On Aug 22, 2009, at 5:59 PM, Bhairitu wrote:
Vaj wrote:
>
> On Aug 21, 2009, at 10:39 PM, raunchydog wrote:
>
>> Then how come, "Frontal alpha coherence is not reported in other
>> meditation practices?
>
>
> It isn't considered important because it's low integration and
common.
> Usually meditation will only briefly stay in alpha until it goes to
> deeper levels of absorption.
>
> As one of the primary experts on EEG Barbara Brown said about alpha
> "Concluding anything about alpha is perilous." All it means in the
> case of TM you are listening to a faint sound, a mantra, you're
nicely
> relaxed or both. But you can poise yourself as is listening to ANY
> faint noise and alpha will shoot up. Big whoop. Many things can get
> you into the alpha state, but in deep meditation alpha is passed by.
>
>> > interesting findings seem to be coming from high-amplitude gamma
>> > coherence which was originally found in Patanjali tradition
yogis who
>> > could go into samadhi at will. In Buddhists that EEG coherence,
which
>> > oddly connects the part of the brain associated with integration,
>> > continues even when these yogis are not meditating.
>> >
>> > "And that's the way it is", as Walter Cronkite used to say.
>> >
>>
>> Well, that's the way Vaj says it is.
>>
>> "What strikes me as uncool is feeling that a cool thing
attributable
>> to TM must somehow be "countered" because it isn't attributable to
>> Buddhism."
>
> If that's what's happening, that would be uncool. But that's not
> what's happening. What's happening is meditation researchers who are
> reputable have gained considerable wisdom in different ways of
looking
> at the brain, and EEG is one we know a lot about already. When the
> leading researchers on the planet say TM's claims are exaggerated
and
> premature (among other things), it would bade well to find out
"why".
>
> Since I had heard rumors of the exaggeration by old staff who had
> worked with Maharishi in the original disappointing findings way
back
> in the 80's, the researchers were basically told "go with the
alpha".
> They had no choice. They did what Maharishi insisted was
significant.
> Forcing researchers to report a finding as significant that they
felt
> (and knew) was insignificant is always bound to catch up with you.
And
> IMO that's exactly what has happened.
>
> Boy, was I disappointed when I first heard that. Wake up call!
Cleaning house the other day I came across my copy of "The Physical
and
Psychological Effects of Meditation " the 1988 book by Michael Murphy
and Steven Donovan published by Esalen Institute. I'm going to have to
thumb through some of those studies again. ;-)
Probably mostly out of date.
Check out the meditation research section of The Cambridge Handbook of
Consciousness if you want a state of the art view.
