Vaj wrote:
>
> I recently was invited to attend a weekend basic training in
> meditation with a close, life-long friend in the Shambhala tradition.
> It was probably the most impressive basic meditation instruction I've
> ever witnessed as the teacher was a 30+ year veteran who spoke from
> his own considerable experience. They operate under the basic
> assumption that intro meditation is the most difficult to teach so the
> Shambhala people only authorize their most advanced teachers for the
> first level. For a weekend starting with an open friday night lecture
> with breakfast Saturday and Sunday, lunch on Saturday, afternoon tea
> and a reception gourmet feast on graduation Sunday the course was only
> 100 dollars.
>
> Most interesting was seeing the unity experiences people began having
> right away, in that short weekend; young college students, college
> professors, old folks, a blind lady with her guide dog. Lots of time
> to interview privately with the teacher(s) and small group discussions
> as well as along with the whole group.
My tantric guru did not allow me to teach meditation until I had been
with him for 5 years. Imagine if MMY had done that. And the basis for
"checking" is pretty much the same throughout most techniques: don't
strain on the mantra. But look at the discussions in the past here that
the concepts in checking were unique to TM which is not true at all.
I've also mentioned that the "seven steps" are a little archaic. That
may have worked in the 60's and 70's but nowadays most meditation
courses are taught in the weekend course like you describe or one on
one. With both (particularly the latter) there is plenty of time for
interaction between teacher and student. For groups, the weekend
courses seem to fit better in modern schedules.
