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Re: Re: Next step
You don't seem to realize that you yourself do exactly what you accuse me of. Have you ever met me or have any idea who I am? My opinion on Prem is just that, opinion, based on what I have heard him say, his body language while talking, how he replied to questions, how the people who asked the questions reacted and what others have said about him. I have nothing against or for the man. In fact, whether he as a person exists or not will make no difference to my life. The same applies to you. I am concerned about people who go through suffering. In this context both of you and everybody else matters. I am concerned about ideas that I have experienced as misleading. I do not agree with his approach on life, as he also probably does not agree with my approach to life. What he himself believes to be the case only bothers me because it seems lopsided to me. Since I do not agree with his teachings I will naturally advise others not to follow a path that to my mind leads to a dead end. Just like you and me, he tries to invalidate views on life that he sees as inadequate. This is nevertheless just opinion, just as your high opinion of him is just your opinion. If I was to simply make some "nice" comments on your blog and your comments on my blog, this discussion we are having here would never have come about. I do not pretend to be happy and at peace with someone whose ideas I find to be lacking in depth. I do not hide behind politeness either. I will tell anybody who puts their ideas into the larger world exactly what I think of them without trying to be a goodly person. I am a real human being who does not try to be some superhuman saintly person. I have no desire for followers either. My primary concern is to make ideas that are not accessible in mainstream media accessible to whoever is interested therein. A secondary concern in this regard is to combat ideas that to my mind are not conducive to people gaining the ability to face life in all its glory of good and bad times. Truth is the central theme in my life and wherever I find ideas that are contrary to my own perception of truth, whether you believe I simply learned it from someone else or not, I will state that in no uncertain terms.
I have no interest in meeting anybody in particular. Whoever comes my way will find me open to discuss whatever or nothing according to his or her own preference. The Primordial Lord, that goes under many names, is always in and around me. I do not need any particular persons advise, but will listen to any advise given and then validate it for myself. If I find it lacking, I will write about it and tell anybody what I think of it. Nobody has to agree with me. Nobody has to disagree with me either. This is the point of freedom of speech. We can freely say what we think about whatever. If you try to denigrate or belittle any other religion than your own I will take you on and try to show you that you cannot simply generalize to everybody who prefers a particular label of religiosity and then condemn everybody who doesn't follow the teaching of your choice as ignorant. Since my opinion about Prem is not aimed at any particular religion, but aimed at his specific teaching, this does not apply here. I do not generalize to anybody but himself and you as a representative of his teaching. You are free to do the same with my ideas. If you find them lacking, tell me so, but don't generalize to a whole bunch of different views under a label I do not even give myself. I am not a Christian. I admire and follow the teachings of Jesus, but I do not confuse Him with Our (Mine and His) God.
As for you hearing the Buddhist Mantras whenever you want to, that is exactly my point about Prems teachings. Just like you, he seems stuck on name and form and preferences in experienced content. The Buddhism I'm referring to in my writings has nothing to do with hearing anything in particular but rather with being able to grasp the nature of any phenomena whatsoever and that on which all phenomena depends for its arising.
As for you feeling that I have no respect for you or that I am trying to humiliate you. I was really interested in seeing if your claim to have found a peace so profound that it can overcome any circumstantial content. You have proved the opposite.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on June 13, 2008 at 8:44 PM
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Re: Next step
One more little trivial thought. Have you ever met and talked with the person you badmouth? No I don't think so. Why? Because your used to reading and having people agree too..to. Why don't you go find Maharaji or Prem Rawat and talk to him. Then write me. Go to the links I have shown and go to an event and stay an listen. Then write me. Until then find some one else to bug. You have no idea who you are writing to or who I am. You have no respect or humility for others. Until someone sticks a gun in your face, then you respect them. I was a soldier for many years. What about you?
posted by
LittleBirdie
on June 13, 2008 at 6:06 AM
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Re: Next step
I have read the bible many times. And the Bhagavad Gita and the Koran. Were you on the mount with jesus? Why not talk about your own experience and not just run and thumb thru pages to come up with plagiarism. The person who wrote the book had the experience. Yours is make believe wanna be experience. So What?
posted by
LittleBirdie
on June 13, 2008 at 6:02 AM
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Re: Re: We this...We that..Satan this...Satan That
Bla..Bla.. Bla..
Why do you keep talking for others? Why can't you find your own experience and grasp the simplicity of life? Your be-littleing is suttle yet you try to re-inforce your back data? Were you on the mount top? Your intellect is feeling attacked so you tell me of ignorance. You love to be-little me on the internet because it is so impersonal. Rather then sitting face to face. Truth is not transient. The sound in many of the buddist chants and meditations are already within me and I hear them when ever I choose to. Not from a book. Misled are you in the crowd of lemmings going over the cliff.
posted by
LittleBirdie
on June 13, 2008 at 5:56 AM
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Next step
Once you have emptied your cup from preconceptions about Christianity you should read the Bible yourself, beginning with the parables and sermon on the mount by Jesus. Once you have grasped what all of that is about you can return and make some sensible comment on Christianity.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on June 13, 2008 at 1:52 AM
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Re: We this...We that..Satan this...Satan That
What do I feel? I feel sympathy for you. I have to admit that I found your comments funny at first, but since I realize that you can only speak from your own experience I have to assume that you simply lack the required experience to be able to make more sensible comments on these subjects you obviously know so little about. No blame.
I have been meditating for the greater part of my life and I can maintain bare awareness if need be. Feeling blissful whilst having no thoughts running amuck in your mind is however not the end of the spiritual journey, but only a beginners step and there is grave danger in getting stuck on that. Real life is more than simply feeling your feelings or feeling blissful all the time, mate. You have grown attached to your feelings and have developed a strong aversion to intellectual activity, which shows clearly in your negative statements about thinking and your sad lack of insight into the nature of reality. From your article about blah, blah , blah ...Buddhists have Buddha, blah, blah, blah etc it is also pretty obvious that you have no idea about Buddhism and its origins and development in to the host of different schools of Buddhist thought found throughout the world today.
It is also pretty obvious that you have no idea what the teachings of Christ are about. Your comments are based on some misconceptions you picked up from a sadly mistaken source. I cannot blame you, since there is a lot of hocus pocus sold as the teachings of Christ. Without the proper initiations and experience in life it is no use listening to the kind of source you seem to have on the matter since you will be misled and keep on reacting in the ignorant way you have done thus far.
What I would recommend is: Stop criticizing and commenting on matters you know nothing about. You are only making yourself look foolish to other readers. Since you seem to have mastered calmness meditation, or at the very least pretend to have, and got stuck there, you should start to practice insight meditation and augment your whole practice with training in bare awareness. You should practice to simply remain aware of the thoughts and feelings that arise in you without getting attached to them. Getting attached to pleasant feelings is not being enlightened. It is a common problem experienced by meditators everywhere and you should not make the mistake of identifying with it to the extent you obviously do. Get over yourself and contemplate the truths of the transient nature of all phenomena, including yourself. If you have no idea what I'm talking about here, go and ask an experienced meditator in any Buddhist tradition to guide you on this path.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on June 13, 2008 at 1:40 AM
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We this...We that..Satan this...Satan That
What do you feel? Where are your feelings without the stuff you think, and think and think. Give it a rest and tell what you feel not what you read and make up. Your drowning in the sea of words and books. And have put so much time into it. Have YOU seen satan? Have YOU seen the light? Is this satan stuff the best thing to think about 24/7?
posted by
LittleBirdie
on June 12, 2008 at 5:50 AM
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