--- In [email protected], Vaj <[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. > > It's said that if torpor is not conquered, ones intelligence will > decrease. Now there'd be an interesting scientific study! :-)
Vaj, reading over your words, you make TM sound so difficult, arduous even, if done correctly. I initially understood it to be a stress release technique, and still do it as such. I had a job recently where I awakened at 4:30am for a 60 mile commute. I was always exhausted on my return each day and religiously fell asleep during every evening meditation. Conclusion: So what? I don't understand the point about torpor and laxity. If you are saying don't give the responsibility for one's spiritual evolution to someone else, I agree wholeheartedly, and have been caught in that trap a couple of times. Beyond that, there is nothing inherently deficient about the TM technique. It does exactly what it is advertised to do: expands the container of one's consciousness. What we choose to do with that expanding container is entirely up to us. To say that there isn't enough guidance given to those who learn TM just isn't true. You are painting with a very very broad brush, my friend. 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/
