gdp's Comments

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:02:48 +0000

FYI, from Kate Bartolotta: "We are checking up on comments that may have been flagged erroneously (or by someone who doesn't agree) and will reinstate any we find. So sorry for any inconvenience!"

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:36:49 +0000

Hi Concerned. Thanks for posting. You're not a troll, that was a pot/kettle comment that's best ignored. You are welcome here. Being asked to keep secrets is never a good sign, is it? Secrets are used to cover up abuse. In addition, they are using spiritual blackmail to get you to keep the secret by saying if you don't you'll be breaking a vow. What a mess. None of the DM/THY people I'm in contact with have mentioned this secret business, perhaps because it's so obviously wrong, or because they weren't told that, but they have mentioned their vow that prevents them from criticizing their teacher. I'm so glad you have been able to see through this.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:19:12 +0000

I don't know, cloverleaf. I just wanted to make the comment more prominent, so I moved it to the top level.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:49:18 +0000

Hi Concerned. Thank you for posting. If I remember correctly, some people on the forum assumed Anon was over-reacting, that there was no real threat. I tend to take people at their word unless I have good reason to believe otherwise. I didn't see such a reason, so I took Anon at his/her word. I don't believe this issue was ever resolved, or that we've heard from Anon since. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:58:05 +0000

It's hard to know what to do in these situations, Jerry. You're doing good now!

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Wed, 8 Aug 2012 16:44:15 +0000

Thanks, elma.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Wed, 8 Aug 2012 16:42:58 +0000

I think that must be what's happening. Thanks, Ben. Kate Bartolotta wrote to me: "You can let anyone concerned know that we only delete comments that are offensive, personal attacks or genuine spam (advertising) and even then, they are often only deleted if someone brings it to our attention. Flagging the posts results in their being removed and put into moderation, so if anyone feels their comment has been deleted in error, please email editorial@elephantjournal.com so we can reinstate it."

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 17:05:01 +0000

I think the timeline issue is just a glitch. "What reason might someone have for removing posts?" Damage control.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 16:59:59 +0000

I'm in contact with Waylon over email. I'll let you know the outcome.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 16:28:47 +0000

I have noticed some "disappearances," too. Here are some of mine (along with Ben's now-missing replies) that I can no longer find on the forum: 1. My first missing post: "So if his lama is some Christian woman, he's clearly no longer Buddhist, right?" 2. Ben's missing reply to my first missing post: "No. Another thing you will hear at DM (and elsewhere) is that "all religions are basically the same". There is an offshoot program for Christians called "A Star in the East" which ignores about 98% of the Christian bible and then reinterprets the other 2% to mean that "everything comes from you and you can control everything by planting the right Karmic seeds. Sound familiar? "You shall reap what you sow". Clearly that is saying that the only way to get money is to give money away. I haven't looked at that material in a while so I may be getting things wrong or confused with other talks, anyone please correct me if you know better, but I believe there is this idea that one of Jesus's disciples, I believe Thomas, was told by Jesus after the cruxifiction to travel to India. Thomas then took the teachings of Jesus (which is the compassion side of compassion and wisdom) and made Buddhism whole again (the compassion part somehow fell away from Buddhism). It has been a long time since I read "The Garden" and I don't intend to read it again but you might find some answers in there. It would be interesting to find out the whole true story of how GMR came to see this woman as his lama." 3. My second missing post: "I have a feeling the Buddhists who gave Michael his robes and title might disagree that he is still a Buddhist if he takes a Christian "lama." ""You shall reap what you sow". Clearly that is saying that the only way to get money is to give money away." Which makes no sense for people who don't have any money to give away in the first place. How do those people get money, according to this teaching? "Thomas then took the teachings of Jesus (which is the compassion side of compassion and wisdom) and made Buddhism whole again (the compassion part somehow fell away from Buddhism)." Someone on one of these threads has already pointed out that this is insulting to Buddhism to say that it was incomplete without Jesus' teachings. It seems the story thus far is that Michael came to see this woman as his lama after knowing her from high school (ex-girlfriend?), and after his other lama (Christie) left him. That is, at any rate, the order of events." 4. Ben's missing reply to my second missing post: "I get confused on this but I believe the Christian woman was his lama before, during and after Christie. From what I understand of the teachings at DM, anyone or anything can be your lama. Your partner, coworkers, movies, books, the wind in the trees, the beggar on the street. There is a difference between a lama and a heart lama though. If you believe the Buddha (or I suppose VY) can manifest in many forms at the same time, seeing many women as VY at the same time is reasonable."

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 08:14:39 +0000

Just read this and thought it was germane to the discussion: "Don't chuck the ball - Emails to a thread are like comments at a meeting; think of both like your time possessing the basketball. Don't just chuck at the net every chance you get. Hang back and watch for how you can be most useful. Minimize noise." http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/19/writing-sensi...

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Sat, 4 Aug 2012 23:17:30 +0000

Thanks for this info, Jerry.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Sat, 4 Aug 2012 20:59:15 +0000

"Are you interested in learning more about cults?" I was in one. "Have you ever read a scientific study in a scientific journal?" Yes.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Sat, 4 Aug 2012 20:56:46 +0000

"We"? You make a lot of assumptions about me.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Sat, 4 Aug 2012 20:53:22 +0000

My thoughts exactly. I've been starting to miss aguse.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 15:08:44 +0000

That makes sense. But from this perspective, a more accurate critique would be a peer-reviewed sociological study, not an encyclopedia of pseudoscience.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 14:03:38 +0000

I'm not sure what cults and sociology have to do with pseudoscience.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 13:58:18 +0000

"If you really want to witness some closed-minded, aggressive skeptics, they are out there. I don't peruse those forums as I feel they are just huge shouting grounds with egos battling one another." Thank you for pointing this out. I felt like our conversation about astrology had turned into an ego battle and was not actually about exchanging information anymore.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 13:53:29 +0000

Thank you, Jehne. I stopped responding to your other posts because it seemed pointless to continue the discussion. Also, it was way off-topic.

elephant journal: Yoga, Sustainability, Politics, Spirituality. : The Michael Roach Bubble.

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 13:52:23 +0000

Thank you, Jerry.