I believe this is what Sam Harris is advocating, separating the practices from the beliefs. I do not believe all meditations lead to the same mental states. TM has never been taught this way through the organization so I guess we don't know what innocent TM practice would be like.Even after dropping the beliefs my TM practice was influenced by what I had previously believed about it. Shaping our beliefs about the practice was a huge priority for Maharishi.
I am hoping to enjoy mindfulness sitting with less concept clutter. Of course I can only be marginally successful with this goal, but I am not presently reading a bunch of stuff about it yet. Someday I'm sure I will, but I would like some more "less filtered" experience first. This is pretty much the reverse of how I approached TM. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote : On 5/1/2014 9:43 PM, curtisdeltablues@... mailto:curtisdeltablues@... wrote: It's all the same Unified Field once you get going. C: Although Sam Harris practices a form of meditation that came from the Buddhist traditions he does not self identify himself as a Buddhist. > The concepts and practices of "Buddhism", according to Stephen Batchelor, are not something to believe in but something to do. It is a practice that we can all engage in, regardless of our background or beliefs, as we live every day on the path to spiritual enlightenment. Basic TM is Buddhist yoga - it may be that MMY should have left it at that and retired back in 1955 instead of muddying the waters, so to speak. Basic TM should be able to stand on its own. That's what I think. Recommended: 'Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening' by Stephen Batchelor Riverhead Trade, 1998 This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus http://www.avast.com/ protection is active.
