Sunday, November 14, 2010

Am I Being Brainwashed???

Texts I wanted to send from the concert we attended tonight:

1. A bit new agey and hippie but I burn a little nag champa now and then so I can get with it.
2. Kind of cool
3. Pretty cool!
4. He can shred that sitar like no one's business
5. Catchy
6. Interesting violin/cello duet, not at all eastern sounding but a nice classical piece
7. American 90's sitcom theme song
8. Why are so many middle aged British women wearing saris? Clearly they knew about this before the advert in the free Metro newspaper.
9. Ok that was a little cult-y and weird...
10. Slow and boring!
11. This is weird
12. What do I need to do next week? Let's write out a lovely little schedule to kill the time while this goes on.
13. Can we be done now?
14. Is this going to pick up at any point?
15. Why is she playing the cello and the drums? Could they not have two people?
16. I may not speak a foreign language but I know that this is just the same verse over and over and over and over and over.
17. The sari's are growing in number and beginning to surround me!
18. Everywhere I look there are more of them watching me!
19. I am sure they think I am unrefined and out of reach for writing while this "amazing" performance is happening.
20. What time is it?
21. Someone just ripped a big snore that resonated through the audience as photos of children's fingerpaint drawings flash before our eyes.
22. Am I being brainwashed?
23. The first half was SUCH a con to get us to stay for this weird shit.
24. Am I expected to participate in a mass suicide at the end of this???
25. Why are there no indians in the group?
26. God I wish Alex and Erin were on either side of me passing notes (GREATER THAN!)
27. Someone is really truly proud of this production.
28. What is the deal?
29. Who are these secret society people scattered throughout the crowd?
30. Are they going to burn down the theater at the end al la Inglorious Basterds?
31. OH GOD! The lady behind us is sitting with legs folded with her hands in the prayer position on her chair! That shit is happening!
32. This is some weird shit!
33. Lucky! (the lady who got up and left)
34. Please be done, please be done, please be done!
35. It's not done.
36. Seriously, what is the secret?
37. "Where is the eternal father? I am dying to see him." This is not working for me.
38. This feels like a giant recruitment tool for some really weird shit led by a guy who's voice really fits better as a giant tortoise on a cartoon.
39. wow

Of course when I got home I googled this situation. Here's what I found. I might highlight some of the more interesting bits...  What the fuck, I say?!  If these people had been in street clothes they would have seemed completely normal and that, my friends, is frightening.


Teachings

Sri Chinmoy taught that rapid spiritual progress could be made with divine love, divine devotion and divine surrender. He described divine love as self-offering and self-expansion; divine devotion as an expression of divine love as dedicated action; and divine surrender as a merging of the finite self with the infinite.[31] His path is not one of earthly renunciation or asceticism, but a middle path where the seeker has the opportunity to renounce, or transform, the negative qualities which stand in the way of union with the Divine. Sri Chinmoy taught that meditation on the heart brings the light of the soul forward to reach the highest reality as soon as possible.[32] Chinmoy states: “We are all seekers, and our goal is the same: to achieve inner peace, light and joy, to become inseparably one with our Source, and to lead lives full of true satisfaction.”[33] Chinmoy built up a world-wide following of disciples and taught them that he was an avatar or incarnation of God.[34]
He asked his disciples to adopt a vegetarian diet, abstain from recreational drugs including alcohol,[35] and lead a pure, celibate life,[2][36] though followers who were married at the time they joined are allowed an exemption from celibacy.
At bi-weekly meetings, the men wear white clothing, while the women wear colourful Indian saris.[37] The focus of meditation at these meetings is a black-and-white copy of a photograph of Ghose's face taken in 1967 while he was in what he described as a transcendental state of consciousness. It was sometimes referred to by Ghose and his disciples as "The Transcendental Picture" or "The Transcendental Photograph", but more often simply as "The Transcendental". Sri Chinmoy advised his disciples when meditating on his picture to feel that they are entering into their own highest part, that the picture does not represent a human being, but a state of consciousness.[38] The picture is considered by his disciples to carry an immense spiritual charge and is by far the most important image in Ghose's organization, the Sri Chinmoy Centre Church.
Sri Chinmoy recommended meditation during the quiet atmosphere of the early morning, before starting daily activities. As the traditional Hour of God, between three and four a.m., known as the 'Brahma Muhurta', may not suit the western lifestyle of keeping late hours, Sri Chinmoy requested that his disciples meditate at six a.m. every morning. Reading Sri Chinmoy's writings, singing his songs and performing dedicated service were also considered forms of meditation for his disciples.[39] Sri Chinmoy believed that running and physical fitness were a help to the inner spiritual life as well as to the outer life of activity, and encouraged his followers to run daily.[40] Although influenced by Hinduism, his path catered to an international community of seekers from diverse backgrounds.[41] He also encouraged his followers to offer free meditation classes.