--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new.morning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Re: Whole Brain Functioning - flaws of Unity > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "jim_flanegin" <jflanegi@> wrote: > > > > > > New morning was talking about drugs earlier as a way to temporarily > > alleviate suffering, with the caveat that if we were to use them as > > a constant solution, we'd end up like Elvis or Rush Limbaugh (I'm > > paraphrasing here...). So learning to not suffer is just that, a > > learning process. Not a solution in a bottle, or a mantra by itself, > > or just thinking different thoughts, but an entirely new, integrated > > approach, where we transform ourselves in order to in effect live in > > a different world. One just as challenging and comprehensive as that > > in which we would suffer, but through our hard won skill, > > perspective and capacity, the suffering is no longer present. > > Explaining my thought a bit better, and it is not inconsistent with > what you write here, what I was suggesting is that better > neurotransmitter (NT) / receptor (R), and uptake mechanisms, > particulalrly for dopamine, seratonin, GABA, noraepi, and the > endorphin receptor complex ARE a large part, if not the whole part > of happiness. At least relative happiness all the way through the > ananda kosha. (how such neurotransmittors relate to polishing the > reflector of Pure Consciousness is a broader and perhaps more > interesting issue). > > I suggested drugs as an example of temporary means of achieving > "better", aka happier, such neurotransmittor/receptor states. The > larger question is how to culture and create such NT/R states without > drugs. Or via via better supplements than are now available -- perhaps > hidden AV rayasanas, soma, etc. > > Even Patanjali said siddhis could be achieved via drugs. (And if a > reflection of Pure Consciousness is necessary for siddhis, then by > implication drugs could be related to polishing the reflector of pure > consciousness.) And Maharishi said enlightnement could be achieved > through drugs -- either at Humboldt 70 or Squaw Valley 68. The caveat > is that they are not referring to current drugs. Still bliss in a pill > -- time-released I hope, or permanent IV, > is possible. > > Or perhaps full hatha yoga, pranayams etc are such a way to culture > such. Or Tai Chi. Or perhaps they culture something else which also > brings on the bliss. > So there seems to be two possible outcomes we're talking about here, one to alleviate temporary suffering, and one to permanently change our state of consciousness, or more precisely in the second case, one to allow us to have full access to all states of consciousness at any time.
In the first, we are escaping temporary pain, from a broken leg, or a funeral for a friend. And for that, drugs can be a blessed though transient solution. In the second case, though there are many accounts of people awakening to different points of view through use of drugs, there doesn't seem to be a way to stay on that plateau without doing some serious self examination and subsequent learning through experience. In other words, some integration. And with TM, or any other meditation, it is the same. Which I think causes a lot of confusion with seekers initially, because on the one hand, it is appropriate to state for example that TM is "IT", in other words with regular use, AND the attendant reflection, integration, and eventual wisdom, its use results in freedom from suffering, but all the seeker focuses on is the tangible element of the meditation itself, not recognizing the equally critical activity of taking what is gained from the meditation and integrating it into one's self. BIIIIG disconnect when that doesn't happen, with weird results aplenty. Because that integration may as you said so beautifully earlier mean that we "follow our Shit" hoping that bliss hitches a ride. However from the teachers of the practice, we hear more about the benefits. Same if we want to do some drugs. The downside is always hidden from view, or exaggerated to fit someone's agenda. Nonetheless, in both cases, and including the hatha yoga you mentioned, integration is the key. And then we run headlong into the question posed by Edg earler, "isn't everything a drug? (or a meditation?)".
