[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Nov 12, 2008, at 4:44 AM, sparaig wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here? My recollection is that MMY's response was: if they can't see the difference between us and Jim Jones, we're not interested in them (either). What a mature and thoughtful response. Seemed that way to me. Still does. Lawson There's not much anyone could say about 'Jonestown'... It forever gave 'cult's' a bad name... Cult's got a bad name also, from what happened in Waco, TX. It was a shame, that so many people could perish on the whim of one mad-man... But, then you think of a dude like the h-man, adolf, and you sometimes wonder why humans could be so dumb... This is one thing that was discussed in the 'Screwtape Letters', written during WWII, about this novice demon was learning how to entice humans to do evil, by an elder demon, and he was saying how dumb humans seemed to be, and so easy to fool... R.G.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Nov 12, 2008, at 4:44 AM, sparaig wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here? My recollection is that MMY's response was: if they can't see the difference between us and Jim Jones, we're not interested in them (either). What a mature and thoughtful response. Seemed that way to me. Still does. Lawson
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
On Nov 12, 2008, at 4:44 AM, sparaig wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here? My recollection is that MMY's response was: if they can't see the difference between us and Jim Jones, we're not interested in them (either). What a mature and thoughtful response. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Nov 12, 2008, at 4:44 AM, sparaig wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here? My recollection is that MMY's response was: if they can't see the difference between us and Jim Jones, we're not interested in them (either). What a mature and thoughtful response. Sal all things being equal, and without knowing what else he said, it sounds like a reasonable assessment- why enter a market where the consumers already have a bias against your product, if other alternatives are available?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here? My recollection is that MMY's response was: if they can't see the difference between us and Jim Jones, we're not interested in them (either). Lawson
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Cult Watch 10 Points to look out for in your group members 1.Obsession about group or the leader putting it above most other considerations. 2.Member's individual identity becomes increasingly fused with the group, the leader and/or God followed by the group.Cloning of the group members or leader's personal behaviors. 3.Emotional overreaction when the group or leader is criticized. Seen as evil persecution. 4.Belief that the group is THE WAY and they have a mission 5.Increasing dependency upon the group or leader for problem solving, explanations, definitions and analysis, and corresponding decline in real, independent thought. 6.Excessive hyperactivity and work for the group or leader, at the expense of private or family interests. Drifting away from family and old friends 7.Preparedness to blindly follow the group or leader and defend actions or statements without seeking independent verification. 8.Demonization of former members or members of alternative groups. 9.Desire to be praised for doing the right thing and fear of public rebuke 10.Unhealthy wish to be seen with or aligned publicly with the leader(s) of the group http://tinyurl.com/6e4ad4 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: a friend of mine from Canada was in Guyana at the time teaching TM. The parents of one of the other TM teachers from Canada was so freaked out she called the RCMP. A propos of a previous posting, my friend says that the government there continually accused them of being CIA agents. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When this happened, I was in Iran on the World Peace Project/Minister Training Course. I was fascinated with this and skipped the evening meeting to read the TIME Magazine cover story about it. My course buddies freaked out because I was in someone else¹s room and they couldn¹t find me and figured I might have been kidnapped or something. on 11/18/03 11:26 AM, Captain Mars at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear Friends: Interesting segment on TV this morning, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the tragedy in Jonestown. Reminding uss that more than 900 followers committed suicide or were murdered under the orders of the cult leader, Jim Jones. Reports indicate Jones suffered from paranoia and, among other things, thought the CIA had infiltrated his organization. CM
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. My where were you when memory of Rev. Jim's Cool-aid party (what would we do without that phrase?) was being driven home from the airport by my dad on Christmas break. He asked me what I thought of what happened in Guyana. Thoreau once wrote that if you have read one newspaper you have read them all, a war over here, man eaten by a crocodile over there...he had me convinced that I should only read the eternal verities, things which would not change...which I interpreted to mean all things TM, scriptures and writings from philosophers. Needless to say I had experienced a total media blackout at MIU and knew NOTHING about the shocking events. After a feeble attempt to change the subject my dad began to realize that his son, who he was already fearing was knee deep in a cult, hadn't heard of any of it. Did they keep the news away from you, he asked suspiciously? His alarm grew in leaps and bounds as his world events quiz revealed a total lack of outside information. I can't blame MIU, I was hyper focused by choice. No, you certainly can't blame MIU as Jonestown happened on November 18, 1978 and I presume Christmas break was sometime in December (probably starting a week before December 25th?). I remember where I was: I had just graduated MIU a few days before (with the block system, if you had transferring credits, you could finish the courses needed to complete a degree, mathematically, at the end of a month's block, which is what happened in my case) and was in a restaurant in O'Hare Airport in Chicago waiting for a connecting flight home. Everyone was talking about it; picked up a paper, too, and saw the headlines. But I'm surprised that you didn't hear about it for so long, Curtis (unless you mixed up the dates and were going home about the same time I was...then it would make sense). Although I had left MIU right then and don't know what the discussion level or reaction was on- campus, I used to frequent the MIU library every day and read the newspapers. I was always au courant regarding world events. I would have to imagine that it would take just one person reading about Jonestown to get the discussion started at MIU and that it would be on the lips of everyone, everywhere: dining hall, class, on the walkways between classes, etc. I simply can't understand how you could possibly have missed the discussion while at MIU. Were you in a clique or cocoon where you had blinders on? Or was MIU so removed from reality that we wouldn't have discussed such a thing? That would be ultimate denial. Certainly there was not a real focus on current events that didn't prove how magically wonderful we all were, and how we were fixing the whole wide world with our eyes wide shut. No need to even think about the problems on the level of the problems right? But some of my classmates went to the library and read the paper, although it didn't dominate dinner conversations. (Oh yeah, I was often in silent dining where the level of flirting meaningful glances was most intense.) It was years later when I saw the films and heard the eerie audio of the event, quickly, quickly, children and saw the aerial photos of the bloated bodies making it all look like a fat camp nap time. I began to understand the horror my dad must have felt with his son coming back each holiday with increasingly strange habits and the odd confidence I had in making absurd, parroted claims. Did ya know that scientists have found out that a super cooled piece of metal will become coherent? Blanks stares from my parents. Well I continued, this is exactly what happens when we meditate, our minds become coherent as the activity settles down. The silence only broken by the clinking of ice in martini glasses as they contemplated their son being photoed from above with all of MIU strewn around the campus like an explosion at the Cabbage Patch doll factory... I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Curtis, I continue to read your posts, and the below is one of your best wisdom nutshells. With a palpable poignancy, with an economy of words that stuns, it sums for so many meditators the estrangement between family and cultist. With my parents now gone, memories of my part in this divide still can bring a scalding rush of blood to my winching face. One meme that still is so useful for all of us is tender feeling level. It was one of the movement's real and valuable gifts to us -- who now doesn't know that all humans have a feeling-ometer that has the precision of a psychological GPS device? Who doesn't instantly feel it when a chilly wind blows through a conversation and everyone knows the dialog has died? The silence in a room when all spines are crimping is a common experience. It is a moment of to be or not to be. How rarely have I broken through such a wall and reestablished intimacy when indulging in egoic denial is so alluring -- the not-to-be choice has such power, eh? To stand in that silence and await the waning of the emotion's power is a challenge for only the sanest of us to attempt. Thank you for giving us this report with such a truth loving heart. Your last sentence is simply devastating. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. My where were you when memory of Rev. Jim's Cool-aid party (what would we do without that phrase?) was being driven home from the airport by my dad on Christmas break. He asked me what I thought of what happened in Guyana. Thoreau once wrote that if you have read one newspaper you have read them all, a war over here, man eaten by a crocodile over there...he had me convinced that I should only read the eternal verities, things which would not change...which I interpreted to mean all things TM, scriptures and writings from philosophers. Needless to say I had experienced a total media blackout at MIU and knew NOTHING about the shocking events. After a feeble attempt to change the subject my dad began to realize that his son, who he was already fearing was knee deep in a cult, hadn't heard of any of it. Did they keep the news away from you, he asked suspiciously? His alarm grew in leaps and bounds as his world events quiz revealed a total lack of outside information. I can't blame MIU, I was hyper focused by choice. Certainly there was not a real focus on current events that didn't prove how magically wonderful we all were, and how we were fixing the whole wide world with our eyes wide shut. No need to even think about the problems on the level of the problems right? But some of my classmates went to the library and read the paper, although it didn't dominate dinner conversations. (Oh yeah, I was often in silent dining where the level of flirting meaningful glances was most intense.) It was years later when I saw the films and heard the eerie audio of the event, quickly, quickly, children and saw the aerial photos of the bloated bodies making it all look like a fat camp nap time. I began to understand the horror my dad must have felt with his son coming back each holiday with increasingly strange habits and the odd confidence I had in making absurd, parroted claims. Did ya know that scientists have found out that a super cooled piece of metal will become coherent? Blanks stares from my parents. Well I continued, this is exactly what happens when we meditate, our minds become coherent as the activity settles down. The silence only broken by the clinking of ice in martini glasses as they contemplated their son being photoed from above with all of MIU strewn around the campus like an explosion at the Cabbage Patch doll factory... I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
I simply can't understand how you could possibly have missed the discussion while at MIU. Were you in a clique or cocoon where you had blinders on? Spend any time talking to a 20 year old lately? I encounter kids with my own brand of cluelessness. I did run with a philosophy major group who where more interested with Plato than the news. I probably did hear something about it but not in enough detail to link it to a question about Guyana. We weren't exactly focusing on negativity back then. I attribute it to the Palin effect of being so focused on my local concerns that I didn't spend much time on the lower 48... lokas that is! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. My where were you when memory of Rev. Jim's Cool-aid party (what would we do without that phrase?) was being driven home from the airport by my dad on Christmas break. He asked me what I thought of what happened in Guyana. Thoreau once wrote that if you have read one newspaper you have read them all, a war over here, man eaten by a crocodile over there...he had me convinced that I should only read the eternal verities, things which would not change...which I interpreted to mean all things TM, scriptures and writings from philosophers. Needless to say I had experienced a total media blackout at MIU and knew NOTHING about the shocking events. After a feeble attempt to change the subject my dad began to realize that his son, who he was already fearing was knee deep in a cult, hadn't heard of any of it. Did they keep the news away from you, he asked suspiciously? His alarm grew in leaps and bounds as his world events quiz revealed a total lack of outside information. I can't blame MIU, I was hyper focused by choice. No, you certainly can't blame MIU as Jonestown happened on November 18, 1978 and I presume Christmas break was sometime in December (probably starting a week before December 25th?). I remember where I was: I had just graduated MIU a few days before (with the block system, if you had transferring credits, you could finish the courses needed to complete a degree, mathematically, at the end of a month's block, which is what happened in my case) and was in a restaurant in O'Hare Airport in Chicago waiting for a connecting flight home. Everyone was talking about it; picked up a paper, too, and saw the headlines. But I'm surprised that you didn't hear about it for so long, Curtis (unless you mixed up the dates and were going home about the same time I was...then it would make sense). Although I had left MIU right then and don't know what the discussion level or reaction was on- campus, I used to frequent the MIU library every day and read the newspapers. I was always au courant regarding world events. I would have to imagine that it would take just one person reading about Jonestown to get the discussion started at MIU and that it would be on the lips of everyone, everywhere: dining hall, class, on the walkways between classes, etc. I simply can't understand how you could possibly have missed the discussion while at MIU. Were you in a clique or cocoon where you had blinders on? Or was MIU so removed from reality that we wouldn't have discussed such a thing? That would be ultimate denial. Certainly there was not a real focus on current events that didn't prove how magically wonderful we all were, and how we were fixing the whole wide world with our eyes wide shut. No need to even think about the problems on the level of the problems right? But some of my classmates went to the library and read the paper, although it didn't dominate dinner conversations. (Oh yeah, I was often in silent dining where the level of flirting meaningful glances was most intense.) It was years later when I saw the films and heard the eerie audio of the event, quickly, quickly, children and saw the aerial photos of the bloated bodies making it all look like a fat camp nap time. I began to understand the horror my dad must have felt with his son coming back each holiday with increasingly strange habits and the odd confidence I had in making absurd, parroted claims. Did ya know that scientists have found out that a super cooled piece of metal will become coherent? Blanks stares from my parents. Well I continued, this is exactly what happens when we meditate, our minds become coherent as the activity settles down. The silence only broken by the clinking of ice in martini glasses as they contemplated their son being photoed from above with all of MIU strewn around the campus like an explosion at the Cabbage Patch doll factory...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
I've often wondered how you are doing Edg. Nice to hear from you and many thanks for reading my stuff and taking the time to let me know something resonated. I hope your days are filled with Trikke-ing through the Fall leaves brother! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Curtis, I continue to read your posts, and the below is one of your best wisdom nutshells. With a palpable poignancy, with an economy of words that stuns, it sums for so many meditators the estrangement between family and cultist. With my parents now gone, memories of my part in this divide still can bring a scalding rush of blood to my winching face. One meme that still is so useful for all of us is tender feeling level. It was one of the movement's real and valuable gifts to us -- who now doesn't know that all humans have a feeling-ometer that has the precision of a psychological GPS device? Who doesn't instantly feel it when a chilly wind blows through a conversation and everyone knows the dialog has died? The silence in a room when all spines are crimping is a common experience. It is a moment of to be or not to be. How rarely have I broken through such a wall and reestablished intimacy when indulging in egoic denial is so alluring -- the not-to-be choice has such power, eh? To stand in that silence and await the waning of the emotion's power is a challenge for only the sanest of us to attempt. Thank you for giving us this report with such a truth loving heart. Your last sentence is simply devastating. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. My where were you when memory of Rev. Jim's Cool-aid party (what would we do without that phrase?) was being driven home from the airport by my dad on Christmas break. He asked me what I thought of what happened in Guyana. Thoreau once wrote that if you have read one newspaper you have read them all, a war over here, man eaten by a crocodile over there...he had me convinced that I should only read the eternal verities, things which would not change...which I interpreted to mean all things TM, scriptures and writings from philosophers. Needless to say I had experienced a total media blackout at MIU and knew NOTHING about the shocking events. After a feeble attempt to change the subject my dad began to realize that his son, who he was already fearing was knee deep in a cult, hadn't heard of any of it. Did they keep the news away from you, he asked suspiciously? His alarm grew in leaps and bounds as his world events quiz revealed a total lack of outside information. I can't blame MIU, I was hyper focused by choice. Certainly there was not a real focus on current events that didn't prove how magically wonderful we all were, and how we were fixing the whole wide world with our eyes wide shut. No need to even think about the problems on the level of the problems right? But some of my classmates went to the library and read the paper, although it didn't dominate dinner conversations. (Oh yeah, I was often in silent dining where the level of flirting meaningful glances was most intense.) It was years later when I saw the films and heard the eerie audio of the event, quickly, quickly, children and saw the aerial photos of the bloated bodies making it all look like a fat camp nap time. I began to understand the horror my dad must have felt with his son coming back each holiday with increasingly strange habits and the odd confidence I had in making absurd, parroted claims. Did ya know that scientists have found out that a super cooled piece of metal will become coherent? Blanks stares from my parents. Well I continued, this is exactly what happens when we meditate, our minds become coherent as the activity settles down. The silence only broken by the clinking of ice in martini glasses as they contemplated their son being photoed from above with all of MIU strewn around the campus like an explosion at the Cabbage Patch doll factory... I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. In a post back in June, I quoted an alt.m.t post from John Knapp of Trancenet (and lately of the TMFree blog) concerning the purported reaction of his TTCC to news of Jonestown, in the context of some hysterical press releases he'd sent out about one of MMY's projects to send TM teachers to third world countries, which he repeatedly warned was likely to turn into another Jonestown. Here it is again, along with my comments. Knapp wrote: (As fate would have it, the Guyana massacre happened during my Teacher Training Phase III. I remember we all held our breath when the TV anchorman announced a massacre among a religious community in Central America. Was he talking about the Maharishi's World Peace Project? Many of us had TM governor friends in Central America at that very moment, rounding to save the world from nuclear disaster.) The World Peace Project Knapp refers to involved groups of TM-Sidhis practitioners going to various trouble spots (Nicaragua for one) to do their program together. The TMers weren't there to save the world from nuclear disaster, but rather with the goal of calming down ongoing local hostilities. Nor, of course, were Knapp and his TTC buddies holding their breaths because they feared a Jonestown-like tragedy among the TMers in Nicaragua. Rather, they were concerned that the TMers might have become innocent casualties of the fighting--a very real possibility which, thankfully, did not occur.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
As I was reading your list, Raunchydog, I kept going back and forth in my mind whether each point was referring to the TMO or the Obama Cult. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Cult Watch 10 Points to look out for in your group members 1.Obsession about group or the leader putting it above most other considerations. 2.Member's individual identity becomes increasingly fused with the group, the leader and/or God followed by the group.Cloning of the group members or leader's personal behaviors. 3.Emotional overreaction when the group or leader is criticized. Seen as evil persecution. 4.Belief that the group is THE WAY and they have a mission 5.Increasing dependency upon the group or leader for problem solving, explanations, definitions and analysis, and corresponding decline in real, independent thought. 6.Excessive hyperactivity and work for the group or leader, at the expense of private or family interests. Drifting away from family and old friends 7.Preparedness to blindly follow the group or leader and defend actions or statements without seeking independent verification. 8.Demonization of former members or members of alternative groups. 9.Desire to be praised for doing the right thing and fear of public rebuke 10.Unhealthy wish to be seen with or aligned publicly with the leader(s) of the group http://tinyurl.com/6e4ad4 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: a friend of mine from Canada was in Guyana at the time teaching TM. The parents of one of the other TM teachers from Canada was so freaked out she called the RCMP. A propos of a previous posting, my friend says that the government there continually accused them of being CIA agents. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When this happened, I was in Iran on the World Peace Project/Minister Training Course. I was fascinated with this and skipped the evening meeting to read the TIME Magazine cover story about it. My course buddies freaked out because I was in someone else¹s room and they couldn¹t find me and figured I might have been kidnapped or something. on 11/18/03 11:26 AM, Captain Mars at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear Friends: Interesting segment on TV this morning, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the tragedy in Jonestown. Reminding uss that more than 900 followers committed suicide or were murdered under the orders of the cult leader, Jim Jones. Reports indicate Jones suffered from paranoia and, among other things, thought the CIA had infiltrated his organization. CM
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Duveyoung Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 10:15 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown Curtis, I continue to read your posts, and the below is one of your best wisdom nutshells. I agree. I emailed Curtis privately to suggest that he write a book, perhaps about his spiritual odyssey. I think he could do it with a lot of humor and wisdom and it would sell well. He's a great writer and is wasting his time selling real estate. Singing Delta Blues definitely not a waste though.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. My where were you when memory of Rev. Jim's Cool-aid party (what would we do without that phrase?) was being driven home from the airport by my dad on Christmas break. He asked me what I thought of what happened in Guyana. Thoreau once wrote that if you have read one newspaper you have read them all, a war over here, man eaten by a crocodile over there...he had me convinced that I should only read the eternal verities, things which would not change...which I interpreted to mean all things TM, scriptures and writings from philosophers. Needless to say I had experienced a total media blackout at MIU and knew NOTHING about the shocking events. After a feeble attempt to change the subject my dad began to realize that his son, who he was already fearing was knee deep in a cult, hadn't heard of any of it. Did they keep the news away from you, he asked suspiciously? His alarm grew in leaps and bounds as his world events quiz revealed a total lack of outside information. I can't blame MIU, I was hyper focused by choice. Certainly there was not a real focus on current events that didn't prove how magically wonderful we all were, and how we were fixing the whole wide world with our eyes wide shut. No need to even think about the problems on the level of the problems right? But some of my classmates went to the library and read the paper, although it didn't dominate dinner conversations. (Oh yeah, I was often in silent dining where the level of flirting meaningful glances was most intense.) It was years later when I saw the films and heard the eerie audio of the event, quickly, quickly, children and saw the aerial photos of the bloated bodies making it all look like a fat camp nap time. I began to understand the horror my dad must have felt with his son coming back each holiday with increasingly strange habits and the odd confidence I had in making absurd, parroted claims. Did ya know that scientists have found out that a super cooled piece of metal will become coherent? Blanks stares from my parents. Well I continued, this is exactly what happens when we meditate, our minds become coherent as the activity settles down. The silence only broken by the clinking of ice in martini glasses as they contemplated their son being photoed from above with all of MIU strewn around the campus like an explosion at the Cabbage Patch doll factory... I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I simply can't understand how you could possibly have missed the discussion while at MIU. Were you in a clique or cocoon where you had blinders on? Spend any time talking to a 20 year old lately? I encounter kids with my own brand of cluelessness. I've got Curtis's cluelessness as a 20-year-old beat by a mile, and I wasn't even at MIU, I was at Oberlin, which has a long history of very active concern with current affairs. I missed the Cuban missile crisis. Completely. It happened the first semester of my senior year. I can't now recall when I found out about it, but it was well after my graduation the following spring-- What 'Cuban missile crisis'? What are you talking about? I literally had no idea. It seems impossible, because it would have been *the* major topic of conversation on campus, and it would have at least been mentioned, I should think, in most classes. I was heavily involved in extracurricular theater, so I was most likely wrapped up in some upcoming production, and the theater crowd I ran with was pretty cocooned, but still...! My roommate wasn't involved in theater; wouldn't she have mentioned it? Wouldn't I have heard about it during meals at the dorm? Could I possibly have heard people talking about an imminent nuclear war with Russia and *not registered it*? Mind-boggling.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've often wondered how you are doing Edg. Nice to hear from you and many thanks for reading my stuff and taking the time to let me know something resonated. I hope your days are filled with Trikke-ing through the Fall leaves brother! Oh, Jesus. Don't encourage him, Curtis. He'll likely not only kill himself but I suspect that some child will be buried under a pile of leaves (as children are wont to do playing with autumn leaves) and he'll drive his goddamn Trikke-Death-Trap right over the poor little tykes. It's one thing to want to kill yourself, Edge of Wetness, with that crazy contraption; it's quite another to start taking the lives of innocent children! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung no_reply@ wrote: Curtis, I continue to read your posts, and the below is one of your best wisdom nutshells. With a palpable poignancy, with an economy of words that stuns, it sums for so many meditators the estrangement between family and cultist. With my parents now gone, memories of my part in this divide still can bring a scalding rush of blood to my winching face. One meme that still is so useful for all of us is tender feeling level. It was one of the movement's real and valuable gifts to us -- who now doesn't know that all humans have a feeling-ometer that has the precision of a psychological GPS device? Who doesn't instantly feel it when a chilly wind blows through a conversation and everyone knows the dialog has died? The silence in a room when all spines are crimping is a common experience. It is a moment of to be or not to be. How rarely have I broken through such a wall and reestablished intimacy when indulging in egoic denial is so alluring -- the not-to-be choice has such power, eh? To stand in that silence and await the waning of the emotion's power is a challenge for only the sanest of us to attempt. Thank you for giving us this report with such a truth loving heart. Your last sentence is simply devastating. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. My where were you when memory of Rev. Jim's Cool-aid party (what would we do without that phrase?) was being driven home from the airport by my dad on Christmas break. He asked me what I thought of what happened in Guyana. Thoreau once wrote that if you have read one newspaper you have read them all, a war over here, man eaten by a crocodile over there...he had me convinced that I should only read the eternal verities, things which would not change...which I interpreted to mean all things TM, scriptures and writings from philosophers. Needless to say I had experienced a total media blackout at MIU and knew NOTHING about the shocking events. After a feeble attempt to change the subject my dad began to realize that his son, who he was already fearing was knee deep in a cult, hadn't heard of any of it. Did they keep the news away from you, he asked suspiciously? His alarm grew in leaps and bounds as his world events quiz revealed a total lack of outside information. I can't blame MIU, I was hyper focused by choice. Certainly there was not a real focus on current events that didn't prove how magically wonderful we all were, and how we were fixing the whole wide world with our eyes wide shut. No need to even think about the problems on the level of the problems right? But some of my classmates went to the library and read the paper, although it didn't dominate dinner conversations. (Oh yeah, I was often in silent dining where the level of flirting meaningful glances was most intense.) It was years later when I saw the films and heard the eerie audio of the event, quickly, quickly, children and saw the aerial photos of the bloated bodies making it all look like a fat camp nap time. I began to understand the horror my dad must have felt with his son coming back each holiday with increasingly strange habits and the odd confidence I had in making absurd, parroted claims. Did ya know that scientists have found out that a super cooled piece of metal will become coherent? Blanks stares from my parents. Well I continued, this is exactly what happens when we meditate, our minds become coherent as the activity settles down. The silence only broken by the clinking of ice in martini glasses as they contemplated their son being photoed from above with all of MIU strewn around the campus like an explosion at the Cabbage Patch doll factory... I was in Iran on the world peace project when it
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [snip] I've got Curtis's cluelessness as a 20-year-old beat by a mile, and I wasn't even at MIU, I was at Oberlin, I simply can't understand how anyone can name an institution of higher learning after a Hollywood starlette. Certainly The Dark Angel was a great film and her acting was outstanding, but still...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Jonathan Chadwick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When we invaded Iraq MMY went on Larry King and said that those perpetrating the killing were going to hell. When the Buddhist monks in Vietnam burned themselves up he said it was a foolish waste of life. So to suggest that gloating a bit sums his reaction to human tragedy seems a bit uncharitable. Are you saying that you don't think MMY gloated in that circumstance? That perhaps Rick is not reporting MMY's reaction fairly? If so, I would remind you of the callous and outrageous reaction he had to Shuvender Sem's murder of Levi Butler: he blamed it on society at large, didn't he (can't remember exactly as I'm going on memory)? And negative collective consciousness or something like that? What I am sure of is that he didn't take any responsibility himself. That's pretty heartless considering that his very own policies may have contributed to the murder. So I don't doubt for a second the veracity of Rick's reporting. --- On Mon, 11/10/08, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [FairfieldLife] Jonestown To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, November 10, 2008, 8:53 AM This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This week is the 30th anniversary of Jonestown. I was in Iran on the world peace project when it happened and my buddies freaked out when I went missing one night. I didn't show up for a meeting because I was in a friend's room reading about the incident in his TIME magazine. When we got back to Switzerland Maharishi commented that a Christian cult had committed suicide. He was gloating a bit, as he was pissed at the fundamentalists for opposing TM in the schools, etc., and he was lumping the Jonestown cult in with them. A year or two later, MMY send a small delegation to Guyana to ask government officials there to give land and support for a Sidhaland in the jungle. The government bureaucrat's reaction was basically, Are you nuts? Don't you know what we've been through down here? Actually, at the time that Jonestown happened, there was a delegation of Canadian TM teachers who had been living in Guyana teaching TM for about a year. One of them -- a Peter somebody, I think, can't remember his name at the moment -- came from a well-to-do family in Montreal. When his mother heard about Jonestown -- knowing that her son was currently living and working with a cult in Guyana -- she totally freaked out and contacted the RCMP to see what happened to her son (this was before cell phones where one could just phone your son no matter where he was in the world and he could pick up right away). Don't know what the upshot of all of it was, though. Curleigh King was involved with those TM teachers, visiting them on occasion and co-ordinating things between them and the government who, of course, the TMers were courting. I think a principle that holds true for TM and their relationships with governments is: the smaller and more insignificant a country, the more chance TM operatives actually have of contacting and working with a country's government. And Guyana was no exception. At the time, Guyana was run by a Marxist government (or one sympathetic to Marxism) and until Jonestown happened I believed the TMers were making inroads. Ironically, the TM teachers were often accused of being CIA by the government. I say ironically because this was around the time that MMY developed his paranoia about CIA operatives infiltrating the TMO.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [snip] I've got Curtis's cluelessness as a 20-year-old beat by a mile, and I wasn't even at MIU, I was at Oberlin, I simply can't understand how anyone can name an institution of higher learning after a Hollywood starlette. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._F._Oberlin
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Ironically, the TM teachers were often accused of being CIA by the government. I say ironically because this was around the time that MMY developed his paranoia about CIA operatives infiltrating the TMO. Paranoia ? It was a fact. I personally know one fellow, now on Purusha, who worked for CIA: he was caught redhanded with envelopes of reports. Maharishi asked him if he would give it up and he said yes. This is now about 30 years ago and his involvement with the CIA was never mentioned later. Apparently Maharishi simply said he should just forget about it. And the two crew-cut and armed with pistols americans caught on the bridge to the Kulm in 1976 did not come from the Salvation Army. Nor the fellows who called Indian Mayors just before the visit from the group later to become american Purusha in 1982 and warned them about a very dangerous group which was about to vist their towns. Info only a few Purusha-fellows would have. The list of inscidents is long. Very long.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [snip] I've got Curtis's cluelessness as a 20-year-old beat by a mile, and I wasn't even at MIU, I was at Oberlin, I simply can't understand how anyone can name an institution of higher learning after a Hollywood starlette. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._F._Oberlin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Oberon
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
It's like I won the lottery of kudos today! Thanks Rick. I haven't sold homes since '89. Mortgage banking carried me till a few years ago when I turned my part-time music business into full time. My life's mission now is preserving 20's and 30's acoustic blues, and performing in educational settings where the historical details can be appreciated. About six years ago I took a wonderful adult ed creative nonfiction course, learning to use fiction techniques in telling non fiction stories. As my project I used my Maharishi years and wrote many chapters. I only re-wrote a few, and as we all know, writing IS re-writing. I even had a working title: I Was a Ventriloquist for the Maharishi referring in part of its double meaning to my time in Sidhaland performing ventriloquist bus and bicycle safety shows in schools to make money for the Florida Academy in Avon Park. It kept me out of the hot sun picking oranges with migrants which was many other sidha's fate at the time when National cut us off financially and we had to fend for ourselves. I haven't really settled on a coherent angle other than a coming of age story for people my age who go into a spiritual group. Hard to compete with Monkey on a Stick serving up murder in their narrative! So the project is on hold till I figure out what aspect of my experience would be worth the work. I don't have any delusions about it getting published. I have a close friend whose book just came out from Bantam at Random House called Stalking Irish Madness, searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia, so I've had a front row seat on what it takes. (his book is fantastic) http://tinyurl.com/5l6jt3 Basically I would have to be as passionate about the value of this project as I am about preserving acoustic Delta blues and I really can't see that happening any time soon. If you start with the assumption that 90% of the value of writing about my experiences is to help me sort out my own feelings and perspectives, then FFL serves that need very nicely. Thanks for that! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Duveyoung Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 10:15 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown Curtis, I continue to read your posts, and the below is one of your best wisdom nutshells. I agree. I emailed Curtis privately to suggest that he write a book, perhaps about his spiritual odyssey. I think he could do it with a lot of humor and wisdom and it would sell well. He's a great writer and is wasting his time selling real estate. Singing Delta Blues definitely not a waste though.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: Ironically, the TM teachers were often accused of being CIA by the government. I say ironically because this was around the time that MMY developed his paranoia about CIA operatives infiltrating the TMO. Paranoia ? It was a fact. I personally know one fellow, now on Purusha, who worked for CIA: he was caught redhanded with envelopes of reports. Oh, really, Cult Member #203847. Pray tell, what is his name? Maharishi asked him if he would give it up and he said yes. This is now about 30 years ago and his involvement with the CIA was never mentioned later. Apparently Maharishi simply said he should just forget about it. How convenient. And the two crew-cut and armed with pistols americans caught on the bridge to the Kulm in 1976 did not come from the Salvation Army. Okay. So you allege that the CIA -- operatives and employees of a foreign government -- violated the sovereignty of Switzerland, an obvious and serious crime. Where and when was this reported, please. Nor the fellows who called Indian Mayors just before the visit from the group later to become american Purusha in 1982 and warned them about a very dangerous group which was about to vist their towns. Info only a few Purusha-fellows would have. The list of inscidents is long. Very long. Okay, then, if the list is long, very long it shouldn't be too difficult for you to come up with, say, 5 more incidents. Cite them, please, with accompanying docuementation of their veracity. I thank you in advance for responding to my requests for information, Nabby
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of curtisdeltablues Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:04 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown If you start with the assumption that 90% of the value of writing about my experiences is to help me sort out my own feelings and perspectives, then FFL serves that need very nicely. Thanks for that! Maybe someday you should take all your FFL writings and make them into a book. You've written some stuff here that deserves a wider audience. Nice to hear that you're full-time on the music. I thought you were doing real estate to pay the bills.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Sahemp: Oh, really, Cult Member #203847. Pray tell, what is his name? Yeah, getting out of the CIA when you have been working as an undercover operative is just like getting off an email list. You just check the box for: no more CIA contact and they just leave you alone from that point on. It's just that simple! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: Ironically, the TM teachers were often accused of being CIA by the government. I say ironically because this was around the time that MMY developed his paranoia about CIA operatives infiltrating the TMO. Paranoia ? It was a fact. I personally know one fellow, now on Purusha, who worked for CIA: he was caught redhanded with envelopes of reports. Oh, really, Cult Member #203847. Pray tell, what is his name? Maharishi asked him if he would give it up and he said yes. This is now about 30 years ago and his involvement with the CIA was never mentioned later. Apparently Maharishi simply said he should just forget about it. How convenient. And the two crew-cut and armed with pistols americans caught on the bridge to the Kulm in 1976 did not come from the Salvation Army. Okay. So you allege that the CIA -- operatives and employees of a foreign government -- violated the sovereignty of Switzerland, an obvious and serious crime. Where and when was this reported, please. Nor the fellows who called Indian Mayors just before the visit from the group later to become american Purusha in 1982 and warned them about a very dangerous group which was about to vist their towns. Info only a few Purusha-fellows would have. The list of inscidents is long. Very long. Okay, then, if the list is long, very long it shouldn't be too difficult for you to come up with, say, 5 more incidents. Cite them, please, with accompanying docuementation of their veracity. I thank you in advance for responding to my requests for information, Nabby
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It's like I won the lottery of kudos today! Thanks Rick. I haven't sold homes since '89. Mortgage banking carried me till a few years ago when I turned my part-time music business into full time. My life's mission now is preserving 20's and 30's acoustic blues, and performing in educational settings where the historical details can be appreciated. About six years ago I took a wonderful adult ed creative nonfiction course, learning to use fiction techniques in telling non fiction stories. As my project I used my Maharishi years and wrote many chapters. I only re-wrote a few, and as we all know, writing IS re-writing. I even had a working title: I Was a Ventriloquist for the Maharishi referring in part of its double meaning to my time in Sidhaland performing ventriloquist bus and bicycle safety shows in schools to make money for the Florida Academy in Avon Park. It kept me out of the hot sun picking oranges with migrants which was many other sidha's fate at the time when National cut us off financially and we had to fend for ourselves. I haven't really settled on a coherent angle other than a coming of age story for people my age who go into a spiritual group. Hard to compete with Monkey on a Stick serving up murder in their narrative! So the project is on hold till I figure out what aspect of my experience would be worth the work. I don't have any delusions about it getting published. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: 1) Self-publish. Costs in quantities of more than 1,000 about $2.00 apiece. 2) Set up a website from which you sell the book (Yahoo! has a great program for about $15.00 a month in which they will do the credit card processing for you as well as a template design for the site). Plus, add a button for PayPal. Amazon also has a program for self- publishers in which they'll sell your book themselves and put you and your book into their database so that it will come up on their search. 3) Charge $25.00 a copy, plus $4.95 shipping and handling (that way you can say you sell your book for $25.00 a copy but you net $26.00 a copy! Quite irrational-sounding but quite true!). 4) From just the niche-cult demographic, you're good to sell at least 1,000 copies (for a net profit of about $26,000.00 even after considering per-cost printing, credit card fees, postage, and envelopes). By using word-of-mouth and mentions on online forums (such as this one), you won't have to pay for advertising and marketing (at least for the initial 1,000 sales). From advertising, you can get a whole other secondary market. 5) So when are you starting, Bub? I'm looking at my copy of Galaxy of Fire by the late Jay Latham and if I'm understanding what his publisher Sunstar is, it appears to be a Vanity Press. But there are dozens of online places that will do it real cheap. I have a close friend whose book just came out from Bantam at Random House called Stalking Irish Madness, searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia, so I've had a front row seat on what it takes. (his book is fantastic) http://tinyurl.com/5l6jt3 Basically I would have to be as passionate about the value of this project as I am about preserving acoustic Delta blues and I really can't see that happening any time soon. If you start with the assumption that 90% of the value of writing about my experiences is to help me sort out my own feelings and perspectives, then FFL serves that need very nicely. Thanks for that! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Duveyoung Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 10:15 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown Curtis, I continue to read your posts, and the below is one of your best wisdom nutshells. I agree. I emailed Curtis privately to suggest that he write a book, perhaps about his spiritual odyssey. I think he could do it with a lot of humor and wisdom and it would sell well. He's a great writer and is wasting his time selling real estate. Singing Delta Blues definitely not a waste though.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip Maybe someday you should take all your FFL writings and make them into a book. FFL is like a living book project for all of us collectively isn't it? There are so many good writers laying down interesting stuff. I don't know if any of my contributions stand alone without the back and forth with other writers. But if I am laying anything down that you enjoy reading, thanks! You've written some stuff here that deserves a wider audience. Nice to hear that you're full-time on the music. I thought you were doing real estate to pay the bills. Right when I started posting here, I was transitioning into fulltime music. I thought I could keep my mortgage Website going as a part time income source, but quickly found out that both worlds needed all of me so I made my choice for what really moves me and haven't looked back since. I made some small sacrifices like moving into da hood to match my expenses to my income and its been working out so far. I would be more interested in a book by you about your personal time with Maharishi. If you start with the assumption that 90% of the value of writing about my experiences is to help me sort out my own feelings and perspectives, then FFL serves that need very nicely. Thanks for that! Maybe someday you should take all your FFL writings and make them into a book. You've written some stuff here that deserves a wider audience. Nice to hear that you're full-time on the music. I thought you were doing real estate to pay the bills.
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of curtisdeltablues Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:24 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown I would be more interested in a book by you about your personal time with Maharishi. I lack your writing talent. Maybe somebody should put together a Best of FFL book.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: It's like I won the lottery of kudos today! Thanks Rick. I haven't sold homes since '89. Mortgage banking carried me till a few years ago when I turned my part-time music business into full time. My life's mission now is preserving 20's and 30's acoustic blues, and performing in educational settings where the historical details can be appreciated. About six years ago I took a wonderful adult ed creative nonfiction course, learning to use fiction techniques in telling non fiction stories. As my project I used my Maharishi years and wrote many chapters. I only re-wrote a few, and as we all know, writing IS re-writing. I even had a working title: I Was a Ventriloquist for the Maharishi referring in part of its double meaning to my time in Sidhaland performing ventriloquist bus and bicycle safety shows in schools to make money for the Florida Academy in Avon Park. It kept me out of the hot sun picking oranges with migrants which was many other sidha's fate at the time when National cut us off financially and we had to fend for ourselves. I haven't really settled on a coherent angle other than a coming of age story for people my age who go into a spiritual group. Hard to compete with Monkey on a Stick serving up murder in their narrative! So the project is on hold till I figure out what aspect of my experience would be worth the work. I don't have any delusions about it getting published. Right, who would buy and read such utter nonsense anyway ? What you need in your desperate attempt to make a few dollars from you life as a Sidha somewhere, as a sideshow to your playing the Hillbilly music to other intellectually challenged white trash, is some juicy rumours from your friend Rick Archer. I'm sure he will be happy to contribute. Doesn't matter if the content is utter lies or whatever, it will perhaps be good on the backsleeve of your book and perhaps even add a few sales ?! Just a thought.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
On Nov 10, 2008, at 1:23 PM, curtisdeltablues wrote: I would be more interested in a book by you about your personal time with Maharishi. Or you could even do an Anthology of sorts with a different person writing each section or chapter.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: snip I don't have any delusions about it getting published. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: 1) Self-publish. Costs in quantities of more than 1,000 about $2.00 apiece. Shemp's absolutely right. Self-publishing is entirely respectable these days, with the advent of digital printing and print-on-demand. It's no longer considered vanity publishing. It's perfectly suited for a niche book, one with a limited potential market, as this one would be, but there's a wide variety of promotional opportunities on the Web, most of them at no cost. Check with Paul Mason, who wrote the Maharishi biography and maintains the Guru Dev Web site, who used to post here, for some ideas. Promoting a self-published book *does* take a lot of work, so you'd have to make a commitment to it; but if you were willing to do that, there'd be no delusion involved whatsoever about getting it published *and* sold.
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of nablusoss1008 Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:37 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown Right, who would buy and read such utter nonsense anyway ? What you need in your desperate attempt to make a few dollars from you life as a Sidha somewhere, as a sideshow to your playing the Hillbilly music to other intellectually challenged white trash, is some juicy rumours from your friend Rick Archer. I'm sure he will be happy to contribute. Doesn't matter if the content is utter lies or whatever, it will perhaps be good on the backsleeve of your book and perhaps even add a few sales ?! Just a thought. Hey, here's a book idea: The Best of Nabby. It would have a tragicomic theme, showing how humorous cult mentality can be when taken to extremes. Gems of nastiness whose master often said speak the truth which is sweet.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When we invaded Iraq MMY went on Larry King and said that those perpetrating the killing were going to hell. When the Buddhist monks in Vietnam burned themselves up he said it was a foolish waste of life. So to suggest that gloating a bit sums his reaction to human tragedy seems a bit uncharitable. I was in the room when he said it. He didn't seem remorseful. He was more concerned about how it might impact the TMO (increased fear of cults) than about the lives lost. One might ask; why on earth should Maharishi be remorseful about the lost lives of these persons when they will soon arrive with new bodies ready for again to make fools of themselves ? You have learned nothing still you boast of your proximity to Him. I was in the room etc.. What an utter joke.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of curtisdeltablues Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:24 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown I would be more interested in a book by you about your personal time with Maharishi. I lack your writing talent. Maybe somebody should put together a Best of FFL book. I forget the guy's name, but a '70s MIU-era TMer who came back to Fairfield a few years ago wrote a book about his experience. Part of that experience was mentioning FFL (and Rick Archer, natch) and he did what I would call a mini best of FFL by producing several posting, in part. In fact, he picked up on what I would say is one of the best postings done here and reproduced much of it in his book. I'm referring to someone named Guy Banner who posted on his experience of Maharishi performing what I would call a sort of Shaktipat on him by getting his celibacy-fed kundalini to rise: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/55103
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [snip] Right, who would buy and read such utter nonsense anyway ? What you need in your desperate attempt to make a few dollars from you life as a Sidha somewhere, as a sideshow to your playing the Hillbilly music to other intellectually challenged white trash, is some juicy rumours from your friend Rick Archer. I'm sure he will be happy to contribute. Doesn't matter if the content is utter lies or whatever, it will perhaps be good on the backsleeve of your book and perhaps even add a few sales ?! Just a thought. Here's a book that Nabby appears in:
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Good advise Shemp and Judy. I have looked into self publishing for some of my other book ideas for niche topics. Unknown published writers make about a dollar a book, which means you have to sell a wagon load to make any money. I have had success with this model with my 2 CDs. By creating and selling them myself I have a decent supplement to my performance income. I love huckstering my own shit and getting paid for it! At this stage in my life I might be more inclined to write about my experiences performing, particularly busking experiences. The angle would be about midlife career change and rolling your dreams at whatever level you can right now, instead of waiting to be discovered. About 13 years ago I started performing that way and it changed my life. I started making more money outside the club scene in a much more wholesome environment. I've written a few chapters to explore the idea. The main thing for me is that writing itself nourishes me and that is what has kept me hooked on FFL. It stimulates me to write almost every day and that adds up to greater confidence whenever I express my self in writing. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: snip I don't have any delusions about it getting published. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: 1) Self-publish. Costs in quantities of more than 1,000 about $2.00 apiece. Shemp's absolutely right. Self-publishing is entirely respectable these days, with the advent of digital printing and print-on-demand. It's no longer considered vanity publishing. It's perfectly suited for a niche book, one with a limited potential market, as this one would be, but there's a wide variety of promotional opportunities on the Web, most of them at no cost. Check with Paul Mason, who wrote the Maharishi biography and maintains the Guru Dev Web site, who used to post here, for some ideas. Promoting a self-published book *does* take a lot of work, so you'd have to make a commitment to it; but if you were willing to do that, there'd be no delusion involved whatsoever about getting it published *and* sold.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Nabby: Right, who would buy and read such utter nonsense anyway ? What you need in your desperate attempt to make a few dollars from you life as a Sidha somewhere, as a sideshow to your playing the Hillbilly music to other intellectually challenged white trash, is some juicy rumours from your friend Rick Archer. I'm sure he will be happy to contribute. Doesn't matter if the content is utter lies or whatever, it will perhaps be good on the backsleeve of your book and perhaps even add a few sales ?! Just a thought. You are a sad, bitter little troll aren't you Nabby. As Louis Armstrong wrote: you blows what you is, and everything you write reveals what is in your shriveled heart. I sentence you to being yourself, for the rest of your life Nabby. A dark void trying to suck the joy out of other people's lives, in a vain attempt to fill the emptiness. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: It's like I won the lottery of kudos today! Thanks Rick. I haven't sold homes since '89. Mortgage banking carried me till a few years ago when I turned my part-time music business into full time. My life's mission now is preserving 20's and 30's acoustic blues, and performing in educational settings where the historical details can be appreciated. About six years ago I took a wonderful adult ed creative nonfiction course, learning to use fiction techniques in telling non fiction stories. As my project I used my Maharishi years and wrote many chapters. I only re-wrote a few, and as we all know, writing IS re-writing. I even had a working title: I Was a Ventriloquist for the Maharishi referring in part of its double meaning to my time in Sidhaland performing ventriloquist bus and bicycle safety shows in schools to make money for the Florida Academy in Avon Park. It kept me out of the hot sun picking oranges with migrants which was many other sidha's fate at the time when National cut us off financially and we had to fend for ourselves. I haven't really settled on a coherent angle other than a coming of age story for people my age who go into a spiritual group. Hard to compete with Monkey on a Stick serving up murder in their narrative! So the project is on hold till I figure out what aspect of my experience would be worth the work. I don't have any delusions about it getting published. Right, who would buy and read such utter nonsense anyway ? What you need in your desperate attempt to make a few dollars from you life as a Sidha somewhere, as a sideshow to your playing the Hillbilly music to other intellectually challenged white trash, is some juicy rumours from your friend Rick Archer. I'm sure he will be happy to contribute. Doesn't matter if the content is utter lies or whatever, it will perhaps be good on the backsleeve of your book and perhaps even add a few sales ?! Just a thought.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gems of nastiness whose master often said speak the truth which is sweet. I've said this before and I am not ashamed of saying it again; I definately have a lot to learn about being sweet. That said, when fellows like you unhestitantly not only spread the most poisenous rumors, but also in the process aspire to make money - are such persons inviting sweetness ? Perhaps I will be judged hard for being hard towards ruffians. I could not care less.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In fact, he picked up on what I would say is one of the best postings done here and reproduced much of it in his book. I'm referring to someone named Guy Banner who posted on his experience of Maharishi performing what I would call a sort of Shaktipat on him by getting his celibacy-fed kundalini to rise: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/55103 I remember this post as if it was yesterday. How utterly beautiful and perfectly normal interaction with the most generous Master of this age. From a sincere fellow so rare for FFL of today. Did he write a book ? Do you know the ISBN shemp ?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: In fact, he picked up on what I would say is one of the best postings done here and reproduced much of it in his book. I'm referring to someone named Guy Banner who posted on his experience of Maharishi performing what I would call a sort of Shaktipat on him by getting his celibacy-fed kundalini to rise: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/55103 I remember this post as if it was yesterday. How utterly beautiful and perfectly normal interaction with the most generous Master of this age. From a sincere fellow so rare for FFL of today. Did he write a book ? Do you know the ISBN shemp ? No, the fellow who told the experience in question didn't write the book; another person did who reproduced the written experience from FFL in his book. And I forget the author of the book and the book's title, although I'm sure Rick Archer would remember as he's in the book.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: No, the fellow who told the experience in question didn't write the book; another person did who reproduced the written experience from FFL in his book. And I forget the author of the book and the book's title, although I'm sure Rick Archer would remember. Shemp; please do not ask Rick Archer for facts. He and reality does not pair very well. Anyway; it's an utterly beautiful quote from a sincere and deserving soul who shared his blessings from Maharishi with us. It's a private experience ofcourse, and I'm not sure it should be published for all to read. It surely is not meant for Buddhists, cynics, or poor, dollarcraving Hillbillies. But since it is out; it's a gem. Thanks for reminding us !
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: No, the fellow who told the experience in question didn't write the book; another person did who reproduced the written experience from FFL in his book. And I forget the author of the book and the book's title, although I'm sure Rick Archer would remember. Shemp; please do not ask Rick Archer for facts. He and reality does not pair very well. Anyway; it's an utterly beautiful quote from a sincere and deserving soul who shared his blessings from Maharishi with us. It's a private experience ofcourse, and I'm not sure it should be published for all to read. It surely is not meant for Buddhists, cynics, or poor, dollarcraving Hillbillies. I could be wrong but I think Curtis hails from the lowland Clampetts. But since it is out; it's a gem. Thanks for reminding us !
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of nablusoss1008 Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:53 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown One might ask; why on earth should Maharishi be remorseful about the lost lives of these persons when they will soon arrive with new bodies ready for again to make fools of themselves ? So true. Kill Them All, Let God Sort Them Out!: http://www.hendersons.net/straitway/2001/03012001.htm
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of shempmcgurk Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:54 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of curtisdeltablues Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:24 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown I would be more interested in a book by you about your personal time with Maharishi. I lack your writing talent. Maybe somebody should put together a Best of FFL book. I forget the guy's name, but a '70s MIU-era TMer who came back to Fairfield a few years ago wrote a book about his experience. Part of that experience was mentioning FFL (and Rick Archer, natch) and he did what I would call a mini best of FFL by producing several posting, in part. Geoff Gilpin: http://www.geoffgilpin.com/
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of nablusoss1008 Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 1:08 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gems of nastiness whose master often said speak the truth which is sweet. I've said this before and I am not ashamed of saying it again; I definately have a lot to learn about being sweet. That said, when fellows like you unhestitantly not only spread the most poisenous rumors, but also in the process aspire to make money - are such persons inviting sweetness ? You certainly didn't learn much between your 1st 2nd paragraphs. Who's making money? Perhaps I will be judged hard for being hard towards ruffians. I could not care less. Ah, but you should. Unless you want to live your life as a complete hypocrite, violating some of Maharishi's most cherished teachings.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It's like I won the lottery of kudos today! Thanks Rick. Here's your bonus ball review, coming up. I haven't sold homes since '89. Mortgage banking carried me till a few years ago when I turned my part-time music business into full time. My life's mission now is preserving 20's and 30's acoustic blues, and performing in educational settings where the historical details can be appreciated. About six years ago I took a wonderful adult ed creative nonfiction course, learning to use fiction techniques in telling non fiction stories. As my project I used my Maharishi years and wrote many chapters. I only re-wrote a few, and as we all know, writing IS re-writing. I even had a working title: I Was a Ventriloquist for the Maharishi referring in part of its double meaning to my time in Sidhaland performing ventriloquist bus and bicycle safety shows in schools to make money for the Florida Academy in Avon Park. It kept me out of the hot sun picking oranges with migrants which was many other sidha's fate at the time when National cut us off financially and we had to fend for ourselves. I haven't really settled on a coherent angle other than a coming of age story for people my age who go into a spiritual group. Hard to compete with Monkey on a Stick serving up murder in their narrative! I am going to throw my support to Rick's idea as well, Curtis. As you know, I once wrote such a book. And it was like pulling my own teeth, let me tell you. But it was worth it, because I set out to, and to some extent I think succeeded, in writing a Seeker's Tale about my spiritual sadhana, as opposed to the crap that floods the spiritual market, which tends to be Teacher's Tales, As Seen By Their Students Who No Longer Have Any Discrimin- ation As A Result Of Time Spent With Their Master. You could write such a tale. You have the chops linguistically, you have the chops as a complete human being, and you have the distance on the subject matter to truly do it justice, without a great deal of emotionality and attachment enter- ing into the equation. I do not think I am alone here in rating you as one of the most balanced persons on Fairfield Life. Rick's name springs to mind when thinking of that category of award winner, but few others do. Mine certainly does not. Your experiences as a spiritual seeker in the cocoon of the TM movement deserve telling, as do your exper- iences of another kind continuing your search for meaning playing blues on the street. I have read your posts and I have listened deeply to your music and I think you're a Class A Mensch, my man. I would be the first in line to buy any book you wrote about your travels, both spiritual and mundane, and I would buy additional copies of it for friends for birthdays and at Christmas. So the project is on hold till I figure out what aspect of my experience would be worth the work. I don't have any delusions about it getting published. As for figuring it out, I can only recommend a reading of the first chapter of the book I wrote about my travels, both spiritual and mundane. It tells the story of how I finally figured out how to write it. It was not a short process. But it all finally came down to, Just start. Write a little each day, and at the end of a certain period of time you'll realize that you have a book. http://ramalila.net/RoadTripMind/rtm01.html
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Hey Turq, A writer's compliment from you is much appreciated. What's that I hear...I think I can hear Nabby's teeth grinding! Certainly from my journey on FFL anything I would write about my experiences in the movement would be kinder and gentler than what I would have written closer to the experiences. Processing things here has been very helpful personally. I did re-read your first chapter and enjoyed it the second time. The advice about getting it rolling is simple and profound and I did enjoy reading your experiences in the later sections. You caught the right tone to keep the reader identifying with you along the journey. That is often missing in spiritual accounts. Jeff Gilpin hit a lot of the right notes in his book. I enjoyed reading his contribution to the what the hell was that part of our lives. A less known book by the author of Iron and Silk about his training in Kung Fu in China, by Mark Salzman is called Lost In Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia. His teenage obsession with Kung Fu so closely matched my own with meditation that I consider that book a great model for how such a memoir can be told in an engaging way. Both books are great, have you read them? So thanks for all the positive vibes for my creative work Turq. I don't know what project will take me over next. I am not going to put out another CD this year, but will take some time to do some song writing over the Winter. That might leave more time for some prose writing. You know how these projects go, they sort of choose you and you go along for the ride! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: It's like I won the lottery of kudos today! Thanks Rick. Here's your bonus ball review, coming up. I haven't sold homes since '89. Mortgage banking carried me till a few years ago when I turned my part-time music business into full time. My life's mission now is preserving 20's and 30's acoustic blues, and performing in educational settings where the historical details can be appreciated. About six years ago I took a wonderful adult ed creative nonfiction course, learning to use fiction techniques in telling non fiction stories. As my project I used my Maharishi years and wrote many chapters. I only re-wrote a few, and as we all know, writing IS re-writing. I even had a working title: I Was a Ventriloquist for the Maharishi referring in part of its double meaning to my time in Sidhaland performing ventriloquist bus and bicycle safety shows in schools to make money for the Florida Academy in Avon Park. It kept me out of the hot sun picking oranges with migrants which was many other sidha's fate at the time when National cut us off financially and we had to fend for ourselves. I haven't really settled on a coherent angle other than a coming of age story for people my age who go into a spiritual group. Hard to compete with Monkey on a Stick serving up murder in their narrative! I am going to throw my support to Rick's idea as well, Curtis. As you know, I once wrote such a book. And it was like pulling my own teeth, let me tell you. But it was worth it, because I set out to, and to some extent I think succeeded, in writing a Seeker's Tale about my spiritual sadhana, as opposed to the crap that floods the spiritual market, which tends to be Teacher's Tales, As Seen By Their Students Who No Longer Have Any Discrimin- ation As A Result Of Time Spent With Their Master. You could write such a tale. You have the chops linguistically, you have the chops as a complete human being, and you have the distance on the subject matter to truly do it justice, without a great deal of emotionality and attachment enter- ing into the equation. I do not think I am alone here in rating you as one of the most balanced persons on Fairfield Life. Rick's name springs to mind when thinking of that category of award winner, but few others do. Mine certainly does not. Your experiences as a spiritual seeker in the cocoon of the TM movement deserve telling, as do your exper- iences of another kind continuing your search for meaning playing blues on the street. I have read your posts and I have listened deeply to your music and I think you're a Class A Mensch, my man. I would be the first in line to buy any book you wrote about your travels, both spiritual and mundane, and I would buy additional copies of it for friends for birthdays and at Christmas. So the project is on hold till I figure out what aspect of my experience would be worth the work. I don't have any delusions about it getting published. As for figuring it out, I can only recommend a reading of the first chapter of the book I wrote about my travels, both spiritual and mundane. It tells the story of how I finally figured out how to write it. It was not a
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of curtisdeltablues Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 5:11 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown Hey Turq, A writer's compliment from you is much appreciated. What's that I hear...I think I can hear Nabby's teeth grinding! Certainly from my journey on FFL anything I would write about my experiences in the movement would be kinder and gentler than what I would have written closer to the experiences. Processing things here has been very helpful personally. You see Nabby? FFL has nourished Curtis's soul. Even got him meditating again I think. So perhaps I'm not such an evil character after all.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
Hey Turq, A writer's compliment from you is much appreciated. What's that I hear...I think I can hear Nabby's teeth grinding! Certainly from my journey on FFL anything I would write about my experiences in the movement would be kinder and gentler than what I would have written closer to the experiences. Processing things here has been very helpful personally. You see Nabby? FFL has nourished Curtis's soul. Even got him meditating again I think. So perhaps I'm not such an evil character after all. Well for 6 months regularly after Maharishis died anyway. It didn't survive my last personal time cost benefit audit. But I wouldn't hesitate to meditate again. I do enjoy it. TM is an old friend that I don't have to talk with every day, but whenever we do connect it feels the same.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: His teenage obsession with Kung Fu so closely matched my own with meditation that I consider that book a great model for how such a memoir can be told in an engaging way. Wonderful books about growing up in the USA ! I particularily enjoyed the fusion of your divine meditations with Kung Fu ! Both books are great, have you read them? Certainly; wonderful books about growing up in the USA. Loved them, though I constantly wanted to puke. I am not going to put out another CD this year, Why you sinful son of a butcher; are we supposed to relax and enjoy now ? I do not like the sound of this. I do not ! Curtis; you are a mean, mean man ! No Hillbilly CD this year ? You CD Nazi you ! but will take some time to do some song writing over the Winter. Yes, please, winter, spring and summer. Take your time, take your time ! That might leave more time for some prose writing. You know how these projects go, they sort of choose you and you go along for the ride! Yes, yes, please take your time ! Now, did you call Rick Archer about some new, hot rumour for your bestseller yet ?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Jonestown
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hey Turq, A writer's compliment from you is much appreciated. What's that I hear...I think I can hear Nabby's teeth grinding! Certainly from my journey on FFL anything I would write about my experiences in the movement would be kinder and gentler than what I would have written closer to the experiences. Processing things here has been very helpful personally. You see Nabby? FFL has nourished Curtis's soul. Even got him meditating again I think. So perhaps I'm not such an evil character after all. Well for 6 months regularly after Maharishis died anyway. It didn't survive my last personal time cost benefit audit. But I wouldn't hesitate to meditate again. I do enjoy it. TM is an old friend that I don't have to talk with every day, but whenever we do connect it feels the same. Wow, Curtis, that's great to hear. Now, let me tell you about this program I want you to attend. It's called the Recertification Program. Of course, I expect you to start wearing a tie, give up all semblance of common sense in your life, and then we'll be shipping you off to Russia, on your expense, of course...
