Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00624)

At 12:15 AM 1/21/97 -0500, Richard wrote:
>Tom Robertson writes-->
>In the early days of my involvement in the TS, I considered what I would do
>if a Master materialized during one of our meetings.  I may have "kissed-up"
>to him, then, but now, I believe that's the last thing any kind of superior
>being would respect.  If anyone needs falsehood from me in order to gain my
>friendship, I wouldn't want theirs.
>
>Richard Ihle writes-->
>I can sympathize with this sentiment.  One of the things which turned me off
>about Muktananda, for example, was seeing a long line of Westeners crawling
>up to kiss his foot.  On the other hand, if he materialized right here in the
>room with me now and wanted some show of deference to the "lineage of gurus"
>he was part of, I can guarantee you that I would pucker-up pronto.  
>
>Yes, I would be a good ~Muslim~ (which I think means "submitter" or
>"surrenderer").  Anyway, when you think about it, what difference would it
>make to a person who has done enough meditation to ~actually~ know that he or
>she is not the energy, body, emotions, or mental nature?  At some higher,
>more rarefied level, the kisser and kissed are the same Thing anyway, aren't
>they?  Thus, perhaps an outward show of subordination may merely symbolize
>the egoic condition of consciousness that the chela is aspiring to--and, of
>course, since the guru is already supposed to be more or less stabilized in
>Buddhi-manas consciousness, he or she egoically cannot have a "foot," anyway.
> 
>
>But alas, Muktananda gave me the impression that he knew he had a foot;
>therefore, I didn't kiss it.
>

        The above post reminds me of a practice followed by Krishnaji. He
never wanted *any* one to touch his feet -- even though in India it is
considered a routine matter of respect to a person --. 

        And if by accident someone touched his feed, he would in turn touch
the feet of the person who touched his.

        An example of the kisser and kissed being the same fundamentally?

MKR