My actions may be all about avoidance to you, yet your actions SCREAM addiction
and obsession and drama queenery to me, always whining and screeching about
what the TMO and Maharishi did or did not do. WTF? Grow up - let it go.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote:
>
> Like many here, I have many pleasant memories of my time in the TM
> movement. The camaraderie of friends who shared a similar vision and a
> similar goal. The joys of teaching, especially (for me) the "advanced
> lectures" that really weren't, but which gave one the opportunity to
> hear a question that one didn't know the answer to, and then have an
> answer form *anyway*, synthesized from 20 bits of seemingly unrelated
> information gleaned over a lifetime. Even the boatrides. For those who
> don't get the joke, "boatride" became a TMO synonym for something that
> is hyped as a Big Event but in reality is a total letdown, standing
> around for hours in the cold waiting for something -- anything -- to
> happen.
>
> And like many here, I smile both outwardly and inwardly when I remember
> these shiny moments. Just as I do when I remember the positive moments
> from the Rama trip. And there were *far* more of those moments in that
> environment than in the TMO; it was a rare week when there *wasn't* a
> standout Class A Spiritual Or Fun Experience to savor and enjoy.
>
> When these moments come back to me, I enjoy them and smile and then let
> them go. What I *don't* do is ever seek them out or *try* to remember
> them. The reason is that I've seen far too many of my fellow seekers
> along the Way do just that as a form of driving away other, less
> pleasant memories of the same period, or the same teacher, or the same
> organization.
>
> I see it all the time. Someone will mention one of the undeniably less
> than pleasant facts about a teacher we shared, and a certain number of
> listeners will immediately counter with a pleasant memory of the same
> teacher, as if that would "drive away" the facts that they don't want to
> hear. I know people who -- almost 15 years later -- still have never
> been able to utter the words, "Rama committed suicide." Instead, when
> someone else says it, they immediately "counter" with a story about a
> more pleasant memory.
>
> I guess it's better than the other cult deflection technique, which is
> to attack the person who brought up the factual memory they don't want
> to deal with, and attempt to portray that person as somehow damaged or
> possessed of evil intent for even bringing it up.
>
> But still, one of the cult phenomena that *still* leaves me rolling my
> eyes, even after all these years of observing it in person or on the
> Internet, is the unwillingness of many people to even *entertain*
> thoughts that contradict their nostalgic memories. It's like they
> consider having thoughts that could be portrayed as doubt -- doubt in
> the teacher they studied with, or in his/her teachings, or whatever --
> to be a Bad Thing.
>
> I don't feel that dealing with facts is a Bad Thing. I think it's a Good
> Thing, and a damned sight better *for you* than ignoring them.
>
> But pay no attention to me. This is just a Sunday afternoon rap over a
> pint of Murphy's Red at my local pub. However, you might want to
> remember this rap the next time either of the cult deflection techniques
> I've mentioned are used here. If you do, notice that they seem to
> immediately follow someone bringing up Topics That Make Them
> Uncomfortable.
>
> Some will try to deflect these topics by trying to steer the
> conversation to Something Else -- Anything Else. For some of these
> deflecters, that will mean attempting to steer the conversation in the
> direction of an attack on the people who brought up the Taboo Subject.
> For others, it will be trying to launch Yet Another Nostaliafest about
> the Beatles, or some Maharishi quote that they like, or something else
> in the past.
>
> But it's all the same technique if you ask me. It's called avoidance.
>
