http://tinyurl.com/qwy7bj
The link above goes to a New York Times article that deals with the placebo effect from a very mundane angle: the use of various creams that are sold over the counter for various bodily aches. Edg PS....the below wasn't formatted by hand by me -- sorry, I forgot, but know that I am attempting to make my posts readable to those who get them via email. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <no_re...@...> wrote: > > If Vaj was within two feet of the Dalai Lama and had been balmisized, how is > that different if Vaj reported that he'd once been at the back of a lecture > hall filled with folks hearing the Dalai Lama's sermon and had been > balmisized by that? Are we saying that the closer to the fire the greater > the heat, or, do we believe the balmisizing has nothing to do with physical > distance? > > IOW, Vaj doesn't ever have to have had a real meeting with the Dalai Lama for > balmisizing to have happened. All that's really required is that Vaj be > properly prepared spiritually for the experience. The closer one physically > gets to the Dalai Lama, the more easily the brain can be filled with a > constant triggering, e.g., "OMG, I'm here with the Dalai Lama," or "The Dalai > Lama just touched me." etc., but a mind such as the one Vaj presents daily to > us could easily be as involved and intensely focused on a spectrum of > expectations from merely contemplating the Dalai Lama since Vaj's involvement > with Buddhism is so deep. Two women try to pick up a car, but only the mother > of the trapped child lifts it, like that. > > Whether or not there's something really given to Vaj from the Dalai Lama, I > can easily see a very real life change happening to Vaj from simply the > placebo effect combined with a spiritual intent that is daily and frequently > entertained by Vaj. > > It's as understandable as the results of faith healers or bone shakers or > voodoo rites -- real things can happen no matter if the presumed dynamics are > actually operative. > > I had some chicken meat taken from my body and nothing came of it. Why? I > was paying my $125 just to see up close how the magic act was conducted. I > wasn't there in a mind prepared to change. And, verily I got what I was > paying for -- I got a tee shirt that said, "I went to a psychic surgeon, and > all I got was salmonella." > > I envy those who can get real results by any method. Any of Grate Swan's > list of possibilities would do me. Hook or crook, what does it matter? > > Blessed are those who believe and have not seen -- it's a powerful tool if > one can, you know, work it, and make believing things a daily regimen. What > would Jesus do? -- another example? > > Edg > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@> wrote: > > > > > > On May 10, 2009, at 3:06 AM, raunchydog wrote: > > > > > > > Look whose dumping from his high horse now. If Vaj > > > > wants to make scientific claims for the Dalai Lama's > > > > spiritual whammy powers (red pen spelling correction > > > > noted) he could at least back it up. I'm not even > > > > asking for a study, just one little personal > > > > experience. > > <snip> > > > > > > What made you think that the post was meant to "make > > > scientific claims for the Dalai Lama's spiritual > > > whammy powers"? That's a pretty bizarre claim. > > > > True, Vaj has been explicit that he's making > > *unscientific* claims for the Dalai Lama's > > spiritual whammy powers (post #218203): > > > > "Before there was scientific replication, it was > > known and replicated many, many times." > > > > > Not all of us are interested in talking about > > > ourselves endlessly, even though we've had similar > > > experiences. > > > > Translation: Vaj hasn't had an experience of > > "pacification" from the Dalai Lama. > > >
