On Sunday, June 15, 2014 6:27:00 PM UTC-4, Etznab wrote:
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i assume you meant to say that MANY people did and do care about plagiarism? that may be, but overall they are a minority, and those folks while welcomed to have their own opinions for whichever reasons, have no effect on others who are interested in gaining their own direct, spiritual, inner experiences, both with and without the ECK Masters...how do i know? i ask people, and speak to them about it on a literally daily basis....and while my own opinion/perception of things obviously does not and cannot cover everyone in the world, it is the case for the individuals i have spoken with on the matter...in fact my way of speaking about Eckankar and its principles openly admits to PT's plagiarisms, and then goes on to use those other author's individual works to be an example of the point being made....and as ive said, ive yet to have a single person complain about it, in fact, many make the choice to go forward and become chelas of Eckankar, purely on their own volition and at absolutely no benefit to myself...
Of course there are more of what some call "issues" beyond plagiarism, but i'm not seeing how this is an actual problem for anyone, being that each certainly DOES have their own free will to discern with, for better or for worse...that is entirely up to them of course, and makes no difference to me either way....yet despite this, they continue to return looking for more information, so as far as that goes i choose to let it be as it is...and yes i agree there are dubious/mixed messages, however, THAT is in my opinion more due to any given individual's ways of perceiving than to anything else, and again, this is also a matter of free will...they always have the option of looking further and deeper into whatever question/issue they feel they are confronted with/by....in the end that becomes only a personal problem for the individual, and while inner guidance IS offered, no one can force another to accept what they find, that is also the individual's choice....has not one thing to do with anyone other than that individual themselves, it isnt the LEM's responsibility or problem, nor is it that of any other Masters.....to have results one needs simply to actually DO the work....in many cases those that get huffy about this factor are often lazy about it, but, they CAN be if they CHOOSE to be, not a problem, but one SHOULD be able to recognize and admit this to themselves if it should happen, otherwise they are screaming and flailing at a brick wall, and having exactly that amount of an effect....just my own view of this of course, and this does NOT speak for %100 of the individuals that might be considered a part of this "grouping"....ive been there hundreds of times myself, so i am quite familiar with it, but i am also familiar with the ways i came to a greater degree of understanding, usually being quite surprised at what i found to bring that about in my own state of consciousness.....all others ARE free to see it in whatever way they prefer to, no argument from me ;)
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> For example, a very "KEY" part of the Eckankar teachings is the Mahanta, the Living Eck Master.So if Eck Masters in the past were not living masters, but so many words animated via plagiarism and paraphrase of other people's writings then what does it say about the Eckankar teachings having come from a lineage of living Eck Masters?
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okay, this "key" part you speak of.....you allege that all past ECK Masters didnt exist and are just creations of Paul Twitchell....i would like to know how this is a fact and NOT pure assumption....plagiarism proves no such thing, for just one....but if im missing something i would appreciate it if you would explain very clearly and specifically as to what PROVES this to be the case as opposed to being a simple assumption, if you would, you chose to use those words so before responding i think it best to clarify how this view originates, and based on which pieces of evidence, if you do not mind...
Plagiarisms and paraphrasing exist, i do not deny that, however, that is nowhere near good enough to be used as evidence that the past Masters do not, and never did exist, it only proves that Paul Twitchell did the plagiarizing and paraphrasing...the other concept is not necessarily, in any way, related, therefore i will require more evidence before i can accept that statement as having any basis in fact...skepticism works BOTH ways you see?
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> One thing I think it says is that a number of people have chosen to end their membership in Eckankar. I don't think the reason is simply plagiarism, but is something more. I think that many people felt it was incumbent upon the current Living Eck Master to explain this. To explain how the Eck Masters can at the same time be both real and animated by words written in Paul Twitchell's library books.
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It MAY say that, concerning people leaving because of it (plagiarism) BUT the part where you "think" i.e. assume is something more IS all your own, let's be very clear about this to begin with. You, like anyone else have/has the right to think of it in those terms, but, others also have just as much of a right to see it differently or to not arrive at the same conclusions you do.....BOTH are NOT arrived at due to facts that PROVE it to be the case...its that same way for anyone, both sides included equally...
Many people may FEEL or THINK that it is the LEM's job/responsibility to explain this in a better way, BUT, those are opinions and not one thing more, its just as simple as that...we ALL want things that we never do get, life simply is that way...as to whether or not the LEM is trustworthy do to anyone's expectations, varies from person to person, there simply is NO standard for this, so it is foolish to NOT recognize that FACT. Judging based on this reasoning is not at all the same as knowing or understanding the reality of it, and this situation of a person being held down by the expectations of the masses(defined as any particular group or another) is a school child's problem, in the 80's in America they called it "peer pressure" and this is that exact same thing...personally, i dont give a whit about anyone else's opinions or demands that i should adopt their point of view or i am somehow less intelligent than they...and i DO believe that this IS the literal definition of what PT called the "cliffhanger." so, what i mean to say is, SO WHAT? dont like his answers, you can leave, there are no chains around anyone's wrists or ankles...by the same token, if you want to UNDERSTAND his answer, then investigate it, and of course here is the rub, "go within"....but what is the trouble here??? it seems to be that most simply arent able to go within and bring any recollection of it back to the outer world, much less to have any understanding of what it might have meant....now at this point i admit freely, that that was MY own assumption, and i dont doubt that there are many cases where that doesnt apply, not a problem...there seems to be a lot of "framing" going on....i remember Sean making many points about framing a few years ago....it seems to me to be not the worst of ideas to always consider that the way we frame a question or point of view on an issue is not necessarily always the truest or most honestly realistic one to go by, i apply this standard to your words AND my own, but ultimately, it becomes yet another decision that each individual must make for themselves. Discernment is an obvious necessity, and while i have opinions about my own as well as that of others, ill hold my tongue because i am well aware that i do NOT know everything myself....i can only HOPE that everyone else realizes this FACT and can apply it to their own argument also ;)
as for ECK Masters being at the same time "both real and animated" what is the problem here? that is a simple fact of reality from the human perspective, regardless of what situation or context you look upon. Ego simply does that, in ALL cases, "animates" things due to its own way of perceiving them, which much of the time can turn out to be not true, for me, you, and everyone else in the world....therefore, what is the problem? someone has trouble dealing with it? if so then they have missed the actual point of the phrase "go within" and are seemingly entrenched in ONLY the physical world view of things.....perhaps consider expanding this view to be more inclusive of reality....lol that is the best suggestion i can offer, and i say it to you based only on the way you spoke that paragraph, it isnt meant in a personal or blameful way, i am well aware of the things that groups of former students say, the ways they see things, and the charges some make against the LEM, and for this reason i speak to all of that the best i can at the moment....
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> Ford Johnson and others have written personal letters to the Living Eck Master asking for, begging for and explanation. And to my knowledge the answer is dubious at best. The answer is that the Eck Masters are real and because so many people have had experiences with them.
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you and they MAY see that as a dubious answer, but, lets look at that. the question itself is one that seems to demand some sort of physical proof, and that is a ridiculous request...why? because it is a request made by one who simply does NOT balance inner/outer life, for if they did, they would already know that there is no physical proof of ANY spiritual statement, maxim, rule, or allegation...how can there be? when the truly spiritual is NOT a physical thing...the goal is SUPPOSED to be bringing balance to ALL of the inner levels of consciousness/experience with the mundane outer world of experience....THAT goal is FAR more important than whether or not there is a Vairagi order or whether or not ANY of the past Masters ever actually existed....but that fact isnt being noticed because of the attention being put on the demand for physical proof and the desire to know exactly WHAT was the case for PT when he wrote his books...did he create them or not? it IS understandable to WANT to know the answer to that, but is it THAT important overall? when compared to spiritual experience and expansion of consciousness, which is of greater value?
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> Granted, people have had experiences. Including people who have personally had a chance to count and observe the copious amounts of plagiarisms coming out the mouth of so many alleged Eck Masters.
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I agree %100....i have met many...for just one example, i know a woman who is NOT an ECKist, and yet has been being visited by an inner Master entity that she has always called the Nameless one, him being SO ancient that his name was long forgotten.....whats funny is that his description specifically matches that of Lai-Tsi.....after awhile she claims that she was told to call him by THAT name....seeing the point here? many of the names of the ECK Masters may NOT be their actual names...so what? that doesnt mean that they DONT or never did physically exist....and, does anyone care if they are NOW going by the names that PT used? wouldnt that be that individual Master's choice? why would he owe you, me, or anyone else an explanation of why that is or why he/she chose to do that? THEY DONT! but at the very least its sort of naive to NOT include that particular possibility in the mix of things going on with the question of "Are the ECK Masters real?" i have never seen anyone say anything about this possibility here or anywhere else....im sure im not the genius of the world, so therefore someone else MUST have had this option occur to them too, somewhere lol....just one possibility, im sure there are a great many more besides that one... about plagiarisms, that really is NOT an issue, being that every holy book has plagiarisms from an earlier religion contained within it in one form or another....Judaism loves to claim itself to be the first monotheistic religion the world has ever seen, but that isnt true, as Zoroastrianism came long before it, but Alexander burned their library which made the one at Alexandria look like a shed in the backyard....Hinduism is also actually a monotheistic religion, and most dont understand that the 33,000 gods and goddesses are all merely ASPECTS of the One God....this sort of thing and all of its challenges and questionings have happened in most religions, they are by NO means new and exclusive to Eckankar...
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> This is not a message post to bash anybody here on this group. If it sounds critical that is due to the nature of the subject along with the many real historical examples. I did not write the Eckankar books. It was not me who told the stories about Eck Masters, or who plagiarized from other people's works and referenced Eck Masters as the source. It wasn't me who created these events, but at the same time I am at liberty to mention them, to discuss, explore and ask questions about them. That is all this is on my part.
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I have no problem with that at all, and i didnt mean to sound negative in any way towards you, personally, so i hope i was able to make that clear....and while it IS you who are at liberty to mention all of these things, are you certain that Harold Klemp might NOT be at liberty to hand out an explanation about it? no one seems to have considered that possibility either, so i WILL expose that as a possibility, and potentially a very good one too, like it or lump it, that is each individual's choice of which lol
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> In my opinion it was not simply plagiarisms and borrowing that caused many people to leave Eckankar; including several who were long-time members and clergy. Rather it was this combined with the fact that people people could no longer trust the Living Eck Master, the organization, or the membership. In other words it became a matter of credibility. People simply did not want to be fooled again.
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Thats fine and understood, however, on the other side of that same thing, did any of those people have any right to expect things to have been done differently? not necessarily, and if they CHOOSE to no longer trust ANYONE, that IS their right, but in the end, so what? have at it then! everyone else STILL has just as much of a right to see all of those things differently, and many do...but they dont all necessarily think they are better or smarter than one who disagrees, and by the comments made by former students that have left, they most often DO feel they are so much smarter than those that remain as ECKists, and THAT literally IS amusing, but, they DO have the right if they so wish, i wont ever try to deny them that, i say go ahead and enjoy yourselves, not a problem!
:o)