| | Good questions and thoughts. I am of like mind that people being open and simply stating that the techniques work and worked for them is empowering and helpful, at least I found it so when I was coming up in this stuff.
The question of why one would not be "out" about attainments is very complex, and it very much depends on the audience and context. For instance, many groups believe it is not possible, such as many of the staff at some major retreat centers I know, and thus to claim attainments automatically makes you a liar at best and a psychopath at worst. Having been more out than most, I can tell you the projections, bad reaction, anger, jealousy, confusion, doubt, fear, territoriality, and the like fly thick and fast despite honest attempts to keep things practical and down to earth.
Furthermore, many of those who are not "out" have real-world situations in which you just can't go around saying, "I am a highly enlightened meditation master with psychic powers who can..." because it just wouldn't make any sense in that context. For instance, I work as a physician in the deep south. I could say all I wanted, and people would just laugh, think I was making a joke, not have any idea what I was talking about, and so it really is a non-issue. However, for those who work in that middle area, professionals around people who might have some idea distorted idea what they were talking about, it can cause real chaos. Imagine being a PhD hard scientist and claiming realization in a setting where your boss might hear it: potentially cause for questioning sanity at best and dismissal at worst. Or go to most Buddhist groups and claim realization and watch the insane, radically idealistic traditional models get applied with all the compassion of a pack of hyenas. Until more realistic models are promoted more widely, being "out" can be a real problem at times, despite the benefits. |