The Moody Blues & Spirituality

[Gadfly]

I was sitting around today, and decided to listen to the Moody Blues CD, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.

I remember when I was in college that this album, to me, embodied THE TRUTH. The words of this album said it all.

It is interesting, because in a sense I have come "full circle".

If you haven't ever listened to this album from beginning to end, take an hour out of your life, put on a good set of headphones, close the door and get lost in the music and words of this amazing creation of art.

I put this here in The General category, because it is so weird to me, when I look back, that I fully got the deep spiritual messages contained in this album's music and lyrics, BUT somehow I still went looking for the promises of even more in Scientology. It is interesting for me, because after spending 40 or so years of living, and going down many strange paths (looking for who knows what), I listen to this album and get the SAME MESSAGE now as I did then. Maybe this time I will relax and just "let it be".

This album starts with the actual CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, and then through simple communication and music takes you through the entire evolution of civilization on EARTH (in the first 4 minutes of the CD)!

Here it is, just take 4 minutes and give it a listen - the creation of the Universe and civilization:



It takes you through the growth of civilization in Persia, to the Scientific Revolution in Europe, right up to NOW - all through music forms!

I mean, I always "got it".

To me, all that I had read in philosophy and religion was right here in the words and music of this album. I remember "getting it" back when I was 20 years old, but for some reason I "forgot", and did stupid things like imagined that there was "more truth" to acquire. THAT was the major mistake I made with Scientology. I imagined, for awhile at least, that I could "know it all". But, when I listened today, I GOT IT again, but in a much more "mature" way than I did as that naive yet idealistic youngster who I was back then. Who knows, maybe I needed one more lifetime to finally "figure it out" . . . .

I understood about false aims back then. I understood the threats of materialism explained in this album. I understood the deep message of Love. But still, I somehow fell for the illusions and delusions of Scientology.

Anyway, I smiled all the way through the album!

When I listen to this, to me, it says it all:

Walking in the sand
Thinking of things, adventures in my mind
Tall ships that sail
Across the ocean wide
They won't wait for me
See the way they glide away so gracefully
And with tomorrow what will become of me
They leave me so much to explain
That's the start of our guessing game

There are times when I think I've found the truth
There are times when I know that I'm wrong
And the days when I try to hide my fears
Bless the days when I'm feeling strong
Bless the days when I'm feeling strong

Wonder why we try so hard
Wonder why we try at all
You wonder why the world is turning around
When in the end it won't matter at all

Standing in the town
Looking at people, counting their frowns
Unhappy faces, hurrying around
So blind they cannot see
All of these things
The way life ought to be
And with tomorrow what will they make of me
It leaves me so much to explain
That's the start of our guessing game

There are times when I think I've found the truth
There are times when I know that I'm wrong
And the days when I try to hide my fears
Bless the days when I'm feeling strong
There are times when I think I've found the truth
There are times when I know that I'm wrong
And the days when I try to hide my fears
Bless the days when I'm feeling strong
There are times when I think I've found the truth



Because, you see it IS a "guessing game". But some of us, myself included, for a time there, I made the BIG mistake of believing that we each had it "all figured out" - with the details and dogma Scientology. THAT was the big assumption and false claim of Scientology. As I see it, setting down comfortably into such a false sense of security in knowingness blinds one to the endless amazing stream of all-that-is.

I suppose, I am forever an agnostic (of a sort). I never really believe (in) anything, but I have my strong feelings (intuitions) about various things . . .

Enjoy!

[Gadfly]

The Moody Blues nailed it again from this amazing song (Story in Your Eyes):

Listen to the tide slowly turning
Wash all our heartaches away
We're part of the fire that is burning
And from the ashes we can build another day

Those few lines contain the whole of Vedic philosophy (sort of)!

Change . . . all is change . . . . the Eternal Fire . . . creation always new . . . .



I had a few more ideas form listening to the tunes, but more for later.

[Gadfly]

There was something that I wanted out of Scientology, and while I imagined that it was there for a short while, Scientology never actually delivered.

What I wanted was real understanding. The kind that has no barriers. The kind that aims to listen to anything, and Let's It Be. The kind that is entirely tolerant and compassionate.

Not "understanding" about things - as in "knowledge". But, understanding as in "understanding between people" - "be understanding of others" - ah dang, let the Moddy Blues say it AGAIN, because they do so far better than me, and with FAR FEWER words!

From this Moody Blues Song:

And I will listen for there's beauty where there's love . . . .

And in the morning of my life
And in the evening of my day
I will try to understand in what you say

Through all that life can give to you
Only true love will see you through
And will stand beside you now in what you say



In Scientology, they don't try to "give out understanding", they don't REALLY "grant beingness", and they try ONLY to duplicate you so that they can then "handle you".

[Gadfly]

It is funny, because I feel like I could take small sections of MANY of the songs on this album and easily explain the "deep philosophy" behind them. For instance these few lines from the song, "After You Came":

For some short time
For a while you and I were joined to eternity
Then we're split in two back to me and you
Like the rain rising from the sea
Rising from the sea

In those few lines gently sits the very CORE of the Vedic Hymms. The change . . . . the manifest . . . .. the Unknown. How the One becomes Many, and how the Many once again become One . . . .



In truth, I get more "spiritual nutrition" for one listening of this album than I get out of ANY of even ALL of Hubbard's written and/or spoken words!

[The Anabaptist Jacques]

Back in 1973, either Advance or The Auditor magazine did a poll of Scientologists of what their favorite groups were. First was the Beatles, second The Moody Blues, third the Stones.

When I was on staff at FCDC in 1972 a bunch of us drove up to Baltimore to see the Moody Blues.

The Moody Blues, and specifically the albums Every Good Boy Desreves Favor and To Our Children's Children had a lot to do with me accepting Scientology.

It was their spiritual message that captured me.

Now of course I learned the hard way that the spiritual message of The Moody Blues does not in any way, shape, or form reflect or parallel Scientology.

I still listen to The Moody Blues for that spiritual message.

I love 'em.

The Anabaptist Jacques

[JackStraw]

In my mind, the wisdom of the Moodys was that they were asking the questions.

Fans began to drive them crazy asking for answers. This resulted in the song:
"I'm just a singer (in a rock n' roll band)"

I also grew up with the Moodys and love(d) their music. I, too, was asking...

Jack

[Gadfly]

In my mind, the wisdom of the Moodys was that they were asking the questions.

Fans began to drive them crazy asking for answers. This resulted in the song:
"I'm just a singer (in a rock n' roll band)"

I also grew up with the Moodys and love(d) their music. I, too, was asking...

Jack

Yep, they even wrote a song about the QUESTION!

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war.

It's where we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution
That is burning in it's greed.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
Because the truth is hard to swallow
That's what the wall of love is for.

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
It's more the way that you mean it
When you tell me what will be.

And when you stop and think about it
You won't believe it's true.
That all the love you've been giving
Has all been meant for you.

I'm looking for someone to change my life.
I'm looking for a miracle in my life.
And if you could see what it's done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me through.

Between the silence of the mountains
And the crashing of the sea
There lies a land I once lived in
And she's waiting there for me.

But in the grey of the morning
My mind becomes confused
Between the dead and the sleeping
And the road that I must choose.

I'm looking for someone to change my life.
I'm looking for a miracle in my life.
And if you could see what it's done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me to
The land that I once knew.
To learn as we grow old
The secrets of our souls.

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
It's more the way you really mean it
When you tell me what will be.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war.

It's where we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution
That is burning in it's greed.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?



Amazing - I think this is actually "live". I just adore bands that can sound JUST LIKE their studio recordings (or almost just like them). They were so very talented.

"I'm looking for someone to change my life. I'm looking for a miracle in my life."

I think some or many of us WERE looking for THAT in bold above. And, in our naivity we (at least I sure did) mistakenly assumed that Scientology would provide the change and the miracle.

I thnk Hubbard knew ALL ABOUT "dub-in" and transference, and he took great advantage of that desire for change and miracles that some of us were looking for. As Hubbard says in the Marketing and PR Series policies, locate a "desire" or "want", and then TELL THEM THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE IT.

The big mistake was in assuming that you "needed" anything at all. As the Moodies said:

"When we stop and look around us, there is nothing that we need".

I suspect that for all the talk of paths, systems and (spiritual) learning, the BEST source of learning is life itself (but you DO have to pay attention). The Moodies may have meant that in this final line:

To learn as we grow old the secrets of our souls.

[JackStraw]

:

(snip)

"I'm looking for someone to change my life. I'm looking for a miracle in my life."

I think some or many of us WERE looking for THAT in bold above. And, in our naivity we (at least I sure did) mistakenly assumed that Scientology would provide the change and the miracle.



The big mistake was in assuming that you "needed" anything at all. As the Moodies said:

"When we stop and look around us, there is nothing that we need".

I suspect that for all the talk of paths, systems and (spiritual) learning, the BEST source of learning is life itself (but you DO have to pay attention). The Moodies may have meant that in this final line:

To learn as we grow old the secrets of our souls.

They, sure as shit, tricked me! I recall seeing a poster in the mission I started at that said "Living? Or just putting in time?"

That one got to me. I thought there might be something here... While it really did have that potential, it was, in reality, a totally rigged game. Damn!

Ah, well, such is life. I wanted someone else to provide it. It's really up to me, not someone else. (I truly should have known.)

Jack

[DagwoodGum]

When I spoke with Justin and his wife when they showed up right in back of us in the long assed line going through customs in St. Maarten I really enjoyed that 15 minutes of my life as much as any 15 minutes in my life. They were going to Barbuda and he was as excited as a kid on his way to Disney World. This was right after their tour ended in April of 2010 and I'd seen them in Ft. Myers exactly one month to the day earlier in concert for like the 7th time, wow my seventh sojourn, never realized that before. I saw the Rolling Stones once, Led Zeppelin once and Ringo Star perform with John Waite, Coling Hey and a bunch of other mega rockers and as great as those concerts were, each Moodies concert was better than any of the best I've ever seen. In fact I've never seen another major act more than once, which inclues a lot of great bands, it's just that Justin's music touches me where I live by far and away more than anyone else.
I had been talking with his wife as I'd not gotten a good look at him yet and had no idea who they were. She was thanking me for telling some people to fuck off that were trying to cut around them in line and then she asked where we'd been staying, he started laughing when I replied "Dive Little Beach Resort" and said to Marie "wow, they stayed right down the street from where we stayed?. I was stunned as his voice is generally the first voice I hear on any given day so I knew that voice instantly as I listen to them on my bathroom MP3 when I'm getting ready and have for 40 years or so. I asked him where they stayed and he replied "The Belair", we had eaten there, and I was nearly shell shocked to know who I had the sheer delight to be in the company of. I sure wish I'd run into them earlier and I never though to ask them why they were there, just assuming it was an end of tour vacation. I found out later that Tony Clark, an avid sailor and the "George Martin" of their band, had just died so I'll never know if there was any connecting regarding the fact. But we got on like long lost brothers and then got split up going through customs. He's my favorite all time singer/songwriter and performer. At the time I thought my cancer was a bigger deal than it turned out to be so I thought I'd just hit the No. 1 item on my bucket list. There are a couple of things I'm tempted to say but if there's anyone who's privacy I wish to honor it's theirs.
Here is a rare and unusual interview with him in L.A., he's much more himself here than in the typical staged interviews. There are 4 parts.

[Gadfly]

They, sure as shit, tricked me! I recall seeing a poster in the mission I started at that said "Living? Or just putting in time?"

That one got to me. I thought there might be something here... While it really did have that potential, it was, in reality, a totally rigged game. Damn!

Ah, well, such is life. I wanted someone else to provide it. It's really up to me, not someone else. (I truly should have known.)

Jack

Hubbard and Scientology were/are experts at finding "buttons" that READ BIG for various people. Just like with the "ruin-finding drill", where a well-trained registrar finds what is YOUR button, discovers what is BOTHERING YOU, and then after really socking you into it hard, tells you with excellent TRs, Tone 40, and phony affinity, "Scientology Can Handle THAT"!

Please understand that Hubbard and Scientology can often very well tell you WHAT IS WRONG - with you, with the world, with civilization, etc. "Gicing the PC his item" is nothing BUT you telling the auditor what is worng, and then he says it BACK AT YOU. He gives you "your item".

They are very good at finding what bothers people. Hubbard was a PRO at that. It isn't hard to agree with many of the criticisms of Man, societies, drug psychiatry, manipulative central bankers, the success (or failure) of past spiritual ventures, and on and on. You would almost have to be stupid or blind NOT to resonate with some of that.

But then, having found what is your "ruin", or the "world's ruin", Hubbard takes the BIG LEAP, that has no actual connection with the problems, and asserts, "Scientology can fix that".

That is often where people make the first MAJOR error that starts you on the Road to Lunacy. You did AGREE with what was described as wrong, as very often those (negative) things were somewhat true and accurate. The big leap of logic, and abandonment of reason came when you just ASSUMED, quite incorrectly, that therefore Scientology must also be able to provide the solutions to these often well-defined problems.

You got tricked by the LEAP from 1) what was wrong to 2) what is the solution. Hubbard and Scientology simply CLAIM, quite loudly, arrogantly and noisily, that "Scientology has the solution to EVERY problem and button". There is no reason, proof or evidence at all to justify accepting that, but THAT is where you were FIRST tricked. You took the leap - from "okay, yeah, that is fucked up", to "OK, Scientology can and will fix that". THAT is the BIG INITIAL LIE!

It is bait 'n switch. It is sleight of hand (or better, "sleight of mind"). The agreement with what is wrong gets you "agreeing", and the manipulative Scientology "tech" ensures that you are agreeing HARD with that, and the momentum of THAT agreement is what carries you forward and through agreeing with the REST of the nonsense.

The inertia of agreement has a sort of power all its own. Hubbard took advantage of that and worked it into his indoctrination system.

Proposition 1: Things are wrong with the world. Things are wrong with people. Life is confusing and tough at times.

Then after you agree with that (because in many ways it IS true - it IS the "human condition"), then comes:

Proposition 2: Scientology can fix any and all of that.

You agree with the first proposition, often correctly, and are tricked into going along with the second proposition. Of course, in Scientology they don't ever call anything a "proposition". They never present any of Hubbarrd's ideas or statements as "theoretical". None of it is ever presented as an "assumption". Hubbard and Scientology label everything Hubbard says as "a fact", "the truth", or the "tech of life".