I've been less and less involved with the TMO. Less concerned about what seems to me to be increasingly bizarre announcements and actions. I need them not. Maharishi said that when we got the sidhis we were then self-sufficient. Well, that's how I feel. I feel that I don't need a movement, I don't need to watch tapes, I don't need a guru. Everything is unfolding within me and around me. All spontaneously, all naturally. I am my own teacher, I am my own guide. The teaching, the guiding are just there. I worked so very hard to get to this state and now I see what a waste all that work was. You don't go anywhere. You just become more of yourself. There's no satisfaction that you've finally accomplished what you set out to do. There's just joy. The joy always was and always will be in the eternal now. So this is what it's like. Beautiful experience, Bill. Don't pay attention to that old spoil sport, Barry. He can't stand it if someone is happy. It creeps him out. What a Grinch. I remember Maharishi Said (paraphrasing) there is no path, the concept of a path is for the ignorant. Since the range or creative intelligence is from here to here, there's nowhere to go. You're already here so just BE. The 20 points may offer sign posts along the path but when you arrive so naturally, and so effortlessly to a familiar place that feels like home, you realize you haven't been anywhere at all. You have always been home, you are the Home, you are the Silence.
[FairfieldLife] And now for the good news!
Talk about collective consciousness! I felt a huge sigh of relief from all corners of the island when I switched on the news and heard this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/29/tony-blair-european-council-presidency Finally it looks like we can relax. Away with you Tony I only know what I believe Blair, enjoy your retirement but preferably out of the media glare you love so much.
[FairfieldLife] The Master's article for Share International, October 2009
http://shareintl.org/magazine/old_issues/2009/2009-10.htm#top The perennial light of Truth by the Master , through Benjamin Creme, 5 September 2009 One day in the winter of 1875, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, one of the founders of the Theosophical Society, made a vow: to spread by every means in her power the teachings which she had received from several Masters of the Himalayan Lodge of the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet. True to her vow, she set to work to inform the world of these teachings. Her books, The Secret Doctrine, Isis Unveiled and The Key to Theosophy, are testimony to her indefatigable industry and will, in the face of great physical illness. These seminal works have informed and inspired many thousands of true seekers over the years and continue to do so. The general reception of these precious insights was altogether different: seldom have the work and gifts of a great initiate been so denigrated and ridiculed, especially by the religious and scientific communities of the day. Even now, after a hundred and thirty five or so years, Blavatsky is regularly dismissed as a charlatan, a spiritual medium and a dishonest faker. So vehement and so worldwide was this condemnation that much of this negativity still clings to her name. And, to Theosophy itself. Madame Blavatsky was 4.0 degrees initiate, almost a Master, equal in level to the Disciple Jesus and close to that of the great Leonardo da Vinci. How is it is possible that such a distinguished Toiler for the Good could be so maligned? Jesus himself is a prime example of how ignorance and fear can dominate the perceptions of men. Even while overshadowed by Maitreya the Christ, Jesus was made to suffer from these twin attributes of thoughtless men. Today the world is grappling with many problems and, predictably, schisms have arisen in assessing these problems and in overcoming them. Men and women everywhere have different qualities of mind and brain, of openness or otherwise to ideas new and unfamiliar. They also stand at different points on a ladder of evolution and from near the bottom of the ladder the work and insights of many of those above them mean little or naught. Thus has it always been. From now on, however, this age-old problem will be ameliorated to the benefit of all. The presence of Maitreya and a growing number of His group of Masters will bring to humanity a great leavening. Much of the simpler levels of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings will be placed before the world as a whole, drawing more and more of the general public into Theosophy and its teachings. This will help to prepare large numbers to stand before the Initiator and to enter consciously into the Light. In this way, many men and women, taking advantage of this new situation, will prosper greatly on their journey of evolution. When Maitreya steps forward, this process will begin. More and more, as they respond to Him, they will find growing within themselves an appetite for the truth, and a longing for wisdom and light. (Read more articles by the Master) http://shareintl.org/master/master.htm
[FairfieldLife] Share International magazine October 2009
http://shareintl.org/magazine/old_issues/2009/2009-10.htm
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to leave a cult with style
Giving a little more thought to the authorisation issue. I am pretty certain Maharishi never claimed Guru Dev authorised him to teach meditation, it was Maharishi's uncle, Raj Varma, who claimed that. Yet Maharishi and his movement assume the right to decide who and who cannot teach this meditation. Based I suppose on the idea that it was Maharishi who 'rediscovered' this method of meditation. But just because someone has rediscovered something does not mean they own or have the rights over that thing, thus we have a law covering the act of 'stealing by finding'. There seem to be those who accept that it is quite possible that Maharishi wasn't 'authorised', that he was a maverick spirit, whilst denying the rights of others to be maverick teachers of meditation. Double standards? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Premanand premanandp...@... wrote: Did Guru Dev authorise Maharishi to teach? Certainly it appears that both the ashram's sannyasi's and the brahmachari's were involved in checking people's japa dhyana by the time Guru Dev was in Lucknow in 1952, as reported in Guru Dev's Hindi biography (Maharishi was of course a brahmachari by 1952). Elsewhere it is suggested that on the subject of suitability to follow him Guru Dev said:- 'Mahesh, even if I myself install you as the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, people would not let you continue. So, exterminate this ambition from your mind.' (ref: 'Sadhus of India: The Sociological View' - B.D. Tripathi, Pilgrims Publishing, 2004, p264) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, PaliGap compost1uk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: [snip] The TM organization cannot do this. It will continue doing the same old same old because it is completely locked into the revering of a teacher who was never authorized to teach [snip] So, what is the kind of Authority that you would accept as *qualified* to Authorize teachers to teach? (in your ***opinion*** of course, not as a matter of fact - heaven forfend!). Well, a suggestion -- even in TM movement lore -- that Guru Dev told him to go out into the world and teach would be sufficient for me. But as I remember it, no such lore exists. Even in TM movement stories, Guru Dev told Maharishi to retire to a cave and meditate. I remember not a single hint that he was ever told to teach. Or have you been naively suckered into Vaj-by-osmosis? Have you been suckered by the TMO's *assump- tion* that he was authorized to teach by his own teacher? He would never have been by the Shankaracharya lineage of which Guru Dev was a part, because he was the wrong caste. Maybe Paul Mason can clear this up for us...
[FairfieldLife] Re: So this is what it's like
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchy...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.ride@ wrote: The more I go over these 20 points, the more I watch Rick's interview, the more I realize that I am hurtling into this state. There is a lot of stress flying off which at times clouds some of the experience of these 20 points, but there can be no mistake. I am at this state except for some final purification. And yes, as Raunch emphasized, silence. There's always silence. Things like joy, being motivated by what's needed by now instead of by what's perceived as deficits, enjoying everything around me, these things have come in the past year. They've come so fast that I sometimes wonder where they came from. Looks like some major stress was clouding the sun and that stress went away. I believe Rick said that enlightenment is when you're the only one at your graduation. There wasn't a commencement, but it was gradual. I don't consider the state I'm in/solidifying to be enlightenment, but it's very, very nice. I've been less and less involved with the TMO. Less concerned about what seems to me to be increasingly bizarre announcements and actions. I need them not. Maharishi said that when we got the sidhis we were then self-sufficient. Well, that's how I feel. I feel that I don't need a movement, I don't need to watch tapes, I don't need a guru. Everything is unfolding within me and around me. All spontaneously, all naturally. I am my own teacher, I am my own guide. The teaching, the guiding are just there. I worked so very hard to get to this state and now I see what a waste all that work was. You don't go anywhere. You just become more of yourself. There's no satisfaction that you've finally accomplished what you set out to do. There's just joy. The joy always was and always will be in the eternal now. So this is what it's like. Beautiful experience, Bill. Don't pay attention to that old spoil sport, Barry. He can't stand it if someone is happy. It creeps him out. What a Grinch. I remember Maharishi Said (paraphrasing) there is no path, the concept of a path is for the ignorant. Since the range or creative intelligence is from here to here, there's nowhere to go. You're already here so just BE. The 20 points may offer sign posts along the path but when you arrive so naturally, and so effortlessly to a familiar place that feels like home, you realize you haven't been anywhere at all. You have always been home, you are the Home, you are the Silence. Very nice, thanks for posting this !
[FairfieldLife] The Enlightenment Process AS Moodmaking
Recent discussions initiated by Hugo (richardhughes) on this forum about suggestibility and whether reading a description of higher states of consciousness can pre- dispose a person to imagine or, in fact, *experience* these higher states of consciousness has left me think- ing about the placebo effect, suggestibility, and the possibility that one valid way of viewing the enlight- enment process is AS a form of suggestibility or moodmaking. This is merely a rap. I neither know whether it's true nor care. I'm just jackpotting ideas, based on 40+ years of observing and participating in the enlightenment process. I'm not trying to sell this rap to you as true. Those who react angrily are fighting their own shadows. :-) We all know that the placebo effect is powerful. It can cause physiological changes in a person, *measurable* physiological changes. We all should know that this effect extends far beyond being given a sugar pill while being told that it is powerful medicine; it also covers the phenomena of suggestibility and moodmaking. Have you ever witnessed an Advaitan (or Neo-Advaitan) satsang? It's interesting to watch. The leader of the satsang is *not* giving out information or proposing techniques of realization. They are merely trying to get the participants to *notice what is already going on*, and in fact what has always already been going on. Thus when someone has a breakthrough or realization or awakening in one of these satsangs, the result is nothing new. It's not as if the seeker or the leader did anything to make it happen. The seeker having the realization merely real- ized what was already happening. Similarly, descriptions of enlightenment from other trad- itions (including Maharishi's) have emphasized that the realization of enlightenment is nothing new, more of a recognition of what was already present than an adding of something that was not previously present. The state of enlightenment has been described by teachers throughout the ages as the *normal* state of life, merely recognized. So what if part of the recognition process is having that state described to you often enough that you finally slap your forehead and say Duh! and recognize it in yourself? Can the process of describing these higher (but really normal) states of consciousness be viewed as nothing more (or less) than re-describing one's everyday reality in such a way that the seeker begins to see it as less everyday? I suspect it can. Some will not like this speculation on my part. Some will, in fact, react to it angrily. They would like to preserve the sense of mystery or magic about the enlightenment pro- cess, and the suggestion that just describing it enough times that the seeker begins to see life more in terms of these new descriptions than he did the old descriptons just...uh...isn't nearly magical enough. People who have spent their lives and tens of thousands of dollars on magic WANT their magic. But in the same way that enlightenment adds nothing new to life and is only a realization that enlightenment has ALWAYS been the reality of that life, maybe techniques and descriptions of the enlightened state are merely placebos that help us to realize that reality. Maybe every seeker in human history who ever realized their enlightenment did so as a result of being tricked and placebo-ed into exper- iencing it. This wouldn't in any way *diminish* enlightenment in my view. It *would* make it a lot funnier, but I don't see that as a Bad Thing. YMMV. :-)
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 29, 2009, at 2:59 PM, It's just a ride wrote: I've seen so many tapes where CC is described as a flat, suffering situation in which you are unbounded but nothing else is. Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. After all, that was Shankara's gig: going around, debating with others, claiming his thing was the bestest. That means the forms of enlightenment of other darshanas or Ways of Seeing are often looked down upon, and so it is with yoga- darshana. It's considered dualistic by the advaita-snobs. I'm sure once it was clear MMY's plan to give CC in less than 10 years with TM had failed, it had to be derogated and followers were made to move on to the next big thing. MMY learned of the 7 states of consciousness by studying all the important commentaries on the Brahma-sutras, and it is this view, that Advaita was best of all the darshanas, in the end sides with the Vaishnavite saint Shankara and his POV. The seamless super-sameness of yoga-darshana was called sama by the ancient naths--a precursor of the word samadhi--and somewhat different as it didn't necessarily involve closed-eyed introspection, but more the half-open I'm stoned Shiva look. Flat would not be a good description. Shankara, as an early Vedic supremacist, wasn't shy about using yogic meditation forms so people could move towards the advaita View, be he also didn't want these pre-Vedic Dravidian systems of awakening getting front billing, despite the relative ease of tantric meditation for many different people.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual vs Spiritism
Probably within the Dome attending community, if people are hearing voices and it is a problem, then they usually get rooted out with/for mental disturbance. Administratively referred to mental health people otherwise. That's the way you'd see it on the ground here in FF. -D That of course is the movement, they would have to handle it that way administratively or they'd get haunted by legal reprisal. So they stay to the `mental health'administrative aspect of a practical necessity. However, on a practical level amongst a practicing and spiritual meditating community, when some folks do get in to astral troubles of too much spiritism, there is local folklore advice that runs towards the adept folks. Some places for those afflicted to go for help of a spiritual nature again bad spiritism: http://www.timeportalpubs.com/ http://youdeservetobeclear.com/index.htm
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 30, 2009, at 7:29 AM, Vaj wrote: MMY learned of the 7 states of consciousness by studying all the important commentaries on the Brahma-sutras Should be MMY devised the not learned of the.
[FairfieldLife] Redefining a teacher's teachings to suit yourself (was Re: How to leave)
But we see it here all the time. Maharishi taught *strongly* that after enlightenment the drop merges with the ocean and there is no more relative existence, on any plane. But Bevan and others followed his death almost immediately with claims that Maharishi was in heaven, with all the gods. I'm sure that there are those in the TM movement who believe that they are in communication with him from beyond the grave. To believe this about Maharishi, *you have to ignore what Maharishi actually taught*, or pervert it somehow into what you would prefer to believe. Obviously, many people are good at this, and see nothing wrong with it. I think it's sad. If you revere a spiritual teacher, it makes sense to me that you would want to revere what the dude actually taught, and not change it to suit yourself. If i remember, it wasn't Bevan so much, as King Tony and then Konhaus who reverted to that old testament kind of theologic folklore construction. King Tony only really did it once in his first public attempt at expressing a condolence after Maharishi died. Figure it was a very tough time for those around in the middle, so it was a slip. Konhaus then did it more directly as pronouncement in his climbing usurping sort of way. Both their utterances are back in the FFL archive. They were singular moments. As they did it, then it briefly gave an inside moment where people started to claim they were hearing from Maharishi. If anything, Bevan probably boxed their collective ears for such stupidity in the moment. So officially you really never hear much from the official movement the construction that Maharishi lives guides in dis-embodied spirit.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: How to leave a cult with style
On Oct 30, 2009, at 5:29 AM, Premanand wrote: Giving a little more thought to the authorisation issue. I am pretty certain Maharishi never claimed Guru Dev authorised him to teach meditation, it was Maharishi's uncle, Raj Varma, who claimed that. Yet Maharishi and his movement assume the right to decide who and who cannot teach this meditation. Based I suppose on the idea that it was Maharishi who 'rediscovered' this method of meditation. But just because someone has rediscovered something does not mean they own or have the rights over that thing, thus we have a law covering the act of 'stealing by finding'. There seem to be those who accept that it is quite possible that Maharishi wasn't 'authorised', that he was a maverick spirit, whilst denying the rights of others to be maverick teachers of meditation. Double standards? There seem to be plenty of references to MMY receiving, or some similar word, TM, from Guru Dev. Are these all off the record and never direct quotes from Mahesh? I don't know that he would be unauthorized to give mantras since he was a brahmachari within the Shankaracharya order--and tantric mantras are NOT caste-exclusive. Where issues would arise is he was including a more Brahminic Shank. Order lineage invocation in the mantra-diksha and this could be seen as a more Brahmin caste thingy. Since Swami Brahmananda had explicitly told him to go and meditate in the mountains and the only thing he would ever be good at was making money, it's probably safe to say he was unauthorized by his guru. He certainly did not have a letter of authorization, nor are there any witnesses that I am aware of that attest to any such authorization. Shank. order people that I know insist M's main problem is that he was selling the Vedas. It's believed sellers of the vedas go to patala-loka, hell.
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to leave a cult with style
Vaj, as I recall the quotes you are referring to uses the word 'blessing' and possibly 'inspiration'. The closest Maharishi seems to have come to suggesting that the teaching was authorised by Guru Dev is contained in the following quotation:- 'But the great impact of Guru Dev, in his lifetime, in bringing out so clearly and in such simple words this technique of TM. And his blessing for this movement, which came out much after he left his body, because there was no occasion during his lifetime for any of his intimate blessed disciples to go out of his presence and that's why this any such movement to bless the world couldn't have started during his time.' - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi made the statement on 8th July 1971 in Amherst, U.S.A. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Oct 30, 2009, at 5:29 AM, Premanand wrote: Giving a little more thought to the authorisation issue. I am pretty certain Maharishi never claimed Guru Dev authorised him to teach meditation, it was Maharishi's uncle, Raj Varma, who claimed that. Yet Maharishi and his movement assume the right to decide who and who cannot teach this meditation. Based I suppose on the idea that it was Maharishi who 'rediscovered' this method of meditation. But just because someone has rediscovered something does not mean they own or have the rights over that thing, thus we have a law covering the act of 'stealing by finding'. There seem to be those who accept that it is quite possible that Maharishi wasn't 'authorised', that he was a maverick spirit, whilst denying the rights of others to be maverick teachers of meditation. Double standards? There seem to be plenty of references to MMY receiving, or some similar word, TM, from Guru Dev. Are these all off the record and never direct quotes from Mahesh? I don't know that he would be unauthorized to give mantras since he was a brahmachari within the Shankaracharya order--and tantric mantras are NOT caste-exclusive. Where issues would arise is he was including a more Brahminic Shank. Order lineage invocation in the mantra-diksha and this could be seen as a more Brahmin caste thingy. Since Swami Brahmananda had explicitly told him to go and meditate in the mountains and the only thing he would ever be good at was making money, it's probably safe to say he was unauthorized by his guru. He certainly did not have a letter of authorization, nor are there any witnesses that I am aware of that attest to any such authorization. Shank. order people that I know insist M's main problem is that he was selling the Vedas. It's believed sellers of the vedas go to patala-loka, hell.
[FairfieldLife] MMY as unauthorized guru, was How to leave a cult with style
On Oct 30, 2009, at 9:28 AM, Premanand wrote: Vaj, as I recall the quotes you are referring to uses the word 'blessing' and possibly 'inspiration'. The closest Maharishi seems to have come to suggesting that the teaching was authorised by Guru Dev is contained in the following quotation:- 'But the great impact of Guru Dev, in his lifetime, in bringing out so clearly and in such simple words this technique of TM. And his blessing for this movement, which came out much after he left his body, because there was no occasion during his lifetime for any of his intimate blessed disciples to go out of his presence and that's why this any such movement to bless the world couldn't have started during his time.' IIRC correctly the source for the quote was not MMY, but guru-bro Swami Prakashanand, who's been very critical of Mahesh over the years. One thing many westerners aren't aware of is that the Srivastava clan is well known for their phony gurus in India, often (more recently) involving sex and/or money scandals. So while westerners see some guy and expensive silk and think oh, a holy man, Indians who know his family name will think twice, esp. if they're Brahmins.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Oct 29, 2009, at 2:59 PM, It's just a ride wrote: I've seen so many tapes where CC is described as a flat, suffering situation in which you are unbounded but nothing else is. Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. After all, that was Shankara's gig: Not Guru Dev [Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math]. going around, debating with others, claiming his thing was the bestest. That means the forms of enlightenment of other darshanas or Ways of Seeing are often looked down upon, and so it is with yoga- darshana. It's considered dualistic by the advaita-snobs. I'm sure once it was clear MMY's plan to give CC in less than 10 years with TM had failed, it had to be derogated and followers were made to move on to the next big thing. MMY learned of the 7 states of consciousness by studying all the important commentaries on the Brahma-sutras, and it is this view, that Advaita was best of all the darshanas, in the end sides with the Vaishnavite saint Shankara and his POV. The seamless super-sameness of yoga-darshana was called sama by the ancient naths--a precursor of the word samadhi--and somewhat different as it didn't necessarily involve closed-eyed introspection, but more the half-open I'm stoned Shiva look. Flat would not be a good description. Shankara, as an early Vedic supremacist, wasn't shy about using yogic meditation forms so people could move towards the advaita View, be he also didn't want these pre-Vedic Dravidian systems of awakening getting front billing, despite the relative ease of tantric meditation for many different people.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 30, 2009, at 10:15 AM, do.rflex wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Oct 29, 2009, at 2:59 PM, It's just a ride wrote: I've seen so many tapes where CC is described as a flat, suffering situation in which you are unbounded but nothing else is. Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. After all, that was Shankara's gig: Not Guru Dev [Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math]. Dunno. Never met the guy. But I suspect his pre-Shankaracharya opinions differed from the most smarta sentiments are his Shankaracharya career.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jane Hamsher on Rachel Maddow Show
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchy...@... wrote: Jane: The Senate is a Beauty Pageant Very funny. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#33543206 Lieberman is not only 'topless,' he's __ .
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to leave a cult with style
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Premanand premanandp...@... wrote: Giving a little more thought to the authorisation issue. I am pretty certain Maharishi never claimed Guru Dev authorised him to teach meditation, it was Maharishi's uncle, Raj Varma, who claimed that. Yet Maharishi and his movement assume the right to decide who and who cannot teach this meditation. Based I suppose on the idea that it was Maharishi who 'rediscovered' this method of meditation. But just because someone has rediscovered something does not mean they own or have the rights over that thing, thus we have a law covering the act of 'stealing by finding'. There seem to be those who accept that it is quite possible that Maharishi wasn't 'authorised', that he was a maverick spirit, whilst denying the rights of others to be maverick teachers of meditation. Double standards? Years back, Charlie Lutes told us about a time when Maharishi asked him to take him to a temple of Mother Divine [as I recall in the south of India]. Maharishi wanted to go and ask Mother Divine if he could transform the world and bring about an era of peace on earth by spreading Transcendental Meditation. When they arrived outside the temple Maharishi asked Charlie to wait outside as he went in to commune with Her and ask. After some time, as Charlie told us, Maharishi came out in tears. Charlie said that he gently asked Maharishi what Mother Divine had told him. All that Maharishi said was that Mother Divine said, no. Then Maharishi said, We try anyway. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Premanand premanandpaul@ wrote: Did Guru Dev authorise Maharishi to teach? Certainly it appears that both the ashram's sannyasi's and the brahmachari's were involved in checking people's japa dhyana by the time Guru Dev was in Lucknow in 1952, as reported in Guru Dev's Hindi biography (Maharishi was of course a brahmachari by 1952). Elsewhere it is suggested that on the subject of suitability to follow him Guru Dev said:- 'Mahesh, even if I myself install you as the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, people would not let you continue. So, exterminate this ambition from your mind.' (ref: 'Sadhus of India: The Sociological View' - B.D. Tripathi, Pilgrims Publishing, 2004, p264) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, PaliGap compost1uk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: [snip] The TM organization cannot do this. It will continue doing the same old same old because it is completely locked into the revering of a teacher who was never authorized to teach [snip] So, what is the kind of Authority that you would accept as *qualified* to Authorize teachers to teach? (in your ***opinion*** of course, not as a matter of fact - heaven forfend!). Well, a suggestion -- even in TM movement lore -- that Guru Dev told him to go out into the world and teach would be sufficient for me. But as I remember it, no such lore exists. Even in TM movement stories, Guru Dev told Maharishi to retire to a cave and meditate. I remember not a single hint that he was ever told to teach. Or have you been naively suckered into Vaj-by-osmosis? Have you been suckered by the TMO's *assump- tion* that he was authorized to teach by his own teacher? He would never have been by the Shankaracharya lineage of which Guru Dev was a part, because he was the wrong caste. Maybe Paul Mason can clear this up for us...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Oct 30, 2009, at 10:15 AM, do.rflex wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Oct 29, 2009, at 2:59 PM, It's just a ride wrote: I've seen so many tapes where CC is described as a flat, suffering situation in which you are unbounded but nothing else is. Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. After all, that was Shankara's gig: Not Guru Dev [Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math]. Dunno. Never met the guy. The material available [including his biographies compiled primarily from notes taken by his own disciples of his discourses] that describes his views, explicitly excludes any teaching of the superiority of advaita Vedanta. But I suspect his pre-Shankaracharya opinions differed from the most smarta sentiments are his Shankaracharya career. You're guesses are just that... guesses. The record of his discourses is clear.
[FairfieldLife] The Mother Divine Story (was Re: How to leave a cult with style)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rf...@... wrote: Years back, Charlie Lutes told us about a time when Maharishi asked him to take him to a temple of Mother Divine [as I recall in the south of India]. Maharishi wanted to go and ask Mother Divine if he could transform the world and bring about an era of peace on earth by spreading Transcendental Meditation. When they arrived outside the temple Maharishi asked Charlie to wait outside as he went in to commune with Her and ask. After some time, as Charlie told us, Maharishi came out in tears. Charlie said that he gently asked Maharishi what Mother Divine had told him. All that Maharishi said was that Mother Divine said, no. Then Maharishi said, We try anyway. John, I know that you have strong emotional attachments to Charlie, and I don't want to piss you off, but I have to play Deva's Advocate here by pointing out a few of the assumptions that one makes in accepting this story as true: 1. That such an entity as Mother Divine exists. 2. That it is possible for human beings to communicate with this entity called Mother Divine. 3. That *Maharishi* was able to communicate with this entity called Mother Divine. 4. That, even if #3 were true, Mother Divine knows what she is talking about. 5. That, even if #3 and #4 were true, Maharishi didn't think enough of her advice to follow it. What I'm suggesting is that in believing this story one is making a lot of assumptions that they wouldn't make if it were a story told, say, about L. Ron Hubbard communicating with an entity named Xenu. One might be a tad skeptical about that. All I am suggesting is that similar skepticism might not be out of place here. I'm also suggesting that if the story *were* true, one could make the case that the laughingstock the TM move- ment has become in the years since is all because of Maharishi's insistence that he could do what -- according to the story -- he was supposedly told he couldn't do. He *could* have stuck to teaching plain TM to as many people as possible instead of trying to take credit for something (world peace) he was told he couldn't accomplish, and that might have had more benefit in the long run. Just sayin'...
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 30, 2009, at 11:23 AM, do.rflex wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Oct 30, 2009, at 10:15 AM, do.rflex wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Oct 29, 2009, at 2:59 PM, It's just a ride wrote: I've seen so many tapes where CC is described as a flat, suffering situation in which you are unbounded but nothing else is. Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. After all, that was Shankara's gig: Not Guru Dev [Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math]. Dunno. Never met the guy. The material available [including his biographies compiled primarily from notes taken by his own disciples of his discourses] that describes his views, explicitly excludes any teaching of the superiority of advaita Vedanta. Do you have a speech where he talks of the seven states of consciousness? If so, how could you know? But I suspect his pre-Shankaracharya opinions differed from the most smarta sentiments are his Shankaracharya career. You're guesses are just that... guesses. The record of his discourses is clear. But nonetheless, just a small fraction of his public speeches, and I don't know if any private teachings were ever transcribed, were they? The superiority tone comes from MMY who supposedly received his knowledge of TM from SBS. They're part and parcel of Shankara's commentary on the Badarayana sutras. So you may be right, he departed from tradition and was not interested in preserving it, but it's equally likely we just don't know, as so little of what he privately taught is available. No one here (that I'm aware of) ever even knew him or even received teachings from him. Most of the speeches I've heard are pretty standard smarta party line like you might expect in a public speech from a Shank.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: So this is what it's like
On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:06 AM, raunchydog raunchy...@yahoo.com wrote: Beautiful experience, Bill. Don't pay attention to that old spoil sport, Barry. He can't stand it if someone is happy. It creeps him out. What a Grinch. I remember Maharishi Said (paraphrasing) there is no path, the concept of a path is for the ignorant. Since the range or creative intelligence is from here to here, there's nowhere to go. You're already here so just BE. Raunch, I've figured out by now that Barry's purpose in life is to spread hate in FFL. People move on. People express their unstressing, their throwing off the dirt from their windows of perception and move on. Barry doesn't move on. He searches for and collects every little tidbit so that, like an old shrew who's left out of every party, he can spew out everything he's accumulated. I pity him as he's a lost soul. He clings on to FFL with such desperation. His party got spoiled so he's got to spoil everybody else's. The 20 points may offer sign posts along the path but when you arrive so naturally, and so effortlessly to a familiar place that feels like home, you realize you haven't been anywhere at all. You have always been home, you are the Home, you are the Silence. Yes, that's the non-flashy aspect of CC, it appears. It's a nice place to be but in my opinion not a place one should beg, borrow, steal and connive to get to the way so many people did to get the money to go to courses to become Enlightened, whatever that is. -- Life is not what you see, but what you've projected. It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided. It's not what you've experienced, but how you've remembered it. It's not what you've forged, but what you've allowed. And it's not who's appeared, but who you've summoned.
[FairfieldLife] The Mother Divine Story (was Re: How to leave a cult with style)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rflex@ wrote: Years back, Charlie Lutes told us about a time when Maharishi asked him to take him to a temple of Mother Divine [as I recall in the south of India]. Maharishi wanted to go and ask Mother Divine if he could transform the world and bring about an era of peace on earth by spreading Transcendental Meditation. When they arrived outside the temple Maharishi asked Charlie to wait outside as he went in to commune with Her and ask. After some time, as Charlie told us, Maharishi came out in tears. Charlie said that he gently asked Maharishi what Mother Divine had told him. All that Maharishi said was that Mother Divine said, no. Then Maharishi said, We try anyway. John, I know that you have strong emotional attachments to Charlie, and I don't want to piss you off, but I have to play Deva's Advocate here by pointing out a few of the assumptions that one makes in accepting this story as true: 1. That such an entity as Mother Divine exists. 2. That it is possible for human beings to communicate with this entity called Mother Divine. 3. That *Maharishi* was able to communicate with this entity called Mother Divine. 4. That, even if #3 were true, Mother Divine knows what she is talking about. 5. That, even if #3 and #4 were true, Maharishi didn't think enough of her advice to follow it. What I'm suggesting is that in believing this story one is making a lot of assumptions that they wouldn't make if it were a story told, say, about L. Ron Hubbard communicating with an entity named Xenu. One might be a tad skeptical about that. All I am suggesting is that similar skepticism might not be out of place here. I'm also suggesting that if the story *were* true, one could make the case that the laughingstock the TM move- ment has become in the years since is all because of Maharishi's insistence that he could do what -- according to the story -- he was supposedly told he couldn't do. He *could* have stuck to teaching plain TM to as many people as possible instead of trying to take credit for something (world peace) he was told he couldn't accomplish, and that might have had more benefit in the long run. Just sayin'... I know your scepticism about the existence of God and deities or anything of that nature. So what? I simply related a story that was actually told to us by Charlie Lutes. Having known Charlie personally for at least 15 years - and that he travelled extensively with Maharishi in the early days - and having heard Maharishi himself refer to such things as God and deities, including Mother Divine, I have no reason to doubt that the events that Charlie related to us took place as he said they did. Whether Maharishi's contact with Mother Divine was real or not is not the issue. Again - I'm simply repeating what Charlie told us took place.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
I hate to agree with anything Judy Stein says, Vaj, but she's right that when you get cornered with your bullshit claims your logical train of thought goes out the window and you write responses that are disconnected from what is specifically being discussed - as is more than clear in what you just wrote below. Guru Dev did NOT argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedanta. That is abundantly clear in his available discourses and material that has been compiled over the decades. Unless you can produce something verifiable where it's obvious he actually DID argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedants, I'd say as I've said before about some of the stuff you come up with, you're totally full of crap. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Oct 30, 2009, at 11:23 AM, do.rflex wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Oct 30, 2009, at 10:15 AM, do.rflex wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Oct 29, 2009, at 2:59 PM, It's just a ride wrote: I've seen so many tapes where CC is described as a flat, suffering situation in which you are unbounded but nothing else is. Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. After all, that was Shankara's gig: Not Guru Dev [Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math]. Dunno. Never met the guy. The material available [including his biographies compiled primarily from notes taken by his own disciples of his discourses] that describes his views, explicitly excludes any teaching of the superiority of advaita Vedanta. Do you have a speech where he talks of the seven states of consciousness? If so, how could you know? But I suspect his pre-Shankaracharya opinions differed from the most smarta sentiments are his Shankaracharya career. You're guesses are just that... guesses. The record of his discourses is clear. But nonetheless, just a small fraction of his public speeches, and I don't know if any private teachings were ever transcribed, were they? The superiority tone comes from MMY who supposedly received his knowledge of TM from SBS. They're part and parcel of Shankara's commentary on the Badarayana sutras. So you may be right, he departed from tradition and was not interested in preserving it, but it's equally likely we just don't know, as so little of what he privately taught is available. No one here (that I'm aware of) ever even knew him or even received teachings from him. Most of the speeches I've heard are pretty standard smarta party line like you might expect in a public speech from a Shank.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
TurquoiseB wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: I watched it last night on DVD. Interesting treatment of Gayatri mantra on the menus and end credits. I liked the movie and it pulled together a lot of the backstory about the Cylons and what was actually going on. It sort of puts a different spin on the series and is of course a set up for the Caprica series debuting soon on Syfy. Edward James Olmos directed and is on the commentary along with the writer Jane Espenson who has also written for Warehouse 13 and Dollhouse. Well worth the watch. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286130/ While I agree that for BG fans it's worth the watch, I wonder whether EJO said anything in the commentary about whether any new footage was shot for this movie. Some have described it -- accurately, IMO -- as an entire movie made out of outtakes and deleted scenes. Having seen it, I think that is a distinct possibility. Do they say anything about this on the DVD? Don't get me wrong -- it was an *OK* movie made out of outtakes, but that may be what it was. I can see the possibility that the whole thing could have been made with a week's worth of shooting of new scenes involving only 2 or 3 of the actors and the rest gathered up from the cutting room floor. That said, having the *Cylon perspective* on the story was cool, and helps to balance the human perspective presented in the series. They wanted the movie to be standalone so that people who didn't see the series could make sense of it. There is a lot of new footage. In the commentary they point out the footage from the show and what was shot new. There are new effects scenes too. In some scenes they went to such an extent as to get the original hairstylist for Tricia Helfer so her hair would match the show footage (from season one in this case). There is a new lead actress that plays the wife of the Simon Cylon. And definitely the show didn't have any of the nude scenes in it. Those are definitely new. ;-) And the theme has either been re-recorded or remixed so the vocal stands out more. I never noticed the original theme was using Gayatri because the vocals were mixed low and it was really only a short excerpt. But over the closing credits its starts a ccapella so you can hear the words clearly.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 30, 2009, at 12:07 PM, do.rflex wrote: I hate to agree with anything Judy Stein says, Vaj, but she's right that when you get cornered with your bullshit claims your logical train of thought goes out the window and you write responses that are disconnected from what is specifically being discussed - as is more than clear in what you just wrote below. Judy's full of it. I don't expect that to change. When she has nothing constructive to counter, she often lies. It's just her nature. Actually you're the one who jumped the conversation to Guru Dev, not me. So if you think I'm feeling cornered, you're sadly mistaken. For clarity's sake, here's what I did originally said: Part of the schtick of Holy Shank types is they always argue for the superiority of advaita Vedanta. Note that there is no mention of SBS. Perhaps you're right and he didn't think that advaita vedanta was superior like Shankara did. Then I guess he wouldn't be one of the Holy Shank types I was referring to now would he? And of course, maybe MMY got his ideas on his own, not from SBS. Guru Dev did NOT argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedanta. That is abundantly clear in his available discourses and material that has been compiled over the decades. So he did not uphold the tradition of Shankara. I never realized that. That's very interesting, if true, based on the very limited public teachings we have.
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to leave a cult with style
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo richardhughes103@ wrote: [snip] Or perhaps the former TMers here have lost all faith in TM being able to deliver on its claims? [snip] Seeing as TM and the TMO promises nothing less than full mental potential (ie, enlightenment), it's not much of a negative reflection on TM if some feel it hasn't been able to deliver on this claim. It's a tall order and I say bravo to MMY and the TMO for claiming that they can, indeed, deliver it (and I personally think they can). When?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
John wrote: Guru Dev did NOT argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedanta. That is abundantly clear in his available discourses and material that has been compiled over the decades... You are incorrect; almost every word said by Guru Dev, in private or in public, was in support of Adwaita Vedanta as superior to all dualistic systems. Guru Dev compared those who don't understand the nature of the Absolute, to 'stray dogs'. Adwaita refers to the nature of the Self, (Atman), as being identical to the Brahman, (Paramatman). Brahman, the Absolute, according to Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, is the only reality, and that you are That: Sat-Chit-Ananda. There is no higher Truth than the Truth - Sanatam Dharma, according to Guru Dev. You are yourself a part of the Sat-Chit-Anand the Absolute Bliss Consciousness - of the Almighty, but out of ignorance don't make the mistake of going here and there in the manner of stray dogs wagging the tails, as taking pleasure in worldliness pushes a return experience. - Swami Brahmanand Saraswati In fact, the President of India addressed Swami Brahmanada Saraswati as 'Vedanta Incarnate'. All the Shankaracharyas teach Adwaita Vedanta, based on the teachings of the Adi Shankaracharaya. Source: 'Droplets of Nectar' By Swami Brahmanand Saraswati Beacon Light of the Himalayas: http://tinyurl.com/ydl84gy Advaita Vedanta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_vedanta
[FairfieldLife] Re: Rachel Maddow Show Why we won't get healthcare
Rick Archer wrote: This will make you very angry... When you set up a program to help the poor, it almost always winds up costing more than a private program paid for by an individual. There's always more administrative costs and a lack of bidding. When you get the government to fund something it almost always costs more than the private sector. That's because government plans doesn't take into account normal human behavior. According to what I've read, if there are going to set penalties, people will find a way around them; if you tax the rich, they will find a tax shelter; if you tax Cadillac health care insurnce, companies won't offer them. For example, some people without health care insurance will just pay the penalty and not go to a doctor until it's an emergency. Then, they'll sign up for the government plan with preexisting conditions that cost a lot more. It's just human nature to avoid the health care issue and to avoid going to the doctor. There is always going to be human avoidance, thus lower actual taxes to support the system. So, you'll probably have to pay more for your premiums than you do now. That's really going to make some people upset, especially when they already had a good, inexpensive policy, until their employer dropped it. It's probably always better to let any free-market enterprise system adjust itself without government interference. The last thing you should want is a government run health care plan, according to Ron Paul. ...the CBO says the public plan's premiums are higher than the premiums in the public exchanges, undermining the House's claim that it will attract 9 million enrollees by 2019 and result in a two-thirds decrease in the number of uninsured adults in the U.S. Read more: 'Health Reform Cheat Sheet' By Elizabeth McDonald Fox News, October 30, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/yzz9zr9 Both reports -- by PricewaterhouseCoopers for America's Health Insurance Plans and by Oliver Wyman for Blue Cross Blue Shield -- predict premium increases of $3,000 to $4,000 per year for the typical family without employer-based coverage... 'Health Insurance Industry Reports' By Alec MacGillis Washington Post, October 15, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/yjmmszq
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 30, 2009, at 1:00 PM, WillyTex wrote: John wrote: Guru Dev did NOT argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedanta. That is abundantly clear in his available discourses and material that has been compiled over the decades... You are incorrect; almost every word said by Guru Dev, in private or in public, was in support of Adwaita Vedanta as superior to all dualistic systems. Guru Dev compared those who don't understand the nature of the Absolute, to 'stray dogs'. Huh, go figure.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Being unexciting
yifuxero wrote: So if the Silence MMY touts is so great... You're thinking that TM is something other than just a common yoga meditation practice taught all over India. So, there must be some 'secret' technique or mantra that your teachers are using. I wonder what that secret could be? Meditation is a specific technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totaly different from the normal waking state. In meditation, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or events taking place around you. Neither is your mind asleep, dreaming, or fantasizing. Instead, it is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. - Swami Rama I've studied yoga with at least four Indian teachers, two Tibetan lamas, and a Japanese Zen Master, and they didn't say anything about a secret technique. All the bija mantras are available and probably all the yoga techniques as well. Did I miss something, or is this some kind of intellectual exercise that I'm not capable of understanding? If your mind is able to settle naturally of its own accord, and if you find you are inspired simply to rest in its pure awareness, then you do not need any method of meditation. - Sogyal Rinpoche According to the yogis, Bharatu and Vaj, TM is just like a lot of other meditations found in any Indian yoga camp. All the Indian yogis that I know about teach a meditation that is transcendental, similar to TM - it seems to be common all over India. Soto Zen practice is so similar to TM practice that it would be difficult to explain the difference - zen is Indian dhyana. ... you must suspend your attempts to understand by means of scrutinizing words, reverse the activity of the mind which seeks externally, and illuminate your own true nature - Dogen Kigen So, what, exactly, is the difference? I mean, if you know the secret to the liberation of mankind, it would seem to be a crime, if you were to keep it a secret. Do you know something that all my teachers didn't know? What is the secret? Works cited: 'Meditation and Its Practice' by Swami Rama Himalayan Institute Press, 1992 Page 9 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' Rigpa: The Stages of Meditation By Sogyal Rinpoche HarperSanFrancisco, 1992 Page 127 'How to Raise an Ox' Zen Practice as Taught in Zen Master Dogen's Shobogenzo by Francis D Cook, Ph.D. Forward by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Wisdom Publications, 2002 Page 96
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
Guru Dev did NOT argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedanta. That is abundantly clear in his available discourses and material that has been compiled over the decades... You are incorrect; almost every word said by Guru Dev, in private or in public, was in support of Adwaita Vedanta as superior to all dualistic systems. Guru Dev compared those who don't understand the nature of the Absolute, to 'stray dogs'. Vaj wrote: Huh, go figure. Stray dogs don't understand Advaita Vedanta, it's as simple as that, Vaj. SBS taught Advaita Vedanta. You are yourself a part of the Sat Chit Anand the Absolute Bliss Consciousness - of the Almighty, but out of ignorance don't make the mistake of going here and there in the manner of stray dogs wagging the tails, as taking pleasure in worldliness pushes a return experience. - Swami Brahmanand Saraswati
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Enlightenment Process AS Moodmaking
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: Recent discussions initiated by Hugo (richardhughes) on this forum about suggestibility and whether reading a description of higher states of consciousness can pre- dispose a person to imagine or, in fact, *experience* these higher states of consciousness has left me think- ing about the placebo effect, suggestibility, and the possibility that one valid way of viewing the enlight- enment process is AS a form of suggestibility or moodmaking. Let us do some research. Take a group of people, randomly assign them to learn TM and the siddhis without any lectures or information regarding TM theory (or even that it is TM) and the other group getting the traditional program. Work out a teacher blinding procedure and some other controls.See what experiences happen. Also try with and without rounding. It doesn't help to equate suggestibility with weakmindedness. What does that mean anyway? People can be smart, educated, creative and very open minded and be suggestible. Doctors shouldn't diagnose themselves. Lawyers shouldn't represent themselves. You just don't have enough objectivity. How objective can we be in analyzing our own subjective experiences?
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to leave a cult with style
Right, that's because the Divine Mother knew MMY would not attach Divine Mother devotion (in any form - Kali, Durga, etc...) to TM; and therefore his mission would fail. It's obvious from just reading the chapter in Swami Rama's book that SBS was a Sri Vidya practitioner (and coupled with other sourcesthx Premanand!); an expressed devotee of the Deities, especially the Divine Mother. Would SBS have approved of MMY's detaching TM from the rest of the package which included Divine Mother worship? I think not. Neither would Durga or Kali. That's why he failed in his mission, and his successors will also. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rf...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Premanand premanandpaul@ wrote: Giving a little more thought to the authorisation issue. I am pretty certain Maharishi never claimed Guru Dev authorised him to teach meditation, it was Maharishi's uncle, Raj Varma, who claimed that. Yet Maharishi and his movement assume the right to decide who and who cannot teach this meditation. Based I suppose on the idea that it was Maharishi who 'rediscovered' this method of meditation. But just because someone has rediscovered something does not mean they own or have the rights over that thing, thus we have a law covering the act of 'stealing by finding'. There seem to be those who accept that it is quite possible that Maharishi wasn't 'authorised', that he was a maverick spirit, whilst denying the rights of others to be maverick teachers of meditation. Double standards? Years back, Charlie Lutes told us about a time when Maharishi asked him to take him to a temple of Mother Divine [as I recall in the south of India]. Maharishi wanted to go and ask Mother Divine if he could transform the world and bring about an era of peace on earth by spreading Transcendental Meditation. When they arrived outside the temple Maharishi asked Charlie to wait outside as he went in to commune with Her and ask. After some time, as Charlie told us, Maharishi came out in tears. Charlie said that he gently asked Maharishi what Mother Divine had told him. All that Maharishi said was that Mother Divine said, no. Then Maharishi said, We try anyway. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Premanand premanandpaul@ wrote: Did Guru Dev authorise Maharishi to teach? Certainly it appears that both the ashram's sannyasi's and the brahmachari's were involved in checking people's japa dhyana by the time Guru Dev was in Lucknow in 1952, as reported in Guru Dev's Hindi biography (Maharishi was of course a brahmachari by 1952). Elsewhere it is suggested that on the subject of suitability to follow him Guru Dev said:- 'Mahesh, even if I myself install you as the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, people would not let you continue. So, exterminate this ambition from your mind.' (ref: 'Sadhus of India: The Sociological View' - B.D. Tripathi, Pilgrims Publishing, 2004, p264) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, PaliGap compost1uk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: [snip] The TM organization cannot do this. It will continue doing the same old same old because it is completely locked into the revering of a teacher who was never authorized to teach [snip] So, what is the kind of Authority that you would accept as *qualified* to Authorize teachers to teach? (in your ***opinion*** of course, not as a matter of fact - heaven forfend!). Well, a suggestion -- even in TM movement lore -- that Guru Dev told him to go out into the world and teach would be sufficient for me. But as I remember it, no such lore exists. Even in TM movement stories, Guru Dev told Maharishi to retire to a cave and meditate. I remember not a single hint that he was ever told to teach. Or have you been naively suckered into Vaj-by-osmosis? Have you been suckered by the TMO's *assump- tion* that he was authorized to teach by his own teacher? He would never have been by the Shankaracharya lineage of which Guru Dev was a part, because he was the wrong caste. Maybe Paul Mason can clear this up for us...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Being unexciting
thx, Willytex. SorryI should have clarified my objections: I'm a TM practitioner but object to the Consciousness only schools regardless of Tradition and techniques; as opposed to dualistic Sadhanas (but not philosophically dualistic); which integrate progressive techniques into a complete program. For example: any tantric techniques (don't see that coming from MMY); japa (nope - SBS had a mala which he presumably used to perform japa. Nope - don't see that from MMY). Any Sri Vidya sadhanas (nope - not from that jerk MMY!) Any hint of devotion to the Deities, in particular Divine Mother manifestations (nope - nothing but lip service from MMY). ... Regarding the other contributors's objections to the basic premise of whether or not a Divine Mother exists; yes, that objection can be accepted on logical grounds; but personally I've had a number of direct communications with Kali. Not too difficult if you put in the devotional practices such as japa. But communications occur only when She's really needed. Therefore, MMY is guilty of wholesale a-Dharma by separating out TM from much of what SBS was teaching and practicing. I don't see how you can be so enamored of the guy. The question is, ...the motives behind his behavior. Assuming the Lutes Divine Mother story is true, MMY's mission was doomed to failure from the very beginning. -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, WillyTex willy...@... wrote: yifuxero wrote: So if the Silence MMY touts is so great... You're thinking that TM is something other than just a common yoga meditation practice taught all over India. So, there must be some 'secret' technique or mantra that your teachers are using. I wonder what that secret could be? Meditation is a specific technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totaly different from the normal waking state. In meditation, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or events taking place around you. Neither is your mind asleep, dreaming, or fantasizing. Instead, it is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. - Swami Rama I've studied yoga with at least four Indian teachers, two Tibetan lamas, and a Japanese Zen Master, and they didn't say anything about a secret technique. All the bija mantras are available and probably all the yoga techniques as well. Did I miss something, or is this some kind of intellectual exercise that I'm not capable of understanding? If your mind is able to settle naturally of its own accord, and if you find you are inspired simply to rest in its pure awareness, then you do not need any method of meditation. - Sogyal Rinpoche According to the yogis, Bharatu and Vaj, TM is just like a lot of other meditations found in any Indian yoga camp. All the Indian yogis that I know about teach a meditation that is transcendental, similar to TM - it seems to be common all over India. Soto Zen practice is so similar to TM practice that it would be difficult to explain the difference - zen is Indian dhyana. ... you must suspend your attempts to understand by means of scrutinizing words, reverse the activity of the mind which seeks externally, and illuminate your own true nature - Dogen Kigen So, what, exactly, is the difference? I mean, if you know the secret to the liberation of mankind, it would seem to be a crime, if you were to keep it a secret. Do you know something that all my teachers didn't know? What is the secret? Works cited: 'Meditation and Its Practice' by Swami Rama Himalayan Institute Press, 1992 Page 9 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' Rigpa: The Stages of Meditation By Sogyal Rinpoche HarperSanFrancisco, 1992 Page 127 'How to Raise an Ox' Zen Practice as Taught in Zen Master Dogen's Shobogenzo by Francis D Cook, Ph.D. Forward by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Wisdom Publications, 2002 Page 96
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Enlightenment Process AS Moodmaking
On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 12:13 PM, ruthsimplicity no_re...@yahoogroups.com wrote: I don't see a lot of this thread because I have some contributors to FFL spam blocked. I can say that the TMO has changed its mind on mood making. MMY said what you place your attention on will grow. As a continuation of this thought, it's now OK to affect a mood of higher states and seeking the highest first. Placing your attention on, even believing you're in higher states is proported to help propel you towards those higher states. -- Life is not what you see, but what you've projected. It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided. It's not what you've experienced, but how you've remembered it. It's not what you've forged, but what you've allowed. And it's not who's appeared, but who you've summoned.
[FairfieldLife] Jon Stewart takes on Fox News in an especially brutal segment
Video here: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/10/30/stewart_on_fox_news.html
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Enlightenment Process AS Moodmaking
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ruthsimplicity no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: Recent discussions initiated by Hugo (richardhughes) on this forum about suggestibility and whether reading a description of higher states of consciousness can pre- dispose a person to imagine or, in fact, *experience* these higher states of consciousness has left me think- ing about the placebo effect, suggestibility, and the possibility that one valid way of viewing the enlight- enment process is AS a form of suggestibility or moodmaking. Let us do some research. Take a group of people, randomly assign them to learn TM and the siddhis without any lectures or information regarding TM theory (or even that it is TM) and the other group getting the traditional program. Work out a teacher blinding procedure and some other controls. See what experiences happen. Hear, hear. But it'll never happen, of course. The TMO would never allow it because it would mess with the purity of the teaching, meaning that they reserve the right to indoctrinate before performing any experiments to verify the experiences they have told students to expect. Also try with and without rounding. And with and without checking. If it's supposed to work, allow it to work without constant rein- forcement and re-indoctrination. It doesn't help to equate suggestibility with weakmindedness. I don't think I did in this post. What does that mean anyway? People can be smart, educated, creative and very open minded and be suggestible. I completely agree. In fact, I would suggest that the more intelligent people *think* they are, the more suggestible they probably are. Doctors shouldn't diagnose themselves. Lawyers shouldn't represent themselves. You just don't have enough objectivity. How objective can we be in analyzing our own subjective experiences? Especially if we have just spent the equivalent of the cost of a reliable used car on learning the technique that is supposed to provide those exper- iences. Much less if we have invested decades of our lives and tens of thousands of dollars in it.
[FairfieldLife] Redefining a teacher's teachings to suit yourself (was Re: How to leave)
I wonder what Maharishi's perception was, toward Guru Dev, after he 'Dropped the Body'... He seemed to be in constant 'Contact' with Guru Dev... Was that just mood-making, or could he 'Feel the Presence of Guru Dev? When a person's wife or husband dies, there is often a feeling that the person is 'Still with Them'... Sometimes, that longing to still be with the other, hastens thier death... So, these notions are delicate and very personal... There is also the common experience of death... When death comes, it is usually accompanied by the feeling or perception, that deceased persons, from the past, that were close to you, help you to make the transition, without fear... Dying is as mysterious, as being born... Robert --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, dhamiltony2k5 dhamiltony...@... wrote: But we see it here all the time. Maharishi taught *strongly* that after enlightenment the drop merges with the ocean and there is no more relative existence, on any plane. But Bevan and others followed his death almost immediately with claims that Maharishi was in heaven, with all the gods. I'm sure that there are those in the TM movement who believe that they are in communication with him from beyond the grave. To believe this about Maharishi, *you have to ignore what Maharishi actually taught*, or pervert it somehow into what you would prefer to believe. Obviously, many people are good at this, and see nothing wrong with it. I think it's sad. If you revere a spiritual teacher, it makes sense to me that you would want to revere what the dude actually taught, and not change it to suit yourself. If i remember, it wasn't Bevan so much, as King Tony and then Konhaus who reverted to that old testament kind of theologic folklore construction. King Tony only really did it once in his first public attempt at expressing a condolence after Maharishi died. Figure it was a very tough time for those around in the middle, so it was a slip. Konhaus then did it more directly as pronouncement in his climbing usurping sort of way. Both their utterances are back in the FFL archive. They were singular moments. As they did it, then it briefly gave an inside moment where people started to claim they were hearing from Maharishi. If anything, Bevan probably boxed their collective ears for such stupidity in the moment. So officially you really never hear much from the official movement the construction that Maharishi lives guides in dis-embodied spirit.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Enlightenment Process AS Moodmaking
Shortly after I learned medtition the Maharishi way, I felt really glad that now I had an experience which allowed me to relate to all the other branches of Hinduism and other religions that claimed similar experiences. I was not looking for identification with Maharishi or his movement, I was exited that here was a meditation that cut across all the boundaries of religion and belief systems. It afforded me an opportunity to reconnect with a religious group I had been brought up through and I was very pleased about that, I was actually excited at the prospect of revisiting them. I mentioned my feelings to Bevan Morris who was 'checking' my meditation, and it was immediately apparent that relating to other belief systems was not the way I was expected to go. Up until that moment I had looked upon him as quite a saintly guy, that bubble popped there and then when I saw how attached he was to Maharishi getting all the attention. Oh, that was before I discovered the 'movement' was about moving exclusively towards Maharishi's way of thinking, which at that moment was a complete mystery, leading me to wonder just what his thinking was. That was almost forty years ago and I can honestly say I'm glad I learned and practised this meditation, but pissed-off that the movement could not see past it's self-imposed blinkers, a movement that could not see past the adulation of Maharishi or itself. Jai Guru Dev --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ruthsimplicity no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: Recent discussions initiated by Hugo (richardhughes) on this forum about suggestibility and whether reading a description of higher states of consciousness can pre- dispose a person to imagine or, in fact, *experience* these higher states of consciousness has left me think- ing about the placebo effect, suggestibility, and the possibility that one valid way of viewing the enlight- enment process is AS a form of suggestibility or moodmaking. Let us do some research. Take a group of people, randomly assign them to learn TM and the siddhis without any lectures or information regarding TM theory (or even that it is TM) and the other group getting the traditional program. Work out a teacher blinding procedure and some other controls. See what experiences happen. Hear, hear. But it'll never happen, of course. The TMO would never allow it because it would mess with the purity of the teaching, meaning that they reserve the right to indoctrinate before performing any experiments to verify the experiences they have told students to expect. Also try with and without rounding. And with and without checking. If it's supposed to work, allow it to work without constant rein- forcement and re-indoctrination. It doesn't help to equate suggestibility with weakmindedness. I don't think I did in this post. What does that mean anyway? People can be smart, educated, creative and very open minded and be suggestible. I completely agree. In fact, I would suggest that the more intelligent people *think* they are, the more suggestible they probably are. Doctors shouldn't diagnose themselves. Lawyers shouldn't represent themselves. You just don't have enough objectivity. How objective can we be in analyzing our own subjective experiences? Especially if we have just spent the equivalent of the cost of a reliable used car on learning the technique that is supposed to provide those exper- iences. Much less if we have invested decades of our lives and tens of thousands of dollars in it.
[FairfieldLife] 'Obama Sent by God, say Sting'
Not surprisingly, Sting has the same take as myself... We were born around the same time... Dreamers? I guess... NEW YORK (AP) - Sting isn't a religious man, but he says President Barack Obama might be a divine answer to the world's problems. In many ways, he's sent from God, he joked in an interview, because the world's a mess. But Sting is serious in his belief that Obama is the best leader to navigate the world's problems. In an interview on Wednesday, the former Police frontman said that he spent some time with Obama and found him to be very genuine, very present, clearly super-smart, and exactly what we need in the world. I can't think of any be better qualified because of his background, his education, particularly in regard to Islam, he said. Still, Sting acknowledged the president had a difficult job ahead of him. The British singer, who released the seasonal album On A Winter's Night this week, said he's fascinated by American politics, Obama, and also by Obama's opponents on the right. It's aggressive and violent and full of fear, he said of the backlash against Obama. They don't want change, they want things to feel the same because they feel safe there. Sting, 58, said he's hopeful that the world's problems can be dealt with, but is frustrated that we seem to be living in a currency of medieval ideas. My hope is that we can start talking about real issues and not caring about whether God cares about your hemline or your color, he said. We are here to evolve as one family, and we can't be separate anymore.
[FairfieldLife] Fwd: Special Event - Sat, Nov 14th, Sondheim Theater
Delivered-To: dickm...@lisco.com Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:35:29 -0500 Subject: Special Event - Sat, Nov 14th, Sondheim Theater From: MUM Development Office developm...@mum.edu Dear Friends, You may have heard about a very special performance coming up on Saturday, November 14 for the David Lynch Weekend at MUM. This will be an amazing triple bill--with Donovan joined by The Little Death, featuring Laura Dawn (Moby's lead singer who was a hit at last year's David Lynch Weekend)...and a most special guest, James McCartney, flying in from London with his band. Paul McCartney's son James is a talented performer in his own right and makes his U.S. debut performance here in Fairfield. With only 500 seats in the Sondheim Theater, this show is a certain sell-out, so we want to be sure friends of the University and the David Lynch Foundation have an opportunity to get the best seats. General admission seats are priced at $23, $33 and $43. We have also reserved a number of VIP seats priced at $100. We encourage you to order your tickets as soon as possible. VIP and general seating tickets are available at the Sondheim box office. You can call the Sondheim Center at 472-2787 or stop by the Sondheim box office Monday through Friday, from noon to 5pm. Please note that the show starts at 9:15 pm because there will be an earlier show for the visiting students attending the David Lynch Weekend. See you there!
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
Vaj wrote: On Oct 30, 2009, at 12:07 PM, do.rflex wrote: I hate to agree with anything Judy Stein says, Vaj, but she's right that when you get cornered with your bullshit claims your logical train of thought goes out the window and you write responses that are disconnected from what is specifically being discussed - as is more than clear in what you just wrote below. Judy's full of it. I don't expect that to change. When she has nothing constructive to counter, she often lies. It's just her nature. Did you notice how right after the week rolled over the Jersey Witch posted a whole bunch of messages like she'd been saving them up and was chomping at the bit to post? Talk about OCD! She's probably piling some new ones up right now. One of these days she will post out in the first hour. :-D The problem with this list is that people want to judge other people's enlightenment with it, which you can't do. And then that one that says in CC whatever you do is right. So what is right? Is opening up a brothel in Nevada, right? Well, it IS legal there. If I have time I may post some criteria from other traditions which for the most part are much simpler.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Enlightenment Process AS Moodmaking
ruthsimplicity wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: Recent discussions initiated by Hugo (richardhughes) on this forum about suggestibility and whether reading a description of higher states of consciousness can pre- dispose a person to imagine or, in fact, *experience* these higher states of consciousness has left me think- ing about the placebo effect, suggestibility, and the possibility that one valid way of viewing the enlight- enment process is AS a form of suggestibility or moodmaking. Let us do some research. Take a group of people, randomly assign them to learn TM and the siddhis without any lectures or information regarding TM theory (or even that it is TM) and the other group getting the traditional program. Work out a teacher blinding procedure and some other controls. See what experiences happen. Also try with and without rounding. It doesn't help to equate suggestibility with weakmindedness. What does that mean anyway? People can be smart, educated, creative and very open minded and be suggestible. Doctors shouldn't diagnose themselves. Lawyers shouldn't represent themselves. You just don't have enough objectivity. How objective can we be in analyzing our own subjective experiences? That's why I say if you're enlightened you don't need no stinkin' lists. You just enjoy. As long as you're making progress why care? Is it because some folks here want to go into the guru business and need the list so they can declare themselves enlightened? Actually you don't need to be enlightened to go into the guru business, just know some techniques to teach people.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Fwd: Special Event - Sat, Nov 14th, Sondheim Theater
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Dick Mays dickm...@... wrote: Delivered-To: dickm...@... Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:35:29 -0500 Subject: Special Event - Sat, Nov 14th, Sondheim Theater From: MUM Development Office developm...@... Dear Friends, You may have heard about a very special performance coming up on Saturday, November 14 for the David Lynch Weekend at MUM. This will be an amazing triple bill--with Donovan joined by The Little Death, featuring Laura Dawn (Moby's lead singer who was a hit at last year's David Lynch Weekend)...and a most special guest, James McCartney, flying in from London with his band. Paul McCartney's son James is a talented performer in his own right and makes his U.S. debut performance here in Fairfield. With only 500 seats in the Sondheim Theater, this show is a certain sell-out, so we want to be sure friends of the University and the David Lynch Foundation have an opportunity to get the best seats. General admission seats are priced at $23, $33 and $43. We have also reserved a number of VIP seats priced at $100. We encourage you to order your tickets as soon as possible. VIP and general seating tickets are available at the Sondheim box office. You can call the Sondheim Center at 472-2787 or stop by the Sondheim box office Monday through Friday, from noon to 5pm. Please note that the show starts at 9:15 pm because there will be an earlier show for the visiting students attending the David Lynch Weekend. See you there! Am I sensing a shift from teaching TM to vedic concert promotion? The question is: Is it a new income stream or a new degree program? JohnY
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: Most of the speeches I've heard are pretty standard smarta party line like you might expect in a public speech from a Shank. ZZZZZZZzz
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
On Oct 30, 2009, at 2:53 PM, Bhairitu wrote: Did you notice how right after the week rolled over the Jersey Witch posted a whole bunch of messages like she'd been saving them up and was chomping at the bit to post? Talk about OCD! She's probably piling some new ones up right now. One of these days she will post out in the first hour. :-D LOL. Judy is spam filtered to go to trash, one of the nicer features of Apple Mail. :-) Really, I've found over the years that some busy email lists seem to attract people with personality disorders and/or people who other's in non-digital, real life just won't tolerate. So they vent their spleen and spew their soul online, often obsessively, as you note. I just spam-filter such people now, unless their particular pathology is actually interesting to listen to. Judy's not one of those people. The problem with this list is that people want to judge other people's enlightenment with it, which you can't do. And then that one that says in CC whatever you do is right. So what is right? Is opening up a brothel in Nevada, right? Well, it IS legal there. If I have time I may post some criteria from other traditions which for the most part are much simpler. That would be very interesting, thanks in advance.
[FairfieldLife] Hollywood's Idea of a Freaky Halloween Movie
Every year likes probably millions of others I head for a local movie theater on Halloween to avoid answering the door to hand out unhealthy candies to children. This year I noticed a dearth of new films opening for the weekend and the pickings rather slim for a film to see. I had decided for some reason that that Hollywood didn't want to release any films because they figured people would be out Halloweening it in one way or another (and ignoring the crowd that does what I do). In fact two films that might have been excellent candidates may have slipped their release dates, The Box and The Fourth Kind, are opening next Friday instead. I would go see the Coen Brother's A Serious Man but it doesn't start until 7:55 PM leaving me too much time to kill so it looks like the dreadfully reviewed Amelia showing at 7 PM is going to be the only option. :-( But I was wrong. Hollywood has decided that a freaky movie for Halloween is apparently This Is It!, the Michael Jackson movie. Yup, that would be freaky all right and I have no interest in seeing it.
[FairfieldLife] How to experience Mother Divine
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, yifuxero yifux...@... wrote: Right, that's because the Divine Mother knew MMY would not attach Divine Mother devotion (in any form - Kali, Durga, etc...) to TM; and therefore his mission would fail. Unfortunately for your reasoning He has created a huge success. He connected the devotees to Mother Divine in their hearts, through their sadhana, not in empty outward terms like words or books. It's obvious from just reading the chapter in Swami Rama's book that SBS was a Sri Vidya practitioner (and coupled with other sources; an expressed devotee of the Deities, especially the Divine Mother. Anyone who does TM regularily will eventually meet one aspect of Mother Divine, particularily Durga or Saraswathi face to face, not in meditation or in dreams but as a living entity. I did, and so does many TM'ers, some on a daily basis.
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to experience Mother Divine
Excellent, Nabby; but what you're saying is that people's experience of the Divine Mother involve a real Personality; as opposed to some nebulous field of impersonal energy, or a mere aspect of awareness. First, although SBS was an obvious devotee of the Divine Mother in the Personal sense, MMY has chosen to buck that trend and call the Deities aspects of various energy fields. Big mistake! What's the problem with just coming out with the truth and saying it: The Divine Mother and other Deities can be for many people, real Personalities, more real as individuals than ordinary physically embodied persons. So why try to conceal this by (a) never mentioning their Names in a personal sense; (b) avoiding all discussion on the fact that SBS was clearly a devotee of the Divine Mother in a Personal sense, and (c), calling the Deities aspects of energy fields. Did MMY regard the Deities as embarrassments?, something that might discredit his phoney Quantum Spirituality since scientists would object to any connotations of religious devotion?...and of course, any talk of Deity worship could be used as fuel by the Christian Fundies to keep TM out of public schools. (they already seemed to have done this by parsing to, and pointing to the Puja words). --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, yifuxero yifuxero@ wrote: Right, that's because the Divine Mother knew MMY would not attach Divine Mother devotion (in any form - Kali, Durga, etc...) to TM; and therefore his mission would fail. Unfortunately for your reasoning He has created a huge success. He connected the devotees to Mother Divine in their hearts, through their sadhana, not in empty outward terms like words or books. It's obvious from just reading the chapter in Swami Rama's book that SBS was a Sri Vidya practitioner (and coupled with other sources; an expressed devotee of the Deities, especially the Divine Mother. Anyone who does TM regularily will eventually meet one aspect of Mother Divine, particularily Durga or Saraswathi face to face, not in meditation or in dreams but as a living entity. I did, and so does many TM'ers, some on a daily basis.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Is CC flat suffering?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, WillyTex willy...@... wrote: Guru Dev did NOT argue for the superiority of Advaita Vedanta. That is abundantly clear in his available discourses and material that has been compiled over the decades... You are incorrect; almost every word said by Guru Dev, in private or in public, was in support of Adwaita Vedanta as superior to all dualistic systems. Guru Dev compared those who don't understand the nature of the Absolute, to 'stray dogs'. Vaj wrote: Huh, go figure. Stray dogs don't understand Advaita Vedanta, it's as simple as that, Vaj. SBS taught Advaita Vedanta. You are yourself a part of the Sat Chit Anand the Absolute Bliss Consciousness - of the Almighty, but out of ignorance don't make the mistake of going here and there in the manner of stray dogs wagging the tails, as taking pleasure in worldliness pushes a return experience. - Swami Brahmanand Saraswati SBS is correct, Vaj's inability to understand Advaita Vedanta and insistence his sadhana should be complicated with a hodgepodge of techniques, is like watching a stray dog endlessly chasing his tail, growling at TM'ers, never catching his tail, and ever seeking newer, flashier, mental doggy tricks and flips in the gymnasium of duality. Whenever anyone tries to pin him down about the specifics of his practice, his mind goes fuzzy and he makes shit up. If he would just stop making such a fuss trying to control the Absolute, he just might find letting go is really all he has to do to avoid future lifetimes of chasing his tail. Perhaps Vaj is just working out his karma as a stray dog. Moi? I'm just a raunchydog doing her best to KISS. Speaking of dogs, in Vaj's message thread Slaxity he wrote: It is said that engaging in these breath-pausing lower absorptions leads to rebirth as an animal...Because it creates such bad outcomes and cannot be distinguished from actual transcendence, it is considered extremely dangerous... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/213795 Raunchydog wrote: The nunnery stilled by the voice of Great Vaj Speaking solipsism, hooey hodgepodge Pretending as Pontiff, his warnings appalling Dangerous mantras! The sky will be falling! Attention on body, navel or nose Assures your return in animal clothes Infallible knowledge, all bow down to him Clever the fraud, the Poobah of TM
[FairfieldLife] House bill @1990 pages 7@ $1,055 TRILLION WOW!
We can not afford it as well! death panel in house Palosi bill cost is $2.2 million a word. see www.drudgereport.com of today 30 Oct. 09, for more bad news re this so call reform, which is not a reform, a change yes. Canadians try to exit there plan there supreme court just OK ed that exit. I note for faster better treatment they come here or else where, another Provence. True reform cut the or cap the pay out in law suits against doctors or hospitals to actual damages for a start. Lets have Tort reform. Also lets include ion our present plans Ayur Vedic preventive treatments or as it is its ok U use U pay or go to India for less get more there or @ least have a choice of where in the world to obtain comparable treatments. Let insurance companies pay or be allowed to pay sanction out of state out of country treatment. Let all present health care place be allowed to be purchased across state lines another good start on true health care reform allowing companies to better compete for our dollars. Capitalism competing lowers costs.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Obama Sent by God, say Sting'
Both you and Sting appear to hav been born under the sign of Gullibility with your House rising in Embarrassing. It is a common believe in Cuba that Fidel Castro, like der schtinle's Obama, was the divine choice for the 11 million Cubans now enslaved by that ruthless dictator... --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Robert babajii...@... wrote: Not surprisingly, Sting has the same take as myself... We were born around the same time... Dreamers? I guess... NEW YORK (AP) - Sting isn't a religious man, but he says President Barack Obama might be a divine answer to the world's problems. In many ways, he's sent from God, he joked in an interview, because the world's a mess. But Sting is serious in his belief that Obama is the best leader to navigate the world's problems. In an interview on Wednesday, the former Police frontman said that he spent some time with Obama and found him to be very genuine, very present, clearly super-smart, and exactly what we need in the world. I can't think of any be better qualified because of his background, his education, particularly in regard to Islam, he said. Still, Sting acknowledged the president had a difficult job ahead of him. The British singer, who released the seasonal album On A Winter's Night this week, said he's fascinated by American politics, Obama, and also by Obama's opponents on the right. It's aggressive and violent and full of fear, he said of the backlash against Obama. They don't want change, they want things to feel the same because they feel safe there. Sting, 58, said he's hopeful that the world's problems can be dealt with, but is frustrated that we seem to be living in a currency of medieval ideas. My hope is that we can start talking about real issues and not caring about whether God cares about your hemline or your color, he said. We are here to evolve as one family, and we can't be separate anymore.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Hollywood's Idea of a Freaky Halloween Movie
Close the curtains, turn down the lights, so's no one knows yer home -- then play John Water's This Filthy World -- and recalibrate what is freaky. I had to shut off the DVD about 15 minutes into it. I'm thinking of giving out microwave popcorn packets -- very little gunk and the kids think of them as rare treats. Parents don't have to worry about any unhygienic pre-popping and bagging of the corn that I might have sneezed upon with H1N1. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: Every year likes probably millions of others I head for a local movie theater on Halloween to avoid answering the door to hand out unhealthy candies to children. This year I noticed a dearth of new films opening for the weekend and the pickings rather slim for a film to see. I had decided for some reason that that Hollywood didn't want to release any films because they figured people would be out Halloweening it in one way or another (and ignoring the crowd that does what I do). In fact two films that might have been excellent candidates may have slipped their release dates, The Box and The Fourth Kind, are opening next Friday instead. I would go see the Coen Brother's A Serious Man but it doesn't start until 7:55 PM leaving me too much time to kill so it looks like the dreadfully reviewed Amelia showing at 7 PM is going to be the only option. :-( But I was wrong. Hollywood has decided that a freaky movie for Halloween is apparently This Is It!, the Michael Jackson movie. Yup, that would be freaky all right and I have no interest in seeing it.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hollywood's Idea of a Freaky Halloween Movie
The demographic of my community is young parents. They are out in hordes on Halloween. I turn off the security light so when they walk up towards the door it won't go on. It used to be that leaving the entry light off would make them skip the house but no more. I also cover the window on the door. I've done my duty serving out candies over the years anyway. It used to be I would join my sister and brother-in-law for dinner and a movie on Halloween but they've fizzled out in their advanced years. The only good thing about DST is they don't come out so early as they did if it ended before Halloween. There are plenty of B horror movies I can rent. I watched one called Midnight Movie earlier in the week that wasn't too bad. I may need something good to wash the taste out of my mouth if tomorrow night's flic isn't good. I can't imagine Mira Nair making a bad movie but maybe she should stick to comedies about Indians. Duveyoung wrote: Close the curtains, turn down the lights, so's no one knows yer home -- then play John Water's This Filthy World -- and recalibrate what is freaky. I had to shut off the DVD about 15 minutes into it. I'm thinking of giving out microwave popcorn packets -- very little gunk and the kids think of them as rare treats. Parents don't have to worry about any unhygienic pre-popping and bagging of the corn that I might have sneezed upon with H1N1. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote:
[FairfieldLife] Re: Being unexciting
yifuxero wrote: I'm a TM practitioner but object to the Consciousness only schools regardless of Tradition and techniques... If so, then it's going to be a real challenge to argue against the 'Consciousness Only' or the Idealistic point-of-view. This tradition was founded by Shakya the Muni himself and was later expounded in the Lankavatara Sutra. Almost the whole of Zen Buddhism supports the consciousness only metaphysics. Not to mention Naga Arjuna's Madhyamika and the Vijnanavada Tradition of Asanga and Vasabandhu. In the Upanishads, there are Shankara and his guru Gaudapada to refute and the whole host of Advaitins up to and including Ramana Maharshi. The Kashmiri Swami Kaksmanjoo supported the 'Trika' system which takes Pure Consciousness as the Ultimate Reality. In the West, you'd have to argue against Immanual Kant, George Hegel and Arthur Shopenhauer. Not an easy task. Excerpt from Mandukya Karika IV by Gaudapada: Duality is only an appearance; non-duality is the real truth. The object exists as an object for the knowing subject; but it does not exist outside of conciousness because the distinction of subject and object is within consciousness. (IV 25-27) Sharma, p. 245-246. Excerpt from Sutra Lankara by Asanga Maitreyanatha: Pure conciousness is the only Reality. By its nature, it is Self-luminous. (XIII, 13). Thus shaking off duality, he directly percieves the Absolute which is the unity underlying phenomena (dharmadatu). (VI, 7) Sharma, p. 112-113 Read more: From: Willytex Subject: Vimshatika-Vrtti on Karika Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental Date: January 31, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/ybfesn8
[FairfieldLife] The Invention Of Lying
This movie would be worth the price of admission for the first five minutes. Imagine a world in which no one ever lies. Ever. No flattery, so sweet truth, only the stark, honest truth at every moment. Now imagine being a nice but somewhat chubby Ricky Gervais arriving early for his date with Jennifer Garner. Imagine it going sorta like this: Anna: Hi. You're early. I was just masturbating. Mark: That...makes me think of your vagina. I'm Mark. How are you? Anna: A little frustrated at the moment. Also equally depressed and pessimistic about our date tonight. I'm Anna. Come on in. Mark: Just wait there. I need to finish getting ready. While doing that I might realize that I'm still horny and try to finish masturbating without you hearing. That is what pretty much every date you ever had in your life would have been like if you lived in a world where no one ever lied. People say that they dislike lying. They're lying. Either that or they are fools who have never realized the important part that lying plays in everyday life. Lying greases the wheels of social interaction. When someone you really don't feel like spending the next four hours with asks How are you on a day you've spent dodging the shit flying off of innumerable fans, do you really tell him how you are or do you say Fine? When someone opens the door and finds him- or herself so disappointed by their blind date (you) they need to go masturbate before spending time with you, do you really want them to tell you? Well, in Ricky Gervais' imagined world, that is exactly what happens. Until one day he invents the world's first lie. And in so doing invents religion, and reinvents the world. For a while, and with about the same success as all other religions have reinvented the world. This is a more thoughtful film than the audiences who will see it. It's not a great film, and I don't expect it to do all that well at the box office. But it's very sweet and I think a few discerning folks here would like it. And that's not a lie.
[FairfieldLife] Re: How to experience Mother Divine
yifuxero wrote: Excellent, Nabby; but what you're saying is that people's experience of the Divine Mother involve a real Personality; as opposed to some nebulous field of impersonal energy, or a mere aspect of awareness... You have to realize that terms like the 'Divine Mother', etc., refer to the Transcendental Person. All the Upanishadic thinkers were Transcendentalists. The Transcendental Person is the Paramatman, the Self which Guru Dev spoke of as the Absolute Brahman. But the Absolute is not an object of knowledge - it is Knowledge itself - the Absolute, which only 'appears' to be the 'Divine Mother'. In reality, there is only One Absolute - no duality. Logically there cannot be two Reals - one is an appearance only, as seen and experienced through the senses. The appearance seems real, just like the 'horns of a hare' or a 'sky flower' - but not real in the Absolute sense. This is the teaching of SBS.
[FairfieldLife] headlines of Maharishi's Global Family Chat
jai guru dev Tuesday 30 October Dr Paul Gelderloos reported on reduced smoking in Dutch schools (the change is coming from inside - it's just not considered cool any more) and other good press in Holland. He just returned from a very inspiring visit to the Brahmasthan of India which he told about with infectious enthusiasm, also outlining 4 avenues for funding this most important work of Maharishi: 1) Drs Howard and Mickey Settle approaching wealthy contributors, 2) a group is approaching wealthy Indians all over the world, 3) Dr Malte Hozzel is leading the effort to find businesses that can provide support, and 4) the 'permanent 4th leg', Maharishi's family of meditators who can contribute each month to support the Vedic Pandits. ---Maharishi on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/maharishichannel ---Maharishi on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MaharishiVideos ---Maharishi on Twitter http://twitter.com/MaharishiVideos Maharishi's Global Family Chat Archives
[FairfieldLife] Howard Stern interviews His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, part 1
http://tinyurl.com/ya3ukco
[FairfieldLife] Howard Stern interviews Maharishi, part II
http://tinyurl.com/yabcqmz
[FairfieldLife] Maharishi enjoying the questions from Howard Stern
Peace in the world is secured and noone has to bother about it. Everything is completely OK. It will be more and more okey - and okey square ! http://tinyurl.com/yabcqmz
[FairfieldLife] Maharishi adress skepticism
http://tinyurl.com/ycvaeq6
[FairfieldLife] Origin of the universe, part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIBXn_mr2Zgfeature=channel
[FairfieldLife] Origin of the Universe, part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESTUYGbCUhIfeature=channel
[FairfieldLife] Post Count
Fairfield Life Post Counter === Start Date (UTC): Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 2009 End Date (UTC): Sat Oct 31 00:00:00 2009 587 messages as of (UTC) Fri Oct 30 23:09:00 2009 50 authfriend jst...@panix.com 49 TurquoiseB no_re...@yahoogroups.com 47 WillyTex willy...@yahoo.com 41 Bhairitu noozg...@sbcglobal.net 41 do.rflex do.rf...@yahoo.com 38 yifuxero yifux...@yahoo.com 34 raunchydog raunchy...@yahoo.com 33 nablusoss1008 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 27 dhamiltony2k5 dhamiltony...@yahoo.com 26 ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@netscape.net 23 It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@gmail.com 21 Vaj vajradh...@earthlink.net 21 Rick Archer r...@searchsummit.com 21 Hugo richardhughes...@hotmail.com 19 Robert babajii...@yahoo.com 13 Jason jedi_sp...@yahoo.com 9 Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@lisco.com 7 PaliGap compost...@yahoo.co.uk 7 John jr_...@yahoo.com 6 jpgillam jpgil...@yahoo.com 6 Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@yahoo.com 5 Premanand premanandp...@yahoo.co.uk 4 wle...@aol.com 3 wvosteen monr...@monroe-electronics.com 3 michael vedamer...@yahoo.de 3 meowthirteen meowthirt...@yahoo.com 3 lurkernomore20002000 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net 3 cardemaister no_re...@yahoogroups.com 3 Duveyoung no_re...@yahoogroups.com 2 sudenkorento2000 irmeli.matts...@netti.fi 2 ruthsimplicity no_re...@yahoogroups.com 2 off_world_beings no_re...@yahoogroups.com 2 gullible fool ffl...@yahoo.com 2 Michael Dean Goodman tan...@cheerful.com 1 wayback71 waybac...@yahoo.com 1 shukra69 shukr...@yahoo.ca 1 guyfawkes91 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 fflmod ffl...@yahoo.com 1 eustace10679 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 William william10...@yahoo.com 1 Mike Dixon mdixon.6...@yahoo.com 1 JohnY john_youe...@comcast.net 1 Irmeli irmeli.matts...@netti.fi 1 Dick Mays dickm...@lisco.com 1 BillyG wg...@yahoo.com Posters: 45 Saturday Morning 00:00 UTC Rollover Times = Daylight Saving Time (Summer): US Friday evening: PDT 5 PM - MDT 6 PM - CDT 7 PM - EDT 8 PM Europe Saturday: BST 1 AM CEST 2 AM EEST 3 AM Standard Time (Winter): US Friday evening: PST 4 PM - MST 5 PM - CST 6 PM - EST 7 PM Europe Saturday: GMT 12 AM CET 1 AM EET 2 AM For more information on Time Zones: www.worldtimezone.com
[FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual vs Spiritism
Probably within the Dome attending community, if people are hearing voices and it is a problem, then they usually get rooted out with/for mental disturbance. Administratively referred to mental health people otherwise. That's the way you'd see it on the ground here in FF. -D That of course is the movement, they would have to handle it that way administratively or they'd get haunted by legal reprisal. So they stay to the `mental health'administrative aspect of a practical necessity. However, on a practical level amongst a practicing and spiritual meditating community, when some folks do get in to astral troubles of too much spiritism, there is local folklore advice that runs towards the adept folks. Some places for those afflicted to go for help of a spiritual nature again bad spiritism: http://www.timeportalpubs.com/ http://youdeservetobeclear.com/index.htm This post below could stand to travel with this spiritual discernment thread. paste But we see it here all the time. Maharishi taught *strongly* that after enlightenment the drop merges with the ocean and there is no more relative existence, on any plane. But Bevan and others followed his death almost immediately with claims that Maharishi was in heaven, with all the gods. I'm sure that there are those in the TM movement who believe that they are in communication with him from beyond the grave. To believe this about Maharishi, *you have to ignore what Maharishi actually taught*, or pervert it somehow into what you would prefer to believe. Obviously, many people are good at this, and see nothing wrong with it. I think it's sad. If you revere a spiritual teacher, it makes sense to me that you would want to revere what the dude actually taught, and not change it to suit yourself. If i remember, it wasn't Bevan so much, as King Tony and then Konhaus who reverted to that old testament kind of theologic folklore construction. King Tony only really did it once in his first public attempt at expressing a condolence after Maharishi died. Figure it was a very tough time for those around in the middle, so it was a slip. Konhaus then did it more directly as pronouncement in his climbing usurping sort of way. Both their utterances are back in the FFL archive. They were singular moments. As they did it, then it briefly gave an inside moment where people started to claim they were hearing from Maharishi. If anything, Bevan probably boxed their collective ears for such stupidity in the moment. So officially you really never hear much from the official movement the construction that Maharishi lives guides in dis-embodied spirit.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual vs Spiritism
Every once in a while someone turns up who *was there*. Like,there from Squaw Valley. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Oct 29, 2009, at 3:31 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: But we see it here all the time. Maharishi taught *strongly* any channelers you know of in FF offering MMY post mortem akashic services? An even more relevant question, given my original topic and the Subject heading, is why sidhas would be messing with a practice (channeling) that Maharishi could not possibly have been more emphatic in condemning? From Squaw Valley onwards, during the entire time I spent in the TMO, I never heard him do anything but warn people away from this practice, and *strongly*. If TMers are channeling dead things, chalk that up as one more example of what I'm talking about, redefining a teacher's teachings to suit yourself.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Hollywood's Idea of a Freaky Halloween Movie
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: Every year likes probably millions of others I head for a local movie theater on Halloween to avoid answering the door to hand out unhealthy candies to children. When we lived in town, we'd stay home with all the lights off downstairs and hide out upstairs in the bedroom. No one ever came to our door.
[FairfieldLife] Nabby...do you have any idea who Howard Stern is?
I'm wondering if Nabby has any clue who Howard Stern is, considering he is safely ensconced in Finland or Latvia or whatever of those icelandic countries he lives in. Fartman? Lesbian dating? Ring a bell? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_re...@... wrote: http://tinyurl.com/ya3ukco
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hollywood's Idea of a Freaky Halloween Movie
Alex Stanley wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: Every year likes probably millions of others I head for a local movie theater on Halloween to avoid answering the door to hand out unhealthy candies to children. When we lived in town, we'd stay home with all the lights off downstairs and hide out upstairs in the bedroom. No one ever came to our door. I don't know how many years when I lived in an apartment and had candy ready no one came by or once I think two kids. I don't think I would get off that easy around here. There's just too many kids in this neighborhood. Of course a large part of my life I was playing gigs on Halloween night with adult trick or treaters.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Hollywood's Idea of a Freaky Halloween Movie
On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 8:51 PM, Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@yahoo.com wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: Every year likes probably millions of others I head for a local movie theater on Halloween to avoid answering the door to hand out unhealthy candies to children. When we lived in town, we'd stay home with all the lights off downstairs and hide out upstairs in the bedroom. No one ever came to our door. If I were a kid, I'd trick this neighborhood. Hmm. Better watch my language. Since many of the girls go to school looking like whores, trick has many meanings. This Val girl cut in front of me at the gas station today. I told her it's OK. I enjoyed the lapdance she gave me a few days before. That put her in her place. As Huey Newtom said, her place should be prone. Anyway, neighbors are giving boxes of white raisins, organic fruit, sealed organic juices. I think that's disgusting. I'm giving out gift certificates for happy meals at McDonalds, chocolates (Ghirardelli) and since it's going to be a bit nippy and wet, cups of hot Mexican chocolate mixed into New Horizons heated chocolate milk and home made charros. Halloween was always a scary time for me, as it comes so close to All Souls Day. It appears the Pope finds it a bit scary as well. Where I live we celebrate Dia de los Muertos which is quite a festive time. There's flowers and a crucifix on the side of the road where someone died in an accident round these parts. So Halloween isn't so scary here. -- Life is not what you see, but what you've projected. It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided. It's not what you've experienced, but how you've remembered it. It's not what you've forged, but what you've allowed. And it's not who's appeared, but who you've summoned.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Nabby...do you have any idea who Howard Stern is?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: I'm wondering if Nabby has any clue who Howard Stern is, considering he is safely ensconced in Finland or Latvia or whatever of those icelandic countries he lives in. Fartman? Lesbian dating? Ring a bell? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: http://tinyurl.com/ya3ukco Yeah, Howard is the ultimate shock jock but he loves TM and respects Maharishi. Here's a very touching broadcast of Howard talking about Maharishi right after his death and how TM helped his mother overcome depression and changed his life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxvwmL7ns24
[FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual vs Spiritism
Or the self-help home study plan: In addition to the SBS Guru Dev comments about trading a diamond for a lump of spinach, what Maharishi did say practically was to simply meditate, be with the mantra, when bothered by these kind of outside influences. However, on a practical level amongst a practicing and spiritual meditating community, when some folks do get in to astral troubles of too much spiritism, there is local folklore advice that runs towards the adept folks. Some places for those afflicted to go for help of a spiritual nature again bad spiritism: http://www.timeportalpubs.com/ http://youdeservetobeclear.com/index.htm Probably within the Dome attending community, if people are hearing voices and it is a problem, then they usually get rooted out with/for mental disturbance. Administratively referred to mental health people otherwise. That's the way you'd see it on the ground here in FF. -D That of course is the movement, they would have to handle it that way administratively or they'd get haunted by legal reprisal. So they stay to the `mental health'administrative aspect of a practical necessity. However, on a practical level amongst a practicing and spiritual meditating community, when some folks do get in to astral troubles of too much spiritism, there is local folklore advice that runs towards the adept folks. Some places for those afflicted to go for help of a spiritual nature again bad spiritism: http://www.timeportalpubs.com/ http://youdeservetobeclear.com/index.htm
[FairfieldLife] Re: ! Transcend ! ye Sinners
There is no saint without a past. There is no sinner without a future. Love and serve all humanity. Assist everyone. Be cheerful. Be courteous. Be a dynamo of irrepressible happiness. See God and good in every face. There is no saint without a past. There is no sinner without a future. Praise every soul. If you cannot praise someone, let them pass out of your life. Be original. Be inventive. Dare, dare, and then dare more. Do not imitate. Stand on your own ground. Do not lean on the borrowed staff of others. Think your own thoughts. Be yourself. All perfection and all virtues of the Deity are hidden inside you- reveal them. The savior also is already within you. Let his grace emancipate you. Let your life be that of a rose. Through silence it speaks in the language of fragrance. There is no saint without a past. There is no sinner without a future. -Babaji, a Himalayan Saint The Unified Field Hymn Om Jai Adi Shankara, Another haunting meditation hymn with a beautiful lesson: Bleeding hearts defiled by sin Meditation can make, make you clean; Contrite souls with guilt oppressed, Meditation can give, can give you rest. You that mourn your follies past, Precious hours and years, and years laid waste, Turn to meditation, oh turn and live, Meditation can still, can still forgive. Fainting souls in peril's hour, Yield not to, not to the tempter's power; On the risen life rely, Meditation now reigns, now reigns on high. Sung to the tune and harmonies of Natick Listen at: http://shapenote.net/497.htm
[FairfieldLife] 'Get It Together America'...ya' think?
HOME ISTPP eNews October 30, 2009 The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy was founded to identify, scientifically evaluate, and implement proven, prevention-oriented, forward-looking solutions to critical national and global problems. The Institute works in close cooperation with universities, research institutes, governmental and private foundations, and business and industry. Having attracted a core group of renowned scientists and expert policy advisors, the Institute is rapidly becoming a leading international center for the latest scientific knowledge about cutting-edge programs that work. HELP SUPPORT THE INSTITUTE! Your tax-deductible contribution helps create the financial foundation for all the Institutes research and public policy activities. Or you can mail your check made payable to MUM-ISTPP to the Institute at the address below. If you have questions or need more information, call us at the number below. Thank you in advance for your timely support. Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy 1000 North 4th Street Fairfield, IA 52557 641.472.1200 FAX 641.472.1165 is...@mum.edu http://www.istpp.org Take Action Then Forward to Others Contact Senator Harkin Ask Him to Ensure that Science-Based Natural Medicine Remains Part of the Senate Health Care Reform Bill Skyrocketing health care costs, all too common hazardous side effects of modern medicine, high rates of chronic diseases, and a lack of wellness approaches, demand innovative complementary and alternative approaches to health care that have been demonstrated to be clinically effective and cost effective. Senator Harkin has been a strong proponent of preventive medicine, wellness, and integrative medicine [integrative medicine combines conventional medical treatment with evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine modalities]. He was instrumental in assuring that integrative care services are a component of the bill passed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). As the new Chairman of the HELP Committee, filling the shoes of the late Senator Kennedy, he is playing a key role as the Senate Finance Committee’s bill is merged with the HELP Committee’s bill to create a single bill to be presented and voted on by the full Senate. Please send your support for Science-Based Natural Medicine in national health care reform by contacting Senator Harkin (202) 224-3254 or e-mailing. It will take less than 2 minutes to e-mail. You can click here to e-mail the Senator. Fill in “Personal Information” and your “E-mail address,” then scroll down to “Please write your message.” Fill in the “Subject” as Health Care Reform, and for the “Topic,” select Health. You can then cut and paste the message below: Dear Senator Harkin, I congratulate you on the great strides you have made in promoting prevention, wellness and integrative health care. I remain concerned, however, that the Senate Finance Committee bill focuses on conventional preventive, wellness and medical services, and misses the opportunity to promote evidence-based, clinically effective, and cost effective integrative health care services which can make a major difference in the health of our nation, as well as lower health care costs significantly. I urge you to ensure that the final Senate health care reform bill includes: The role of scientifically proven, cost effective integrative health care modalities.Language clearly stating that prevention and treatment modalities include evidence-based, clinically effective and cost effective integrative health care services. Specification that any Benefits Board or Committee established by the legislation includes special expertise in integrative health care. Support for the Institute of Medicine recommendation to allocate research funds to compare the effectiveness of mind-body interventions (e.g., meditation, stress management) to usual medical care in treating stress-related disorders, cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, and other chronic diseases. Thank you.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Obama Sent by God, say Sting'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: Both you and Sting appear to hav been born under the sign of Gullibility with your House rising in Embarrassing. It is a common believe in Cuba that Fidel Castro, like der schtinle's Obama, was the divine choice for the 11 million Cubans now enslaved by that ruthless dictator... (a snip) And, how many people has America killed, in various ways, as well as tortured, through the same, 'Castro Years'... Since the Caesar Bush, we have no room to criticize anyone, anymore... Don't ya' think Americans are enslaved, by the Corporate America... Reagan's America? Besides, I respect the bravery and tenacity of Castro, that escaped numerous murderous plots, by the CIA... BTW, why do ya' think that the CIA is so involved with Afghanistan..? Opium, and heroin...sickening, really! It will take some time, for President Obama, to clean up the mess, of Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, and All the other God-Damned Greedy Bastards, that keep us divided and stupid... America is one sick country... We no longer have anything, we can brag about, or shout about... Wake up and smell the coffee, my friend... Robert
[FairfieldLife] [More Evidence on the Nazi Bush Administration]
Lawsuit Accuses Psychologist of Ignoring Guantanamo Torture Friday 30 October 2009 by: William Fisher, t r u t h o u t | Report (Photo Illustration: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted From: electron, glog and dcmaster / flickr) The state board responsible for licensing - and disciplining - psychologists in Louisiana is fighting awfully hard to turn a blind eye to serious allegations of abuse brought against one of its members, who is being accused of complicity in beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats and painful body positions during his service as a senior adviser on interrogations for the US military in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. That is the view expressed to Truthout by Deborah Popowski, cooperating attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), part of the legal team representing Dr. Trudy Bond, an Ohio-based psychologist, who is suing the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists to compel it to investigate the behavior of Louisiana psychologist and retired US Army Col. Dr. Larry C. James, a former high-ranking adviser on interrogations for the US military in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. We wish the Board would devote its resources to investigating unethical conduct instead. Everyone, including the people of Louisiana, would be better served, she told Truthout. The chairperson of the Board, Dr. Jillandra Rovaris, who also chairs the complaints committee, did not respond to telephone calls or emails from Truthout, seeking comment and clarification. Popowski says that, according to his own statements, Dr. James played an influential role in both the policy and day-to-day operations of interrogations and detention at the prison camps. She claims that publicly available information shows that while Dr. James was at Guantanamo, abuse in interrogations was widespread, and cruel and inhuman treatment was official policy. In February 2008, Dr. Bond filed a complaint against Dr. James before the Board, the agency that issued and now regulates his psychology license. Dr. Bond alleged that Dr. James breached professional ethics by violating psychologists' duties to do no harm, to protect confidential information and to obtain informed consent, and she called on the Board to investigate whether action should be taken against Dr. James. Dr. Bond's lawyers contend that the Board summarily refused to investigate her complaint, claiming that the statute of limitations had run, despite what they say is conclusive information to the contrary. Dr. Bond then filed suit against the Board in Louisiana's 19th Judicial District Court, which, in July 2009, dismissed her case without looking at the merits. Now, in a brief before the First Circuit Court in Baton Rouge, Dr. Bond argues that the District Court should have reviewed the Board's clearly wrong legal decision. Said Dr. Bond, The five psychologists on the Louisiana Board were given plenty of credible evidence, but they chose not to investigate the head intelligence psychologist of prison camps notorious for their use of psychological torture. I don't think Louisiana lawmakers intended to give five fellow professionals total, unchecked power to make arbitrary decisions that deeply affect the public welfare. Dr. Bond told Truthout, I began reading of the role of psychologists at detention sites such as Guantanamo and was horrified when the American Psychological Association, by way of the infamous PENS report in 2005, determined that the actions of the BSCT psychologists were ethical. She added, In his biographical statement for the PENS report, Larry James stated that he was the 'Chief Psychologist for the Joint Intelligence Group at GTMO, Cuba' starting in January 2003. When the Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedure Manual (dated February, 2003 and implemented March 27, 2003) was released in November of 2007 and included behavioral management of prisoners that violated our psychological ethics codes, that same ethics code required that I report such violations to the licensing board to be investigated. My complaint to the Louisiana Board of Psychologists was dated 2/29/08. Allegations of abuse during Dr. James's January to May 2003 deployment include beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats and painful body positions. Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, who is still imprisoned in Guantanamo, is one of the prisoners who has alleged brutal treatment in the spring of 2003, when he was only 16 years old. Khadr was captured by American forces at the age of 15 following a four-hour firefight with militants in the village of Ayub Kheyl, Afghanistan. He has spent seven years in the Guantanamo Bay detention
[FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual vs Spiritism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sandiego108 sandiego108@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: A good point, and hopefully a springboard to an interesting thread. I have always been nothing short of *amazed* at the number of TMers who get involved with channeling and spirit voices and communicating with higher masters and the like, given the STRONG stance Maharishi took against these practices from Day One. snip As I experienced it was nothing like facile interactions with an ouija board or channeling or spirits or crap like that. it just happens. one day its not there and the next day it is. just like tm provides awareness of the full range of creation, as that process becomes clearer and clearer, new things are discovered. it is not at the gross level that you suggest at all, yet concrete, distinct, and of immense benefit. after some time, when the relationship has run its course, it can be let go of too. no contradiction to what Mahahrishi spoke about. The distinction being made by the teacher I quoted earlier, and in fact by Maharishi back in the late Sixties when he was telling everyone never to get involved with *anything* that talks to you is one of CONTENT. I think that both teachers would find nothing wrong with having an indistinct feeling of the presence or personality with someone one feels an affinity for. HOWEVER, both teachers made a clear distinction between that and the entity with which one has this feeling actually TELLING you things. If there is any kind of *information* being conveyed, then the voice is NOT TO BE TRUSTED. I have found this same teaching in quite a few spir- itual traditions, all of whom make this same distinc- tion. If you hear voices, if you have visions in which someone or something is telling you what to do or what to convince others to do, you may be in fairly serious trouble. Think of it this way -- you suddenly find yourself dropped into a completely different city. You don't know anyone you meet, or what their intentions are. You don't even know WHERE you are, or where these beings you see come from. And then one of them walks up to you and starts talking to you and telling you things that you should do in your life to make it better, or to make the lives of others better. Would you believe them? Would you do what this abso- lute stranger tells you to do? If so, then channeling and having conversations with disembodied voices is for you. :-) It's the same thing. These are just voices that these people have encountered while cruising the astral planes. The voices may TELL these folks who are talking to them who or what they are, but is that who they really are. In Tibetan lore, many of them are shape- shifters, so they may even *appear* to look like or sound like someone you know. They may even LIE, because a lot of the disembodied beings are not happy campers, and live to fuck with those who still have bodies. So these traditions -- and Maharishi himself back in the early days of his teaching -- all said the same thing: DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM. Don't believe anything they tell you, and certainly don't live your life based upon what they tell you. Because you DON'T know who or what you are dealing with. You know only what they appear to be, or what they have told you they are. 'Nuff said. I find 'Old Trees' give the best advice... They are especially knowledgeable in the area of patience... r.j.g.
