Thank you, Buck. I appreciate your [spiritual] dedication - it is a rare thing. Yeah, the experience of Christ strikes at our very heart, and TM brings us the universe (totality), on the side, or vice-versa.
I was told as an altar boy (of the Episcopalian church), at the age of 13, not to bow so deeply in front of the Cross and altar, so that brought me pause (in addition to closely passing out, twice, in the 100+ degree heat, in all of my robes - Manila, Philippines, 1968). Though the transcendent value of the Christian religions is always *easy* to find. and I enjoy your quiet humor, too! Thanks for saying this so well, Doc. I am a practitioner too in spirituality by meditation and Christianity. I am not much in to the religion end of either. I am though quite the satisfied customer of transcending meditations in spirituality and Christ. This was on the Zen calendar out in the outhouse on Friday. It is very Christian like in my experience, “The practice of meditation is not limited to the meditation mat. The practice of meditation is our entire life and is the very thread that binds our different lives together. Discovering this truth is called awakening, and it can take a circuitous route.” -Buck Doc wrote: I have a very simple justification for TM. It works. The practice mechanically allows my sense of myself to expand. Many times this has brought me into conflict with a facet of my self, or my life, that I did not want to face. The way through such circumstances, I found, is not to meditate more, but rather address what has been brought up. The practice itself, is easy and refreshing. However, like all things in life, there is another side to it. There is a lot of hard work, self reflection, and unbiased glimpses of one's truth, that occur along with TM 20 min. 2x/day, over the years. Take it, or leave it - However, I find this simple alternation of TM, and its subsequent integration into daily life, is challenge enough for me, vs. questioning the basis or meaning of the tradition or teacher, it comes from. If it keeps working, I'll do it. If it stops working, I won't. After so many years [of doing TM], it really does boil down to just that.
