I do have an idea of what you mean, and not just cause I've read Padoux. I had
the personal, daily attention of my teacher for six years. I was only six
years old when I learned, and no expectations whatsoever were ever mentioned.
It didn't occur to me to ask, at six years old, why I should do what some adult
was telling me to do, and, six years later, I was on my own and just continued
to meditate as instructed. I've often thought that the lack of personal
attention from a really experienced teacher was a problem for some TM-ers.
When I had my whole family initiated into TM, I'd been meditating for 25 years
and it was perfectly clear to me that my teachers were, on the whole,
inexperienced in both meditation and in teaching it. But the miracle is that
it nevertheless has worked for many in my opinion.
I also believe that it is possible to know whether someone else is really
getting it or not. My first week in China, I escaped from campus without
interpreters and went to find a local temple to kind of pay my respects to "the
local gods." A monk was sitting at the door, doing calligraphy. We nodded a
brief hello to one another, and I went in, found a dark corner, and settled
down for a long meditation
About an hour later, I heard a clear and distinct voice with a Brooklyn accent
say something about the exact state I was in and the exact experience I was
having, adding a useful hint. I turned around, but saw no one. I settled back
in, and the same voice said, "What's the matter, you don't think someone who
looks like me should sound like this?" It was the monk. Of course we became
friends. Turns out he was a Chinese American born and raised in Brooklyn, New
York, but had come to China to become a monk in his teens.
So, it is possible, and I find I often know what someone else is thinking. But
there are literally millions of TMers. You can't have done enough of a study
to determine what percentage of them are getting it. a
Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Nov 19, 2007, at 11:05 AM, Angela Mailander wrote:
How can you possibly know what others experience or do not experience? I
understand your point and I agree that expectation muddies the waters of
meditation, but that doesn't mean that some, eventually, swan-like, get through
that muddy water and come out clean.
By observation, experience and by gaining perspective through other
techniques/methods or simply by detailed instruction in the first place. One of
the most obvious deficits in TM practice is torpor, and then, falling asleep.
If you know what causes this and when you observe (for example) that the
technique for relieving torpor is not part of TM practice, you can gain an
understanding as to why it occurs so commonly. That's just one example, you
could go through other parts of the practice and draw similar conclusions from
direct experience.
Another way, is through authoritative testimony, the experiences of others in
the practical tradition itself. Particularly in regard to mental mantra
practice, it's very detailed in what the stages are, what their signs are and
what the pitfalls are. You've read Padoux, so I'm sure you have an idea of what
I mean.
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