Anyone ignorant enough to post that Huxley was unfamiliar with meditation (see
jr post below) has clearly never read his best novel, "Island." Huxley was
practicing real meditation decades before Maharishi invented his faux version
and called it TM.
________________________________
From: "jr_...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, November 8, 2014 6:34 AM
Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Birth of the Hippies
Bhairitu,
Good point. According to Wikipedia, Huxley had association with the Vendanta
society:
Association with Vedanta[edit]
Beginning in 1939 and continuing until his death in 1963, Huxley had an
extensive association with the Vedanta Society of Southern California, founded
and headed by Swami Prabhavananda. Together with Gerald Heard, Christopher
Isherwood, and other followers he was initiated by the Swami and was taught
meditation and spiritual practices.[3]
In 1944, Huxley wrote the introduction to the "Bhagavad Gita: The Song of
God",[22] translated by Swami Prabhavanada and Christopher Isherwood, which was
published by The Vedanta Society of Southern California.
>From 1941 until 1960, Huxley contributed 48 articles to Vedanta and the West,
>published by the Society. He also served on the editorial board with
>Isherwood, Heard, and playwright John van Druten from 1951 through 1962.
Huxley also occasionally lectured at the Hollywood and Santa Barbara Vedanta
temples. Two of those lectures have been released on CD: Knowledge and
Understanding and Who Are We from 1955.
After the publication of The Doors of Perception, Huxley and the Swami
disagreed about the meaning and importance of the LSD drug experience, which
may have caused the relationship to cool, but Huxley continued to write
articles for the Society's journal, lecture at the temple, and attend social
functions. His agnosticism, together with his speculative propensity, made it
difficult for him to fully embrace any form of institutionalized
religion.Aldous Huxley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aldous Huxley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aldous Leonard Huxley /ˈhʌksli/ (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an
English writer, philosopher and a prominent member of the Huxley family...
View on en.wikipedia.org Preview by Yahoo
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <noozguru@...> wrote :
What about the Vedanta Society? What
about Paramahansa Yogananda? Arthur Avalon? Not to mention
relatively unknowns who probably migrated to the UK and taught
yoga.
On 11/07/2014 05:49 PM, jr_esq@... [FairfieldLife] wrote:
>
>S3,
>
>
>Huxley didn't appear to know about the advantages of
meditation. Obviously, during his lifetime, TM was not
around then.
>
>
>
>
>---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote :
>
>
>Aldous Huxley quote (1931):
>
>
>"So
far as I can see, the only possible new pleasure
would be one derived from the invention of a new
drug — of a more efficient and less harmful
substitute for alcohol and cocaine. If I were a
millionaire, I should endow a band of research
workers to look for the ideal intoxicant. If we
could sniff or swallow something that would, for
five or six hours each day, abolish our solitude
as individuals, atone us with our fellows in a
glowing exaltation of affection and make life in
all its aspects seem not only worth living, but
divinely beautiful and significant, and if this
heavenly, world-transfiguring drug were of such
a kind that we could wake up next morning with a
clear head and an undamaged constitution — then,
it seems to me, all our problems (and not merely
the one small problem of discovering a novel
pleasure) would be wholly solved and earth would
become paradise."
>
>
>Sounds great -
but I suspect that humans are so constituted
that changing our brains with chemicals is
always going to have unwanted side-effects.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <fleetwood_macncheese@...> wrote :
>
>
>I
used to buy Ritalin over the counter, in
Macau, and did a fair amount - Yuck. Couldn't
get weed, but any big pharma drug was there
for the taking. Bad situation.
>
>
>
>---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote :
>
>
>Re
"Cocaine
DEFINITELY sucks":
>
>
>Amen
to that. Like you I only tried it a
few times and the after-effects were a
warning I heeded. Ditto speed.
>
>
>God
knows what I'd have felt like after a
methamphetamine binge (the drug of
choice today) - pretty sure I'd be
suicidal.
>
>
>
>
>
