> Curtis and Judy, very interesting exchange. My plan was to leave this > place when I had my thoughts straightened out, but exchanges like this > have enticed me to hang around. As I have no experience with Vedic > texts, this is helpful.
I accept the Arabian Nights challenge to try to keep it interesting enough for you to stick around! Both you and Judy are big resources here (among others) for thinking things out in detail. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "ruthsimplicity" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" > > > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote: > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, boyboy_8 <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > I too am no expert in the vagueries of mantra meanings. The > > > > > > point is that they are phrases...meaningless sounds whose > > > > > > meaning is known? > > > > > > > > > > (Semantically) meaningless sounds whose *effects* > > > > > are known. > > > > > > > > I'm not sure how anyone could know this Judy. > > > > > > I wasn't making a claim, Curtis, I was correcting > > > what appeared to be boyboy's misunderstanding of > > > MMY's definition of mantras (see above--he has > > > "meaningless sounds whose meaning is known"). > > > > I figured that Judy. By now I am hip to your getting the teaching > > straight first and then deciding how you relate to it process. I was > > challenging Maharishi's claim. It just doesn't seem as if it has any > > support other than faith. > > > > > > > > I certainly don't "know" this myself, but then I > > > don't have access to whatever materials there are > > > about mantras in the Shankaracharya tradition. I > > > don't think MMY invented the notion, however. > > > > It seems as it these claims might come from the Tantric texts because > > I can't think of any of the Vedic texts that deal with this level of > > precision. I hope one of our Tantric scripture enthusiasts can help. > > it sounds as if Maharishi was using a sort of scientific sounding > > analogy here from his physics studies of vibrations. In most > > scriptures I have read they just lay out that these are the rules and > > don't offer this kind of reasoning. It is sort of a modern approach to > > thinking about them that would be unnecessary for a traditional mind > > not trained to ask for such reasons isn't it? > > > > > > > > I mean, we can probably > > > > rule out a history of trying a bunch of different sounds > > > > experimentally and watching some people have bad experiences or > > > > have harm come to them right? > > > > > > On what basis can we rule it out? > > > > A lack of the knowledge of the scientific method? It seems to apply > > modern standards of gaining reliable knowledge to a culture that was > > resorting to a priest class with scriptural authority. If there were > > such studies I haven't seen them being referenced in any scriptures I > > read. Maharishi had a very complete set of Vedic scriptures on his > > stage in Seelisberg and I ferreted my way through the ones I had not > > read before on my TTC. I did see lots of examples of people in > > scriptures making claims about a divine origin for beliefs. This is > > even true in their Ayur Veda texts, there is no discussion of trial > > and error, it is all be decree of a sage who just "knows." Maharishi's > > marketing brilliance was to connect the ancient ideas with the modern > > concepts that gained credibility with us, but I am challenging that it > > is based on anything real. It made the system sound scientific and > > more palatable. We spent months diving in to scriptures and comparing > > them with modern science so I feel pretty confident that if this was > > in the scriptures, we would have been using it. > > > > > > > Curtis and Judy, very interesting exchange. My plan was to leave this > place when I had my thoughts straightened out, but exchanges like this > have enticed me to hang around. As I have no experience with Vedic > texts, this is helpful. >
