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Hi Jim, No insult intended and none taken either. I have no need to be defensive because I gave up on Rawat as soon as the lies and deceit became obvious to me circa 1980 and because I am writing about my beliefs based upon many premies that I have known up to and including recently. The statements I make are purely my ideas based upon knowing premies and discussion with premies and are certainly not my own beliefs. Hi Paddy, The defensiveness I asked you about, should it pertain, might result from whatever relationships you still have with premies more than anything else. Some exes are in marriages, long-term relationships or businesses with premies. They make the most of it and, in balance, have all sorts of things to value and love about the premies in their lives. Still, in balance, I'm sure they'd be very happy to see the premies exit. In the meantime, though, they make the most of it. They cope. And part of that coping might involve a certain amount of defensiveness on their friend's or lover's part. I'm not saying that this is your situation but maybe it is, eh? And if so, maybe you'd feel differently if you were simply out, gone, free and clear. So how about answering my questions? I know you won't do a jonx on me. Why should the majority of premies have any idea of or belief in Rawat's pecadilloes? As I posted yesterday: "If they hear of such a thing they dismiss it as smear campaigns from a hate group. It's not as if they're seeing exposes on TV about Rawat. In fact, they're now seeing that Rawat is being lauded in the Italian parliament, being feted by congressmen in the US House of Representatives and being awarded keys to the city by cities such as LA." Publicly it appears as if Prem Rawat and his organisations are doing fine. His public relations campaigns seem to be going very successfully, he has probably put an end to any more bad publicity from Australia and he's still jetting around to his heart's content being adored by anyone with one of his organisations' "smart cards". So as far as I can see the average premie has no reason to believe any of the allegations made on EPO, etc about Mr Rawat especially as they've been adoring him for 25 years or more and they're not even hearing the allegations. They're not being aired on public TV, on TPRF DVDs or any of the mass media that premies are getting their information from. When it comes right down to it, the only fair perspective is to consider each premie individually. I'm sure there are some real mushrooms out there (kept in the dark, fed bullshit). Whenever I've encountered premies who seemed to know nothing at all about Rawat's scandals, I've given them the full benefit of the doubt that they were principled and willing and able to process new information, however disturbing. I must say that there have indeed been a few who've responded with dignity and courage. Despite the initial confusion and pain, they've clung to some higher values of honesty and integrity that yes, in those raw moments, they must admit supercede Rawat himself. On the other hand, I've encountered a large number of premies who take the low road. They might not have had to deal with the unwanted information before but there it is, laid at their feet. It isn't pretty to see them resort to the despicable, cowardly denial, rationalizing and scapegoating they're driven to if they insist on not revisiting their faith. In the end, they become like that premie who posted the following on ELK the other day:
It seemed to begin where most three days events end. In past years it has taken a while for audience excitement to reach fever pitch. The recent emergence of an "ex-premie movement" though has clearly had a positive effect. Suddenly, the hall has no more reluctant doubters with hot criticisms and cold feet. Those with "issues'" have gone elsewhere. Those who remain are not living in ignorance. They know all about the arguments, they understand the accusations, they know full well the "story" of how not everything in the past was perfect.
They also know though, that Maharaji teaches them something so inspiring and heartwarming that it simply makes everything else irrelevant. The thousands of us who sang and danced our hearts out with Maharaji this weekend did so out of a very conscious choice - to embrace love, to enjoy life and to appreciate the eternal wonder of Maharaji's very unique and deeply effective message! First, notice how this guy diverges from you. You say that the majority of premies are still in the dark about the allegations against Rawat. This guy paints quite a different picture. All I can say is that people like this, who've chosen to play ostrich and have turned wilfully blind to the truth about Rawat or, worse still, have gotten to a point where it just doesn't matter, are not admirable, are not dignified, at least when it comes to this important aspect of their lives. In short, people who've heard the allegations but hide from them or people who scapegoat the messengers (e.g. us), or even condone the scapegoating of the messengers, leave very little room for respect. Premies who've heard nothing, on the other hand, can't be faulted the same way. However, I doubt that, at this point, they're as numerous as you think. I also posted: "The ethical arguments about ends and means has been going on for millenia and so far it's pretty obvious that most humans have no trouble using any means if they believe the end justifies the means." I'll be a little more specific. Premies believe, if they even think about it, that propagation requires that they be a little tactful when introducing new people to Knowledge and their "inspirational speaker". Most do not consider it lying or deceitful and if they do they square their conscience by believing they are doing the possible newbies a great favour. By letting them in gently they are allowing them the chance to feel the "inner peace" that Maharaji reveals and that is priceless whereas a bald presentation of the truth of Elan Vital would scare them away. I agree that they are wrong to act this way and incorrect in their ethical judgements but their sins are small indeed compared to much of the evil in the world. Here, I don't agree with you in the slightest. Following Rawat explicitly requires a level of trust that exceeds the trust involved in any other human relationships. No matter how he dances around it, his followers are still surrendering their minds to him in some very significant ways. Any trickery involved is dirty, nasty business and any premie who condones it is sullied in the process. These are small sins compared to war perhaps but, in the realms of teaching or spiritual relationships and the personal things that matter to us in life, helping to suck a person into a cult on false pretenses is a terrible thing to do, good intentions notwithstanding.
Modified by Jim at Sun, Jan 30, 2005, 15:08:34
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