On Feb 19, 2009, at 6:16 PM, ruthsimplicity wrote:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote:
The TM mythos is filled with the tacit implication or even insistence
that MMY was fully enlightened. In fact during his death ceremonies
they kept repeating that he wasn't just enlightened, but the most
enlightened rishi of all yugas!
Doesn't MMY need to be enlightened under TM theory? How else could he
rediscover what he claimed were lost mediation techniques?
I think it's understood by most reasonable and objective folks who've
done a little lookin', that "TM is nothing new under the sun", it's
not something he's "restored", in fact it's a ubiquitous form of basic
meditation.
There are still many people who will repeat, matter-a-factly, that TM
is a form of "Vedic" meditation, but nothing could be farther from the
truth. Movement representatives will still parrot this obviously false
information. Most of them probably either aren't aware of the fact (we
were always told NOT to investigate the Vedas or "Vedic texts" on our
own, as it would just "confuse" us) or if they are, they're afraid to
go against what the founder said or they are out-and-out TB's.
And
rediscover and correct Ayurveda? Or, as the TMO says in information I
was reading recently: "Maharishi completely restored the thousands of
years-old scattered Vedic Literature for the total significance of its
theory and practice, and organized it in the form of a complete
science of consciousness. Maharishi's Vedic Science includes the
restoration of the ancient Vedic system of health care, which offers a
science and technology for unfolding perfection in life, using methods
that are completely free from harmful side effects."
This is particularly incorrect in regards to Ayurveda, which he
diluted, although he did help popularize it. Dr. Pete tells an
interesting story of a Vaidya or scholar that came and gave a lecture
on Ayurveda at MIU IIRC and later when the tapes were made, they
edited out so much of what the speakers lecture said that didn't jive
with official movement "think" that it no longer even resembled what
the guy was actually saying!
Vaj, I take it that you are saying that MMY is not a Yogi under the
applicable traditions. I don't think anyone really disputes that.
Oh my heavens Ruth, prepare to be stoned! He was a yogi who lived in
the Valley of the Saints and then came to the land of mud to bring to
TM to the world, based on a recurring thought he kept having while
trying to meditate.
Actually one of the Shankaracharya's of Jyotir Math IIRC and a fellow
student of SBS has come out and said that MMY was not trained as a yogi.
One of the few things that does not bother me about MMY is the
breaking from tradition, going from being a secretary to a teacher.
If someone feels that they have something of value to teach, fine by
me, even if they are not in the right caste or do not have the right
background. However, it is of relevance in evaluating his educational
background on topics where he professed knowledge, such as asanas or
the siddhis or vedic science.
And assuming titles. How do you feel when someone who's not a
physicians calls themselves a "doctor" (and infers they are a medical
doctor).
When it comes to mantra yoga, mantras can be authentically given by
puja. But there's a bit more to mantra yoga than what we were lead to
believe.
I have never been clear on how he came up with transcendental
meditation, i.e., the routine and the mantras. What did he say
about it?
The party line is he got them from Swami Brahmananda. The only
problems with that is that Swami Brahmananda's oral teachings are in
opposition to what MMY taught, although MMY does pepper his teachings
with bits and pieces of authentic information and wisdom, most of
which is well known by spiritual Indians.
One of his most interesting faux pas is the claim that other
meditation techniques have traditionally taught some form of forced
concentration, meditation that involves straining. It's a red herring--
of course having read or heard that, you're almost afraid to try
anything else! Here's the whole spiel, which is easily refutable as
hype and posturing, but it's still a pretty entertaining read:
http://tinyurl.com/34bras
" By the process of comparing his own direct experience of
the actual goal of meditation with the common understanding then
available, it became clear to Maharishi that the common idea of
what meditation was supposed to be was in fact a complete
distortion of the original meaning of the ancient procedure.
Procedures of concentration or of forcing the mind to be free of
content, with or without the use of a sensory medium such as an
auditory or visual focus, seemed to him to lead away from,
rather than toward, the desired result. At every stage of
experimentation, Maharishi held to the guideline given him by
his master that maximum naturalness and simplicity alone would
identify the correct direction; his profound faith in the
beneficent simplicity of nature has been echoed in the thinking
of other great researchers, such as Einstein. In practice, then,
an effective form of meditation should come out to be an easy,
automatic process and not a constant struggle involving
concentration or control of mind. On this basis, Maharishi
recognized quite simply what the mechanics of the original
systematic procedure had been, not by means of textual
scholarship alone, but by working with constant reference to
fresh personal experience of the state of pure consciousness,
the aim and end-point of meditation.
If we emphasize the overwhelming importance of Maharishi's
own clarity of inner experience in this regard, it is because a
comparison of his lectures and writings with those of any other
philosopher, Eastern or Western, of recent times shows quite
clearly that direct and detailed experience of the
transcendental values of consciousness, as opposed to
intellectual analysis of them, has been an extraordinary rarity.
Maharishi soon verified that this easy, automatic procedure
did indeed have the desired effect in a most direct manner. This
procedure is the Transcendental Meditation technique.
Once having made this clarification, which involved, as we
have said, recognizing that 'concentration' or control of the
mind was a misinterpretation and that the correct procedure had
necessarily to be effortless if it was to continue
spontaneously, Maharishi proceeded to satisfy himself that the
mechanics of the technique could be explained in a way that was
both clear in itself and consistent with ancient Vedic sources
on the nature of the mind. It is characteristic of Maharishi's
thinking that from the beginning he emphasized the naturalness
of the process, whereas others had spoken in terms of forcing a
recalcitrant mind to an unworldly experience. Moreover, from the
beginning Maharishi pointed to the simplicity and
comprehensibility of the process - that is, to its scientific
nature - rather than to any possible mystical aspect. "
from:
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 1
By Lawrence H. Domash, Ph.D.
Weggis, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
January, 1976
MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI AND THE
TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION PROGRAM:
A NEW DIRECTION FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
