on 6/25/05 12:35 PM, Vaj at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > On Jun 25, 2005, at 12:32 PM, Rick Archer wrote: >> I also find that some >> gentle attentiveness vs. allowing the mind to just mess around makes a >> big >> difference in terms of clarity and frequency of transcending. >> >> At Estes Park, M quoted the Vedas as saying, "Be easy to us with gentle >> effort." >> > > And indeed this very simple attentiveness--or mindfulness--is one of > the key antidotes to laxity and torpor. But of course this is not > taught as part of TM, it's sad Rick that this is buried in some old > tape and not integrated into practice. I don't know about you, but I've > met a good number of meditators who ended up being drained by such > torpor. Laxity is believed to be a intentional mental process where the > meditative object (in this case Self or mantra) is not perceived with > vividness. Once meditation reaches the "effortless" stage (where one > simply sits and can transcend for at least an hour at a time with no > breaks) this tends to disappear as delusion is dissolved. Without > mindfulness and some forcefulness its hard if not impossible to get to > the deeper levels of meditation. I always liked the analogy of > Shakyamuni of having the lute strings 'not to tight or not to loose'; > that's just how mindfulness is.
Amma emphasizes mindfulness too. This always puzzled me because I'm so indoctrinated with the "natural tendency of the mind" idea, but in light of my own experience, it makes sense. If I'm tired, sometimes it's best to just lean back and let myself doze off, rather than struggling to stay alert. Meditation is better after a nap. But if I'm not tired, it's best to sit up straight and be attentive. Otherwise meditation is a muddle and a waste of time. Mark Meredith, if he's reading this, has commented that for many, and maybe for him, TM was often a lazy, unproductive sort of daydreaming. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
