--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Susan" wrote: > > > > My opinion is that they developed the buddy system and > > all the other "precautions" because there had been a > > few really sad and serious situations where people did > > become unstable or have breakdowns while on various > > course, or even died. > > That is correct. Even though there were freakouts back > on the India courses (one guy lost it and ran through > the jungles screaming for several hours before they > could catch him), the concern on the part of the TMO > started, as I understand it, back in Estes Park, where > people were having all sorts of mental and physical > issues related to the long meds (no asanas then), so > Maharishi tried "rounding." > > When that didn't stop the negative effects of the longer > periods of meditation, he started to talk about "unstress- > ing" as related to this phenomenon, and claim that it was > because Westerners carried more "stress" in their systems > than people in India he had been more used to, and that > it was a Good Thing, because, after all, "stress" was being > released. And everybody just bought this, just as they had > everything else he had said. > > The addition of asanas to "program" on courses didn't do > anything to stop these negative side effects, however, as > anyone who was on the Fiuggi course should remember. The > first 2-3 rows at that course were reserved for "heavy > unstressers," and it was a real zoo. It looked like a > convention of people suffering from epilepsy, Tourettes > Syndrome, or both. Arms jerking and flying around, people > grunting and yelling and moaning -- and all of this *in > activity*, sitting in a lecture hall, not during "program." > In fact, most of these people were told to *stop* rounding > and meditate normally, and *the symptoms did not go away*. > For some of them these tics and jerks and uncontrollable > spasms lasted for months. (Please note that all of this > was the result of plain, vanilla TM, *long* before the > Sidhis and *their* brand of grunting and twitching > appeared upon the scene.) > > > My guess is that most of these people were unstable before > > coming to the course. I suspect this happens in all > > spiritual groups and churches, too. > > What I'm trying to tell you is that -- based on my exper- > ience and that of thousands of others who have attended > in-residence long meditation courses in other techniques, > NO SUCH PHENOMENA ARE PRESENT. No one ever had to > make up "rules" or "guidelines" to deal with such extreme > side effects, because they NEVER APPEARED. > > Personally, I believe that the basic laziness of the basic > TM technique is at fault. The techniques of meditation at > these other courses involved more focus. *Not*, as TMers > were often told, "concentrating" on the mantra or other > point of meditational focus, just being aware enough not > to sit there for long periods time -- or for the whole > meditation session -- lost in thoughts and daydreams. MMY > thought this was OK, but most other traditions -- those > based on *real* traditions as opposed to having been made > up, like TM -- say that the lazy, effortless approach > characterized by TM is debilitating, because long-term, > this practice causes people to get "stuck in the astral" > and become spaced out and reclusive and incapable of > being grounded in activity. That's certainly what I saw > on TM courses, but *never* on courses from these other > traditions whose courses I attended. > > > People who need a place to belong or to rest their weary > > and confused bones land in churches and Buddhist groups, > > etc. > > Not to argue, but I think such people would be more drawn > to churches than most Buddhist groups I'm aware of, because > in the latter one is expected to WORK, on a daily basis, > at resolving one's own problems. There is never that sense > that someone or something is going to "do it for you" that > we see in churches and in New Age groups. > > > For the TMO, to try and keep an eye on people somehow, > > people were paired into buddies so that a report would > > come if someone seemed odd. > > At which point, as I suggested earlier, NO ONE IN CHARGE > OF THE COURSE WOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO. They had > never been *trained* in what to do. > > In my considered opinion, the main reason for the "Don't > leave the course" and the "buddy" rules was to keep spaced- > out people from wandering around in the towns the courses > were held in and thus giving TM and the TMO a bad name. > That happened enough times in the early days that they > were wary of it. > > But in retrospect I really believe that all of these side > effects of longer periods of meditation were the result > of the TM technique. I say this based on my *own exper- > ience*, both with TM and with a number of other techniques, > and both on TM residence courses and those given by the > teachers of these other techniques of meditation. And, of > course, on similar experiences reported by thousands of > people who had studied the latter techniques, vs. thousands > of people who studied TM. > > You don't have "rules and regs" to deal with "heavy > unstressing" on these other courses BECAUSE THEY ARE > NOT NEEDED. No such experiences ever arise for the > course participants. > > Why do they with TM?
I remember it was considered a plus that other techniques don't have unstressing as it shows TM is more powerful and therefore better than other types of meditation. That was the thinking in my day anyway. But you do have to follow the rules. I had a major space-out on my sidhi course, I went for a stroll round the garden on my own and within a few minutes I was unreachably in la-la land. Luckily a course leader saw me and took me back to the others where I stood dribbling rubbish for a few minutes and they realised I needed a bit more help. So they took me into the flying room and sat me down with a copy of the Rig ved and told me to read. It was one of the weirdest experiences I ever had, but as I was reading my mind reassembled itself and started functioning normally (for me) again. It was enough to make a believer out if me. Nearly. A very odd day indeed, it's lucky I didn't get off the premises as I would have got run over or ended up in a straight jacket somewhere. I thought at the time that I used to spend a fortune to feel like that at parties, then realised I *had* spent a fortune ;-)
