As a followup, I have to comment that just after writing this, one of my favorite songs came on the sound system, almost as if it were some kind of "support of nature" or Castanedan "omen."
The song is from the latest in "The Hobbit" cycle of movies, and as some critics have suggested, may be better in some ways than the movie itself. This song captures for me one of the other positive things a study of meditation can bring to a person -- the occasional joys of sangha, or being part of a group of like-minded people. That can be a real high, and yes, of course, I've experienced it, both in the TMO and in the Rama trip. There are periods in one's life when being part of an "echo chamber" in which one will hear few things that contradict one's belief system has value. At the same time, when one has begun to outgrow the group, and move on, the group should be cool enough to allow one to do so. The TM trip was not, when it was my time to move on; the Rama trip, for the most part, was. Anyway, here's the song. I like it because of its drama, the way it builds and builds to a musical celebration of "being on a quest," of traveling with a group of fellow seekers in search of adventure. That's a real high, and one I have not in any way abandoned. It's just that my group is smaller these days, consisting primarily of myself, my friends, and my family. Same adventure, same journey, just less baggage. Ed Sheeran - I See Fire (Music Video) Ed Sheeran - I See Fire (Music Video) View on www.youtube.com Preview by Yahoo ________________________________ From: "TurquoiseBee turquoi...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: "FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 12:58 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Heretical Heresy I have (so far) a low workload this week, so I'm going to take advantage of it in this cafe before moving on to the next science article, and write a little rap extolling some of the benefits I see in the practice of meditation. Yeah, I know that such a stance might confound some who like to portray critics of Maharishi or some aspects of TM or the TMO on this forum as "anti-meditation" and "neganauts" and "heretics" in their attempts to demonize us, but it is nonetheless true. I, in all my heretic inglory, happen to believe that there are *many* benefits to meditation. I am joined in this company by a few other often-demonized voices on this forum, from Curtis to Sam Harris who (gasp) may not have any use for the notion of God or devotion to a path supposedly leading to some supposedly cool thing called enlightenment. But we all still meditate, and we all still think meditation has its place, and is valuable in many ways. Me, I don't believe that any particular *form* of meditation is "The Best" or superior in any way to another, but I think that most of them that allow the practitioner's mind to settle down a bit into silence are of value. That is an experience that many on this planet have rarely had, and I think it provides value when trying to suss out what life is about and where one fits into it. Silence is almost always preferable to noise and clammor...unless, of course, you're at a Rolling Stones concert, cuz you kinda went there *looking* for noise and clammor, n'est-ce pas? :-) Meditation practices also provide some needed rest in our busy society, and I'm all for that. Heck, I'm even grateful for the periods of my life in which I practiced *long* meditations, with eyes closed for 8-12 hours a day. I must have logged *years* of such experience, and I think *they* had some value, too, although I would not recommend them to the average person on the street. If for no other reason, these periods of extended meditation enabled me to have many subjective experiences that many have associated with paranormal experiences and/or enlightenment. And such experiences were *neat*, while they were going on. I don't miss any of them (and in fact they often happen even these days, far from any "long rounding" course), but they gave me a perspective that many spiritual seekers don't have. I don't have to accept the dogma about enlightened states of mind as dogma. I have experienced it as experience. And this gives me a decided advantage over those who have only *heard* about these states, because they either have to accept them as dogma, or as a form of faith and hope. I've experienced them, and that gives me the freedom to regard them *differently* than I was taught to regard them. Witnessing, schmitnessing. Minor brain fart, not worth focusing on much. Having it present doesn't enhance life and make it "better," just as not having it does not detract from life and make it "worse." I can regard this experience as what it was (and occasionally still is) -- Just Another State Of Attention, no "higher," "more evolved," or "better" than any other. I can do the same thing with other experiences that the study of meditation has led me to. I've witnessed levitation and invisibility and can react to having done so with a Buckaroo Banzai-like "Big deal...so what?!" I have personally experienced telepathy and being able to catch glimpses of the future, and again..."Big deal...so what?!" If these things worked consistently, they would have worked in Vegas, and I'd be rich now. :-) It's NOT that I'm saying that such experiences don't exist. I can't...I've had these experiences myself. It's just that I don't believe the things that some spiritual teachers tried to get me to believe about what they "mean." I'm not sure they "mean" bloody anything, other than they were Just Another State Of Attention. Just another brain fart in the refried beanery of life. :-) If TM cost less, and were not taught by a cult whose primary goal is to recruit new members of the cult to fill its coffers, I'd be able to suggest that people learn it. Because it *is* taught by a cult, and I wouldn't knowingly suggest that people expose themselves to such a cult, I can't really recommend TM. If people do it and like it, fine. But when I run into someone these days who expresses interest in learning to meditate, I direct them to other, cheaper, and more legitimate sources. But yes, the heretic *does* still recommend meditation. As what it is, not what some have made of it. Meditation is something that -- practiced a short time daily or every so often as one feels like it -- can bring value to one's life. The same meditation -- practiced as a crutch you really "can't do without" or for hours a day and as a kind of religion -- not so much. Funny how the same thing can be both positive and negative, depending on what you do with it. Water, drunk in moderation, can preserve life. Too much of it can end life. The trick seems to be in figuring out how much is beneficial and how much is not, and living accordingly.
