--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" <dhamiltony...@...> wrote: > > What say the doubters, quitters and poor in spiritual experience > here to this?
What say they TO WHOM? Possibly to insufferably elitist assholes who consider themselves better than those who moved on past the spiritual kindergarten they still attend? And *while* still attending the spiritual kindergarten they look down on those who have graduated from it as "quitters," "doubters," and "poor in spiritual experience?" If that's how you see yourself, Doug, I'll agree with your assessment and say the following to you. :-) > Is this research no good too? Just wondering. I'll leave the detailed analysis of the study and its design to those who are interested in those sorts of things. I am not. I will just point out the "introduction" added by whoever posted this, which states that David OJ "included some extra stuff in this summary that's not found in the actual papernotably, the fascinating section on 'Knowledge is Structured in Consciousness.'" This pretty much answers your question, as far as I am concerned. FOR A TB TM AUDIENCE, David OJ "includes" a bunch of stuff that he would be unable to include in a real study, one being presented to and assessed by real scientists. That kinda reveals it as what it is -- propa- ganda -- and *sales* propaganda at that. It's a tract written for and to True Believers, who are the only people on the planet who would buy into the stuff he "included." As for the research itself, which as I've said I have no real interest in, a quick skim seems to indicate that what he proved is that TMers "witnessing sleep" generate one type of EEG activity while lucid dreamers generate another. DUH. That was known at the beginning. He even describes the difference in his own paragraph describing lucid dreaming. Lucid dreamers wake up in their dreams, are aware that they have woken up, and can actually manipulate their dreams. TMers, according to his description, only "wake up" to an experience of "transcend- ental consciousness." Big whoop. Sounds to me as if the lucid dreamers are actually accomplishing a bit more in their dreaming than the TMers. But David OJ seems to *assume* that the TM experience is somehow "better," although on my quick skim I see no reason presented for WHY he believes this. The bottom line seems to me to be that the only thing he has proved is that the experience of TMers "witnessing sleep" is *different* than that of lucid dreamers. What might convince one that the TM experience is somehow "better?" DUH. How about *decades* of indoctrination saying that the ability to experience TC is the bestest thing in the whole wide world? THAT indoctrination is, as far as I can tell, the only thing that leads him to believe that what his study indicates that the TMer witnessing sleep phenomenon is in any way "better" than lucid dreaming. All he's really proved IMO is that the two are different, which was known from the start. But I'll leave the nitpicking and the quibbling about this to those who enjoy that sort of thing. > <paste> > > Subject: New paper on EEG in TC, CC, and lucid dreaming> > Date: Friday, April 23, 2010, 9:06 PM > > > Hi! Below is a summary of a paper just published by David Orme-Johnson > and Lynne Mason on EEG indicators of growing Cosmic Consciousness. > David included some extra stuff in this summary that's not found in the > actual papernotably, the fascinating section on "Knowledge is > Structured in Consciousness." Here is a link to this same summary, if > you'd like to bookmark it: > http://www.truthabouttm.org/truth/TMResearch/NewStudies/CosmicConsiousne\ > ss/index.cfm > <http://www.truthabouttm.org/truth/TMResearch/NewStudies/CosmicConsiousn\ > ess/index.cfm> > > **************** > > > Cosmic Consciousness and Lucid Dreaming > Mason LI, Orme-Johnson, DW. Transcendental consciousness wakes up in > dreaming and deep sleep. International Journal of Dream Research 2010 > 3(1): 28-32. PDF <http://www.truthabouttm.org/documentFiles/57.pdf?> > <http://www.truthabouttm.org/documentFiles/57.pdf?> > > This paper reviews EEG research supporting Maharishi's model of the > development of higher states of consciousness. It summarizes the EEG > evidence for transcendental consciousness during the Transcendental > Meditation technique, waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, and contrasts > witnessing sleep with lucid dreaming. > > Cosmic Consciousness. Witnessing sleep is the principle indicator of > the development of cosmic consciousness. It is experienced as > transcendental consciousness maintained during deep sleep, as silent > inner awareness at all times. The EEG evidence supporting the reality > of witnessing is that people having these experiences exhibit the EEG > signature of transcendental consciousness, which is theta/alpha (7-9 Hz) > EEG power and coherence, along with the signature of deep sleep, which > is delta EEG (1-4 Hz). > > Lucid Dreaming. Lucid dreaming, on the other hand, is the experience of > being aware that one is dreaming and, in some cases, being able to > voluntarily manipulate the dream content. The EEG associated with lucid > dreaming appears to be the coexistence of gamma EEG (30-50 Hz), which is > associated with waking cognitive activity, along with the EEG of deep > sleep. > > Basic EEG Research. Basic research has shown that gamma EEG is found > during voluntary cognitive functions, such as mental calculations and > perception. The functional significance of gamma is that it coordinates > the activities of neural groups that are near to each other (proximal) > in the cerebral cortex. Alpha coherence and synchrony, on the other > hand, coordinate the activities of cortical areas that are far apart > from each other, such as on the left and right sides of the brain, as > well as executive areas in the front of the brain and perceptual areas > in the back of the brain. Moreover, the different EEG frequencies play > different roles, and they are coordinated with each other during > cognitive activity. The role of alpha EEG is to create the background > screen of conscious awareness on which thinking occurs. Gamma and other > frequencies appear to be responsible for carrying out the details of the > specific thought processes. When one transcends, the gamma decreases, > corresponding to the quieting of thinking, and alpha remains, > corresponding to the maintenance of the screen of awareness by itself in > transcendental consciousness. In EEG terms, the "transcendental" part of > "Transcendental Meditation" refers to the decrease in or "transcending" > of gamma. We might say the "Transcending Gamma Meditation technique". > > Falling Awake. Another point of interpretation brought out by recent > basic EEG research is that when one falls asleep, transitioning from > waking to drowsiness to dreaming, frontal EEG alpha coherence > progressively decreases, corresponding to the progressive loss of > conscious awareness and the screen of awareness. By contrast, during the > transition from waking to transcendental consciousness, frontal EEG > alpha coherence increases. In light of the correspondence of frontal > alpha EEG with wakefulness, the increase of coherence during the > Transcendental Meditation technique can be interpreted as falling awake. > Like falling asleep, it is effortless. Like falling asleep, any effort > actually interferes with the process. And like falling asleep, metabolic > processes decrease. The difference is that in sleep, awareness fades > away as the body gains deep rest, while in TM practice awareness is > enhanced while the body gains deep rest. In falling sleep, awareness and > arousal decrease together. During the Transcendental Meditation > technique, awareness increases as the body gains deep rest. It could be > said to be a state of "restful alertness". Sound familiar? > > Default Mode Network. Interestingly, the areas of the brain in which > EEG theta/alpha coherence and synchrony increase during the > Transcendental Meditation technique overlap with the default mode > network (DMN). Basic research has found that the DMN is active when one > is not thinking about anything specific, but just ruminating or > daydreaming. This network appears to underlie our sense of self, small > "s". For example, when asked to imagine how one would react in a > situation or asked for biographical information, the DMN becomes active. > Researchers have found that the DMN primarily refers to the frontal and > parietal areas, but ultimately it involves the whole brain. When the > network becomes coherent during the Transcendental Meditation program, > particularly during periods of transcendental consciousness, then the > small, relative self evolves to the large, cosmic Self (big "S"). The > whole brain becomes totally integrated as specific activities in all the > different brain areas settle into their basic ground state of > integration with all other areas in the state of transcendental > consciousness. > > Significantly, during transcendental consciousness, as indicated by > respiratory suspension, coherence increases in all EEG frequencies. Even > though the activities in other frequencies are almost zero, their > virtual fluctuations are coherent. This means that the coordinating > functions of the EEG are now set to work together in harmony when > activity is initiated. This is the science behind the ancient > prescription of transcending as preparation for more effective dynamic > activity. > > Not mentioned in our review is that increased coherence in all EEG > frequencies is also seen during the moment of takeoff during Yogic > Flying (Travis & Orme-Johnson,1990). This indicates that the sidhis > manifest when intention and the flow of the mind settle to unite with > transcendental consciousness. The difference between total EEG coherence > during respiratory suspension and during Yogic Flying is that during > respiratory suspension total brain integration is achieved during > profound silence, whereas in Yogic Flying that integration and profound > inner silence is brought out into dynamic activity. This research shows > how Yogic Flying, and other TM sidhis, bring transcendental > consciousness into activity, which Maharishi has referred to as Total > Brain Functioning. Increasingly, new developments in neuroscience are > showing that Maharishi's characterization of the changes produced by the > Transcendental Meditation and Transcendental Meditation Sidhi programs > are highly accurate and precise. > > Knowledge is Structured in Consciousness. Maharishi sometimes translated > the famous richo akshare verse of the Rig Veda (1.164.39) as > "knowledge is structured in consciousness", further elaborating > that "knowledge is different in different states of > consciousness". Recent developments in neuroscience show just how > appropriate these sayings are. There are about 100 billion nerve cells > in the brain, and each cell is connected to about 10,000 others, so > there are approximately 1000 trillions connections in the brain, about > the number of leaves there are in the Amazon rain forest. The vast > majority of these connections, over 90%, are internal connections among > the neurons, with less than 10% of the connections devoted to sensory > processing. Research shows that our experience of the world has more to > do with internal connections than with the senses. For example, in the > visual system, about 10 billion bits of information per second arrive at > the retina. However, the stream of information going from the retina to > the visual cortex gets reduced 1 million times to only 10,000 bits per > second because the retina only has a million output connections and > because of other factors that reduce the flow of information. After > further processing, the visual information that feeds into brain regions > responsible for forming conscious perception gets reduced yet another > 100 times to only 100 bits of information per second. Remarkably, our > perception of the 10 billion bit of information per second "out > there" in the world gets formed by a tiny stream of only 100 bits of > information per second. "Such a thin stream of data probably could > not produce a perception if that were all the brain took into account; > the intrinsic activity must play a part .The finding suggests that > the brain probably makes constant predictions about the outside > environment in anticipation of paltry sensory inputs reaching it from > the outside world."( Raichle, 2010, p 47). > > Neuroscience knows that the brain we are born with is like an > all-purpose computer, which gets programmed by experience. Learning and > conditioning history form how the vast array of internal connections are > wired together and how we perceive the world. Each person has a unique > history, a unique internal order, and hence, ascribes unique meaning to > experience. "Knowledge is structured in consciousness and knowledge > is different in different states of consciousness." Stresses in the > system distort perception, and increasing coherence in the system > produces a more accurate perception, improving harmony with other > people. Ultimately, a coherent brain puts the individual in harmony with > all the laws of nature, enables insight into the fundamental mechanics > of natural law in Vedic cognition, and creates a wave of coherence in > society through collective consciousness > <http://www.truthabouttm.org/utility/showPage/index.cfm?objectID=truth,2\ > 80> > <http://www.truthabouttm.org/utility/showPage/index.cfm?objectID=truth,2\ > 80> . How the vast internal neural network of the brain in its coherent > state reflects total natural law is the frontier of science, but it > could only occur on the most fundamental quantum mechanical level where > consciousness is primary, as Maharishi has explained and as physicist > John Hagelin <http://istpp.org/message.html> > <http://istpp.org/message.html> has elaborated. > > > References. > > Raichele, ME. The brain's dark energy. Scientific American 2010 > March:44-49 > > Travis FT, Orme-Johnson DW. EEG coherence and power during Yogic > Flying: investigating the mechanics of the TM-Sidhi program. > International Journal of Neuroscience 1990 54(1/2):1-12 >
