emptybill wrote: Over the years I have heard an argument professed by some former TM meditators who stopped practicing because they claimed they were deceived about the "meaning" of mantra-s.
Empty again: Baba Hari Dass is an impeccable yogin possessed of vairagya and dispossessed of any agenda. He is the "yogin's yogin". My point was to call attention to an alternate authoritative source - someone able to explain the distinction between mantra-dhyana and mantra-japa. The key is to recognize that a mantra can be used in meditation simply for its sound value, without any reference to meaning. While this may seem over-obvious to TM and Sahaj Samadhi meditators, this is what demarcates it from ordinary language. Used in this way, mantric sound is part of the human sensorium but is self-generated in the same way that speech is. This kind of bare sensoria is non-conceptual and does not require analysis to be perceived. Bija mantras are yogic tools for just this type of non-conceptual (nirvikalpa) direct cognition. The fact is that MMY told us the truth about mantras and their proper yogic use in TM. The cultural artifact is that Indians use mantras for Japa to a hindu deity - it is just a datum of the Indian mind set. No self-respecting "Hindu" conducts their life without a least 20-30 mantras on-hand at all times (except the Indian communists). TM/Sahaj Samadhi meditators do not, unless they choose to worship a deva. When someone tells us such meditation is hindu worship then they are simply misinformed, ignorant or ideologues.
