Reading the comments, I am struck by James Marco's comment. I have always agreed with what James is saying. If someone can't or won't "practice what they preach," then I have no use for them and for me, it ruins anything of value they say. I can't believe any of it and don't think it should be repeated.
Then I read Somik's response about "not taking gold because the hands that offered it were dirty." What a difference that made.
I'm still not sure about any of this. But I can say that I stopped even trying to do yoga back in the late sixties and since then - because the "gurus" I met were sexual predators of children and young women (such as myself) so what good did it do to try and lead a "spiritual life" when the people who were espousing it were devils and demons?
I don't see these things as "weakness," although perhaps they are. I see them as wrong. Corrupt. Therefore their message must also be corrupted in some way.
How do we discern the "gold" from the "dirt?" Does it even matter? Is there even such a thing when we are surrounded with foolishness and negativity? That is the question for me. How do we "wash our hands clean?" How do we really find more than a fleeting and ephermeral peace?
Does any of this really matter? Yes. It matters to me.
I have to say thank you to James. Finally someone has said out loud what I've said for many years... people need to be taken to task for their negative behavior and other people need to be forewarned to know what to watch out for. And I have to thank Somik for telling another side of the tale. So now I have even more to think about.
" it made no sense to throw out what he said because he could not live up to it. The value was for me to keep."
On Aug 20, 2011 Catherine Todd wrote :
Reading the comments, I am struck by James Marco's comment. I have always agreed with what James is saying. If someone can't or won't "practice what they preach," then I have no use for them and for me, it ruins anything of value they say. I can't believe any of it and don't think it should be repeated.
Then I read Somik's response about "not taking gold because the hands that offered it were dirty." What a difference that made.
I'm still not sure about any of this. But I can say that I stopped even trying to do yoga back in the late sixties and since then - because the "gurus" I met were sexual predators of children and young women (such as myself) so what good did it do to try and lead a "spiritual life" when the people who were espousing it were devils and demons?
I don't see these things as "weakness," although perhaps they are. I see them as wrong. Corrupt.
Therefore their message must also be corrupted in some way.
How do we discern the "gold" from the "dirt?" Does it even matter? Is there even such a thing when we are surrounded with foolishness and negativity? That is the question for me. How do we "wash our hands clean?" How do we really find more than a fleeting and ephermeral peace?
Does any of this really matter? Yes. It matters to me.
I have to say thank you to James. Finally someone has said out loud what I've said for many years... people need to be taken to task for their negative behavior and other people need to be forewarned to know what to watch out for. And I have to thank Somik for telling another side of the tale. So now I have even more to think about.
" it made no sense to throw out what he said because he could not live up to it. The value was for me to keep."