>From Vaj via email, as his post apparently didn't go through: On Feb 19, 2009, at 6:16 PM, ruthsimplicity wrote:
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote: >> >> >> >> The TM mythos is filled with the tacit implication or even insistence >> that MMY was fully enlightened. In fact during his death ceremonies >> they kept repeating that he wasn't just enlightened, but the most >> enlightened rishi of all yugas! >> >> > > > Doesn't MMY need to be enlightened under TM theory? How else could he > rediscover what he claimed were lost mediation techniques? I think it's understood by most reasonable and objective folks who've done a little lookin', that "TM is nothing new under the sun", it's not something he's "restored", in fact it's a ubiquitous form of basic meditation. There are still many people who will repeat, matter-a-factly, that TM is a form of "Vedic" meditation, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Movement representatives will still parrot this obviously false information. Most of them probably either aren't aware of the fact (we were always told NOT to investigate the Vedas or "Vedic texts" on our own, as it would just "confuse" us) or if they are, they're afraid to go against what the founder said or they are out-and-out TB's. > And > rediscover and correct Ayurveda? Or, as the TMO says in information I > was reading recently: "Maharishi completely restored the thousands of > years-old scattered Vedic Literature for the total significance of its > theory and practice, and organized it in the form of a complete > science of consciousness. Maharishi's Vedic Science includes the > restoration of the ancient Vedic system of health care, which offers a > science and technology for unfolding perfection in life, using methods > that are completely free from harmful side effects." This is particularly incorrect in regards to Ayurveda, which he diluted, although he did help popularize it. Dr. Pete tells an interesting story of a Vaidya or scholar that came and gave a lecture on Ayurveda at MIU IIRC and later when the tapes were made, they edited out so much of what the speakers lecture said that didn't jive with official movement "think" that it no longer even resembled what the guy was actually saying! > Vaj, I take it that you are saying that MMY is not a Yogi under the > applicable traditions. I don't think anyone really disputes that. Oh my heavens Ruth, prepare to be stoned! He was a yogi who lived in the Valley of the Saints and then came to the land of mud to bring to TM to the world, based on a recurring thought he kept having while trying to meditate. Actually one of the Shankaracharya's of Jyotir Math IIRC and a fellow student of SBS has come out and said that MMY was not trained as a yogi. > One of the few things that does not bother me about MMY is the > breaking from tradition, going from being a secretary to a teacher. > If someone feels that they have something of value to teach, fine by > me, even if they are not in the right caste or do not have the right > background. However, it is of relevance in evaluating his educational > background on topics where he professed knowledge, such as asanas or > the siddhis or vedic science. And assuming titles. How do you feel when someone who's not a physicians calls themselves a "doctor" (and infers they are a medical doctor). When it comes to mantra yoga, mantras can be authentically given by puja. But there's a bit more to mantra yoga than what we were lead to believe. > I have never been clear on how he came up with transcendental > meditation, i.e., the routine and the mantras. What did he say about it? The party line is he got them from Swami Brahmananda. The only problems with that is that Swami Brahmananda's oral teachings are in opposition to what MMY taught, although MMY does pepper his teachings with bits and pieces of authentic information and wisdom, most of which is well known by spiritual Indians. One of his most interesting faux pas is the claim that other meditation techniques have traditionally taught some form of forced concentration, meditation that involves straining. It's a red herring--of course having read or heard that, you're almost afraid to try anything else! Here's the whole spiel, which is easily refutable as hype and posturing, but it's still a pretty entertaining read: http://tinyurl.com/34bras " By the process of comparing his own direct experience of the actual goal of meditation with the common understanding then available, it became clear to Maharishi that the common idea of what meditation was supposed to be was in fact a complete distortion of the original meaning of the ancient procedure. Procedures of concentration or of forcing the mind to be free of content, with or without the use of a sensory medium such as an auditory or visual focus, seemed to him to lead away from, rather than toward, the desired result. At every stage of experimentation, Maharishi held to the guideline given him by his master that maximum naturalness and simplicity alone would identify the correct direction; his profound faith in the beneficent simplicity of nature has been echoed in the thinking of other great researchers, such as Einstein. In practice, then, an effective form of meditation should come out to be an easy, automatic process and not a constant struggle involving concentration or control of mind. On this basis, Maharishi recognized quite simply what the mechanics of the original systematic procedure had been, not by means of textual scholarship alone, but by working with constant reference to fresh personal experience of the state of pure consciousness, the aim and end-point of meditation. If we emphasize the overwhelming importance of Maharishi's own clarity of inner experience in this regard, it is because a comparison of his lectures and writings with those of any other philosopher, Eastern or Western, of recent times shows quite clearly that direct and detailed experience of the transcendental values of consciousness, as opposed to intellectual analysis of them, has been an extraordinary rarity. Maharishi soon verified that this easy, automatic procedure did indeed have the desired effect in a most direct manner. This procedure is the Transcendental Meditation technique. Once having made this clarification, which involved, as we have said, recognizing that 'concentration' or control of the mind was a misinterpretation and that the correct procedure had necessarily to be effortless if it was to continue spontaneously, Maharishi proceeded to satisfy himself that the mechanics of the technique could be explained in a way that was both clear in itself and consistent with ancient Vedic sources on the nature of the mind. It is characteristic of Maharishi's thinking that from the beginning he emphasized the naturalness of the process, whereas others had spoken in terms of forcing a recalcitrant mind to an unworldly experience. Moreover, from the beginning Maharishi pointed to the simplicity and comprehensibility of the process - that is, to its scientific nature - rather than to any possible mystical aspect. " from: INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 1 By Lawrence H. Domash, Ph.D. Weggis, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland January, 1976 MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI AND THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION PROGRAM: A NEW DIRECTION FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
