Xeno, thanks for this review. This is very helpful. I was at a conference last week dealing with educational design and spirituality. Your pulling this together so succinctly is mighty helpful for cut and paste. It is a nice overview that can go along with some TED talks, like with Daniel Siegel of UCLA talking about the research. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr4Od7kqDT8
Of course, we in Fairfield live in a factory town where, particularly for folks up on campus or in Vedic City, TM it seems is the only thing. Off-campus in the much larger meditating community though there is a lot of awareness otherwise. Rick's BATGAP project shows some of that. There is a huge change in what is known about this in only the last few years. Now in the 21st Century these larger prospects are exciting. Part of the fun of living in Fairfield is in watching the vitality of this happening. Thanks for taking the time to write this review. -Buck in FF --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophaneros Anartaxius" <anartaxius@...> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <LEnglish5@> wrote: > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophaneros Anartaxius" > > <anartaxius@> wrote: > > [...] > > >. I tend to agree with Maharishi that TM is more efficient, at least as > > >far as not > making much of an effort > > > > Who told you effort was required in TM? If it is impossible to NOT think of > > pink elephants when instructed to NOT think of them, how much effort is > > required to think the TM mantra when you have deliberately put youself in a > > situation where thinking the mantra is considered an OK thing to do? > > > Lawson, > > No one told me effort was required in TM. Coming back to the mantra is the > extent of effort required in TM, and that is minimal. The same amount of > effort is required in mindfulness meditation. There are certain things one > must do in any meditation: sit, get comfortable, begin. This requires a > slight expenditure of energy, but far less than concentrative systems that > attempt to manipulate the mind. In this sense some meditations are > 'effortless'. > > > > >and making it easier for persons to disengage from outer experience. It > > >might be >that individual variations in people could be responsible for > > >how easy mindfulness >meditation seems. Mindfulness is also usually > > >associated with postures that are >difficult for novices to maintain, and > > >that might also be a reason why it can >produce difficulties. Mindfulness > > >also has a track record in scientific research, >seemingly about on par > > >with TM. > > > > Show me the research on pure consciousness found during mindfulness. > > First of all you need to define the signature of pure consciousness. > Scientists in the TMO think this is a real state, but I am not sure other > researchers agree that this is a definite discrete state of consciousness. > Mindfulness meditators report experiences that seem to be parallel to > descriptions of pure consciousness reported by TM meditators. I said 'on > par', without details, there is lots of research on mindfulness, but it is > different than TM. I meant, if I did not clearly state it, that both systems > of meditation have lots of research presenting positive results. Note that > reviews of meditation research have generally concluded that the typical > quality of research on meditation tends to be poor, not well controlled for > various kinds of bias and an absense of a sufficiently large number of > subjects. Both meditations are said to result in enlightenment, but > enlightenment is not to my knowledge clearly defined as a set of > physiological/neurological signatures that one can measure that anyone agrees > on. I have never seen any research that measures a group of 'enlightened > individuals'. > > There seem to be three kinds of meditation that require only minimal effort > (as described above) TM, mindfulness, and some forms of guided meditation. > > Remember the goal of meditation is enlightenment. TM and mindfulness have > some kind of documented record of resulting eventually in this state, > although the state is not scientificaly defined, and the evidence of success > is largely anecdotal. That most of the people on this forum practice TM or > some other kind of meditation seems to indicate we have a belief that there > is such a thing as enlightenment, and some may know this is so. > > Results of some research on mindfulness [This information comes from a news > site, sciencedaily.com links to further references can be found in many of > the articles. There are 106 references to 'mindfulness meditation' on this > site, and 61 references to 'Transcendental Meditation'. There are no > references to the phrase 'pure consciousness', so if I were to scan this site > for TM producing 'pure consciusness', nothing to be found.] > > Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make > measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, > empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of > Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General > Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to > document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain's grey matter. > > "This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of > these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better > because they are spending time relaxing." > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110121144007.htm > > Research shows that Buddhist meditators use different areas of the brain than > other people when confronted with unfair choices, enabling them to make > decisions rationally rather than emotionally. The meditators had trained > their brains to function differently and make better choices in certain > situations. > > The research "highlights the clinically and socially important possibility > that sustained training in mindfulness meditation may impact distinct domains > of human decision making," the researchers write. > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420112328.htm > > Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School > and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report that modulation of the > alpha rhythm in response to attention-directing cues was faster and > significantly more enhanced among study participants who completed an > eight-week mindfulness meditation program than in a control group. The report > will appear in the journal Brain Research Bulletin and has been released > online. > > "Mindfulness meditation has been reported to enhance numerous mental > abilities, including rapid memory recall," says Catherine Kerr, PhD, of the > Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and the Osher Research Center > at Harvard Medical School, co-lead author of the report. "Our discovery that > mindfulness meditators more quickly adjusted the brain wave that screens out > distraction could explain their superior ability to rapidly remember and > incorporate new facts." > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110421122337.htm > > Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed 155 boys from two > independent UK schools, Tonbridge and Hampton, before and after a four-week > crash course in mindfulness. After the trial period, the 14 and 15 year-old > boys were found to have increased well-being, defined as the combination of > feeling good (including positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, > interest and affection) and functioning well. > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100901111720.htm > > ...people [with Multiple Sclerosis] who took an eight-week class in > mindfulness meditation training reduced their fatigue and depression and > improved overall quality of life compared to people with MS who received only > usual medical care. The positive effects continued for at least six months. > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100927162243.htm > > Virginia Tech is one of few universities to integrate mindfulness meditation > into its Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program curriculum, according to > Eric McCollum, professor of human development and MFT program director in the > National Capital Region. "Mindfulness meditation helps students improve their > ability to be emotionally present in therapy sessions with clients," he > explained. "It helps beginners, who can sometimes feel overwhelmed, stop > focusing on themselves and think more about others." > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100407144705.htm > > CD4+ T lymphocytes, or simply CD4 T cells, are the "brains" of the immune > system, coordinating its activity when the body comes under attack. They are > also the cells that are attacked by HIV, the devastating virus that causes > AIDS and has infected roughly 40 million people worldwide. The virus slowly > eats away at CD4 T cells, weakening the immune system. Researchers at UCLA > report that the practice of mindfulness meditation stopped the decline of CD4 > T cells in HIV-positive patients suffering from stress, slowing the > progression of the disease. The study was just released in the online edition > of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. > > "This study provides the first indication that mindfulness meditation > stress-management training can have a direct impact on slowing HIV disease > progression," said lead study author David Creswell, a research scientist at > the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA. "The mindfulness > program is a group-based and low-cost treatment, and if this initial finding > is replicated in larger samples, it's possible that such training can be used > as a powerful complementary treatment for HIV disease, alongside > medications." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080724215644.htm > > At any rate you can see from reading these reports that mindfulness > meditation is reporting benefits very similar to TM, which is what I meant by > saying results reported by mindfulness experiments were on par with TM. The > TMO takes great care not to compare its product with others unless there is a > definite advertising advantage in a particular study. The TMO never presents > information on a level playing field. > > As for myself, I practice TM and sometimes lately, it seems to spontaneously > shift to mindfulness, which I learned many years before TM. I don't resist > it. I am not fussy about it. The minimal effort of TM, which in TM parlance > is called 'effortless' because it is really nearly zero effort compared to > anything else, is what trains the mind so that eventually everything in our > lives takes on that minimal mental engagement of doing to get things done. > > > Show me how mindfulness is similar to the spontaneous EEG patterns found in > > world champion athletes. > > What does this have to do with enlightenment? Why is this important? If I > were to meditate and had EEG patterns similar to world champion athletes, > what would that mean? Would I be a world class athlete (in my seventh > decade)?. If these athletes were less intelligent than college professors, > would I also become stupider? Note that similar to is not equal to. For > example, a basketball is spherical. So is a grapefruit. So we can conclude > what from this? > > The world class athlete Wilt Chamberlain is reported to have had intercourse > with 20,000 women, at least by his own account. During this activity he must > have had some spontaneous EEG activity. This activity of Chamberlain's seems > to be a world record. I do not think this particular pattern would do me much > good. I bet Turq might be interested though. Any kind of physical activity > creates coherence of brain waves unless we are complete spastics. > > > > > > > Mindfulness has a record of leading to enlightenment in Zen, and the > > > stories are > rather common so saying mindfulness does not lead to > > > awakening is just as false > as saying TM can never lead to awakening. > > > > > > What is enlightenment? If you define enlightenment as being always aware of > > the moment, then obviously mindfulness practices designed to make you > > always aware of the moment lead one towards enlightenment. If you define > > enlightenment as a spontaneous state where pure consciousness is never lost > > even in the midst of waking, dreaming and sleeping, it is not at all > > obvious that mindfulness will inevitably lead to that. > > > > > L. > > > You are symantically missing the point. Consciousness, being, is always > present. It is always in its pure formlessness. The reflector of that, the > mind if you will, is crapped over by stress distorting it. In enlightenment > the reflector is clean enough so that that value is alway experienced as > underlying everything. When awake (in enlightenment) one is always aware of > the moment and that is exactly the same thing as saying pure consciousness is > never lost, and it is always spontaneous, just the way thoughts come, just > the way sounds in the environment come, the way the breeze comes and softly > caresses the face on a summer day, the way leaves fall from a tree in autumn. > > The first time I saw a unified field chart was not in the movement. I saw a > diagram in a book on Zen, which practises mindfulness meditation. At the > bottom were the words 'pure consciousness', the entire chart area had the > label 'void' (emptiness, being) and the content of the chart was all the > sensory information, sight, hearing, etc. which is our means to experience > the world. Pure consciousness, as transcendental consciousness, is not > usually spoken of as directly as this in mindfulness because it is just a > first step. In other words symantically it is not set off in the jargon of > Zen as it is in TM jargon. Rather they speak of mind and pure mind, pure mind > being the experience of pure consciousness, but not in so many words. The > ultimate benefit of these practises is to experience that everything is > essentially pure consciousness, or being. > > When you look at different tradtions of spirituality, the trick is to find > which terms represent which experiences, and there is not always a one to one > correspondance between systems. Some systems will refer to GC as just another > level of illusion, whereas in TMO lingo, it is a marker on the way to > enlightenment, or a stage of enlightenment. So you have to avoid getting > caught in conceptual traps of your own making. All the snares of ignorance > are conceptual traps of our own making, or ones we have adopted from others. > The most insidious conceptual traps are the ones with spiritual names. >
