--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Oct 15, 2008, at 11:18 AM, sparaig wrote: > > > > >> Also, it's of little interest if the Buddhist and Hindu research on > >> samadhi is relevant to just me. What made the Gamma-coherence samadhi > >> research so interesting was not only that it was the first to > >> replicate the samadhi of Patanjali yogins, but it was also the first > >> recent example of a highly coherent EEG state outside of waking, > >> sleeping or dreaming. That's why it's of major interest and received > >> such worldwide acclaim. > >> > > > > Who says that the state is a non-waking, dreaming or sleeping state? > > > > Cites? > > That's why it's called (in Hindu parlance) "The Fourth", Turiya or > Turiyatita, beyond even the Fourth (the other three being waking, > sleeping and dreaming states). Gaudapada would be a good start. > > In the Tibetan tradition these yogis refer to the state as "dmigs-med > snying-rje", "compassion with no reference point" or "rigpa > cogbzhag", "freely resting in vidya or pure knowledge, the > veda" (loose translation). It's really the type of thing that one has > to become accustomed to before it could be understood, but it's not > exactly like any of the other states but the other states can be > accessed from it. > > A standard EEG text might help you understand what the EEG is like > for waking, dreaming and sleeping. I would suspect if an unsuspecting > scientist were to witness an EEG of a yogi in samadhi without > knowledge of the subject being examining, they would think it was a > patient with some neuro-pathology, like a brain tumor. >
But I cn draw parallels to the EEG and other physiological correlates of the TM "Transcendental Consciousness" state to the descriptions of Turiya that require far less hand-waving, and in fact, while the EEG is strking, it doesn't resemble any pathology that I am aware of. http://web.me.com/lawsonenglish/Site/Meditation_EEG.html Things that make you go "hmmmm..." And one cntral point: the thalamic activity of the EEG of the BUddhist meditators goes up during their meditation activity, while it goes down during TM practice. As I have already pointed out, you can describe the broad behavior of the brain in various states merely based on the activity of the thalamus: in waking, sensory data comesinto the thalamus and is passed into the cortext and then loops back to merge with the raw sensory input. Many neurocientists consider this feedback looping to be the explanation for thinking and the like. In deep sleep, the thalamus doesn't allow data to pass into the brain OR to loop back into the brain and the brain is in a very dormant state with little activity. In dreaming, the thalamus doesn't allow data into the brean, but the feedback loops continue, so the dreamer is left alone with whatever residual sensory content is going on in the brain without interference from teh outside world. In the TM samadhi, the thalamus doesn't allow sensory data in OR feedback loops, but the brain is still in an alert mode. No thought, no images, no dreaming, not asleep, not awake, not aware OF anything... just alert. Pure "awareNESS." A strikingly simple variation in activity of a part of the brain that shows very distinct behavior for each of hte major normal states AND between each of them and the TM Transcendental COnsciousness state. Turiya indeed. Like all and none at the same time. The basis of consciousness. Alert neurological activity without mental content. Lawson
