What is Enlightenment?
By Ronin
Both AOL and TM never really defined enlightenment as such. Let me try to address it and hopefully it will make sense. TM did stress and talk about enlightenment more than AOL.
AOL is more about just feeling good being happy and some key points of knowledge, and they are smart to keep such line within the teaching. As we know every one wants to feel better, be happy and smile in life, the masses want this instantaneously.
So the kriya which will temporary makes you feel good (due to its hyperventilation nature) is a perfect technique to give people a sense that they are actually progressing, till the buzz wears off and one craves the high again. The knowledge in AOL is quite superficial at first but along the way brainwashing starts and you are subtly induced that you can have the same expanded ever knowing consciousness as the master Ravi Shankar. Enlightenment is seen as what the master is, can do and knows. Thus one takes as many courses (and teach as many courses) all to become just like the master. And if you do not get to that state, you did not give it your 100%, and this is where AOL hooks you and you keep trying. So through a back door abilities as part of enlightenment are introduced, and the tape and book sales can be pushed which is an added benefit to AOL.
First of all the knowledge in TM is presented as much deeper and richer then AOL. Lets not forget Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (MMY) created a whole university and each discipline (or study like accounting or biology) is linked back to the Vedas. The amount of knowledge that MMY has produced is fast. AOL dwarfs in comparison and it is all very rehashed, Ravi does not have the depth of presenting knowledge and make the correlations in the vedic scriptures (even if it is fake) as MMY had. TM however does not have all the books and tape sales as AOL does. They try to control the knowledge much more or at least used to.
The flagship course in TM is the Siddhi’s course. Based on Patanjali’s yoga sutras. Cosmic Consciousness (CC) is the first stage on the path of enlightenment, the next is God Consciousness then Unity Consciousness. So you have to go through all the stages to get to the ultimate, big bang called enlightenment. A great ploy to keep people hooked. It was repeatedly pointed out that once you reached CC all the Siddhis (abilities and powers) would be full activated and at your disposal. In all my years I have not seen anyone fully manifest the flying sutra and stay up in the air. But people are still doing their hardest to achieve it, letting their life pass them by.
The big distinction between both is that MMY was more science orientated. He called it the “Science of being and the Art of Livng”. Or his course “The science of Creative Intelligence”. This in the long run turned lots of people off because it became dry, and they could not follow it anymore. As mentioned AOL capitalized on this big time, by creating the façade that they are all about devotion, and the heart. That is why they have satsangs, seva and what not. And were able to pick up all the people who had lost their faith in TM, including yours truly.
But don’t be fooled both are wolfs in sheep’s clothing.
The little giant has awakened.
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Beyond The Art of Living 
What RS/AOL done is commoditized so called ‘Enlightenment’ without defining what it is or what you get. So it simply means to people whatever they want to believe as ‘Enlightenment’ for some it may be simply happiness for others to strike their ‘will’ (sidhis) on others and so on. It made easy for AOL, so they don’t have to really offer anything just put the blame on practitioner if doesn’t work as he/she expected it to be. ‘The house always wins’ exactly true this case.
Dear Ronin,
Understanding SriSri’s time in TM is crucial in understanding how AOL came about and where did Ravi Shankar got his ideas from. As you mentioned even the name “Art of Living” was stolen from TM, plus many practices. But most importantly RS learned how to be a guru, how to manipulate and use people. So we need to look more into RS’ time in TM and his relationship with MY.
Your comments in comparative study of AOL/TM are very useful and valuable. If you can please elaborate on how RS got teachers from TM to join him. Also on RS’ time in TM.
I can only give an answer form my perspective, I have had ample experiences in both organizations. But happy to be free now.
There is no doubt that Ravi learned the ropes from his time in TM. Just take a look at the products and services both organizations (companies) are offering. He had the opportunity to see what was not working and adjust or change it accordingly to his advantage. The son was not to take over the empire so he created his own.
Mahes Yogi (MY) wanted to create heaven on earth. Establish a group of Siddha’s who would create (by doing their meditation program) global coherence and world peace. But it took a long time and the critics were having a field day with this concept, and it was not really marketable. Ravi saw this and concluded that he would not use the same strategy he needed to think up something else, something that would move people. So that in a record time his AOL organization would accelerate to the top.
Thus Ravi very shrewdly , he based his company’s mission on devotion and doing seva. Letting the world know that doing good for humanity enlivens ones spirit. He called the company by a very eye catchy name The Art of Living and made it based on volunteers to give it the credibility it needed. All that was missing was a technique which could be sold (marketed) at a cheaper price then TM.
And so Sudrashan Kriya was cognized (formulated), the technique to save all mankind (I wonder when he cognized the happy breath used in art excel), all the buzz words and how to play on people emotions could easily be copied from TM. It was brilliant because this way people would reach into their pockets without thinking to much it is all for the good of humanity. Not some difficult theory about one percent of the population flying around on piece of foam for world peace like TM.
A long the way the TM movement got stranger and stranger suddenly all buildings on the campus with a south entrance had to be torn down since this was not life supporting. MY had to stay in the Netherlands, he could not go back to India to many tax charges against him. And he kept talking his same talk and did not move the times, he even created his own monetary system (bills) called the RAAM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAM
A world government was installed people bearing little crowns and all. Very cultish indeed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Country_of_World_Peace
So based on this back drop the little son Ravi could and did easily win souls from the TM movement. And it was easy to fall for, I did as well. One is still brainwashed so the promises by Ravi sounded very beautiful. Here was a master who lived among his devotees who was all about the heart. Many TM teachers who were with MY joined him. Little did I and many others know how good strategist old Ravi is. How in all his courses there is this psychological breakdown that is incorporated to get the devotee to his knees and then accept the master as the one. As in TTC how the trainer plays the good cop bad cop routine to keep the whole group on an edge (more on this in another post).
MY philosophy was that people always want to have the best and so we price our services accordingly (high). Ravi was a lot smarter, his strategy was to steal the content from others (reverse engineer it) repackage it and sell while smiling and convincing people the proceeds of the courses were for charity So the AOL company was able to capitalize on price competition and on volume. This is a clear distinction between the two.
Why did TM teacher join the reason are probably various but these are the ones I have seen and conclude by my interactions with them.
TM teachers joined Ravi because they were disillusioned with MY and his whole science based spirituality and Unified field based theories. But more importantly they were far removed from their master they were not part of the inner circle. So here comes Mr. Shankar all bubbly and blissful and says life is fun and you should have a smile at all times, the world is yours to grab be playful.
As mentioned Ravi philosophy was all about devotion bhakti, it is also the easiest way to brainwash people. So those who were disillusioned saw it as a fresh breath of air, to truly sit with a master, and how bad could he be he was with the TM movement. So a big part was also ego to leave a movement and get in with a start up one, and thus become part of the inner circle right away. To be able to say, I speak to the master often I am very close to him, so that their students and admirers could go wow. And some have jumped for the pure economics of it, knowing they could not make a living in the TM movement and by being in Ravi’s inner circle that could reap the benefits with him. Someone like Michael Fischman comes to mind.
So the son Ravi has learned well he passed his exam with an A plus (as a grade) and was not caught cheating. But time is now moving against him the tides are turning the truth is coming out enjoy it while it lasts Ravi.
The little giant has awakened
Many thanks for this superb analysis, Ronin. I certainly came to the same conclusions re Ravi Shankar’s marketing strategies through my own observations of AOL. As you said, perfect set up, charging for courses, getting volunteers to do all the work for free, claiming all the money goes to charity, etc.
I have to admit if I was going to start a cult tomorrow, I could definitely use all my training in AOL and even improve on it (just like RS did on MY).
The only ingredient missing is that I am not a psychopath. I do not enjoy deceiving others, nor I would find any attraction in accumulating a huge wealth and an empire for myself by using innocent volunteers and deceiving public. I have no interest in manipulating others, nor suffer from megalomania and narcissism, nor have any delusions about being Divine-reincarnate. I have no interest in enslaving anyone or expecting them to dedicate their lives to me or worship me as their God or their Guru.
Ronin, I would be interested in your opinion on this. I personally do not believe there is anyone in inner circle of SriSri now who is innocent, who doesn’t know things are not as they have been purported to the public. At a time when even junior teachers and new comers have started to see the lies and deceit of SriSri, I cannot believe old-timers and inner-circle people have still not realized that SriSri is a fraud (no matter how brainwashed they were). I look at myself, as brain-washed as I was, I still could see that the funds collected in the name of service projects, do not go to those projects, I could see through SriSri’s lies and manipulations and mind games. So anyone still in inner circle of SriSri, whether ex-TM or not, I consider them as accomplices to SriSri, esp. those who have also got their snout in the same trough as SriSri and family.
It is a relief whenever I hear any of the senior teachers have left AOL, esp. if they were nice, decent people. The truth is many new comers look at these intelligent people next to SriSri and think he must be something special to have someone that intelligent following him.
It was nice to hear Dean and Shirley left AOL. If anyone knows the circumstance s around it, please do post a comment.
I think would be good if we name all ex-TM teachers who saw the light and left, indeed any senior teachers who have left.
Ronin, if you don’t mind me asking, who else from TM is still with SriSri? You would think by now they have all figured out that Ravi is no better than MY and probably a good 100 times more cunning!
Also, in early days, were most of SriSri’s teachers/insiders, ex-TM teachers? Did he actively seek them and encourage them to leave TM?
Does anyone remember that for some time in AOL circles it was heavily promoted that a handful of SriSri’s teachers have reached enlightenment? This was supposed to bait people into AOL and into blind following of RS. Seeing one of these so called “enlightened”, Bawa, put me off enlightenment altogether!!! And then few years later RS said enlightenment is a joke and the talk about who is enlightened in AOL went quiet. But SriSri himself was always promoted as enlightened Master coming back to earth to save us!
I remember. A weekly knowledge sheet and Navaratri newsflash ended, “by the way, seven people got enlightened”. We all believed it.
Thanks SkyWalker. Here it is:
THE PRIMAL INSTINCT – Knowledge #96
Weekly Knowledge #96 Rishikesh 10 Apr 1997 India The Primal Instinct
NEWS FLASH:
Once again on the banks of the Ganga, the sublime Knowledge of the Ashtavakra Gita and the Narada Bhakti Sutras flowed in Hindi from the source.
At 0430 hours, the entire course went for a holy dip in the Ganga and welcomed the New Year’s Sun.
The second Advanced Course ended in an air of flamboyant celebration which continue way past midnight.
On April 3rd, at 2230 hours, seven devotees got enlightened, their names will be revealed after some time…
How ridiculous. But that is the way the cult gurus like RS keep people in bondage and slavery.
Were these 7 names ever revealed? Why these enlightened 7 became masters on their own? Why under RS still?
Oh my God! That one is a straight lift from Osho!!
Osho had a formidable repertoire of anecdotes to keep anyone spiritually entertained for years. Yet, eventually the law of diminishing returns caught up with him also. So, in order to create a new hook, he started giving enlightenment certificates to some of his disciples. He had prepared three list of disciples:
a) those who were already enlightened
b) those who are not yet enlightened but had the potential of getting enlightened in this very lifetime
c) those who will be enlightened in future lives
Hugh Milne has given a very absorbing account of events of those days in “Bhagwan: The God That Failed”. He has described how there used to be excitement in the air about people getting “enlightened” left and right. Gossip galore like “So and so got enlightened last night” or anecdotes about someone who was there for only about three days and got “enlightened” while someone else who was slogging for twenty years got his name figured in the third list. Then on some other day Osho would upgrade some and downgrade others. All these antics kept the ashram on boil for several months. Then finally on fine day Osho announced that the whole enlightenment charade was a farce.
@goneagain
No, no one being mentored by Ravi Shankar became master of anything apart from cunningness and deception. To climb ladders in AOL one has to be a grovelling sycophant and dishonest.
Unfortunately, I can’t find a record of the names from the time. Maybe some of our readers have a record and can share, as the names were definitely doing the rounds in AOL circles at the time.
From memory (I can’t be sure of the accuracy) the 7 were:
Vikram Hazra, Vinod Menon, Nitin Limaye (Rishi Nityapragya),Chayapati (Swami Suryapada),Prashant Rajore (Swami Pragyapada),Raghu (Swami Sadyojathah), Bawa (Khurshed Batliwala)
I think there were stories that Tanuja was among the 7 and bawa missed it because he had to go to the restroom 😛
> From memory (I can’t be sure of the accuracy) the 7 were:
> Vikram Hazra, Vinod Menon, Nitin Limaye (Rishi Nityapragya),
> Chayapati (Swami Suryapada),Prashant Rajore (Swami Pragyapada),
> Raghu (Swami Sadyojathah), Bawa (Khurshed Batliwala)
There is no way Bawa is enlightened! He is obsessed with eating and cooking. In his blog posts, he raves about the cheese, the spice and the pizzas he gets to eat. In this new-age Yoga everything is diluted. No hardship, no austerities, nothing. You just smile and enjoy the party with like-minded fools.
This made me laugh:
“One person deciding when another is enlightened does seem a bit strange. One would presume that if enlightened, one would know it without being told.”
(From the book: “The Guru papers” by Joe Kramer & Diane Alstad
section: Oneness, Enlightenment, and the mystical experience, P 310)
So true! Seems in AOL they had to wait to see the list to know if they were enlightened! What a joke and what a sick mind game Ravi played with them!
Yes, Bawa missed it because he went to the bathroom. This rumor was spread just a little before DSN started and these star boys such as Nitin, Vikra, Bawa were sent to the West to do their “magic”. People acted stupid in their presence, upon the rumors of enlightenment. But what was very funny was the reactions it got on the senior teachers of the West, who actually had been the teachers of these “spoiled brats” (like they always, still today, called them). It created such a competition amongst all of them and the unsettled feeling, “Why them and not me”. It just did not make sense. Michael Fischman was quite disturbed by this. Also other senior teachers who even went as far as gathering to meet with the Boss to question about this phenomena. At the end, it was JUST A JOKE. He just wanted to stir a little … as usual …. But then, anyone remembers him saying that people would all pop like popcorns and reach enlightenment with him this life time during Silver Jubilee or one of his birthdays? In fact, he promises that more people will get enlightened with him than the number that got enlightened with Buddha. Sad, but I met people who actually signed up for the Jubilee or every one of his Birthday celebrations “just in case”. Enlightenment must be a joke for real!
I am curious, how many people here have first hand experience with the so called “siddhis” or mystical powers or that is yet another make believe fantasy world ?
Personally I would have to say ‘make believe fantasy world’, even if some one from AOL/RS can do siddhis’ it would be playing with people’s mind more than changing anything physical around! Obviously long timers like WhistleBlower or Skywalker can offer more (info).
I personally never witnessed anything from Ravi Shankar that could point to him having any Siddhis or special power. What I saw was mind control games.
He would get his teachers to spy on each other and their students. He would then use this info on the victim, claiming he knows everything!! In fact, I tested him many times and realized he doesn’t know anything!!
His senior teachers and his sister would propagate a lot of made-up stories about Ravi’s special powers and “knowing” to brainwash every one. The whole organization is based on lies, sham and deceit.
Ravi himself would go to a great length to give the impression that he knows everything, that he can heal, that he is Divine-incarnate, etc.
I can firmly say Ravi has no special power. The only power he has is the power his devotees give away to him and he abuses that to the maximum to deceive and enslave them.
I never witnessed a single, supernatural act, from RS or any other, in AOL or elsewhere. Lots of stories, though, designed to make people believe he is special. I also remember games on Part 2 and 3 courses, that allegedly demonstrated how the hollow & empty meditations had “sharpened our intuition” and given us the power to read thoughts, etc. “Sit two and two together. One thinks about a fruit, the other guesses.” People would go mental and believe they were able to tune in to each other, whereas in reality the correct guesses can easily be explained by probability. It was all a way to weaken people’s intellect, so as to better control them.
I heard he makes children smell different fragrances….is that true ?
@skywalker, @whistleblower,
How long had you guys been in the org where you were close to RS? Maybe he only shows his magical powers to those who have been w/ the organization for a long time…
@anonymous,
I’ve heard such a story from a AOLer who claims RS made it smell like roses when he was a child and in a car w/ RS. My take is that much historical and present evidence suggests the human mind is not difficult to manipulate, deceive, and confuse so I would discount such accounts especially if they’re not ones you’ve had yourself.
RS has been able to manipulate so many into believing in and slaving over his deeply flawed organization. Making someone think they smelled a particular fragrance probably isn’t much harder.
bawa is very excited about his cool guru on mtv,
I thought it is very fitting he is on “Fantasy Factory”, given RS himself lives in fantasy world.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/553223/spreading-positivity.jhtml#id=1645841
Made believe fantasies, I’d say. I remember being in the room when he claimed to be emanating some fragrance. None of us could smell anything and he insisted so much, “No? You don’t smell it? Try again? No?” At some point someone said, “Oh yes!” And then another one joined …. I never did … they looked at me in disgust, especially he looked at me in disgust and turned away from me the rest of the event. Well. I did NOT smell anything. Should I have lied to get a little bit of his attention, approval and blessings? And even if he did produce a fragrance, so what? So did Coco Chanel, Kenzo, Giorgio Armani 😉 And at least they are all more transparent about their enterprises, and definitely, more classy 😉 Instead of launching a spiritual business and promising what he cannot give, maybe he should have opened a perfume store. What a great idea!!!! 🙂
It reminds me of an amusing incident.
We were doing our basic course in one of those obscenely priced high rise buildings in South Mumbai. After SK our teacher Manisha Mehta asked if anyone smelled any fragrance. None of us did. Then someone said that he smelled fish being fried in the adjoining apartment. Everyone laughed at this but his experience was dismissed.
The teacher kept insisting that there was a fragrance in the room and she could smell it. My wife was also with me. She said that she could smell only the carpet. Manisha jumped on this. “No, no, this is not carpet. This is rose. Try again.” And even before my wife could try again,Manisha announced to the room, “Look here. This lady is smelling roses!”
Oh my God! Sri Sri on MTV! Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEPAr8b3B0o
He is all otder, but not enlightened…Amazing, what he is ready to do, to bribe souls of the young…It is sad, how far he has reached…we see, how much he “work” 🙂
On the topic of siddhis, I do believe that SSRS can read minds. Having said that, it might be the case that the thoughts just come to Guruji and may/may-not happen all the time.
There are many many people who can read minds/look at a face and tell the past, predict future etc.. I have had experience with a few.
It is probably does not really tell how evolved a person may be. I would not be surprised that Guruji can do the same. The statements above about spying etc. can also be true simultaneously. These are just complex things.
Think about it this way: astrologers exist. they can look at natal charts and tell things that would otherwise be impossible to know. but a good astrologer does not necessarily mean and evolved astrologer.
“Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another.”
-Immanuel Kant
In other words – Have courage to use your own understanding! — that is the motto of enlightenment.
Thanks Peaceful Warrior. What a great quote.
The following extracts from “The Guru papers” by Joe Kramer & Diane Alstad are also worth pondering upon.
Section: Oneness, Enlightenment, and the mystical experience p311-312
…. The concept of enlightenment brings authoritarianism at the personal, charismatic level (gurus, masters, avatars, and buddhas). Here the authority comes from living people, not an institution—although they almost always create an institution around themselves or are already part of one. Not coincidentally, surrendering to and obeying the master is presented as a (usually necessary) step on the path to enlightenment.
The very nature of any structure that makes one person different and superior to others not only breeds authoritarianism, but is authoritarian in its essence. Just as there is really no way for humans to question a remote God, there is really no way for a non-enlightened being to question the words or actions of a presumed enlightened one.
This is why gurus can get away with anything—They are judged by different standards that make whatever they do perfect by definition. The idea that someone is no longer susceptible to the corruptions of power ensures corruption will occur, promulgating self-delusion in all involved.
So the concept of enlightenment, precisely because it is so exalted, almost inevitably lends itself to abuse and corruption. it can be used to justify any behavior, privileges, or excesses, creating an insidious double standard for the superior ones.
There are even warnings about the traps of enlightenment within esoteric literature, where it is said that no one who has truly enlightening experiences ever claims to be enlightened. Perhaps this is because anyone with real wisdom would know that building an identity around enlightenment creates a static, unchanging image of how to be, which is just another cage.
To Whistleblower,
Re: were most of the early followers TM teachers, etc.
Many of us who went to SSRS were either TM teachers, or had been with TM for at least awhile. What SSRS did was tell us (always one-on-one) that Maharishi actually wanted us to go with him because we couldn’t get near him now, etc. I shared this and heard it echoed back with several people in the early days. I believed it. So did they. He billed himself as a direct representative of MMY. The TM movement totally banned us for even seeing SSRS. We could not participate in anything TM if we were found out (including helping at the Ayurvedic clincs). SSRS clung to his belief (I think it was real) that he was the chosen disciple of MMY to spread his message through the world. He would call him on the phone from India and make excuses as to why his calls were not taken in Holland (“oh, he’s so busy”). But it was clear that he knew he was rejected by MMY. We were told in TM that Ravi Shankar was “sugar coated poison” and this quote supposedly came directly from Maharishi! SSRS’s letters sent by personal courier to Delhi, before MMY left Delhi for good, were sent back with the reply that MMY had nothing to say to him. (The courier was an early pundit at Ravi Shankar’s first ashram in the city, a house.) Even when I asked SSRS once why he seemed to be imitating Maharishi so much, in dress, actions, gestures, etc., he sneered at me and said “I AM Mahariahi! What did you think??” As if I was crazy and had no eyes. Bizarre. I always thought that was extraordinarily strange. But I knew he was very serious, and meant it totally.
TMers were somehow very important to SSRS in the early days, and many of us have left, seeing through him before many of the others who have stayed on, denying the obvious.
It’s important to know that Ravi Shankar was not always as he is now. He was once centered on practice, sadhana, teaching others, conveying the truth as he knew it. He was not a cruel, despicable, insensitive person at all. I, and many others, left, as we saw him turn these things slowly. The things I read here of what he has since become, shock me as to the level that he has reached in terms of ugliness. It would be difficult for anyone who came to him after 1991 to believe that he was not always a money-grubbing, fame-seeking, pervert with no human feelings that are healthy. Even when many of us left, he was not as terrible as is portrayed in this blog and in Klim’s blog. It is very very sad to see this decline of a once great yogi.
Please don’t let this message get buried because you don’t like this man (neither do I in his present state) It’s important to also know that he was once good.
Sounds like it is time for him to go to a cave w/o any followers and just be with silence. Maybe he could get back to the goodness. All I saw in my short time in AoL (and I was no where near anyone in any kind of inner circle) was frenetic behavior and myth-making on the part of the teachers and followers. The organization is a sick story now. Let’s challenge him to give away ALL of his family’s wealth to real charities (ie not associated with AoL) and challenge him personally to hit the cave in silence. Better for him, his followers, and the planet. Sincerity corrupted is still corruption.
Many Thanks Anonymous. Is anyone from those early TM people still with SriSri?
Also, I am more inclined to believe that SriSri was a deceitful conman from the beginning. Mahesh Yogi probably saw this but not soon enough to prevent SriSri stealing his stuff!
@ Ronin
Your post is extremely insightful. I would appreciate it very much if you could help me find the answers to some questions I have. These have to do with the following extract. (I have listed my questions below the extract.)
“The flagship course in TM is the Siddhi’s course. Based on Patanjali’s yoga sutras. Cosmic Consciousness (CC) is the first stage on the path of enlightenment, the next is God Consciousness then Unity Consciousness. So you have to go through all the stages to get to the ultimate, big bang called enlightenment. A great ploy to keep people hooked. It was repeatedly pointed out that once you reached CC all the Siddhis (abilities and powers) would be full activated and at your disposal. In all my years I have not seen anyone fully manifest the flying sutra and stay up in the air.”
1. Do you know if Mr. Ravi Shankar has all the knowledge that was covered in the Siddhi’s course — either by doing the course — or — by acquiring the knowledge directly from MMY?
2. You’ve mentioned one sutra — “the flying sutra”.
(a) What are the other sutras?
(b) According to you, which of the sutras has Mr. Ravi Shankar mastered?
3. What’s the difference between a sutra and a siddhi?
VSS,
Ravi was very involved with MMY, so I would say he has the knowledge that was coverd in the course. If not he being an enlighten masters would have found out (joke at his expense) soor for that could not resist.
But also many TM teacher went with him and thay started to teach his form of meditation which was slightly altered. Same puja used and one could even keep you TM mantra. To be a teaher you have to o the Sidhi course. So again the AOL org and old timers know about it.
The course is based on various repeaing varius sutra’s 18 and the last one is the flying one. The course has been adapted over the years people were having some weird experiences. I know since mine were some what different then we used the standardized ones. You can read all about in on the link posted here. TM free blog on the right hand side.
I have know idea if Ravi mastered any nor do i really care he established another startegy one that focusses on a product at a cheaper price thus realying on volume sales.
As for your last question there are many explanations given just check online.
hope this helps
@ Ronin [April 30, 2012 12:05 am]
Thank you so much. All that you’ve said helps — very insightful information. And, I did check out some explanations, while waiting for your post. It’s all so fascinating. Thank you again.