[FairfieldLife] Re: A moot point
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@... wrote: On Feb 10, 2010, at 8:45 PM, shukra69 wrote: whether you are one inch or one thousand off the ground, you are still in the sky (Gag) Can't you mood-makers do any better than *that*? Now, now Sal...we skeptics should be more open-minded than that. I would merely suggest that shukra prove his theory scientifically. Sometime today, he should perform an experiment on being up in the air. He should first step off of a one-inch curb and note his subjective (and, if possible, objective...via video) exper- ience of that. Then he should go to the top of a ten-story building and do the same thing. Tomorrow he should be able to report back to us on his theory. Provide to us his subjective notes and a video record of both parts of the experiment. If we don't hear back from him, I think we can assume that his theory was a bit...uh...flat, and so is he.
[FairfieldLife] Re: A moot point
An MIU sorority! How great is that. http://deltazetahouse.com/images/DZ_Long_Sleeve_letter_Tee_168x300.jpg Whoa! Are those real...? :0
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: Thank you thank you thank you. I'm snowed in here and this is manna from heaven! No problem curtis, but is wasn't posted with you in mind but for that serious soul who might read it and not necessarily respond. At least not with the endless drivel we have become so all too familiar with coming from your keyboard. If I was looking for some serious soul it wouldn't be from anyone impressed with what we have heard from Maitreya so far. So you have actually heard from Maitreya curtis ? How impressive ! May I ask where and when ? Or only more drivel and gross inaccuracies ?
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Bill Hicks, for the third time
On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:00 PM, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@netscape.netwrote: Thank you, Bill. You did indeed. I only look at that email account once every 10 days or so and that's why I didn't see it sooner. Mind you I speak about the ordinances from reading about them in the newspaper and watching Eyewitness (C) news. I see people very paranoid about leaving their animal alone outside, even if fenced in. The weather here has great extremes and when we hit an extreme, Eyewitness news and the newspaper have pictures of the owners, cuffed, being taken to jail. -- Are you better off now than you were four trillion dollars ago? Diversity. It killed 13 at Fort Hood.
[FairfieldLife] Serious questions for Nabby (was Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: No problem curtis, but is wasn't posted with you in mind but for that serious soul who might read it and not necessarily respond. At least not with the endless drivel we have become so all too familiar with coming from your keyboard. If I was looking for some serious soul it wouldn't be from anyone impressed with what we have heard from Maitreya so far. So you have actually heard from Maitreya curtis ? How impressive ! May I ask where and when ? Or only more drivel and gross inaccuracies ? Nabby, I suspect that Curtis means what Creme has reported Maitreya as saying. I think you both know that neither Curtis nor I (and in fact 99.% percent of the human population) do not believe that such a being as Maitreya exists, or will ever exist. We believe that it would be far more like to hear from Santa Claus than Maitreya. That said, it has become apparent that not only do you believe that Creme is correct and Maitreya both exists and is about to come out of the avatar closet in a big way, you will pretty much continue to believe it no matter HOW embarrassing it gets. My questions to you -- out of curiosity, not malice -- is What will you do if Benjamin Creme kicks the bucket and Maitreya hasn't shown up yet? How long will you *keep* believing in a Maitreya who never appears? I consider these sensible questions. My take on Creme's appearance in his most recent announce- ments is that he's very ill and possibly circling the drain, incarnation-wise. I suspect he'll be dead within a year. No malice on my part in saying this; that's just how his state of health appeared to me in the video, combined with his real age. IF that happens, and there has been No Maitreya, what do YOU do? Do you keep waiting for the promised Messiah until YOU die, or what? Could there EVER be a point at which you might admit that you had been lied to, and systematically, for 30 years by Benjamin Creme? And as a final question, can you admit that there is even the POSSIBILITY that Maitreya does not exist and never did? Is such a thing conceivable to you? Thanks for considering these things, if you do. I really *don't* dislike you, although I laugh at you often. Mainly, I'm curious as to how some- one could believe this stuff for so long without a shred of proof that any of it ever was true. If you'd like to expound upon WHY you believe this, as a religious sociologist (even though a low-vibe one from your POV) I'd be really interested. Turq
[FairfieldLife] The perils of keeping your women veiled
A cautionary tale such as this would be wasted in gay Sitges, because especially during Carnivale most straight guys have learned that the babe they're lusting after might not be...uh...all she appears to be and that they should examine the merchandise before purchase. But I guess there are some guys out there a little less worldly. This tale is for them. Ambassador Discovers Bride Is Bearded, Cross-Eyed Behind Veil An Arab ambassador in Dubai has had his marriage annulled after discovering that his bride, behind her veil, was bearded and cross-eyed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8508077.stm The couple had only met a few times during their courtship. Each of these times the woman had worn a niqab, an Islamic veil that covers most of the face. After the marriage contract was signed in Dubai, the ambassador tried to kiss his new wife. However, as he removed the veil, he was shocked at what he saw. He was absolutely horrified, a guest said. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1249922/Ambassador-ca\ lls-divorce-veil-wearing-bride-reveals-beard-crossed-eyes.html The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil. The unnamed ambassador went straight to court to annul the marriage, claiming his wife was bearded and cross-eyed, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/10/After%20the%20ambassador%20and\ %20the%20woman,%20who%20is%20a%20physician,%20signed%20the%20marriage%20\ contract,%20the%20groom%20was%20sitting%20with%20the%20bride...%20he%20c\ laimed%20to%20the%20Sharia%20court%20officials%20that%20when%20he%20want\ ed%20to%20kiss%20his%20wife-to-be,%20he%20discovered%20that%20she%20was%\ 20bearded%20and%20cross-eyed%20as%20well, leaving his wife in tears. The groom claims he had been shown pictures of the ugly bride's prettier sister. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2847931/Surprise-stubble-ruin\ s-wedding.html The Islamic Sharia court annulled the marriage but refused to compensate the ambassador for the estimated 500,000 dirhams ($136,000) in gifts he had bought the woman. To add insult to injury, the man also demanded the woman be sent to a specialist who examined her hormonal deficiencies http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/man-claims-fiancee-hid-beard-un\ der-niqab-1.580722 . The specialist reported the woman was normal and suffered from no hormonal deficiencies.
[FairfieldLife] Re: A moot point
Can't you mood-makers do any better than *that*? Turq: ...we skeptics should be more open-minded than that. So, you're saying that 'perception is reality'? All of our private experiences of events or objects are interpreted individually, thus shaping our reality. No two individuals see things exactly the same way. So there must be a constructed character of knowing, right? These kinds of perceptions could be unique to each individual, never to be experienced in quite the same way by anyone else. For example experiencing a room turn to golden light. All 'spiritual' perceptions are on this level of experience, Turq.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Big Theories Underwriting Society Are Crashing All Around Us -- Are You
The Big Theories Underwriting Society Are Crashing All Around Us -- Are You do: ...I knew the Swami Beyondananda guy was smart and on to 'what's going on.' Many thanks to both John and Rick, for all the great articles, cartoons, and all the secret TMO insider information all these years. Keep up the good work! In this piece he confirms it. And especially to John for posting all the TM mantras and the checking notes. You two are the best informants on the entire planet. Good job! Maharishi is the top dog-eat-dog money-maker in this outrageous scam for money (*mammon* instead of God and Truth) as the solution to the problems of humanity. At least I learned the lesson... Read more: From: John Manning Subject: Maharishi quote - Humboldt 1971 Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental Date: June 10, 2002
[FairfieldLife] Nab's Benjamin Creme
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: No problem curtis, but is wasn't posted with you in mind but for that serious soul who might read it and not necessarily respond. At least not with the endless drivel we have become so all too familiar with coming from your keyboard. If I was looking for some serious soul it wouldn't be from anyone impressed with what we have heard from Maitreya so far. So you have actually heard from Maitreya curtis ? How impressive ! May I ask where and when ? Or only more drivel and gross inaccuracies ? Nabby, I suspect that Curtis means what Creme has reported Maitreya as saying. I think you both know that neither Curtis nor I (and in fact 99.% percent of the human population) do not believe that such a being as Maitreya exists, or will ever exist. We believe that it would be far more like to hear from Santa Claus than Maitreya. That said, it has become apparent that not only do you believe that Creme is correct and Maitreya both exists and is about to come out of the avatar closet in a big way, you will pretty much continue to believe it no matter HOW embarrassing it gets. My questions to you -- out of curiosity, not malice -- is What will you do if Benjamin Creme kicks the bucket and Maitreya hasn't shown up yet? How long will you *keep* believing in a Maitreya who never appears? I consider these sensible questions. My take on Creme's appearance in his most recent announce- ments is that he's very ill and possibly circling the drain, incarnation-wise. I suspect he'll be dead within a year. No malice on my part in saying this; that's just how his state of health appeared to me in the video, combined with his real age. IF that happens, and there has been No Maitreya, what do YOU do? Do you keep waiting for the promised Messiah until YOU die, or what? Could there EVER be a point at which you might admit that you had been lied to, and systematically, for 30 years by Benjamin Creme? And as a final question, can you admit that there is even the POSSIBILITY that Maitreya does not exist and never did? Is such a thing conceivable to you? Thanks for considering these things, if you do. I really *don't* dislike you, although I laugh at you often. Mainly, I'm curious as to how some- one could believe this stuff for so long without a shred of proof that any of it ever was true. If you'd like to expound upon WHY you believe this, as a religious sociologist (even though a low-vibe one from your POV) I'd be really interested. Turq Turq you're way too hardened on this. Nab got your goat. Is a brilliant street theatre on their parts. Seeing Benjamin Crème for the first time just now I was awed. The Quaker in the woods. A modern John the Baptist comes before. 1st proclaiming the way. Is brilliant Quaker theatre with message.With our Nablusoss a part in it. Doing your best here to take Nab down and kick him, but when Benjamin Crème dies he'll proly get more powerful than ever regardless. His 'work is finished'. Look at those crowds, those auditoriums. The message of simple peace. By way of show comparison, what have you done to promote a better life? And what do you have again against the message of need in Peace? With Fond Regards, -Buck
[FairfieldLife] Serious questions for Nabby (was Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: Mainly, I'm curious as to how some- one could believe this stuff for so long without a shred of proof that any of it ever was true. Huh? You mean the miracle star that was seen day and night around the world wasn't proof enough?
[FairfieldLife] Re: A moot point
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung no_reply@ wrote: Ghanesh, To put it mildly, yes, mildly, this photo of the flying girl is a vile fucking lie. False advertising that is this low and creepy is rare even in today's media. Edg, did you forget to take your medicine again or are you just plain stupid ? The TMO never publized this picture. Perhaps that's true, Nabby the Cultist, but the ones the TMO did publicize were virtually identical to this one. Unless of course you want to split hairs over the angle of the shot (the one published here is from a bottom angle giving it a more up in the air feeling) or the fact that the girl has her eyes closed (most of the TMO-sanctioned flying ones have the subjects with their eyes open). Oh, and of course, SHE IS A WOMAN...AND SHE ISN'T DRESSED ACCORDING TO MOVEMENT CODE. Well spotted. I remember distinctly that it's considered undignified for women to do yogic flying demonstrations. And that was from the 1990s. Probably have to be post-menopausal and wearing a bhurka now.
[FairfieldLife] Serious questions for Nabby (was Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: Mainly, I'm curious as to how some- one could believe this stuff for so long without a shred of proof that any of it ever was true. Huh? You mean the miracle star that was seen day and night around the world wasn't proof enough? I'm honestly curious as to how he justifies his blind faith. As a former member of this forum said on this issue (the Creme crowd latching onto a person and calling him Maitreya and then claiming that his denials prove that it's really Maitreya) with these wise words: Working with schizophrenics, I discovered you can never make an end-run on a delusion--there's always further justification to incorporate contradictory facts. I guess the same applies to Creme-ites! This would make great material for a documentary film. I agree on the material for a film thing. I hope that someone IS making a documentary of what goes on with this Raj Patel fellow. It'll be a spiritual classic right up there with When Prophecy Fails.
[FairfieldLife] Dinosaur evolution - The plot thickens!
Bird-from-Dinosaur Theory of Evolution Challenged: Was It the Other Way Around? ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2010) A new study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides yet more evidence that birds did not descend from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs, experts say, and continues to challenge decades of accepted theories about the evolution of flight. A new analysis was done of an unusual fossil specimen discovered in 2003 called microraptor, in which three-dimensional models were used to study its possible flight potential, and it concluded this small, feathered species must have been a glider that came down from trees. The research is well done and consistent with a string of studies in recent years that pose increasing challenge to the birds-from-dinosaurs theory, said John Ruben, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University who authored a commentary in PNAS on the new research. The weight of the evidence is now suggesting that not only did birds not descend from dinosaurs, Ruben said, but that some species now believed to be dinosaurs may have descended from birds. We're finally breaking out of the conventional wisdom of the last 20 years, which insisted that birds evolved from dinosaurs and that the debate is all over and done with, Ruben said. This issue isn't resolved at all. There are just too many inconsistencies with the idea that birds had dinosaur ancestors, and this newest study adds to that. Almost 20 years of research at OSU on the morphology of birds and dinosaurs, along with other studies and the newest PNAS research, Ruben said, are actually much more consistent with a different premise -- that birds may have had an ancient common ancestor with dinosaurs, but they evolved separately on their own path, and after millions of years of separate evolution birds also gave rise to the raptors. Small animals such as velociraptor that have generally been thought to be dinosaurs are more likely flightless birds, he said. Raptors look quite a bit like dinosaurs but they have much more in common with birds than they do with other theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus, Ruben said. We think the evidence is finally showing that these animals which are usually considered dinosaurs were actually descended from birds, not the other way around. Another study last year from Florida State University raised similar doubts, Ruben said. In the newest PNAS study, scientists examined a remarkable fossil specimen that had feathers on all four limbs, somewhat resembling a bi-plane. Glide tests based on its structure concluded it would not have been practical for it to have flown from the ground up, but it could have glided from the trees down, somewhat like a modern-day flying squirrel. Many researchers have long believed that gliders such as this were the ancestors of modern birds. This model was not consistent with successful flight from the ground up, and that makes it pretty difficult to make a case for a ground-dwelling theropod dinosaur to have developed wings and flown away, Ruben said. On the other hand, it would have been quite possible for birds to have evolved and then, at some point, have various species lose their flight capabilities and become ground-dwelling, flightless animals -- the raptors. This may be hugely upsetting to a lot of people, but it makes perfect sense. In their own research, including one study just last year in the Journal of Morphology, OSU scientists found that the position of the thigh bone and muscles in birds is critical to their ability to have adequate lung capacity for sustained long-distance flight, a fundamental aspect of bird biology. Theropod dinosaurs did not share this feature. Other morphological features have also been identified that are inconsistent with a bird-from-dinosaur theory. And perhaps most significant, birds were already found in the fossil record before the elaboration of the dinosaurs they supposedly descended from. That would be consistent with raptors descending from birds, Ruben said, but not the reverse. OSU research on avian biology and physiology has been raising questions on this issue since the 1990s, often in isolation. More scientists and other studies are now challenging the same premise, Ruben said. The old theories were popular, had public appeal and many people saw what they wanted to see instead of carefully interpreting the data, he said. Pesky new fossils...sharply at odds with conventional wisdom never seem to cease popping up, Ruben wrote in his PNAS commentary. Given the vagaries of the fossil record, current notions of near resolution of many of the most basic questions about long-extinct forms should probably be regarded with caution. From here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100209183335.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100209183335.htm
[FairfieldLife] Re: Yagyas: The Ethical Question
So, I'd say that the majority of the current respondents think that TM works pretty good... Curtis: Well if you want to take that small a self selected groups (post on FFL) why stop there? Maybe I forgot to list a few of the current respondents who are apparently still meditating - I guess they want to remain anonymous. But the TMers seem to be the majority on FFL! snip But wait a second, I thought in Richard world everyone is always meditating just by thinking. Were you thinking that 'TM' meditation was something more than just 'thinking'? If so, what exactly would that be, Curtis? So I guess by your logic you DO have the consensus! Go figure! So, let's go figure: Meditation: It's a noun. 1. The act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed prayer and meditation. She practises meditation. 2. Serious thought or study, or the product of this activity. Let us spend a few moments in quiet meditation. I left him deep in meditation. The book is a meditation on the morality of art. Source: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: http://tinyurl.com/ydus7aw http://tinyurl.com/ydus7aw
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
...this photo of the flying girl is a vile fucking lie. False advertising that is this low and creepy is rare even in today's media. Well, I must have seen a dozen advertisements in the past five years using a 'yogic flying' motif. But I never saw this picture used by the TMO, and I've got probably one of the largest collections of photos of 'yogic flyers'. Nab: ...did you forget to take your medicine again or are you just plain stupid? The TMO never publized this picture. I'd go with the plain stupid, Nab, and this picture wasn't published by the TMO. You're the one doing the lying. If so, then these people are certainly posting false information about the TMO.
[FairfieldLife] US Jobless Claims Drop Sharply
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/11/news/economy/initial_jobless_claims/index.htm?hpt=T2 By Ben Rooney, staff reporterFebruary 11, 2010: 9:31 AM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance fell sharply last week, according to government data released Thursday. There were 440,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Feb. 6, down 43,000 from a revised 483,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report. Economists were expecting initial claims to drop to 465,000, according to a consensus estimate from Briefing.com. The 4-week moving average of initial claims, which smoothes out volatility in the measure, was 468,500. That's down 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 469,500. A Labor Department spokesman said the snow storm that crippled much of the East Coast last week did not impact the number of jobless claims filed. Next week's numbers will definitely be impacted by weather, said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. But a drop in claims fits with the more positive news we saw in the January jobs report. The Labor Department said last weekhttp://money.cnn.com/2010/02/05/news/economy/jobs_january/index.htm?postversion=2010020514that the U.S. unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in January to 9.7% from 10%. Businesses shed 20,000 jobs for the month, far fewer than the 150,000 jobs that were lost in December. There are some clear positives in the labor market, Vitner said, pointing to the manufacturing sector, to which some workers have returned to work after being unemployed for a short period of time. Still, weekly initial claims totals remain extremely high and it is difficult to glean anything about the underlying trends in the job market from just one week of data, Vitner warned. *Continuing claims:* The government said 4,538,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Jan. 30, the most recent data available. That's down 79,000 from the preceding week's revised 4,617,000 claims. Economists were expecting continuing claims to have declined 2,000 to 4,600,000. The 4-week moving average of continuing claims was 4,603,500, a drop of 17,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,621,250. However, many economists say the decline in continuing claims reflects a growing number of filers who have dropped off the jobless rolls into extended unemployment benefits. Continuing claims reflect people filing each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks. The figures do not include those people who have moved to state or federal extensionshttp://money.cnn.com/2009/12/04/news/economy/unemployment_benefits/index.htm?postversion=2009120418, or people whose benefits have expired. The number of people receiving extended benefits is unprecedented, Vitner said. -- Are you better off now than you were four trillion dollars ago? Diversity. It killed 13 at Fort Hood.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_re...@... wrote: So you have actually heard from Maitreya curtis ? How impressive ! May I ask where and when ? Or only more drivel and gross inaccuracies ? That raises a significant theological question Nabby, I'm glad you brought it up. I was assuming as Turq mentioned that Creme was speaking for Maitreya with the intimacy of perhaps the president's press secretary. So if his descriptions of Maitrey's teachings might be filled with drivel and gross inaccuracies the question is how far off could he be? For example could he have it all wrong about the message of love and peace and could Maitreya be coming to bring not peace but the sword as a previous savior claimed? Could he be coming to institute Sharia law everywhere? How bungled could Creme have gotten his message? Now on to the concept of drivel and why I might take the time to challenge the idea that Creme has added anything positive to humanity with his little ruse. Imagine a man visitng the doors of my poorest neighbors and giving them magic pennies. He didn't sell them, he gave them and would take nothing in return. He told them that these were prosperity pennies and all the person had to do to activate them was to put them under their sofa seat cushion when they watched TV. The pennies would activate and draw money from all sorts of unknown places and would arrive in the mail very soon. So the good people believed and watched so much TV sitting on their magic pennies that they lost their jobs and eventually got their first notice of eviction. Now imagine another many knocking on their door and telling them that the pennies were bullshit and despite the good feeling they gave at first were a distraction from the reality of life. If you don't pay you don't stay is the rule of apartments and you have to work to make money. But one person objected and said but we hate our jobs and they are very hard and pay us very little. This man gave us hope and you are a bad man to take that hope away. So the question is who was helping' the people more, the skeptic or the magic penny man? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: Thank you thank you thank you. I'm snowed in here and this is manna from heaven! No problem curtis, but is wasn't posted with you in mind but for that serious soul who might read it and not necessarily respond. At least not with the endless drivel we have become so all too familiar with coming from your keyboard. If I was looking for some serious soul it wouldn't be from anyone impressed with what we have heard from Maitreya so far. So you have actually heard from Maitreya curtis ? How impressive ! May I ask where and when ? Or only more drivel and gross inaccuracies ?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, WillyTex willy...@... wrote: ...this photo of the flying girl is a vile fucking lie. False advertising that is this low and creepy is rare even in today's media. Well, I must have seen a dozen advertisements in the past five years using a 'yogic flying' motif. But I never saw this picture used by the TMO, and I've got probably one of the largest collections of photos of 'yogic flyers'. Nab: ...did you forget to take your medicine again or are you just plain stupid? The TMO never publized this picture. I'd go with the plain stupid, Nab, and this picture wasn't published by the TMO. You're the one doing the lying. If so, then these people are certainly posting false information about the TMO. In what way is it false? Are you saying people can't do this? Do you think the picture is faked by someone hopping but without saying the magic words? Does real yogic flying look different? Does it matter that it's not an offical TM picture in any way other than that it features a female doing something un-dignified?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Nab's Benjamin Creme
A message of peace is fine, but attaching that message to a charlatan isn't. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Buck dhamiltony...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 no_reply@ wrote: No problem curtis, but is wasn't posted with you in mind but for that serious soul who might read it and not necessarily respond. At least not with the endless drivel we have become so all too familiar with coming from your keyboard. If I was looking for some serious soul it wouldn't be from anyone impressed with what we have heard from Maitreya so far. So you have actually heard from Maitreya curtis ? How impressive ! May I ask where and when ? Or only more drivel and gross inaccuracies ? Nabby, I suspect that Curtis means what Creme has reported Maitreya as saying. I think you both know that neither Curtis nor I (and in fact 99.% percent of the human population) do not believe that such a being as Maitreya exists, or will ever exist. We believe that it would be far more like to hear from Santa Claus than Maitreya. That said, it has become apparent that not only do you believe that Creme is correct and Maitreya both exists and is about to come out of the avatar closet in a big way, you will pretty much continue to believe it no matter HOW embarrassing it gets. My questions to you -- out of curiosity, not malice -- is What will you do if Benjamin Creme kicks the bucket and Maitreya hasn't shown up yet? How long will you *keep* believing in a Maitreya who never appears? I consider these sensible questions. My take on Creme's appearance in his most recent announce- ments is that he's very ill and possibly circling the drain, incarnation-wise. I suspect he'll be dead within a year. No malice on my part in saying this; that's just how his state of health appeared to me in the video, combined with his real age. IF that happens, and there has been No Maitreya, what do YOU do? Do you keep waiting for the promised Messiah until YOU die, or what? Could there EVER be a point at which you might admit that you had been lied to, and systematically, for 30 years by Benjamin Creme? And as a final question, can you admit that there is even the POSSIBILITY that Maitreya does not exist and never did? Is such a thing conceivable to you? Thanks for considering these things, if you do. I really *don't* dislike you, although I laugh at you often. Mainly, I'm curious as to how some- one could believe this stuff for so long without a shred of proof that any of it ever was true. If you'd like to expound upon WHY you believe this, as a religious sociologist (even though a low-vibe one from your POV) I'd be really interested. Turq Turq you're way too hardened on this. Nab got your goat. Is a brilliant street theatre on their parts. Seeing Benjamin Crème for the first time just now I was awed. The Quaker in the woods. A modern John the Baptist comes before. 1st proclaiming the way. Is brilliant Quaker theatre with message.With our Nablusoss a part in it. Doing your best here to take Nab down and kick him, but when Benjamin Crème dies he'll proly get more powerful than ever regardless. His 'work is finished'. Look at those crowds, those auditoriums. The message of simple peace. By way of show comparison, what have you done to promote a better life? And what do you have again against the message of need in Peace? With Fond Regards, -Buck
[FairfieldLife] Three perspectives on habitual behavior
I found myself thinking today about habit patterns, or habitual behavior, and how different spiritual teachers and traditions view these habits and their effects. The first perspective on this is Maharishi's. I think it is not only fair to suggest that he approved of habits and habitual behavior, he did his damnedest to *create* habit patterns in his followers. The dogma -- taught from Day One -- of how important it was to meditate regularly, hopefully at the same time. Later it became such strong dogma that it extended to group practice of flying, and even escalated to *mandatory* participation in these sessions for MUM students and people on courses. On TM residence courses, literally every minute was scheduled so that the person's time was completely taken up, and there wasn't even *room* for optional behavior during free time. This reverence for habitual behavior was IMO reflected in Maharishi's tolerance for freedom of thought, or questioning his pronouncements. Stray from the path, meaning to deviate from the prescribed habitual behavior, and you found yourself excommunicated toot sweet. I would suggest that the result of all of this is a reverence for habitual behavior so ingrained in them that many long-term TMers find it difficult to even *imagine* deviating from their long-established habit patterns. I would further suggest that two synonyms for this over- reverence towards habit patterns are rigidity and fundamentalism. In at least one instance, another synonym for what slavish devotion to habit can create is disaster. That is what happened -- in the form of murder -- when one MUM Dean couldn't even *conceive* of missing a meditation, even though he was supposed to be guarding a deranged student who had already injured another student. A word used to describe it by another teacher from a different tradition in a quote I ran across the other day suggests another view; he called it cowardice. Chögyam Trungpa said, The way of cowardice is to embed ourselves in a cocoon in which we perpetuate our habitual patterns. I tend to agree, but part of the reason is that I prac- ticed for many years an approach by a third spiritual teacher, Carlos Castaneda. Whatever one thinks of him, *some* of what he wrote about has value, and I still value it. One of the things I value most is his teaching about habit patterns. He taught not only that they were not a Good Thing, but they were an actual Bad Thing, in that they created the *opposite* of the mindset of the spiritual warrior he thought was cool. The more you immersed your- self in habitual behavior, the more that behavior (and its resulting mindstate) kept you from experiencing anything truly new and evolutionary. So Castaneda actually suggested forcibly *breaking* your habit patterns -- changing the route you drive to work every day, changing what you eat and the times of day that you eat it, changing where you live periodically...just *changing*, period. Constantly. Given my experience in life, I'm gonna go with the path of constant change vs. the path of constant stability and following the same old same old habit patterns. I think the latter leads to stagnation and unhappiness, and the former tends to lead to flexibility and being able to live as a happier camper. YMMV on this.
[FairfieldLife] Amma on Nightline
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966
[FairfieldLife] Hindu Gods on U.S. Stamps
Hey, now you can send Krishna or Lakshmi on your envelopes: Hindu http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HinduPressInternational/~3/wlUv1lqkh7U/ Gods On U.S. Stamps Source: http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Hindu-gods-on-US-stamps/articleshow/5524883.cms economictimes.indiatimes.com WASHINGTON, USA, February 1, 2010: Hindu Gods have made their way into U.S. mail, with an Atlanta based company headed by an Indian American launching a series of legally valid custom-made postage stamps. The first of these 44 cent stamps featuring Sri Krishna, Shiva-Parvathi, Lakshmi, Lord Venkateshwara, Murugan, Vinayaka and Sai Baba were issued by http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://usa-postage.com usa-postage.com last month. The company made use of a six-year-old U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule that permits issue of customized postages to launch the series. These postages have not been issued by the U.S. Postal Service, but these are as good as stamps and are legally valid. We do not call them stamps. We call them postages. But these can be used as any other normal stamp, a USPS spokesman said. wlUv1lqkh7U.gif
[FairfieldLife] Re: Iowa - The Tea Party in Context
do: The Tea Party in Context So, John, it's not just the Repugs that are angry with your congressional leaders - lot's of independents AND Democrats are angry too. People are angry at the lack of jobs and the big spending of the federal government. People are angry that their children are going to have to pay higher taxes AND have their social services reduced. The 'Tea Party' isn't just for tea-baggers anymore! In personal and profane terms, House and Senate Democrats have huddled behind closed doors to list the debacles: The stunner in Massachusetts that cost the Democrats a Senate seat. The slow-motion collapse of health care talks. A government bailout of Wall Street while unemployment sits in double-digits... 'Democratic anger goes public in prime time' By Laurie Kellman Guardian, January 28, 2010 http://tinyurl.com/y8rj9lc
[FairfieldLife] Re: Meditation: The Ethical Question
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: In virtue, a communal moral imperative cries out spiritually. You'll help us won't you? Dear Buck, If I didn't believe that the garbage you write above was some kind of misguided put-on, and believed instead that you and a great number of people in Fairfield really *think like that*, the only yagya I'd be willing to invest in would be along the lines of the one performed for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. I know that this feels like fun to you, parodying the TM True Believer mindset, but it's really sick shit. I for one am going to stop reading it. Turq Whoa Turq, don't go away mad. You asked the question. Sorry if you're uncomfortable with the answer. So, seems you're uncomfortable with the position and also on record as such. The people or the position? You trying to quick distance yourself from the people or the moral position of their stance? For instance, you having troubles with Hagelin ethically or just his conservative (TM) secular positioning of meditation? Or, may be you don't like neither ethically. Same question though with Dan Siegel at UCLA and the implications of their research on meditation. A same policy imperative like Hagelin's. Imperative of a communal moral cause, so the science says. Meditation as civic virtue. What don't you like about that? You are against that? -Buck
[FairfieldLife] Tea-party movement is dominated by conspiracist kooks
Conservative author Jonathan Kay went to the Tea Party in Nashville and discovered he was surrounded by lunatics http://www.newsweek.com/id/21 : Black Helicopters Over Nashville Never mind Sarah Palin and the tricornered hats. The tea-party movement is dominated by conspiracist kooks. By Jonathan Kay | Newsweek Web Exclusive Feb 9, 2010 Many of the tea-party organizers I spoke with at this conference described the event as a critical step in their ascendancy to the status of mainstream political movement. Yet with rare exceptions, such as blogger Breitbart, who was reportedly overheard protesting Farah's birther propaganda, none of them seems to realize how off-putting the toxic fantasies being spewed from the podium were. John Moore / Getty Images - Tea Party activist William Temple at a December rally in Washington, D.C. Excerpted: ...After I spent the weekend at the Tea Party National Convention in Nashville, Tenn., it has become clear to me that the movement is dominated by people whose vision of the government is conspiratorial and dangerously detached from reality. It's more John Birch than John Adams. Like all populists, tea partiers are suspicious of power and influence, and anyone who wields them. Their villain list includes the big banks; bailed-out corporations; James Cameron, whose Avatar is seen as a veiled denunciation of the U.S. military; Republican Party institutional figures they feel ignored by, such as chairman Michael Steele; colleges and universities (the more prestigious, the more evil); The Washington Post; Anderson Cooper; and even FOX News pundits, such as Bill O'Reilly, who have heaped scorn on the tea-party movement's more militant oddballs. One of the most bizarre moments of the recent tea-party convention came when blogger Andrew Breitbart delivered a particularly vicious fulmination against the mainstream media, prompting everyone to get up, turn toward the media section at the back of the conference room, and scream, USA! USA! USA! But the tea partiers' well-documented obsession with President Obama has hardly been diffused by their knack for finding new enemies. Steve Malloy, author of Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Ruin Your Life, kicked off the first full day of conference proceedings by warning that Obama and his minions are conspiring to control every aspect of Americans' livesthe colors of their cars, the kind of toilet paper they use, how much time they spend in the shower, the temperature of their homesall under the guise of U.N. greenhouse-gas-reduction schemes. Obama isn't a U.S. socialist, Malloy thundered. He's an international socialist. He envisions a one-world government. I consider myself a conservative and arrived at this conference as a paid-up, rank-and-file attendee, not one of the bemused New York Times types with a media pass... Within a few hours in Nashville, I could tell that what I was hearing wasn't just random rhetorical mortar fire being launched at Obama and his political allies: the salvos followed the established script of New World Order conspiracy theories, which have suffused the dubious right-wing fringes of American politics since the days of the John Birch Society. This world view's modern-day prophets include Texas radio host Alex Jones, whose documentary, The Obama Deception, claims Obama's candidacy was a plot by the leaders of the New World Order to con the Amercican people into accepting global slavery; Christian evangelist Pat Robertson; and the rightward strain of the aforementioned 9/11 Truth movement. According to this dark vision, America's 21st-century traumas signal the coming of a great political cataclysm, in which a false prophet such as Barack Obama will upend American sovereignty and render the country into a godless, one-world socialist dictatorship run by the United Nations from its offices in Manhattan. Sure enough, in Nashville, Judge Roy Moore warned, among other things, of a U.N. guard stationed in every house. On the conference floor, it was taken for granted that Obama was seeking to destroy America's place in the world and sell Israel out to the Arabs for some undefined nefarious purpose. The names Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers popped up all the time, the idea being that they were the real brains behind this presidency, and Obama himself was simply some sort of manchurian candidate. A software engineer from Clearwater, Fla., told me that Washington, D.C., liberals had engineered the financial crash so they could destroy the value of the U.S. dollar, pay off America's debts with worthless paper, and then create a new currency called the Amero that would be used in a newly created North American Currency Union with Canada and Mexico. I rolled my eyes at this one-off kook. But then, hours later, the conference organizers showed a movie to the meeting hall, Generation Zero, whose thesis was only slightly less bizarre: that the
[FairfieldLife] Re: Meditation: The Ethical Question
I replied to you off-list, via email. I assume you can't tell the difference. I thought I made myself very clear. I'm not responding to your silly twits about Nabby but to YOU, period. I've grown very weary of your (I assume) Play the dumb TM True Believer act here. I find it tedious and often straying over the line into bigotry and hatred. So I won't participate in it any more by replying, or even by reading anything further from you along these lines. Nothing personal. It's not you I don't like, only this act, this behavior. I think it's lazy and beneath you. Please don't act like another person here and try to stalk or insult me into replying to your act. That's beneath you, too. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Buck dhamiltony...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: In virtue, a communal moral imperative cries out spiritually. You'll help us won't you? Dear Buck, If I didn't believe that the garbage you write above was some kind of misguided put-on, and believed instead that you and a great number of people in Fairfield really *think like that*, the only yagya I'd be willing to invest in would be along the lines of the one performed for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. I know that this feels like fun to you, parodying the TM True Believer mindset, but it's really sick shit. I for one am going to stop reading it. Turq Whoa Turq, don't go away mad. You asked the question. Sorry if you're uncomfortable with the answer. So, seems you're uncomfortable with the position and also on record as such. The people or the position? You trying to quick distance yourself from the people or the moral position of their stance? For instance, you having troubles with Hagelin ethically or just his conservative (TM) secular positioning of meditation? Or, may be you don't like neither ethically. Same question though with Dan Siegel at UCLA and the implications of their research on meditation. A same policy imperative like Hagelin's. Imperative of a communal moral cause, so the science says. Meditation as civic virtue. What don't you like about that? You are against that? -Buck
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo fintlewoodle...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, WillyTex willytex@ wrote: [Edg wrote:] ...this photo of the flying girl is a vile fucking lie. False advertising that is this low and creepy is rare even in today's media. Well, I must have seen a dozen advertisements in the past five years using a 'yogic flying' motif. But I never saw this picture used by the TMO, and I've got probably one of the largest collections of photos of 'yogic flyers'. Nab: ...did you forget to take your medicine again or are you just plain stupid? The TMO never publized this picture. I'd go with the plain stupid, Nab, and this picture wasn't published by the TMO. You're the one doing the lying. If so, then these people are certainly posting false information about the TMO. In what way is it false? Are you saying people can't do this? Do you think the picture is faked by someone hopping but without saying the magic words? Does real yogic flying look different? Does it matter that it's not an offical TM picture in any way other than that it features a female doing something un-dignified? What set Edg off was the idea that the TMO was using it in its promotional materials to sell the TM-Sidhis course. Even for those of us who know what Yogic Flying actually involves, it's suspicious. I've never seen anyone, live or in TMO-sanctioned materials, male or female, hop that high. And if folks had never seen anything but that photo, they might be gullible enough to believe it showed actual levitation. But it turns out the photo isn't from the TMO; and it may not even be of a TM Yogic Flyer. (My guess is that the woman was using a trampoline.) The TMers who used the photo on their unofficial fan Web sites as a purported example of Yogic Flying should have been more skeptical themselves. But there are plenty of other photos and videos on the sites of real Yogic Flying that make it pretty clear folks are bouncing on foam. Most TMO-sanctioned photos these days do as well. The big question that's still at issue is whether Yogic Flying is anything more/other than voluntary hopping up and down and has results not obtainable by such hopping. If not, the whole thing is either a scam or a mass delusion no matter what photos are used.
[FairfieldLife] Download spiritual books for FREE
You just need to register for FREE and then can download whole books in PDF or DOC or TXT formats Be As You Are by David Godman on Ramana's teachings http://www.scribd.com/doc/20018770/Be-as-you-are-Ramana-Maharshi? There are many other books : I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj Astavakra Gita
[FairfieldLife] Re: Three perspectives on habitual behavior
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: snip Given my experience in life, I'm gonna go with the path of constant change vs. the path of constant stability and following the same old same old habit patterns. So you're going to stop posting to FFL after four and a half years?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966 It was good to see her again and to see the recognition she gets.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Hindu Gods on U.S. Stamps
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: Hey, now you can send Krishna or Lakshmi on your envelopes: Hindu http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HinduPressInternational/~3/wlUv1lqkh7U/ Gods On U.S. Stamps Source: http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Hindu-gods-on-US-stamps/articleshow/5524883.cms economictimes.indiatimes.com WASHINGTON, USA, February 1, 2010: Hindu Gods have made their way into U.S. mail, with an Atlanta based company headed by an Indian American launching a series of legally valid custom-made postage stamps. The first of these 44 cent stamps featuring Sri Krishna, Shiva-Parvathi, Lakshmi, Lord Venkateshwara, Murugan, Vinayaka and Sai Baba were issued by http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://usa-postage.com usa-postage.com last month. The company made use of a six-year-old U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule that permits issue of customized postages to launch the series. These postages have not been issued by the U.S. Postal Service, but these are as good as stamps and are legally valid. We do not call them stamps. We call them postages. But these can be used as any other normal stamp, a USPS spokesman said. Having retired from the USPS, I'm very doubtful that these stamps are accepted as legitimate postage by the US Postal Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Hindu Gods on U.S. Stamps
I stand corrected: US Postal Service -Customized Postage http://www.usps.com/postagesolutions/customizedpostage.htm --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rf...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: Hey, now you can send Krishna or Lakshmi on your envelopes: Hindu http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HinduPressInternational/~3/wlUv1lqkh7U/ Gods On U.S. Stamps Source: http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Hindu-gods-on-US-stamps/articleshow/5524883.cms economictimes.indiatimes.com WASHINGTON, USA, February 1, 2010: Hindu Gods have made their way into U.S. mail, with an Atlanta based company headed by an Indian American launching a series of legally valid custom-made postage stamps. The first of these 44 cent stamps featuring Sri Krishna, Shiva-Parvathi, Lakshmi, Lord Venkateshwara, Murugan, Vinayaka and Sai Baba were issued by http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/330642/10182461/3402374/http://usa-postage.com usa-postage.com last month. The company made use of a six-year-old U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule that permits issue of customized postages to launch the series. These postages have not been issued by the U.S. Postal Service, but these are as good as stamps and are legally valid. We do not call them stamps. We call them postages. But these can be used as any other normal stamp, a USPS spokesman said. Having retired from the USPS, I'm very doubtful that these stamps are accepted as legitimate postage by the US Postal Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
-- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: I saw the post last night and it must have made Amma follower very happy, it was practically an infomercial. I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. At this stage of her popularity I would also like to see more than just reading movement produced claims of her charitable work. It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I guess it just reflect the lazy style of reporting that passes as journalism these days. They still give most of Maharishi's claims the same feel-good-fluff-piece-pass. Want to know why this is such a big problem? Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? When the press is uncritical of self-serving claims, the public's good is not served. It is always harder to ask the tough questions, it sometimes makes people angry with you for even asking. In journalism you have to do your homework to even know what the tough questions are. And going up to get your Amma hug may not be the end of your journalistic duty to the public. Especially when that hug came from a guy like George Bush instead of Amma. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966
[FairfieldLife] Re: Meditation: The Ethical Question
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: I replied to you off-list, via email. I assume you can't tell the difference. Opsie. Barry *thought* he had replied off-list, but in fact he did not, or he managed to email it *and* post it to FFL. See post #240919, timestamped February 10, 3:31 a.m. I thought I made myself very clear. I'm not responding to your silly twits about Nabby but to YOU, period. I've grown very weary of your (I assume) Play the dumb TM True Believer act here. I find it tedious and often straying over the line into bigotry and hatred. So I won't participate in it any more by replying, or even by reading anything further from you along these lines. Nothing personal. It's not you I don't like, only this act, this behavior. I think it's lazy and beneath you. Please don't act like another person here and try to stalk or insult me into replying to your act. That's beneath you, too. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Buck dhamiltony2k5@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: In virtue, a communal moral imperative cries out spiritually. You'll help us won't you? Dear Buck, If I didn't believe that the garbage you write above was some kind of misguided put-on, and believed instead that you and a great number of people in Fairfield really *think like that*, the only yagya I'd be willing to invest in would be along the lines of the one performed for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. I know that this feels like fun to you, parodying the TM True Believer mindset, but it's really sick shit. I for one am going to stop reading it. Turq Whoa Turq, don't go away mad. You asked the question. Sorry if you're uncomfortable with the answer. So, seems you're uncomfortable with the position and also on record as such. The people or the position? You trying to quick distance yourself from the people or the moral position of their stance? For instance, you having troubles with Hagelin ethically or just his conservative (TM) secular positioning of meditation? Or, may be you don't like neither ethically. Same question though with Dan Siegel at UCLA and the implications of their research on meditation. A same policy imperative like Hagelin's. Imperative of a communal moral cause, so the science says. Meditation as civic virtue. What don't you like about that? You are against that? -Buck
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
Hugo, you like science. I'm completely uninterested in whether the TMO used a silly photo to insinuate that people were actually levitating or not. That's a done deal, game over. The TMO not only used such photos in the early days of the TM-sidhi courses, they *told* prospective suckers in meetings in TM centers that people were levitating. People who had *never even been on one of the courses yet* said that they had seen this with their own eyes. (This happened repeat- edly in the local center that was in the National TM Headquarters in Pacific Palisades. I sat there once listening to such a sales spiel sitting next to a good friend who had just returned from her TM-sidhi course. Her comment: He's lying. And furthermore he's high up enough in the movement to *know* that he's lying.) But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Simply set up high-speed cameras as TM-sidhas known for their ability to fly well do their program, and fly. But instead of sitting on foam, they're sitting on a big, at-least-one-foot-deep water bed. If my physics is correct, any muscle force exerted downwards would be dissipated by the water in the bed, and they'd never budge off the surface. If they *do* budge off the surface in such an experiment, then something good may be happening. :-) It seems foolproof to me. So much so that one would think that the TMO would jump on it like Iowa farmers on candy corn at the State Fair. If several of their frequent flyers can get off the surface of a water bed, then they've proved that there may be something to it other than muscle exertion. If they cant, well...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. Don't they? How are we supposed to progress from stage 1 (hopping) to stage 2 (floating) if some sort of extra gravity defying process isn't involved? In his 'physics of yogic flying' lecture Hagelin claims that the normal run of events from the quantum level upwards that gives us what we call reality, with it's tendency for things to obey what appear to be immutable laws but are in fact statistical probabilites, can be changed to favour things that appear miraculous if you are operating from a level beyond which gravity has it's effects. I think we have to assume that he believes this, or is at least happy to be on record trying to convince others to believe it. So I think it should be put to the test. A set up like Barry's idea would do fine, it may not answer the quantum question (which I think is BS of course) but it would be interesting to see if anything unusual at all is happening. If they were really interested in what science can do for the age of enlightenment they would be doing just this. If they havn't already. I remember someone in the TMO saying that attempts to measure brainwaves while hopping are fatally flawed because the sudden movement has a much larger effect on measured activity than doing the sutra, so how than can claim that maximum coherence is achieved at lift off is beyond me. The bottom line then is whether or not anything unexplainable is happening and they should be looking at it. Unless they don't have the confidence in the technique
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: I saw the post last night and it must have made Amma follower very happy, it was practically an infomercial. I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. At this stage of her popularity I would also like to see more than just reading movement produced claims of her charitable work. It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I guess it just reflect the lazy style of reporting that passes as journalism these days. They still give most of Maharishi's claims the same feel-good-fluff-piece-pass. Want to know why this is such a big problem? Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? When the press is uncritical of self-serving claims, the public's good is not served. It is always harder to ask the tough questions, it sometimes makes people angry with you for even asking. In journalism you have to do your homework to even know what the tough questions are. And going up to get your Amma hug may not be the end of your journalistic duty to the public. Especially when that hug came from a guy like George Bush instead of Amma. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966 Very much agree Curtis. I mean, it's not like information critical of Amma is hard to find. There are ex-Amma sites just as there are ex-TM sites.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
-- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo fintlewoodle...@... wrote: The bottom line then is whether or not anything unexplainable is happening and they should be looking at it. Unless they don't have the confidence in the technique The no-the-emperor-really-does-have-clothes, move here is to shift the claim to something even less provable, World Peace! So now it doesn't matter that no one is doing anything physically amazing. The other move is to the brain waves and the claim that this is making flyers better in a globally vague way. (Feel good, that's better, feel bad, that's better too. Just a little purification of the path. The path to where? To somewhere better, better health, better mind, better relationships, everything better! They have shifted the claim from an easily falsifiable hypothesis to one harder to falsify. Pretty slick. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. Don't they? How are we supposed to progress from stage 1 (hopping) to stage 2 (floating) if some sort of extra gravity defying process isn't involved? In his 'physics of yogic flying' lecture Hagelin claims that the normal run of events from the quantum level upwards that gives us what we call reality, with it's tendency for things to obey what appear to be immutable laws but are in fact statistical probabilites, can be changed to favour things that appear miraculous if you are operating from a level beyond which gravity has it's effects. I think we have to assume that he believes this, or is at least happy to be on record trying to convince others to believe it. So I think it should be put to the test. A set up like Barry's idea would do fine, it may not answer the quantum question (which I think is BS of course) but it would be interesting to see if anything unusual at all is happening. If they were really interested in what science can do for the age of enlightenment they would be doing just this. If they havn't already. I remember someone in the TMO saying that attempts to measure brainwaves while hopping are fatally flawed because the sudden movement has a much larger effect on measured activity than doing the sutra, so how than can claim that maximum coherence is achieved at lift off is beyond me. The bottom line then is whether or not anything unexplainable is happening and they should be looking at it. Unless they don't have the confidence in the technique
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: Hugo, you like science. I'm completely uninterested in whether the TMO used a silly photo to insinuate that people were actually levitating or not. That's a done deal, game over. The TMO not only used such photos in the early days of the TM-sidhi courses, they *told* prospective suckers in meetings in TM centers that people were levitating. People who had *never even been on one of the courses yet* said that they had seen this with their own eyes. (This happened repeat- edly in the local center that was in the National TM Headquarters in Pacific Palisades. I sat there once listening to such a sales spiel sitting next to a good friend who had just returned from her TM-sidhi course. Her comment: He's lying. And furthermore he's high up enough in the movement to *know* that he's lying.) But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Simply set up high-speed cameras as TM-sidhas known for their ability to fly well do their program, and fly. But instead of sitting on foam, they're sitting on a big, at-least-one-foot-deep water bed. If my physics is correct, any muscle force exerted downwards would be dissipated by the water in the bed, and they'd never budge off the surface. If they *do* budge off the surface in such an experiment, then something good may be happening. :-) It seems foolproof to me. So much so that one would think that the TMO would jump on it like Iowa farmers on candy corn at the State Fair. If several of their frequent flyers can get off the surface of a water bed, then they've proved that there may be something to it other than muscle exertion. If they cant, well... I'm all for experiments like this. I think they tried it on a sort of trapeze with rubber straps that cancelled out body weight which would have the same effect without getting the floor wet. It wasn't conclusive as they were trying to measure the brainwaves and not whether they were experiencing weightlessness. I'm sure you could build a perfect contraption with springs or hydraulics that would remove all doubt. I remember when the heavenly mountain site was set up, people were saying that the increase in coherence would start people floating and that once one person was up in the air we all would be! Ah, what a time of optimism that was, I remember almost believing it. Of course, they said the same thing when the pundit project started too. If they don't provide some evidence soon te optimism will wear off for the Nabluses and Willytexes of the world then the TMO will really be in trouble...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfr...@... wrote: Very much agree Curtis. I mean, it's not like information critical of Amma is hard to find. There are ex-Amma sites just as there are ex-TM sites. I believe it comes from our cultural discomfort with critical thinking. It busts our feel-good-buzz to ask the sweet little huggy bear some skeptical questions. It is a point Sam Harris likes to make that we have removed certain areas of human knowledge from the usual rules of intellectual discourse. Anyone who did bring up something skeptical to the claims would be considered a negative person. As long as it is under the protective umbrella of goodness like peace or happiness or spirituality or religion, it gets a pass from a skeptical examination of extraordinary claims. By demonizing the skeptical person asking questions, we neuter knowledge expanding discourse. I am surprised at how many people presenting themselves as lovers of the truth try every emotional trick to avoid being subjected to the same type of epistemological tools that have served mankind so well in every other area of knowledge. We need to reframe our discussions of all spirituality to include skepticism as a valuable tool for anyone who values truth. And whenever we see the jiu-jitsu moves of people avoiding such close scrutiny, we should name it for what it is. A truth-avoidance tactic. I seem to be on a theme today. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: I saw the post last night and it must have made Amma follower very happy, it was practically an infomercial. I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. At this stage of her popularity I would also like to see more than just reading movement produced claims of her charitable work. It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I guess it just reflect the lazy style of reporting that passes as journalism these days. They still give most of Maharishi's claims the same feel-good-fluff-piece-pass. Want to know why this is such a big problem? Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? When the press is uncritical of self-serving claims, the public's good is not served. It is always harder to ask the tough questions, it sometimes makes people angry with you for even asking. In journalism you have to do your homework to even know what the tough questions are. And going up to get your Amma hug may not be the end of your journalistic duty to the public. Especially when that hug came from a guy like George Bush instead of Amma. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966 Very much agree Curtis. I mean, it's not like information critical of Amma is hard to find. There are ex-Amma sites just as there are ex-TM sites.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Nab's Benjamin Creme
A message of peace is fine, but attaching that message to a charlatan isn't. Yep. Well, though as it comes to watching good street theatre who was it said, Don't let a little truth get in the way of a good story. Is a brilliant good show that way. Sit back and enjoy the theatre for what it is. Good casting. Well played. Sort of like a Saint George and the Dragon mummer's play. Loved the close-ups and pacing of the delivery in the film. Artform. -B
[FairfieldLife] Re: Bill Hicks, for the third time
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@... wrote: On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:00 PM, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@...wrote: Thank you, Bill. You did indeed. I only look at that email account once every 10 days or so and that's why I didn't see it sooner. Mind you I speak about the ordinances from reading about them in the newspaper and watching Eyewitness (C) news. I see people very paranoid about leaving their animal alone outside, even if fenced in. The weather here has great extremes and when we hit an extreme, Eyewitness news and the newspaper have pictures of the owners, cuffed, being taken to jail. I looked up the ordinances of the town name you gave me and although they have very strict lease laws (more strict than other places) there was no indication that they require owners to put their dogs inside the home while they are out. They do, however, require that animals left outside be a significant distance away from the next home. This is much better than most other municipalities' laws. -- Are you better off now than you were four trillion dollars ago? Diversity. It killed 13 at Fort Hood.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfr...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: I saw the post last night and it must have made Amma follower very happy, it was practically an infomercial. I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. At this stage of her popularity I would also like to see more than just reading movement produced claims of her charitable work. It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I guess it just reflect the lazy style of reporting that passes as journalism these days. They still give most of Maharishi's claims the same feel-good-fluff-piece-pass. Want to know why this is such a big problem? Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? When the press is uncritical of self-serving claims, the public's good is not served. It is always harder to ask the tough questions, it sometimes makes people angry with you for even asking. In journalism you have to do your homework to even know what the tough questions are. And going up to get your Amma hug may not be the end of your journalistic duty to the public. Especially when that hug came from a guy like George Bush instead of Amma. Very much agree Curtis. I mean, it's not like information critical of Amma is hard to find. There are ex-Amma sites just as there are ex-TM sites. Didn't see the video, don't know if I will. Just not my interest these days. But it does surprise me that Curtis felt that Dateline -- of all shows -- was going soft on Amma. They used to be *famous* as purveyors of hit piece journalism. Setting up a public figure to think they were going to do a positive story on them, and then hitting them on-camera with the whammy. They did what I felt was an *admirable* job of this on the Rama guy I used to study with. I had left by then, but I saw the show. They had him bent over like a two- dollar whore. Why I think the hit job was justified was that the early Rama -- the one I first knew when I met him -- would have been able to handle the hit flawlessly, and without batting an eyelash -- outwardly or inwardly. IMO, looking back on it, that's because the early Rama hadn't had a lot of time in the driver's seat of being a spiritual teacher, and hadn't been exposed to decades of fawning. Fawning eats away at one if one is not centered. Spew enough fawnshit on *anyone* and they'll start to believe their own press. Rama believed his enough -- having been surrounded by hundreds of followers who would believe *anything* he said -- that he tried to pass himself off as a self-made millionaire (which was true) who had made his money in the software industry by designing and selling cool software (which was not). The Dateline reporter (I don't remember his name but remember he was in a wheel- chair) had done his homework. Rama -- so used to everyone taking *everything* he said as if the words were pearls on a pearl necklace (thanks for that image, Curtis...I had never heard that before). hadn't. So Rama trotted out his (remembered, not verbatim) PR line at the time: 20 of the biggest companies in the world use our software. The Dateline reporter sat back in his wheelchair and said, Name one. He couldn't. He was so glammered by decades of adoration at that point that he had never even *conceived* of anyone calling him on his bullshit. Call me crazy -- especially as someone who still likes the guy in some ways and feels grateful for the time I studied with him -- but I think that he deserved every ignominious minute of it. He'd gotten lazy, and corrupt, and started to believe that he could skate by on charisma with everyone, as he did with his followers. One guy in a wheelchair revealed how out-of-touch- with-reality that was. Good on him, say I. You are absolutely right about the function of the press, Curtis. They are *paid* to be cynics. Those of they are cynical *about* should *thank* them for this, not diss them.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo fintlewoodle...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. Don't they? How are we supposed to progress from stage 1 (hopping) to stage 2 (floating) if some sort of extra gravity defying process isn't involved? They aren't claiming anybody's doing anything but hopping yet. In his 'physics of yogic flying' lecture Hagelin claims that the normal run of events from the quantum level upwards that gives us what we call reality, with it's tendency for things to obey what appear to be immutable laws but are in fact statistical probabilites, can be changed to favour things that appear miraculous if you are operating from a level beyond which gravity has it's effects. I think we have to assume that he believes this, or is at least happy to be on record trying to convince others to believe it. So I think it should be put to the test. It isn't *happening* yet. How can you put something that isn't happening to the test? I remember someone in the TMO saying that attempts to measure brainwaves while hopping are fatally flawed because the sudden movement has a much larger effect on measured activity than doing the sutra, so how than can claim that maximum coherence is achieved at lift off is beyond me. *AT* liftoff, at the instant before the body starts moving. The bottom line then is whether or not anything unexplainable is happening and they should be looking at it. Unless they don't have the confidence in the technique I'm not sure what else they could test at this stage. The *experience*, or at least my experience, is that something else *is* going on, but I have no idea what. The most I can say is that hopping feels involuntary, like a sneeze, and that it feels as though it's triggered by an impulse generated by the sutra (or in a group setting, sometimes by an impulse generated by somebody else doing the sutra). Whether that has anything to do with coherence of brain waves, I couldn't say. I don't know whether it has anything to do with levitation either. And I don't have a clue how you could test it. There are other associated odd experiences, including of bubbling bliss. One of mine is that I am much bigger than my body, as if I'm watching this little body hop up and down in the middle of a sort of big cloud of me. Another is that sometimes at the apex of a hop, it becomes absolutely crystal-clear for the barest instant that levitation is occurring--just for that instant--and that if I could maintain that experience, I wouldn't come down. But I can't, so I do. It isn't a *thought* but an experience; I don't know how to explain it any better than that, but it's very distinct. It's more than simply not feeling the pull of gravity at that instant. It's more like being in the zone, when everything seems to be working together without effort, part of that everything being the impulse generated by the sutra. Anyway, when somebody insists nothing out of the ordinary is happening, I can only say that's not my experience; and that if they were to have the same experience, they would have to acknowledge that at least an out-of-the-ordinary *experience* is taking place. Maybe that's all it is. But I doubt it's all just suggestion. I don't know how you *could* suggest some of the experiences when they're virtually impossible to describe.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo fintlewoodlewix@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. Don't they? How are we supposed to progress from stage 1 (hopping) to stage 2 (floating) if some sort of extra gravity defying process isn't involved? They aren't claiming anybody's doing anything but hopping yet. So why not call it yogic hopping? That would be truthful. Calling it yogic flying is not. You believe it is an entirely involuntary action, right? How do you explain in the film that all begin hopping together, all know where the corner of the foam pad is, and all start hopping when the camera happens to be filming? I was a hopper for several years. It was obvious to me towards the end of that time that the biggest thing going on in those rooms was group think and group action. Now that was what30 years ago. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Same old hopping, albeit with a few more strained knees and backs. This isn't yogic flying. It's the yogic equivalent of waiting for godot.
[FairfieldLife] Spiritual belief as investment, or cheese
Have you ever noticed how some people feel the need (nay, not just the need but the *compulsion*) to hang onto and defend beliefs they have invested in for years, or decades? It doesn't even seem to matter whether they *know* that the belief is on the slippery slide to being exposed as the idiocy it always was, they hang onto it anyway. Tonight I am relating this insight to a an old English music hall song, and to a quote attributed to some rich-ass guy whose name I can't remember: I made my money in the stock market by always selling too early. Interesting quote, this. The speaker (whoever it was) is *admitting* that he'd made a bad choice, and backed a losing proposition. How he'd made money was by realizing this *early*, and getting out while the getting was still good. Others hang onto the stock until it's worthless. I don't know if I'm really making a comment on anything or not here. I'm just rappin'. But it strikes me that -- in an olfactory sense if not a financial or spiritual sense -- hanging onto a belief or a belief system that is past its Use By date is lot like that old English music hall song I remembered today, which was about trying to pass off a gorgonzola cheese that is *way* past its Use By date. The Gorgonzola Cheese Song by Harry Champion, 1880 as performed by Robin williamson and his Merry Band (can't find a full-length audio version...sorry) Oh that gorgonzola cheese It wasn't over-healthy I suppose Our tom cat fell a corpse upon the mat When the niff went up his nose, Talk about the flavor Of the crackling on the pork Nothing could have been so strong As the beautiful effluvia that filled the house When the gorgonzola cheese went wrong.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfreak@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: snip I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. snip Didn't see the video, don't know if I will. Just not my interest these days. But it does surprise me that Curtis felt that Dateline -- of all shows -- was going soft on Amma. They used to be *famous* as purveyors of hit piece journalism. Setting up a public figure to think they were going to do a positive story on them, and then hitting them on-camera with the whammy. Uh, guys...this was on *Nightline*, not Dateline. Check the subject heading. Very different programs-- different *networks* even. Nightline does some investigative stuff, but it's not at all known for hit pieces. It's a lot more lightweight than the old Ted Koppel Nightline used to be. Unlike Dateline, it's on every weeknight, and it's a half-hour show with multiple stories, whereas Dateline is an hour once a week and can do longer pieces. The Amma piece was part of a Features series called Faith Matters. Some of the episodes of the series are investigative, others are just profiles, which is what the Amma piece was. It was only 7 minutes long--how good a hit piece can you do in 7 minutes? Maybe if some big Amma scandal is uncovered, Dateline (or 60 Minutes or 20/20) will get around to doing a hit piece, but to expect one from Nightline is kinda silly. Yours truly, --THE CORRECTOR
[FairfieldLife] Re: Spiritual belief as investment, or cheese
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: Have you ever noticed how some people feel the need (nay, not just the need but the *compulsion*) to hang onto and defend beliefs they have invested in for years, or decades? It doesn't even seem to matter whether they *know* that the belief is on the slippery slide to being exposed as the idiocy it always was, they hang onto it anyway. Tonight I am relating this insight to a an old English music hall song, and to a quote attributed to some rich-ass guy whose name I can't remember: I made my money in the stock market by always selling too early. Interesting quote, this. The speaker (whoever it was) is *admitting* that he'd made a bad choice, and backed a losing proposition. Not necessarily. For example, let's take Google stock. I think everyone would agree it's a good, solid money-making company. Today's price for a share of Google is about $535.00. But in October of 2007 it was well over $700.00 and by November of 2008 had fallen below $300.00. But what if you had bought Google in August of 2004 when it was under $100? And then sold it in September of 2007 when it was $567.00? Sure, you would have sold it too early because it eventually went up to over $700.00 but you avoided the crash of the stock to when it went below $300.00 So I think it's a great quote you reproduced but I read it entirely differently than you did. And I think the axiom holds true: people make money in the stock market by NOT waiting until the stock eventually and inevitably goes into its bear phase and selling while there is still a profit to be made...even though it was too early because he didn't sell at the peak. How he'd made money was by realizing this *early*, and getting out while the getting was still good. Others hang onto the stock until it's worthless. I don't know if I'm really making a comment on anything or not here. I'm just rappin'. But it strikes me that -- in an olfactory sense if not a financial or spiritual sense -- hanging onto a belief or a belief system that is past its Use By date is lot like that old English music hall song I remembered today, which was about trying to pass off a gorgonzola cheese that is *way* past its Use By date. The Gorgonzola Cheese Song by Harry Champion, 1880 as performed by Robin williamson and his Merry Band (can't find a full-length audio version...sorry) Oh that gorgonzola cheese It wasn't over-healthy I suppose Our tom cat fell a corpse upon the mat When the niff went up his nose, Talk about the flavor Of the crackling on the pork Nothing could have been so strong As the beautiful effluvia that filled the house When the gorgonzola cheese went wrong.
[FairfieldLife] how about a massive lawsuit
i was wondering if anyone likes the idea of a collective lawsuit against the tmo to reclaim money spent on the programs and the university. there seems to be plenty of evidence that the tmo has always kept secrets, lied, to sell its products ie. its non religious- the puja, supernatural powers-nothing, science-more like seance, etc etc. plus we could shut down the university and free everyone of their student loan debts to mum. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfr...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo fintlewoodlewix@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. Don't they? How are we supposed to progress from stage 1 (hopping) to stage 2 (floating) if some sort of extra gravity defying process isn't involved? They aren't claiming anybody's doing anything but hopping yet. So why not call it yogic hopping? That would be truthful. Calling it yogic flying is not. You believe it is an entirely involuntary action, right? How do you explain in the film that all begin hopping together, all know where the corner of the foam pad is, and all start hopping when the camera happens to be filming? I was a hopper for several years. It was obvious to me towards the end of that time that the biggest thing going on in those rooms was group think and group action. Now that was what30 years ago. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Same old hopping, albeit with a few more strained knees and backs. This isn't yogic flying. It's the yogic equivalent of waiting for godot.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfr...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: snip They aren't claiming anybody's doing anything but hopping yet. So why not call it yogic hopping? That would be truthful. Calling it yogic flying is not. As long as folks know what's involved before they plunk down their money for the course, what it's called doesn't bother me much. Lots of things aren't called exactly what they are, for PR purposes. You believe it is an entirely involuntary action, right? How do you explain in the film that all begin hopping together, all know where the corner of the foam pad is, and all start hopping when the camera happens to be filming? I wouldn't swear the guys in the video weren't helping things out a little. I wasn't there. All I can tell you about is my own experience. I *have* experienced being one of several people who all started hopping at pretty much the same time, either because we all thought the sutra at the same time at the beginning of the session, or because (as it seemed) the impulse generated by the sutra had become so lively after folks had been hopping for a while that all it took to get a bunch of folks to hop was for one person to think the sutra and activate the impulse for all of them. It's a bit silly to ask why they all started to hop while the camera was filming. The camera was there to film them hopping, and presumably it would keep running as long as it had to to get hopping on film. As to knowing where the edge of the foam is, in my experience one generally doesn't lose the sense of where one is in relation to the room's layout or the objects or people in it. One is aware of getting close to an obstacle of some kind, another person or a wall or the edge of the foam, in this case, and that awareness is enough to kill the impulse if necessary, or to lead one to turn around and hop in the other direction. I was a hopper for several years. It was obvious to me' towards the end of that time that the biggest thing going on in those rooms was group think and group action. What can I say? I'm sorry you didn't have the kind of experiences I've had. In a group, there's plenty of group stuff going on. Maybe some people are just following along intentionally, but the stuff I'm talking about-- the hopping impulse (as it seems) being lively in the group's somehow shared consciousness--has been very distinct and clear to me. Now that was what30 years ago. Nothing has changed. Nothing. Same old hopping, albeit with a few more strained knees and backs. This isn't yogic flying. It's the yogic equivalent of waiting for godot.
[FairfieldLife] Re: how about a massive lawsuit
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nadarrombus royboyun...@... wrote: i was wondering if anyone likes the idea of a collective lawsuit against the tmo SNIP I doubt your student loans are held by MUM. They are probably financed by an outside agency who deserves their money whether you are second guessing your choices or not. The movement is a lawsuit savvy foe in the courtroom. If you go down that road be prepared to devoting years of your life to it. Is that really how you want to spend your next few years? And the outcome is highly uncertain without proven physical injury. And this is a good thing. We don't want a society where you can shut down a university because of spreading some bullshit ideas. Do your homework on the previous cases and you will see what you would be stepping into. Some even got some money after YEARS of work. It is a game played between lawyers in their home court and your life is what gets expended. Personally, when I decided I no longer bought Maharishi's teaching I didn't consider suing them for my lost years. Under consideration I realized that it was a mixed bag of good and bad. There was plenty of bullshittery, but there was also a unique opportunity to live a seriously alternative lifestyle. And getting out involves getting to review your whole belief system is a detail and at a core identity level that adults rarely are forced to do. I am not the victim of Maharishi's teaching, I am a graduate. And the experiences I had with him make me uniquely me. Get out the old Ben Franklin list of pros and cons on what you have learned, I'll bet you will be surprised how much ends up on the good side. And that includes where you are now drawing your bullshit lines on beliefs. Knowing how important that personal line is to your life is one of the biggest pros, even if you gained it in reaction to Maharishi's teaching. So ask what is your real motivation here? If it is money that is a lottery ticket chance you will see any in any reasonable proportion to the time you will put into it. Is it to stop what you consider a bad thing? The movement is doing a pretty good job of dying out all on its own. The core group of believers who bought in years ago aren't going to consider leaving now, why should they? They like it. And with the scant numbers starting these days don't worry about the future. The hay day is over, Maharishi is dead. Is it for payback? You have to find your own perspective on what this might mean. You are never going to budge the higher ups, you are going to strengthen them against a common foe. It will all be played out in a sterile courtroom full of bored people. You will never get your Perry Mason moment. When I left the movement and was vocal about my reasons I also knew that any involvement in a suit would reduce all my criticisms to he did it for the money. If you have an insight about your experience with Maharishi's system share it, it is a valuable resource to others. You may find that expressing your own point of view now gives you the kind of empowering healing you are seeking from a lawsuit. Tell us what you learned. Your life is 10% what happened to you in the movement and 90% what you do with it to create the life you want now. I guess this topic really brought up a lot for me about how I evaluate my personal history with the movement and it has taken years to feel completely comfortable with it all. Good luck on your own personal journey. i was wondering if anyone likes the idea of a collective lawsuit against the tmo to reclaim money spent on the programs and the university. there seems to be plenty of evidence that the tmo has always kept secrets, lied, to sell its products ie. its non religious- the puja, supernatural powers-nothing, science-more like seance, etc etc. plus we could shut down the university and free everyone of their student loan debts to mum. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfreak@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Hugo fintlewoodlewix@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip But here's where the science comes in. Several times on this forum I have suggested an experiment that, given my last-time-I-studied-it-back-in-high-school knowledge of physics, would prove one way or another whether the flying in Yogic Flying is due to anything other than muscle exertion. Except that it would be an attempt to disprove a straw man, which isn't very scientific. Nobody denies muscular exertion is involved, at least these days. Don't they? How are we supposed to progress from stage 1 (hopping) to stage 2 (floating) if some sort of
[FairfieldLife] Fwd: FW: ZEN Teachings
From: rfl...@brocku.ca Sent: 2/11/2010 1:32:05 P.M. Eastern Standard Time Subj: FW: ZEN Teachings ZENTeachings 1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow.. In fact, just piss off and leave me alone. 2. Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any. 3. No one is listening until you fart. 4. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else. 5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.. 6. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments. 7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. 8.. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. 9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. 10. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it. 11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. 12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree. 13. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time. 14. Good judgment comes from bad experience ... and most of that comes from bad judgment. 15. A closed mouth gathers no foot. 16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither one works. 17. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving. 18. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. 19. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our arse then things just keep getting worse. 20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. -- The only way to make things right is to admit when you’ve been wrong. _ Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the http://ca.promos.yahoo.com/newmail/overview2/ All-new Yahoo! Mail No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2680 - Release Date: 02/10/10 14:38:00 - End forwarded message - ZEN Teachings 1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow.. In fact, just piss off and leave me alone. 2. Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any. 3. No one is listening until you fart. 4. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else. 5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.. 6. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments. 7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. 8.. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. 9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. 10. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it. 11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. 12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree. 13. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time. 14. Good judgment comes from bad experience ... and most of that comes from bad judgment. 15. A closed mouth gathers no foot. 16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither one works. 17. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving. 18. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. 19. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our arse then things just keep getting worse. 20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. -- The only way to make things right is to admit when you’ve been wrong. Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the _All-new Yahoo! Mail _ (http://ca.promos.yahoo.com/newmail/overview2/) No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2680 - Release Date: 02/10/10 14:38:00
[FairfieldLife] Prius owners blame wild rides on cruise control
Looks like it's not the floor mat or the shoddy construction of the accelerator. It's pointing more and more to bad software programming in Toyota cars. And to think I wanted something a lot more reliable than my Infiniti. I bought a Camry. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/11/prius.cruise.control/index.html?hpt=T2 By *Christina Zdanowicz* and *Wayne Drash*, CNN February 11, 2010 3:49 p.m. EST *Atlanta, Georgia (CNN)* -- The Toyota Prius sometimes accelerates while in cruise control, rocketing past the set speed and sending drivers on wild rides, according to some owners and auto safety experts. The most prominent Prius owner to voice concern over the issue is Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple and owner of several Priuses, including a 2010 model. This new model, Wozniak said during the Discovery Forum 2010 earlier this month, has an accelerator that goes wild but only under a certain condition of cruise control. The computer guru blamed the problem not on floor mats or a sticky accelerator pedal, as Toyota has maintained, but on bad software. An exasperated Wozniak expressed frustration with his efforts to contact Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I don't know a way to get heard, he said. I don't know a way to get through to the government, the government safety people. Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington-based group focused on car safety, said his group has received about 10 cruise-control complaints from Prius owners -- roughly 5 percent of the overall complaints his organization has received about the hybrid. We do have reports from some consumers that the vehicle does some things erratically, Ditlow said. Do we know what's causing it to do that? No. But it's not what the agency [NHTSA] is looking at. The Prius is among the 8.5 million Toyota vehicles recalled in recent months for problems related to gas pedals and brakes. Just this week, Toyota recalled hundreds of thousands of 2010 Priuses for problems associated with its brake system. Timeline of Toyota's recall woeshttp://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/10/timeline.toyota/index.html But the company insists the problems with the world's best-selling hybrid end there. There aren't any other issues we're looking at with this vehicle, said Brian Lyons, a Toyota safety and quality communications manager. CNN spoke with several owners of previous Prius models who say they were experiencing the same problem: When they resumed cruise control, the car took off as if it had a mind of its own and resisted when they slammed on the brakes. At least two filed reports with NHTSA, but said they never heard from the agency. A spokeswoman for NHTSA refused comment for this story, saying the government agency is looking at the Prius braking system but not potential cruise-control problems. Feds and Toyota too close? javascript:%20void(0); Federal lawmakers also want answers from Toyota about the recent recalls, as well as a better explanation about sudden acceleration issues. The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Edolphus Towns, asked if the automaker looked into whether computer problems were to blame for acceleration issues. Is Toyota confident that the electronics are not involved in this problem? Towns asked in a February 3 letter to Toyota CEO Yoshimi Inaba. Watch: Experts say recalls may not solve problem javascript:%20void(0); Towns' committee will hold a hearing on February 24 to press officials about the safety of Toyota vehicles. *'I was just praying'* Grover Walton repeatedly slammed on the brakes of his 2008 Toyota Prius on a road trip to visit his granddaughters in South Carolina last October. The car lurched back and forth, and gained speed. I can't get the cruise control off, he said to his wife, who was in the back seat. Barbara Walton looked up from playing Scrabble on her laptop. She figured her husband's lousy driving was to blame. Yet the hybrid kept zipping along the wet four-lane highway in tight traffic. I was just praying he could get the car stopped, she told CNN iReport. Waltons' ask: Are we driving a death trap?http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-402459 Grover Walton rode the brakes and looked for the best place to pull over. He turned onto a dirt road and popped the car into neutral. When the car stopped, the two front brakes had a red glow to them, he said. My wife was panicking. She didn't know if she should take the stuff out of the car or what. The incident began, he said, when he hit the resume button on his cruise control, thinking he'd speed back up to around 63 mph. The car got up to 75 mph. Herb Kuehn of Battle Creek, Michigan, said the same thing happened to him in 2005 on a two-lane highway. He said he tried to resume cruise control at 58 mph. Instead, it just fully accelerated and kept going, Kuehn said. He frantically pushed the power button. It didn't respond. The car wouldn't shift
[FairfieldLife] Re: Nab's Benjamin Creme
Like seeing Obama 1,000 times on TV telling the American public that he hasn't done a good job explaining his healthcare proposal. After a while, the story gets really stale. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Buck dhamiltony...@... wrote: A message of peace is fine, but attaching that message to a charlatan isn't. Yep. Well, though as it comes to watching good street theatre who was it said, Don't let a little truth get in the way of a good story. Is a brilliant good show that way. Sit back and enjoy the theatre for what it is. Good casting. Well played. Sort of like a Saint George and the Dragon mummer's play. Loved the close-ups and pacing of the delivery in the film. Artform. -B
[FairfieldLife] Progressive Iowa [1 Attachment]
-- Are you better off now than you were four trillion dollars ago? Diversity. It killed 13 at Fort Hood.
[FairfieldLife] Post Count
Fairfield Life Post Counter === Start Date (UTC): Sat Feb 06 00:00:00 2010 End Date (UTC): Sat Feb 13 00:00:00 2010 460 messages as of (UTC) Thu Feb 11 23:03:22 2010 49 authfriend jst...@panix.com 42 curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@yahoo.com 41 TurquoiseB no_re...@yahoogroups.com 35 WillyTex willy...@yahoo.com 28 do.rflex do.rf...@yahoo.com 26 Buck dhamiltony...@yahoo.com 21 Bhairitu noozg...@sbcglobal.net 20 ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@netscape.net 20 Rick Archer r...@searchsummit.com 19 It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@gmail.com 18 nablusoss1008 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 13 Hugo fintlewoodle...@mail.com 12 lurkernomore20002000 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net 11 Vaj vajradh...@earthlink.net 10 Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@lisco.com 8 cardemaister no_re...@yahoogroups.com 8 Mike Dixon mdixon.6...@yahoo.com 8 John jr_...@yahoo.com 7 janosmelocco janosmelo...@yahoo.com 7 Joe geezerfr...@yahoo.com 7 BillyG wg...@yahoo.com 6 shukra69 shukr...@yahoo.ca 6 sgrayatlarge no_re...@yahoogroups.com 6 Duveyoung no_re...@yahoogroups.com 5 metoostill metoost...@yahoo.com 3 raunchydog raunchy...@yahoo.com 3 anatol_zinc anatol_z...@yahoo.com 2 wayback71 waybac...@yahoo.com 2 seekliberation seekliberat...@yahoo.com 2 wle...@aol.com 2 Hugo richardhughes...@hotmail.com 2 Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@yahoo.com 2 jeff.evans60 jeff.evan...@yahoo.com 1 nadarrombus royboyun...@yahoo.com 1 merlin vedamer...@yahoo.de 1 jagg_pell_rf_129 jagg_pell_rf_...@yahoo.com 1 guyfawkes91 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 eustace10679 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 azgrey no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 PaliGap compost...@yahoo.co.uk 1 Ghanesh PV ghan...@gmail.com 1 one.li...@ymail.com one.li...@ymail.com Posters: 42 Saturday Morning 00:00 UTC Rollover Times = Daylight Saving Time (Summer): US Friday evening: PDT 5 PM - MDT 6 PM - CDT 7 PM - EDT 8 PM Europe Saturday: BST 1 AM CEST 2 AM EEST 3 AM Standard Time (Winter): US Friday evening: PST 4 PM - MST 5 PM - CST 6 PM - EST 7 PM Europe Saturday: GMT 12 AM CET 1 AM EET 2 AM For more information on Time Zones: www.worldtimezone.com
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
Hey Curtis, Maybe the reporter was just happy to arrive in India in one piece, stay healthy, spend some time chilling with the devotees, eat some dosas, idlys, and sambar, interview Amma, get her hug and then get out of dodge. How could she possibly know all the inside baseball stuff about the organization, plus I'm sure their is a natural bias towards anything 3rd world, or perceived 3rd world. This could be a set up for a hit piece down the road but who doesn't want to see a happy hugging saint, makes for great television. She dug the hug Curtis. Hey if only we got hugs in Noida instead of parasites. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: I saw the post last night and it must have made Amma follower very happy, it was practically an infomercial. I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. At this stage of her popularity I would also like to see more than just reading movement produced claims of her charitable work. It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I guess it just reflect the lazy style of reporting that passes as journalism these days. They still give most of Maharishi's claims the same feel-good-fluff-piece-pass. Want to know why this is such a big problem? Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? When the press is uncritical of self-serving claims, the public's good is not served. It is always harder to ask the tough questions, it sometimes makes people angry with you for even asking. In journalism you have to do your homework to even know what the tough questions are. And going up to get your Amma hug may not be the end of your journalistic duty to the public. Especially when that hug came from a guy like George Bush instead of Amma. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
My fault on the name. I saw the Nightline show and it came out Dateline when I typed it. I expect BOTH shows to do more than present advertisements for gurus uncritically. But who was calling for a hit piece? Not me: It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I was specifically not expecting a hit piece but just basic critical thinking journalism. Not Joe and not Barry either. Judy: Maybe if some big Amma scandal is uncovered, Dateline (or 60 Minutes or 20/20) will get around to doing a hit piece, but to expect one from Nightline is kinda silly. But using the term hit piece, which I guess you picked up from Barry's description of a piece done on Rama, is a perfect example of the demonization of critical thinking and skeptical questions that was one of my main points. I was calling for decent journalism but a hit piece sounds so unfair doesn't it? A 7 minute piece on a half hour show which sent a film crew to India and actually got an interview with Amma could have done better than to produce an infomercial for her. Want an example that would fit in great in a 7 minute piece that had time to include a devotee claiming to have seen Amma HEAL a leper? Devotee I saw Amma heal a leper. Actual news person: Really, how do you know he was cured, describe what you saw. If you have time for the outrageous claim you have time for a follow up question that lets the viewer evaluate the credibility of the person claiming it. That is what I was calling for on any news show wherever they are on the spectrum of infotainment and on whatever network. Judy: It was only 7 minutes long--how good a hit piece can you do in 7 minutes? I don't know about a hit piece because no one was talking about doing one on her but I have a question for you. How many minutes does it take for someone to present a piece with some alternative views of Amma other than that she is a saint with magical powers? My guess is that 7 would do just fine, as would 2 if that is how long the piece ran. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Joe geezerfreak@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: snip I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. snip Didn't see the video, don't know if I will. Just not my interest these days. But it does surprise me that Curtis felt that Dateline -- of all shows -- was going soft on Amma. They used to be *famous* as purveyors of hit piece journalism. Setting up a public figure to think they were going to do a positive story on them, and then hitting them on-camera with the whammy. Uh, guys...this was on *Nightline*, not Dateline. Check the subject heading. Very different programs-- different *networks* even. Nightline does some investigative stuff, but it's not at all known for hit pieces. It's a lot more lightweight than the old Ted Koppel Nightline used to be. Unlike Dateline, it's on every weeknight, and it's a half-hour show with multiple stories, whereas Dateline is an hour once a week and can do longer pieces. The Amma piece was part of a Features series called Faith Matters. Some of the episodes of the series are investigative, others are just profiles, which is what the Amma piece was. It was only 7 minutes long--how good a hit piece can you do in 7 minutes? Maybe if some big Amma scandal is uncovered, Dateline (or 60 Minutes or 20/20) will get around to doing a hit piece, but to expect one from Nightline is kinda silly. Yours truly, --THE CORRECTOR
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sgrayatlarge no_re...@... wrote: Hey Steve, She came to make the bottom fall out of her world by hugging Amma, but after a little Indian food she saw the world fall out of her bottom! Ten minutes on Google is all it takes to discover some questions to ask. And we both know she had a little time on the flight to think it all over! But hey, if I was into Amma I would be thrilled. It was a super complimentary piece without the hint of even a follow up question. Amma couldn't have produced a better PR piece herself. The thing is that Amma's integrity is not served by fluff pieces either. If she is the real deal humanitarian more questions would only make her look better. No one has to be afraid of financial questions for example. She might come out looking like a saint. Critical thinking and good journalism help good people tell their story. I think hit pieces are as bad as fluff pieces and don't mean good journalism to me. That is just ratings grabbing and possibly being unfair to the person profiled. But if you have a person claiming she healed a leper, how about asking her Hey Amma, did you really heal a leper? Hey Curtis, Maybe the reporter was just happy to arrive in India in one piece, stay healthy, spend some time chilling with the devotees, eat some dosas, idlys, and sambar, interview Amma, get her hug and then get out of dodge. How could she possibly know all the inside baseball stuff about the organization, plus I'm sure their is a natural bias towards anything 3rd world, or perceived 3rd world. This could be a set up for a hit piece down the road but who doesn't want to see a happy hugging saint, makes for great television. She dug the hug Curtis. Hey if only we got hugs in Noida instead of parasites. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: -- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: I saw the post last night and it must have made Amma follower very happy, it was practically an infomercial. I expected a bit more from Dateline than uncritically filming a devotee claiming to have seen Amma heal a leper. At this stage of her popularity I would also like to see more than just reading movement produced claims of her charitable work. It doesn't have to be a mean-spirited expose, but this is a news show. I guess it just reflect the lazy style of reporting that passes as journalism these days. They still give most of Maharishi's claims the same feel-good-fluff-piece-pass. Want to know why this is such a big problem? Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? When the press is uncritical of self-serving claims, the public's good is not served. It is always harder to ask the tough questions, it sometimes makes people angry with you for even asking. In journalism you have to do your homework to even know what the tough questions are. And going up to get your Amma hug may not be the end of your journalistic duty to the public. Especially when that hug came from a guy like George Bush instead of Amma. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
That was a very nice piece. She's got it going on. One possible drawback. I'm really not sure I hard I want to be pressed against a silk sari with a with a couple a thousand other people's, sweat, drool, (maybe blood), lipstick, make up, and maybe a runny nose or two. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: snip I was specifically not expecting a hit piece but just basic critical thinking journalism. Not Joe and not Barry either. Nobody expressed surprise that it wasn't a hit piece? You sure? Want to give that a little more thought, Curtis? Maybe review the post I was responding to, see if you might have missed something? You've got plenty of time; this is my 50th for the week.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma/Ma
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rf...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/hugging-saint-9803774?tab=9482930sec tion=1206872playlist=9803966 section=1206872playlist=9803966 It was good to see her again and to see the recognition she gets. Agreed. She is right there in front of the tranformative proceses going on in this Age; I met Her in India and admire Her work truely; She is doing very important work indeed on many, many levels. She, sincerely, is transforming power incarnated. Nevertheless I would like to draw the attention to something Benjamin Creme said a few years ago; There are no female Avatars in incarnation at this point of history. Ma Anandamayi was the last of these to bless humanity. There are several females today seeking Immortality in the most serious manner. Amma certainly is one of these blessed souls. May they all become Mother Divine incarnated ! Let Ma Anandamayi the Master be Their helpful light forever, shining as Being alone does: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhjDGqtLN3s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_ET-kUAuI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQunL7yBTp4NR=1 Ma Anandamayi with Kumaris at Kankhal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIbsqKSQNI4NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qm99mj6iK8feature=related Bajans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjI8rDRD6qkNR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wdw5e4igDUNR=1 MA in the 30'is :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5033Xzver8feature=related
[FairfieldLife] Re: Amma on Nightline
Curtis: Ever hear of a little war in Iraq? So, you're thinking that the U.S. was in a war with Iraq? A war that was under a United Nations mandate. The war that George Bush won with U.S. allies like England, Germany, Spain and a dozen or more other countries. Winning the war against the aggressor Saddam Hussein, the founder of OPEC, from taking over the oil fields of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. So, I wonder how much you'd be paying for a gallon of gasoline now, if Saddam had won the war? I'd like to see an in-depth news report on that.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Progressive Iowa
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@... wrote: -- Are you better off now than you were four trillion dollars ago? Diversity. It killed 13 at Fort Hood. 13 soldiers who signed up knowing that the military is a dangerous place where you might kill and get killed. American ignorance and fundamentalist christianity killed a hundred thousand innocents in Iraq. I guess you think an American baby is more important than an Iraqi baby. I don't. OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , Duveyoung no_re...@... wrote: Ghanesh, To put it mildly, yes, mildly, this photo of the flying girl is a vile fucking lie. False advertising that is this low and creepy is rare even in today's media. Well, the links won't open for me, but I doubt that that picture comes the The They as you like to call blame everything on. OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] Re: Anyone Tried Yogic Flying?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , wayback71 waybac...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , Duveyoung no_reply@ wrote: Judy, Just to say it: I believe that flying is possible. I even believe that maybe the TM method can lead to such prowess, but to show folks midair as if at least someone somewhere can fly and here`s the photo is flat out fraudulent, and the TMO's very first posters about the siddhis lied exactly like this. Agreed, phony photos are fraud and misleading. But on a personal level, the video where the guys were shown bouncing about and then interviewed brought up all the old feelings about being around the domes - things like: do these people Really feel so blissful, and if so, why don't I, why did I always sit there feeling full of doubts? Some of these men being interviewed appear very genuine, refined, gentle, happy people. So do they really have these internal experiences of energy, bliss and regularly? Yes I do. A lot. But I am not all meek and mild all the time, and I don't really want to be either. In fact, if you think that is an outward sign of something special, then you may be mistaken. Anyways, yes, people do have those experiences a lot. But the bottom line is, that as world consciousness rises, who knows, maybe you'll have them more than them, and get there faster. Nothing is as linear as people like to think on the road to enlightenment. But all roads lead to Rome. You are just on one that has a hill hiding the city from view at the moment. OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] NASA puts 2009 2nd hottest on record, end of hotttest decade on record.
NASA puts 2009 2nd hottest year on record, end of hotttest decade on record. http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20100121/ http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20100121/ OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] Re: NASA puts 2009 2nd hottest on record, end of hotttest decade on record.
NASA has already been shown in the past to be mistaken on their temperature figures. Try giving us a credible source. Besides that clown Hansen is associated with NASA. No one believes anything that comes out of their having to do with climate change: http://tinyurl.com/27lk4g http://tinyurl.com/68ufnt --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings no_re...@... wrote: NASA puts 2009 2nd hottest year on record, end of hotttest decade on record. http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20100121/ http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20100121/ OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] Re: NASA puts 2009 2nd hottest on record, end of hotttest decade on record.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: NASA has already been shown in the past to be mistaken on their temperature figures. Try giving us a credible source. Yea, like Fox News eh? You are a parody of yourself Shemp. No-one takes you seriously. NASA is an authoritative source, and so is the CIA on threat of Climate Change: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121352495 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121352495 OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] How to Gain the Support of Nature
To All: The technique is simple and that is to gain the bliss or soma available in the human physiology. The bliss lies in the junctures between waking, sleeping, and dreaming. It lies in between the incoming and outgoing breath. It lies in the junctures between different shades of colors. It lies in the junctures between flavors of the taste buds. It lies in the junctures in between tones of sounds, in between sound and silence. It lies in the juncture between hot and cold, in between the touches of the skin. It lies in between thoughts. By staying in bliss or samadhi, the mechanics of nature work for the person during his life here on earth. This is the secret in the vedic literature which MMY has attempted to explain during his lifetime. So, if things don't appear to be working for you at the present time, let nature do its work. There's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Diviners Sage and Psychoacoustic Resonance Meditation an Intuitive experience
Haha, thank you. I've been enjoying this group so far. The music you sent was awesome. Thanks so much again. :) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: Nice first post, I hope you hang around. Personally I have to say that salvia is the most obnoxious drug I have ever tried. Nice to hear someone with an affinity. On the sound frequency entrainment front accompanied with some chemical synaptic support, I would like to recommend some decent bourbon and listening to this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8RtayjqqIw And while I may sound like I'm being snarky, the truth is I am being completely serious. We all find the combo that works for us don't we? I'll check out the artists you mentioned and I hope you enjoy FFL. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, jagg_pell_rf_129 jagg_pell_rf_129@ wrote: Dear fellow Fairfielf Life members, I'd like to introduce myself and then share some things that I find important. As a new member I've really begun to enjoy this forum! I've read through a lot of posts and I am seeing that there is good information here with plenty of inspiring people around. I'm glad to have the ability to learn from and contribute. I am dedicated to following a path of self discovery and inner exploration, this group seems a good match for my further development. My current path of independent learning follows the lead of entheogenic experiencing with various other enlightening sources such as deep meditation and the contemplation of many different spiritual and philosophical texts and sources. I am glad that this forum here is yet another amazing group that exists for my further understanding and committed development. I'd like to share something new with the group for my first post because I think it is important to share new ideas and sources for learning within the related areas. I am sure that my knowledge isn't completely new but I think that sharing something different could be more idealistic instead of something we've already heard before and what has already been posted before. A new interest for as of late has been sound frequency entrainment, a concept I am new with but have already begun to include it into my log of practices for enlightenment. I know that entrainment techniques are known to the public through modes such as hypnosis but not a lot of people know about the abilities of sound frequency entrainment. I don't claim to be an expert so I'd also like to know how many other people here have heard about the many uses of psychoacoustics. I've heard it has been used for many years by people within the psychic, scientific and spiritual communities. I know that Tibetan monks use musical chanting and instruments to induce meditative states which have been found to contain specific tones and underlying frequencies that people have attributed to varying forms of health and spiritual states. I have found that divinatory experiences can be induced with certain plants as with deep meditation and acoustics. Some of my favourite music involves the chanting and instrument use of Tibetan monks. Especially when played loud the vibrations from lung chanting can give someone chills and euphoric sensations throughout their body. So if anyone knows more about this or any interesting sites where I can find some new and interesting forms within the spectrum of sound vibrations or similar I would love to check it out! The music by Phil Thorton has definitely blown me away as of late. Another `artist' who I have found recently has definitely changed the way I `perceive' sounds is the work of a scientist who goes by the name of `Doc Starz'. I looked into it and found out where to get some of his work that I happened to stumble across a couple of months ago. The scientist claims to have somehow engineered an audio track that has emulated a specific type of sensation experience close to that experienced after ingesting a sacred plant called Salvia Divinorum, through entrainment. Entrainment occurs on a deeply vibrating level within our cells and energy bodies...as well as with our brains frequency patterns. I have tried Salvia and have compared my experience with the psychoacoustic track and the results actually blew me away. I actually liked the acoustic track better. This is where I found the track, http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/SalviaDivinorum_FrequencyEmulation/message/15 I have done my research and experimenting with entheogens as I mentioned above. It was just plain perfect that there was a sound frequency out there that actually works well and is rendered with the experiential patterns of the strongest hallucinogenic plant on the earth! Mesoamericans and many other ancient
