Lawson,
As SSRS discussed many times, "abiding in silent awareness" during meditation happens naturally in TM practice that is if someone has meditated for a long time following proper instruction. He further clarified that if a practitioner continues to maintain an effortless TM practice, then they do not need Sahaj meditation. That is because they have already realized what he is pointing out and are practicing accordingly. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <LEnglish5@...> wrote: > > Determining whether or not the mantra is "subtle" isn't part of TM practice. Nor does it matter that it doesn't matter. If you're "doing" TM, then you follow the instructions, if you don't follow the instructions, such as they are, then you're not "doing" TM. > > Of course, "follow the instructions" can be kind of vauge sometimes, but that's as OK as any other part of the process. > > > As long as you can think a thought, you can meditate. > > > L. > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophaneros Anartaxius" anartaxius@ wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, iranitea <no_reply@> wrote: > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <LEnglish5@> wrote: > > > > > > Oh dear, for the last 39 years I've been doing TM improperly. The horror. > > > > > Lawson, that's the dawn of knowledge, when you know that you don't know anymore, all your previous knowledge has been evaporated. There is a very good practice in Zen to cultivate the 'don't know' mind. If you like, read this http://www.kwanumzen.org/about-zen/three-letters-to-a-beginner/ > > > > I have been practicing TM for a long time, and I do think this 'don't know' mind has come about. A long long time ago I learned mindfulness, and found at that time it was rather difficult, or perhaps because my mind would not settle down then, annoying. Lately though the character of TM and mindfulness just seem to have merged; it does not matter anymore. It does not matter whether the mantra is there or not, or if I notice that the mantra is not there, it does not matter if I start it again or not. It actually seems as if there are no subtle levels of the mantra at all. > > > > I think it helps to find alternative explanations, to try to find different ways to explain the same thing. This is easy to do with metaphysics because there are no facts. The scientist Richard Feynman would attack physics problems this way, he would try to find alternative ways to explain various phenomena, and of course he was ultimately constrained by facts, what the experiments showed. This keeps thinking more flexible, and when you do this, you are breaking the potential for doctrinaire ossification of belief. > > > > You step outside on a fine sunny day and there is all this stuff and instead of saying, 'Well, there is a pond, and trees, and clouds'; you just feel 'Wow!', And then if that could be expressed in more concrete conceptual terms it might be something like 'What is all this?'. A certain freshness imbues experience because you do not know what is going to happen and you are not thinking about what things are and what they might become. > > >
