Curtis, first of all, and maybe I've said it before, but it is simply a pleasure just to read your writing. For one thing, I can follow it pretty easily!
I think my favorite line was when you said, "...all my presuppositions will shape everything I conclude. That is a human limitation as well as an opportunity." What it evoked in me was the experience of living on the edge of discovery, so thank you... On Friday, May 2, 2014 9:46 AM, "curtisdeltabl...@yahoo.com" <curtisdeltabl...@yahoo.com> wrote: --In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <sharelong60@...> wrote : But Curtis, you already have some big filters: C: Right that is why I said this: "Of course I can only be marginally successful with this goal" S:one, and imo the most significant one, that it's preferable to come to a new experience as filter free as possible. C: I am not assuming that. After this experiment I may conclude that this was the worst way to approach learning mindfulness meditation and use myself as a cautionary tale of how NOT to learn it. But I choose to approach it this way while I can. S: Shouldn't we challenge this belief too? C: It depends on what exactly you are challenging. That I am approaching this process this way is just a fact concerning my preference for my personal practice. I am not making any broad claims that everyone should always do it the way I am approaching this. But this is an opportunity to shift my approach to learning something and since I only have this short window before I inevitably book up on the subject, I am taking it. S: And two, don't you already have some significant filters about mindfulness simply from reading about it here and elsewhere? Not to mention, from all your experiences and beliefs around TM? C: Right. I am not claiming otherwise. TM is my dominant perspective on meditation practice and colors everything I am doing. I am open to Maharishi's perspective that in fact I am so habituated from his practice that I am not actually practicing a mindfulness practice at all. But my experience leads me to believe that I am having a different subjective experience so I am working with what I have. And I am not belief adverse on principle. I plan to build all sorts of beliefs using everything I can to support them for what I consider good reasons if I decide to take this on as an intellectual as well as an experiential process. S:And Richard, how can we possibly separate belief and practice completely? I don't think we can simply because we don't live our lives with our heads cut off from our bodies! C: I don't believe anyone is claiming this Share. But there is a huge difference in approach from how I learned TM and studied it and how I am approaching this for now. For now I am interested in the procedural aspects of the practice. Obviously I have all sorts of acquired beliefs conscious and unconscious that shape my practice or that even compelled me to take up the practice at all. It is just a matter of emphasis and degree. Compared to other things I am interested in, I have read very little and that suits me for now. I was never very interested in other forms of meditation so I know very little about this practice. That will change so I am choosing to roll this way for now. I am more interested in making subjective distinctions concerning this practice and TM rather than more theoretical ones. Knowing. of course that all my presuppositions will shape everything I conclude. That is a human limitation as well as an opportunity.There is a big difference between believing that I am experiencing my attention on the present moment and believing that I have reached the first bardo of whatever. On Thursday, May 1, 2014 10:39 PM, "curtisdeltablues@..." <curtisdeltablues@...> wrote: 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@... 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 >> protection is active. >>
