Guruphiliac: Maharishiville



Monday, September 17, 2007

Maharishiville

File under: Gurubusting

We crossed the path of the Maharishiville blog the other day. While author Ed Abbey hasn't been posting there as of late, his blog is a good companion to John Knapp's TM-Free Blog, both of which see right through the sad little nutbag known as the Maharishi and his psychotically optimistic followers:
Why aren't we already invincible? Good question.
It's a question we imagine each TMâ„¢er must struggle with, until they buy into another of the very long line of excuses these losers are perpetually coming up with.

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6 Comments:

At 9/17/2007 11:35 PM, Blogger stuartresnick said...

On first glance, I mis-read this as "Why aren't we already invisible?"

Y'know, after claiming that his advanced courses could teach you to fly, Maharishi claimed he could teach other magical powers (sidhis) for a price... including the power to become invisible!

You really have to admire the guy. The flying thing never really took off, because serious consciousness consumers wanted to do serious research before paying big bucks for their sidhis. If Maharishi said he could teach people to fly, they demanded to see photos of the results. So naturally, he came up with the sidhi of invisibility. Problem solved!

Stuart
http://home.comcast.net/~sresnick2/socalled.htm
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

 
At 9/20/2007 6:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually Stuart, the "flying" siddhi does produce a result in the body that is not imagined. It has no use, but it does exist. The body lifts up spontaneously, then falls back down. What causes this is a total mystery to me. But having practiced it for awhile, not knowing anything else to do, I know it "works". But you don't fly. And the people you see in the films are just jumping around. Most everyone I met when I did practice this procedure said they "assisted" the sutra. I never felt compelled to do so, because it seemed fake to me. There were a few people I knew who had the experience as I did, that of being shocked that suddenly the body lifted up and was several feet forward of where it was (due to posture, no doubt) or had fallen back into place where it started. This lifting up and falling was accompanied by a feeling of extreme happiness beyond description. So whatever these techniques are, you cannot find out what they are by watching others. Most are doing as they were told by instructors: if 'hopping' (as they call it) or flying does not occur, you should 'encourage' it. Hence you see all these fools jumping around in full lotus.

As for invisibility, I wouldn't know if that ever worked because I didn't open my eyes -- haha.

Several of the other sutras had profound effects that were quite unexpected to me.

The cost was steep, but I had the money and didn't care. Basically I was curious, then found nothing very interesting about the organization or the techniques after a short time, and didn't continue with either.

Like lots of comments on this blogsite, many are as ignorant as the gurus they criticize! Commentary is posted willy-nilly by people who have never had first hand experience of these things, or had only bad experiences. I understand that Stuart is Jody's friend or mentor or whatever, from reading other posts, but it doesn't make Stuart right with each post. In this case he is wrong. Maharishi does teach quite remarkable magic for a price. Some of it works, some of it who knows? In any case it is all useless in my opinion, but in my case I needed to know what it was and found out.

I don't think Maharishi is inherently evil, although I never met him (I think you only meet him if you are 100 years old and are CEO of some corporation or something). I think he is just trying to get ordinary working folks all over the world to do things that should probably be reserved for yogis in the Himalayas as activities for their spare time for fun. Since Siddhis don't bring any clear vision of the Self, they don't apparently give those practicing (at least in my case they did not) the Knowledge that is worth having. (Yeah, I know, now Stuart will feel compelled to make mincemeat out of my words for the sake of argument -- 'what is it that you want to "have"? What is "worth"? Is there really "worthless" and "Worthwhile?" Why are you not satisfied with your present state right now?: Blah blah blah blah ad nauseum)

 
At 9/20/2007 3:34 PM, Blogger stuartresnick said...

anonymous said:
it doesn't make Stuart right with each post. In this case he is wrong.

Rather than just say I'm wrong, it'd be a bit more enlightening to specify what I'm wrong about. Doesn't that make sense? If you're going to go to the trouble of telling me I'm wrong, why not be specific, and set me straight?

In my post, I don't even see that I made any claims that could be construed as right or wrong. The closest I come to claiming anything is to say "The flying thing never really took off." I'm saying that as a business venture or cultural phenomenon, TM Sidhis classes didn't sweep the nation. That's my opinion, how could it be wrong?

I'm guessing that what's happening is that Anony is tossing these issues around in his mind, and there's some conflict there, so he projects it outward by saying I'm "wrong," while covering his a** by offering no specific example.

Yeah, I know, now Stuart will feel compelled to make mincemeat out of my words for the sake of argument

Perhaps TM also offered courses in mind-reading or foreseeing the future, and that's giving Anony the power to know everything other people think or feel in the present or future. And that sidhi frees him from the need to actually pay attention to anything I say.

Stuart
http://home.comcast.net/~sresnick2/socalled.htm
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

 
At 9/20/2007 3:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So Sorry Stuart,

But your comment that "the flying thing never really took off" meant you thought that there was magic in the "magic", when in fact, whatever it is, there is something there, however useless it is. If you didn't mean to say that, my sincerest apologies about saying you were wrong. (but it sure does imply that you think it's bunk, my friend, which although, again, it may be useless, it is not magicless magic)

Uh, actually, I was simply anticipating your usual replies which I've seen all too often here. Not reading the future at all. Seems whatever you've been studying gives the student the tendency to overact and exaggerate.

Oh! And God forbid that anyone would not listen to what you say! That would be just dreadful.

 
At 9/20/2007 7:19 PM, Blogger cw said...

"Actually Stuart, the "flying" siddhi does produce a result in the body that is not imagined. It has no use, but it does exist. The body lifts up spontaneously, then falls back down. What causes this is a total mystery to me. But having practiced it for awhile, not knowing anything else to do, I know it "works". But you don't fly. And the people you see in the films are just jumping around. Most everyone I met when I did practice this procedure said they "assisted" the sutra. I never felt compelled to do so, because it seemed fake to me. There were a few people I knew who had the experience as I did, that of being shocked that suddenly the body lifted up and was several feet forward of where it was (due to posture, no doubt) or had fallen back into place where it started. This lifting up and falling was accompanied by a feeling of extreme happiness beyond description. So whatever these techniques are, you cannot find out what they are by watching others. Most are doing as they were told by instructors: if 'hopping' (as they call it) or flying does not occur, you should 'encourage' it. Hence you see all these fools jumping around in full lotus."

You get high by bouncing on your butt, and pay a good deal to do so.

What on earth does that have to do with enlightenment?

 
At 9/24/2007 7:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Christopher columbo said...

You get high by bouncing on your butt, and pay a good deal to do so.

What on earth does that have to do with enlightenment?

.................

Chris, rather than just copy a long piece by anonymous, maybe you should actually read what he/she said. He/She said there was no value to the practice so he/she quit.

I also practiced the TM "sidhis" for about 11 years before quitting. I did not "get high bouncing on my butt". The inner exhilaration brought about the butt bouncing, not the reverse. The other sutras caused interesting experiences that I came to abhor. They did not deepen peace or bring more clarity to my life or help me to live simply in the moment, quite the reverse. They gave me uncontrollable body movements, which some people call "kriyas" and made me speak in tongues, which some Christians seem to think is good. After a while I hated these experiences. But they were not caused by "butt bouncing". Maharishi puts a lot of value on "bubbling bliss"-- as does Shri Shri, I suppose. But bliss means far less to me now than it did when I was 27. Call me middle-aged, but I prefer peace.

Stuart may preach a bit but he's more about what I value now than Maharishi. By the way Stuart, there were people I knew on my sidhi course who did experience some of the other "sidhis", including invisibility, but not in a controlled manner. It came and went, just like all the money we poured into Maharishi's pockets.

 

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