--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, William Parkinson <ameradian2@...> wrote: > > > > Thx Vaj. Yes, I am familiar with James Austin. > I have all three of his major works going back to Zen and the Brain.
James Austin misquoted some of the Pure Consciousness research in his books, just so you know. The *minimum* length of time that one study found for breath suspension to be associated with episodes of pure consciousness was 15 seconds, not the maximum, as Austin reported. As well, the subject who showed the most consistent and long-lasting episodes of pure consciousness showed episodes for up to more than 1 minute which totaled more than 50% of her time spent in meditation. > And I know also about Swami Rama. I have been meditating on and off for 40 > years now 38 years more or less continuously for me > and have a large research collection. Perhaps at this juncture it would be > useful > to state my own philosophical presumptions. Although I have degrees in the > sciences, my PhD is in religion, and yet I am a convinced scientific > materialist. >My own personal view is that the phenomenological approach to religion (i.e., > where we allow what we experience to determine what we believe) is arguably > the worst approach to take in discerning what is true and what is false > (perhaps > I will write short post using Mormons as examples of this).  Therefore, for > me > personally, I'm not interested in Enlightenment, because I don't believe it > actually reflects reality (or perhaps it would be best to say, there is no > external > evidence which would corroborate what we feel in > Enlightenment). That goes back to what I said earlier: until you have measurable influence over reality, you can't claim true Unity: its just a pleasant illusion. Perhaps it influences your attitudes and behavior towards the world, and hence might have some practical utility, but until you can walk on water, health the sick, raise the dead, etc,. you can't claim to have the right to forgive sins (to paraphrase possibly the most famous of all the sages). > Personally, I do not believe in what MMY called Being (which is > a euphemism for Brahman, as is the so-called unified field). That's OK. Rest assured that Being doesn't believe in you, either. I have a wholly > secular view that I think explains why this meditation works, without recourse > to mystical or supernatural thinking. I practice meditation solely for health > purposes, as well as to make me a better person (as it does seem to help > develop greater patience, as well as helping me to be calm in the face of > life's > obstacles). Maybe a better way to frame my question would be this: Can > anyone shed light on what sleep is like in the various stages as they are > outlined in TM? What happens in so-called CC, which I have been experiencing > (on and off) during waking hours already (and have been for about two months > now). I started having CC experiences within a few days of learning TM. I started having witnessing sleep and dreaming episodes around that time too. I would never claim to be in CC, however.  What happens when it becomes, as the new description goes, 'refined > cosmic consciousness.'' And what happens when you cease the practice? I ceased the practice for a few days in the USAF 30+ years ago and was miserable. I ceased the practice for a few days recently during a severely stressful period in my life, and found that clarity in my mind was severely curtailed. I actually started verbalizing most of my thoughts in a very clear, almost subvocal way. I also noticed that witnessing sleep was getting progressively more absent as time wore on. > Frankly, I'm not convinced that having this silent > inner awareness is helpful during the sleeping hours; it might even prove to > be >a genuine problem!! I don't know that it is "helpful," merely inevitable. Now, are you "waking up" feeling rested following a full night's sleep? It is always possible that you are interpreting light, non-restful sleep as witnessing sleep. Its also always possible that witnessing sleep, for you at least, isn't that restful, at least at first. Its also always possible that witnessing sleep, for you at least, isn't really healthy. and will never be. Who can possibly say, eh? BTW, since you don't believe in Enlightenment, why are you consulting the self-proclaimed Enlightened on this forum to resolve questions you have concerning your own secular physiological state of health? > Cheers > Bill >
