Just to needlessly belabor your point, as for the obvious "I don't believe, I know!" belief system, what would the experience of the techniques be if a stranger plopped them on a stranger? Period. No explanation. No context. No satsang. No Keys. No events. No loaded words such as knowledge, self-knowledge, lord, god, master, divine, Maharaji, perfect, purpose of life, word, holy name, immortal, infinite, what's keeping us alive, "understanding" and so on: all words and phrases Prem Rawat used and premies repeated to themselves and each other for decades. Until, that is, it was no longer helpful or socially acceptable, at which time - out of sheer defensiveness (and revisionism) - they suddenly declared all those words and phrases to be "concepts." No, "it's a feeling that can't be put into words."

Except that it's a feeling awash in, shaped by, influenced by and derived from all those concepts. And how clever it was of Prem to permanently bind premies to him by saying things like "The techniques are just techniques without the Grace of Guru Maharaji to make them do anything at all."

But it's not a belief system?

Of course a monkey might wipe it's butt with a diamond. Why not? It's just a rock. You have to build that diamond up - through language and mutual agreement - before it becomes anything of value (other than as a good cutting tool).

That reminded me of the replies to Prem's magnolia tree story. Of course we've all had and continue to have similar experiences of awe, gratitude and appreciation (especially Monday when totality floated over our house), but only Prem and his ilk use it to puff-up their bait and "how I came to be enlightened" stories as they suck others in to believing knowing that they're the source of it all.

I hope you both benefit from the apps and, whatever the causes, I hope the stress eases.

Thanks Aunt Bea!