There is an old aphorism that when a pickpocket looks at a saint, all he sees are the saint's pockets. In the same way, when a person is jaded, suspicious and cynical because of his own inability to find happiness, he tends to do things like viewing the meditative / religious experience as "brutalization of the psyche" and devotion and dedication to seif-discovery as "total obedience to whatever savior they tout."
Millions of Americans from every walk of life, as well as scientists interested in die field of meditation, can vouch for the healing, calming, and restoring effects of meditation. As a devotee of Guru Maharaj Ji, I can attest to the fact that tue knowledge which he gives is a true and positive experience. He shows us how to experience the one thing that is true in our lives - life itself.
When we tap into this life force, or energy, we practically understand it to be the prime motivating force for all phenomena; it unites people in a bond of self-knowledge that crosses the barrier of race, religion, creed, sex, etc.
I hope that your readers will not be deterred in their own personal search for a better life by articles such as the above-mentioned one. After all, if we cannot find a common ground from which to work, then how can individual, societal and world peace ever become a reality?
CAROLE J. GREENBERG
New York, Jan. 21, 1974