Because I am not approaching meditation from a metaphysical POV I am not really asserting anything about the meaning of states experienced in meditation. Perhaps using the terminology of the movement is counterproductive to my goal of separating my experience from the movement and traditional provided meaning. That is why I describe my state as one of silence or peacefulness. But I disagree with the phrase "mere thought free states." I believe these states have a value. You may be comparing them to some other "better" state, but for my experience they seem to be an asset so far.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Jul 8, 2008, at 8:37 PM, curtisdeltablues wrote: > > > Thanks for the links Judy, I'll check them out. > > > A recent overview of meditation in The Cambridge Handbook of Science > has this to say about metaphysical speculations such as "pure > consciousness" as often claimed in the TMO and by TM researchers > (emphases mine): > > "TM researchers further view this EEG picture as reflecting a single > and original > state of "Transcendental pure consciousness" (Maharishi, 1969; Travis > et al., 2004). > Transcendental state is conceptualized as a "fourth" state of > consciousness", a "wakeful > hypometabolic state", that differs from hypnosis and ordinary or > sleep states (R.K. > Wallace, 1970). Although these descriptions might best be interpreted > as metaphysical > assertions rather than first-person descriptions, they do suggest > that this state of > absorption could also involve some form of meta-awareness. > Nevertheless, despite the > possibility of a more sophisticated phenomenological interpretation > and the need to > relate physiological data to subjective data, it is still unclear > whether and how TM > meditation practices produce increased alpha beyond a general arousal > effect or, an > inhibition of task-irrelevant cortical zones. Other relaxation > techniques have led to the > same EEG profile and studies that employed counterbalanced control > relaxation > conditions consistently found a lack of alpha power increases or even > decreases > comparing relaxation or hypnosis to TM meditation (Morse et al., > 1977; Tebecis, 1975; > Warrenburg, Pagano, Woods, & Hlastala, 1980). Similarly, the initial > claim that TM > produces a unique state of consciousness different than sleep has > been refuted by > several EEG meditation studies which reported sleep-like stages > during this technique > with increased alpha and then theta power (Pagano, Rose, Stivers, & > Warrenburg, > 1976; Younger, Adriance, & Berger, 1975)." > > It's quite clear that this "pure consciousness experience" is mostly > hype and actually, surprisingly, given the tenacious and insistent > repetition of this phrase by TM advocates really just a metaphysical > idea without a whole lot of merit. What I find disturbing is that > such baseless assertions of "pure consciousness" for mere thought- > free states is actually believed by gullible writers like Robert > Forman who seem to have swallowed this idea hook, line and sinker. > Since he is a TMer, such blatant bias is hardly surprising, but worth > noting the source of this idea is most likely from the TM mythos. >
