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Message |
| Posted By: |
UT |
| Date: |
31-Jul-2001-19:13:56 |
| Subject: |
Bookstore Evangelism |
Durga brought up a great point down in some recent thread, one that combined in my mind with one of Neo's to create a hybrid question:
We all have beliefs, even the folks who say that they don't believe in anything fixed. So what is the factor that turns talking about those beliefs from talk to prostelyzation and evangelism?
I think the factor is the desire to present beliefs and experience as a possibility vs. the need to convince others that they are The Truth. The intent behind the first approach feels clean to me, based on a desire to share something interesting with others. The intent behind the second approach feels fear-based to me, a desire to convince oneself that one's belief system is valid by convincing others of its validity. Everyone here has seen both approaches, even within the Rama trip. :-)
Back when I was teaching, I used to use an analogy that I felt expressed the first approach -- big bookstore chains vs. specialty bookstores. I don't know if you've ever looked into the realities of the publishing business, but the sad economic truth is that if you limit your shopping to Borders or B. Dalton or the other big chains, the selection you see on the shelves will never reflect more than 10% of the books published during any particular period of time. Economically, they just can't afford to stock and display them all. Specialty bookstores, on the other hand, might be able to carry a bigger selection of the books available within their specialty, whether that be computers or spirituality or whatever. They provide alternatives to the limited selection one can find on the mainstream bookshelves.
Some people who teach meditation are just as much in the evangelical mode of thought as their detractors -- "This is how things are, period, and if you don't believe in <> you're a fool." Others teach to put a few books on the shelves that are not commonly available, just to provide alternatives. If you like what you find there, cool. If you don't, cool. But at least you had the opportunity to explore alternatives to mainstream thinking.
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