Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies

[sarlen]

About bloody time. I live in Fairfield Iowa and even to us these people are kooks. I can only hope that now that the old man is dead the rest will follow soon.


http://www.wral.com/news/national_world ... y/2398709/

[Fairweather Pure]

Care to expound a bit on your hatred for this man? I don't understand where your animosity is comming from.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

Quite ironic that your signature is a John Lennon quote, Sarlen.

[Boogahz]

They don't like those hippie freaks in Iowa!

[Canelek]

This is sad news. He was quite the influence on many people. Why is his passing good news? Nothing wrong with trancendental(s) meditation, imo.

[Aabidano]

Nothing wrong with trancendental(s) meditation, imo.

Not at all, but many of it's practitioners are absolute nutjobs, hairy armpitted, Birkenstock wearing vegan PETA members, for instance..

[Canelek]

While I do not agree with how PETA goes about their business, I think the hairy-armpitted folks are a lot more sane than evangelical christians, for instance. And while I do find the smell of BO and patchuli oil rather offensive, at least they aren't trying to hurt me, nor anyone else.

[sarlen]

It’s hard to explain why most of us don’t like them but I will try.

After these people meditate for months to years they seem to get dumber. They often have no idea what it takes to actually do work, they may be book smart but something has robbed them of common sense. The list of absolutely stupid shit they do is far to long for a post but I will hit a few highlights, mind you some of this stuff is petty stuff from my direct experience with a select few but much of it is the group as a whole.

Most of them have no regard for others while driving, they pull out in front of people to do 45 in a 55 for the 5-mile trek to town and have caused many accidents with this behavior. Each and every time it happens the response is almost always the same “oh I didn’t see him”. They don’t pay attention because their head is in the proverbial clouds from the meditation. This also extends to the rash of bicyclists run over in town, nearly every year we get 3 or 4 people run over at the beginning of spring from these morons.

The college campus is full of people from other countries that have no driver’s licenses and no clue at all how to drive yet they try, often. About 10 years ago I had a car. Not just any car but a 1976 olds Cutlass Supreme Mag7. This car was a show car; it was joined to my hip for nearly 2 years before one of these dumb asses destroyed it. My insurance company would only cover the replacement cost of this car, not its actual value (I didn’t have collectors insurance). To make up the massive difference is the amount the insurance company gave me vs the actual value I told this student I intended to sue. The college sent a rep to my house and told me if I sued he would leave the country for a year to avoid it and then return to finish his education. They offered $500.00 in cash to me to drop it. I called the cops because to me this sounded wrong, even the cops said “nothing we can do”. So I was fucked.

The company I work for employs several of the guru’s. They are the hardest people to please often making senseless demands to appease their own ideas of what is right or proper which differ widely from what the normal people think. Most of them have pictures all over their work area of the Mahareshi and other Hindu gods and speak of him as if he truly is a god. While at work I have been berated for eating animals such as deer and pheasant, in Iowa even if you live in the city you know where to get good deer meat. We had a fanatic hunter who once worked here, he wore T-shirts with deer hunting type logos and had pictures of deer hanging on his office walls along with a few pictures of him with his largest buck he ever shot, when a few of the gurus got wind of it they complained to anyone that would listen that he needed to take it all down as hunting was animal cruelty. He was eventually told to “tone it down” by HR to appease the crazies.

Often when I travel to other parts of the country and people find out where I’m from the first thing they ask is: “Oh are you one of those crazy guru’s that think they can fly?” Not exactly the type of conversation I want to have when meeting business contacts for the first time.




When they built their little town out side of Fairfield they started off with a few hundred acres in prime farm country. After they were established they moved to block all farmers in a large swath west and a bit east of them from raising livestock because of the smell and environmental hazards thus pushing a few farmers onto hard times. But that wasn’t enough, when they tried to buy another farmers land out to expand the town and he refused they sued to annex his farm. This is a 125 year old family farm and they stand to loose it because these people don’t give a damn about the people who actually belong here. You don’t come to farm country and fuck with farmers; it just doesn’t sit well with most people.

In Fairfield there is a railroad line that cuts the town in half. Very long coal trains make up over 90% of the traffic for this line and also Amtrak uses it from time to time. Its normal for 10 to 15 trains to roll through a day and sometimes even more. The speed at which they pass through town is 35 MPH, at this speed a train is required to signal its approach to a crossing with horn blows to alert the cars to its presence. The nuts want the trains to be quieter because of the noise pollution. They are pushing the city to make a “quiet zone” all along the train track area so the trains will have to not blow their horns thus the train has to move at only 5MPH to legally do this. The issue being there is only one underpass in the entire town, forcing a large delay in traffic or the city will be forced to make more underpasses at great expense. Most of these morons don’t live near the tracks but because it’s some tree-hugging thing to do they want to force it on the town anyway.

Also, in a small county the county seat pays the outlying townships a percent of the sales tax revenue to help them pay for fire and sheriff services, which they pay the county seat for. These people do not want to pay for any type of services yet still expects the county to suck up the cost. What they want to do with our tax dollars is bring in 500 to 1000 pundits or holy men to meditate around the clock to solve world peace/hunger. Sorry but my tax dollars are wasted enough the last thing I am supporting is a cult and their freak show.

A few years ago they tried to pass a local tax increase to pay for their private K –12 schools. When it was defeated (largest voter turn out ever in the county) there was an outcry from them that we (the townies) should have given them this because they do so much for us.

They once proposed the idea of placing a dome over the entire city.

This is a small sample of the asshattery that goes on around here. There are so many more specific things from direct interaction that has lead to the biased feelings about both the Mahareshi and the guru’s in general that its hard to put into type and convey to people that have never been here or had to live with these people.

[Siji]

I was going to make a smart assed response, but after further thought I agree that you've got valid complaints and I'd probably be just as pissed off as you are. I was reminded of the people that bought houses next to an airport and then started demanding that planes be rerouted so that the noise wasn't so bad overhead.

On the other hand, you can't necessarily blame a leader for the idiots that follow him/her.

[sarlen]

I was going to make a smart assed response, but after further thought I agree that you've got valid complaints and I'd probably be just as pissed off as you are. I was reminded of the people that bought houses next to an airport and then started demanding that planes be rerouted so that the noise wasn't so bad overhead.

On the other hand, you can't necessarily blame a leader for the idiots that follow him/her.

Funny you mention that, they bought up some land next to the airport last year and plan to do exactly that, limit flight times to control the sound issues.

[Siji]

I was going to make a smart assed response, but after further thought I agree that you've got valid complaints and I'd probably be just as pissed off as you are. I was reminded of the people that bought houses next to an airport and then started demanding that planes be rerouted so that the noise wasn't so bad overhead.

On the other hand, you can't necessarily blame a leader for the idiots that follow him/her.

Funny you mention that, they bought up some land next to the airport last year and plan to do exactly that, limit flight times to control the sound issues.

Sounds like you've got some weak panzi politicians in office there or some citizens that need to start complaining more loudly.

[Zaelath]

While I do not agree with how PETA goes about their business, I think the hairy-armpitted folks are a lot more sane than evangelical christians, for instance. And while I do find the smell of BO and patchuli oil rather offensive, at least they aren't trying to hurt me, nor anyone else.

IIRC, that's not quite true if you dig deep enough.

[Zaelath]

The college campus is full of people from other countries that have no driver’s licenses and no clue at all how to drive yet they try, often. About 10 years ago I had a car. Not just any car but a 1976 olds Cutlass Supreme Mag7. This car was a show car; it was joined to my hip for nearly 2 years before one of these dumb asses destroyed it. My insurance company would only cover the replacement cost of this car, not its actual value (I didn’t have collectors insurance). To make up the massive difference is the amount the insurance company gave me vs the actual value I told this student I intended to sue. The college sent a rep to my house and told me if I sued he would leave the country for a year to avoid it and then return to finish his education. They offered $500.00 in cash to me to drop it. I called the cops because to me this sounded wrong, even the cops said “nothing we can do”. So I was fucked.

I would counter-offered for the $3000 it would cost for plane tickets or sued his ass out of the country.

[Canelek]

IIRC, that's not quite true if you dig deep enough.

In regard to PETA, that is true. My wording was not so good!

[Nick]

It's interesting how a lot of people seem to conveniently/idiotically ignore the existance of the 1960's on this board.

DEM DER HIPPIES SURE LOOK LIKE FAGGOTS WITH DER LONG HAIR

[Zaelath]

It's interesting how a lot of people seem to conveniently/idiotically ignore the existance of the 1960's on this board.

DEM DER HIPPIES SURE LOOK LIKE FAGGOTS WITH DER LONG HAIR

I have long hair... and hippies need shooting.

[Aabidano]

It's interesting how a lot of people seem to conveniently/idiotically ignore the existance of the 1960's on this board.

What about them? The civil rights movement in the US was a leap forward. Beyond that?

[Tangurena]

And don't forget the Beatles song inspired by this guy:

Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva

It is also on the Pleasantville soundtrack.

[Siji]

The 60's are over. The so called "hippies" of today may look similar to those from the 60's, but other than that there's nothing.

[Aabidano]

The 60's are over. The so called "hippies" of today may look similar to those from the 60's, but other than that there's nothing.

"The 60's" wasn't an event...

To me today's hippies are remarkably similar to those of the 60's. And just as idealistic and ineffective. A very small minority are\were able to grow out of their hippy days and go on to effect real changes rather than carry on in their childish and simplistic ways.

Today, as then most just want the look and the self image, there's no real thought or substance there. Just another sheep in that particular herd.

Like the dummies that are down "protesting the war" at the local Air Force base. No one with an impact sees them, or cares that they are there. All they serve to do is make the people working the gate's day a little more stressful.