On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 12:55 PM, Share Long sharelon...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife] <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> > > Richard, I don't use focusing on the breath to calm the mind. I use it to > settle the physiology. Then the mind calms down all by itself. > > *So, I mentioned this because some of the informants seem confused. The use of mindfulness is to gain insight into the impermanence of the self-view. Instructions for simple "vipassana" mindfulness meditation:* - Sit down in a comfortable position, on the floor on a cushion or in a chair. - Rock from side-to-side slowly a few times and feel the body as a whole. - Close your eyes and relax into thought - don't try to control your thoughts. - Being mindful of each thought - how it arises and it's duration. > > On Thursday, September 18, 2014 11:47 AM, "Richard Williams > pundits...@gmail.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> > wrote: > > > > > > On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 10:38 AM, curtisdeltabl...@yahoo.com > [FairfieldLife] <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > L: > Research will furnish answers, I am sure, but in the meantime, anyone who > says that TM leads to the same place as mindfulness and concentration is > full of it... > > M: You bring up a valid point about the difference between subjective > experience and research. I guess the next question would be to get behind > the terms we are using like "mindfulness" which is not taught in the same > fixed way TM is. Are you confident that you know what I am doing under the > umbrella of the term mindfulness and that it is the same thing as what was > studied by other people who took completely different paths to their > practice? > > > > According to Harris, vipassana or "mindlullness" is simple concentration > on the breath with the goal of calming the mind. The emphasis is on the use > of mindfulness to gain insight into the impermanence of the self-view. > > In contrast, Adyashanti's meditation is based on the Mahayana Zen practice > of *"shikantaza"*, or just sitting and allowing everything to be as it > is. This "just sitting" IS enlightenment. > > > > > I am also open to the realiy that I will never experience mindfulness > without my long association with the conditioning of my TM practice. > > I once "checked" the mindfulness practice of a friend to see if I could > discern any differences in the answers he gave from checking TM. I > couldn't. When he described his practice as we would do in 3 days checking > I couldn't figure out how we might determine if his internal experience was > different from TM people's. The language is too imprecise to make these > distinctions. > > I don't know if the distinctions discovered in the research on particular > types of mindfulness practices apply to mine. So without standardization I > am left to draw my own conclusions from what I experience. TM and > mindfulness practice lead me to a similar internal experience. YMMV and I > agree that research will help us sort out the differences in brain states. > > But it is gunna take a while for the very young science of neuroscience as > a whole to describe what these states mean with close to the same > confidence you and most TM affiliated researchers put behind your theories. > I think your confidence in your interpretation comes from TM triumphalist > bias. Time will tell. > > > ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <LEnglish5@...> wrote : > > MIndfulness and concentrative practices disrupt the Default Mode Network > of the brain, which is highly involved with self-referral processing and > sense-of-self. > > In fact, long-term practices lead to a new style of functioning of the > nervous system where the original functioning of the DMN, complete with > relaxed, mind-wandering alpha, starts to become a thing of the past. > > TM, on the other hand, enhances the functioning of the DMN and enhances > the brain circuits associated with sense-of-self. > > Which is better? > > Research will furnish answers, I am sure, but in the meantime, anyone who > says that TM leads to the same place as mindfulness and concentration is > full of it... > > > L > > > ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <noozguru@...> wrote : > > My experience has been that "I" don't exist. It just seems that "I" go > through the week as someone just doing something. And it's not weird at > all. Like you say it may be a little difficult to fathom intellectually > especially if some people have had few experiences even of transcending. > It's just at some point you no longer "come out" of meditation and it's not > "spaciness" either an issue that David Frawely has tackled in some of his > writings about "false" enlightenment. Just do some grounding things and if > the experience remains it isn't spaciness. > > On 09/17/2014 08:47 AM, fleetwood_macncheese@... [FairfieldLife] wrote: > > > It is an automatic process, Richard. The Self begins to witness in every > moment, so that rather than having any attention, on giving up anything, it > actually becomes impossible to be attached to anything. This can't be > understood in the waking state. Once a person lives in freedom, a person > can tackle any situation successfully. Life becomes as simple as we want it > to be. Attachment is impossible, so even the most joyful and the most > painful moments will pass. Contrary to what the rational mind may think, > the witness capability, is not some sort of anesthetic. As Ann and I were > discussing, life is so visceral, sensual and alive within itself, that even > the witness revels in fullness. Everything is uncovered and seen for what > it is. The inside and outside are balanced. Attachment, and its consequent > delusion, are impossible, in a life lived in eternal freedom. No need > whatsoever, to think about non-attachment. It is automatic, after awhile. > > - > > > > > > >
