I've read enough of the scientific investigation of meditation to provisionally accept that there are some physiological benefits to the practice. Whether the benefits demonstrated are the same as the ones claimed in this article is a separate question and I'd have to review the literature before I would accept that. Since the question isn't that important to me, I will again provisionally accept that the claims of the article are accurate.
However, I will dismiss claims of "out-of-body experiences, past lives, post death, pre birth experiences" because this stuff has been explored by science and found to have no basis in fact. That's not scientism, but plain ole science. I don't view this as a clash between east and west, but a clash between those who don't wish to have their claims validated and those who do. In this sense, eastern mystics are very much like western mystics. I'm also skeptical of this whole idea of "enlightenment." It seems ill-defined and thus hard to demonstrate when someone has achieved it. It would not surprise me that it has some features in common with such western spirtual gifts such as speaking in tongues, where people adopt a behavior seemingly because it is expected of them. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
