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Date Posted: 00:02:06 05/21/03 Wed
Author: Hendrik - 9 Apr 2003
Subject: Tautologies and discussions
In reply to: Anonymous - 9 Apr 2003 's message, "Re: No more Kriya conversations" on 00:01:28 05/21/03 Wed

Hi Mike,

I think you are welcome on this board. Otherwise Ketch has to correct me. I am taking offence with the methodology of some of your posts, not with their contents.

This is a discussion board which means that this is a place where people can exchange opinions and arguments. Discussion necessitates the use of rational arguments and not the attempt of undermining it by treating the discussion partner with unsolicited paradoxes and meaningless statements. This is a form of disrespect towards other posters.

I am not saying that you do this all the time, but it surely happened more than once. You can change it.

To give an example: I remember that after a post of mine I received a reply than ran like, "Do you really believe that you are anything but yourself?"

This is a good example how to avoid difficult issues and attempt to confuse and corner the discussion partner with applying a psychological trick. Instead of responding to the argument itself, on the same level of communication, you circumvent direct confrontation and instead reduce the whole line of argument to absurdity.

It is also one of Shibendu's favorite techniques to argue inquisitive minds down. It is a technique of mind control that is also taught at Scientology. There it is used to undermine the discriminative faculties of the trainee; I do not know for what end Shibendu makes use of it. In your case it is regularly an obvious attempt to defend your belief that "everything is mind". There is nothing wrong in being an Illusionist, people believe in all kinds of things, but you cannot expect that people like me will adopt any belief system just because messages get rewarded with tautologies.

It serves also as a good example for the popular tactics of shifting the focus from the discussed topic proper towards the personality of the discussion partner. This tactics is nowhere more evident than on message boards with religio-spiritual content, for whatever reasons. When I discuss the meaning of a Gita chapter for instance, it would be very tiresome to learn from my discussion partners that I do not practice enough Kriya or that I have personal problems, or have an axe to grind, or whatever. I do not know what one has to do with the other.

Practicing Koans may be a valid mental technique in some schools of yoga, but this is a discussion board and here they are out of place, particularly as a response to a standard message.

Applying Koans lead to emptiness of mind and emptiness of mind leads to the thinning out of intellectual communication and that is what kills a message board that is meant for discussion.

I wonder how you would feel if I asked you whether you are Mike as a response to one of your contributions.

Hendrik (who is still Hendrik)

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