Setting the Record Straight

Hi Folks,

It's important for me to set the record straight as to an update made by Mike Doughney to his comment banning me from TM-Free.

First, I'm very pleased that at least one person has found my blog, is reading it, and thought it important to alert me to the update Mike had made to his comment. Thanks Carol! Here's what happened:

On 02/05/2012, Carol commented:

LG: Mike made an update to his comment on his July 26 comment. His update states: "[edit, 13 nov 2011: Posts which resulted in this action were, at some point, removed by the respective authors.]" Do you mind sharing (as best as you recall) what those posts' contents were? on "Self" Destruction by/of a "Cult"?

That same day, I responded:

Hi Carol. No, I wasn't aware of Mike's update as stated in your comment. As far as I can see, none of the comments have been removed (I saved complete transcripts of everyone's comments from those threads and have done some quick comparisons), so all the comments are still there for everyone to read. And I'm not aware that it's even possible to delete one's comments after they've been responded to (and believe me, muff and I did receive responses to our comments!) or after one's posting privileges have been taken away. Maybe Mike is implying that there were more egregious comments that have been removed (a deliberately false implication) because the comments still there, such as they are, shouldn't have warranted banning. Regardless, I think I now have my next several posts to my blogs, and I'll more thoroughly compare my transcripts to the blog to see if any comments have been altered or deleted. Thanks Carol! on "Self" Destruction by/of a "Cult"?

On 02/07/2012, Carol responded:

Well, that is very interesting. By Mike's update, I was given the impression that there were more comments and that I was missing something. When I read through comments (I may have missed a few), I didn't see anything that, imo, warranted banning...at least for you. Muff did get a rough in personal attacks; yet no more rough than I've read there regarding personal attacks against the TMO or its leaders. I also take into consideration that I don't know the history among Muff and you and the posters at TMF. Of course, as a blog, TMF can make it's own rules. It is a site critical of the TM Org and of TM itself. Yet, imo, by banning folks without sufficient cause, well....to me that's like information control. I can see warning Muff (regarding the personal attacks and adjective descriptions of folks at TMF) and then (if s/he continued with the personal attacks) banning. It really reminds me of some of my experiences at the anti-Way site. Here is an article (by Monica Pignotti) on "Self" Destruction by/of a "Cult"?

Funnily enough, on 02/06/2012 (the day after I became aware of the first update and had responded to Carol), Mike replaced the original update in his comment with the following:

[edit, 6 Feb 2012: The comments which prompted this action appear in the other thread: here and here.]

Conclusions: The timing of Mike's latest update would seem to indicate that my blog now has at least one other reader! Secondly, I must commend Mike for correcting his very misleading first update, and I can only hope that he did this because it was an honest mistake on his part.

As encouraged by a reader, I plan to soon post Part 2 of A "Love-Hate" Relationship with TM-Free that I began in August 2011 (how quickly time passes!). Until then, thanks for listening.

The Bird

A "Love-Hate" Relationship with TM-Free: Part 1

Just as many contributors and commenters at TM-Free attempt to explain their disillusionment with TM, Maharishi, and the TMO, I thought it would be interesting to explore how and why I became fascinated and involved with the TM-Free blog, and some of the ways that it has been beneficial for me.

I've touched on my own history with the TM movement in the column to the right, and after a 20-year hiatus in which I had no contact whatsoever with movement activities, when I returned I was curiously excited by all the new programs that had been introduced. My biggest disappointments were the absence of "heart" in the movement and the deluge of solicitations for funds coming from every direction. (Interestingly enough, during my former involvement, I proudly told everyone that one of the things that set our movement apart from others was that we didn't beg for money.)

I spent some time after 9/11 rounding in the dome at MUM (formerly MIU) where I heard movement leaders such as John Hagelin make promises that couldn't possibly be kept. As doubts arose, I began looking for answers and came across John Knapp's TranceNet, Mike Doughney's MINet, and Joe Kellett's "Falling Down the TM Rabbit Hole". What is it with the fascination a person like myself has when reading for the first time severe criticisms about something with which they were and are still involved? (Apparently, I had also missed these defections from the movement during my hiatus.) I voyeuristically read it all, eventually ending up at the TM-Free blog that, from all outward appearances, offered something that the other three sites didn't – free expression of ideas and an opportunity for discussion.

When one first arrives at a blog like TM-Free, everyone's writing appears so fresh and new perhaps because you're reading it for the first time and can't yet discern the underlying patterns (repetitiveness, proselytizing, etc.) or motives in what has been written. There's also an overall feeling to the blog that hasn't yet revealed itself. After lurking to get a feel for the various contributors and commenters, I felt comfortable enough to offer my own point of view to some of the articles posted. And that's when the real "fun" began.

It's an extremely heady experience to write something that others are reading, and even headier to receive positive feedback for what you've written. The downside, of course, is a vulnerability to attack from those who didn't agree with what you've written, from those who rise up to vehemently defend the untruths that you bravely point out in the articles or comments, or no response at all. Silly me for thinking that it was supposed to be an open discussion and that the moderator would do the job of keeping discussions as fair and two-sided as possible...but that is to be addressed in more detail in Part 2.

Some of the positive experiences that I take from my participation at TM-Free are:

> learning to socially network online,

> development of my writing skills and other forms of personal expression,

> clarification of doubts and crystallization of what I feel about Maharishi and the TMO (it may not be as good as I once thought but it's far from being as bad as the critical sites portray),

> meeting some interesting people I now consider friends (even though we'll probably never meet in person).

In Part 2 of this same theme, I begin to explore how I became disillusioned and critical of some of TM-Free's contributors and articles. Until then folks, thanks for listening.

The Bird

Who is "Tarbert Woolcaugh"?

All but one of the comments from the above mentioned pseudonymous individual are in response to critical comments in this article at TM-Free. And I'm not even close to solving the cryptic statement in this comment directed at me...but I'm not losing any sleep over it either. And that, folks, is the mystery of the day. Thanks for listening.

The Bird

"Self" Destruction by/of a "Cult"?

In my opinion, some of the most creative writing to appear on TM-Free blog in recent months has been a series of comments from someone calling himself "muffpotter" in response to other comments under the following articles:

But it is so *beautiful*! posted May 16, 2011

Will Hagelin have the chutzpah..." posted June 7, 2011

Open Thread for Readers posted June 27, 2011

Reflections on Recent TM Publicity posted July 13, 2011

Let us entertain you... posted July 22, 2011

A few words about comments posted July 24, 2011.

I say "has been" because muffpotter (as well as yours truly) now have the distinction of being two, if not the only, commenters banned from posting at TM-Free by current blog moderator Mike Doughney. (It is worth noting that the moderator reins were handed to Mike from blog creator John Knapp in a December 2010 announcement.) My point to all this is that Mike and some of the other contributors at TM-Free don't like to be criticized for the way they run things over there nor being asked to defend their sometimes blatant "untruths" (to put it mildly) about the TMO and its now deceased leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. And in their continuing quest to warn others of the dangers of over-practice (referred to as "rounding") of the meditation technique known as TM offered by Maharishi and his initiators since the late 50s, they have turned something once noble (in their minds at least) into a former shadow of itself as nothing more than attention-seeking repetition of "war stories", long-held grudges, and laying all the blame of what some of them have become in life (or should I say "have always been") on a person to whom they devoted their younger years.

And now it appears as though another TM-Free reader has left the ranks of commenter (but of his own accord) because he dared to offer his opinion that there might be some merit to "faith" in one's life, and then double-dared to calmly and rationally defend his opinion against the onslaught of circular arguments that ensued. Foolish man! When reading one of Mike's responses to this commenter, keep reminding yourself that he is the moderator, and hence primary spokesman, for this blog.

My bets are that TM-Free will self-destruct within the year. (Then again, this blog might not survive the month!) However, in Mike's defense, he did become captain of, in my opinion, a sinking ship (or at best, one hopelessly lost at sea) that all the trustworthy and believable contributors and commentors abandoned long ago. (It remains to be seen whether this captain will go down with the ship.) And to his credit, he has not deleted (as yet) the comments made by muffpotter and myself that resulted in our banning. Thanks Mike.

Well, that's about it for now folks, thanks for listening! Please watch for future articles and developments in my "new" project...your sincere comments, although moderated at present, are most welcome.

The Bird

PS. If you're out there friend Muff, I would love to have you writing posts on this blog if you feel so inclined.