Curtis wrote: > It doesn't connect to any modern understanding > of how the nervous system works. It melts > together an ancient esoteric tradition with > sciency sounding terms for marketing purposes. > Isn't this just amazing - Ruth and Curtis don't see the connections, but I connect the dots every time I think about this.
This is what is so infuriating about some deniers - almost every pronouncement they make is strictly anecdotal, or worse, totally made up on the spot. It makes me very suspicious that they have some kind of axe to grind. It's like, instead of forward thinking, logical analysis, it's almost reactionary! Why is that? > I never saw a sincere desire in Maharishi to > actually test any of this theories in a > falsifiable form. > Maybe so, but every theory doesn't have to be a double-blind scientific study. In fact, the vast majority of studies in the field of psychotherapy are not double-blind studies. > He said it, we believed it, and that was good > enough for a pretty long while. > You're not the only on who believed it. From what I've read, the Marshy was pretty much spot on in his general analysis! "As a method of stress reduction, meditation is often used in hospitals in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress including a depressed immune system. There is growing agreement in the medical community that mental factors such as stress significantly contribute to a lack of physical health, and there is a growing movement in mainstream science to fund research in this area. Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard and several Boston hospitals, reports that meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the 'relaxation response.' The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains." Source: Meditation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation Other references: Reference: 'The Mystery of Consciousness' By Steven Pinker Time Magazine, Friday, Jan. 19, 2007 http://tinyurl.com/3ck5qe 'The Science of Meditation' Time Magazine Cover Story, August 4, 2003 http://tinyurl.com/63xac5 'Just say Om' by Joel Stein Time Magazine, Sunday, Jul. 27, 2003 http://tinyurl.com/icu6 Links: The Mind Science Foundation 17 West El Prado Drive San Antonio, Texas http://www.mindscience.org/index.cfm Titles of interest: 'Meditation and Psychotherapy' A rationale for the integration of dynamic psychotherapy, the relaxation response, and mindfulness meditation. By H. Benson, I. Kutz and J. Borysenko American Journal of Psychiatry, 1985 PubMed abstract PMID 3881049 'Mind Science' by Charles T Tart, Ph.D Origin Press, 2000
