--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson <mjackson74@...> wrote: > > I believe that we are all Pure Awareness, or something like that, Unbounded > Awareness whatever you call it. I believe the reason we can "transcend" is we > are naturally that state, or energy. That is our essence. > > We are taught from birth to narrow our focus rather than allow ourselves to > experience ourselves as consciousness. When we relax in any way, we can begin > to feel what we really are. So any technique or no technique will do. > > Some teachers like Adyashanti and Tolle have said this. Yet, Marshy always > claimed TM was superior in enabling humans to experience the state of > unboundedness, superior even to other meditation techniques. For this to be > true given the fact that there are many mantra meditations, not chanting mind > you but other mantras for silent meditation, not the TM mantras, it would > have to mean that the TM mantras in and of themselves were somehow superior. > I have never seen any evidence to suggest so, but it is a logical conclusion. > If TMO could make a logical case for the TM mantras being superior to all > other mantras, it would give credibility to their other claims for superior > results. > > > My question is, if the TM mantras are superior, how are they superior? > This is an interesting question. If one were to build a mantra, what are the ideal qualities it would need? Every human mind seems to be different in spite of general similarities. I recall the term resonance used with TM mantras. I am not clear what that means. If it is something like you should use a mantra that is associated with a god, I do not see how that makes sense. If it is something like physical resonance, that would mean a mantra with 'resonance' would prove to have less resistance in the mind, it would engage the mind with less energy required. Imagine the sound of fingernails across a blackboard (for those who remember blackboards anyway), and what it would be like to imagine this sound as a vehicle for meditation. Clearly some thoughts fit with us better than others.
The online history of TM mantras seems to indicate there is a lot more flexibility in the selection of mantras than teachers of TM would have us believe. There is no scientific research on this. Short mantras might work better than long ones. Would short mantras, made up, but instructed with the TM checking process work just as well? A test is possible, but I do not see anyone attempting to find out, mostly because the sample size for a definitive answer would be difficult to achieve, and the TMO would be horrified at the idea, and even more horrified if the answer proved them wrong. Adyashanti had a substantial awakening after 5 years of non mantra meditation, and a more substantial one some 7 years later. Having met some of those who follow him, I would say they are making just as much progress as TM meditators. TM meditators seem more saddled with doctrinaire material, as followers of other Hindu saints also seem to. I am not familiar with most spiritual movements, there are so many of them, too many to get involved with, or even learn about. They all seem to revolve around one desire: 'My life sucks, will it get me out of that?' And the answer is...
