On Jul 4, 2009, at 12:29 PM, Rick Archer wrote:
A friend sent me this. As I read it I thought of the people on FFL
who feel that TM is a watered down, ineffectual technique. You know
I have my issues with the TM Movement. I agree that the research is
cherry-picked for use as a PR tool. Decades of TM practice doesn't
necessarily make you an honest, ethical, compassionate person, etc.,
etc. But I take issue with fundamentalists on either side of the
issue who see the world in black and white. There are many accounts
of dramatic transformation with TM, including my own, my mother's
and others I have witnessed firsthand. I think that a balanced
perspective requires acknowledging these, then throwing in all the
crazy stuff, then trying to make sense of it all.
Ever wonder why all these "miracle" accounts
are totally unsubstantiated and basically
unverifiable, Rick? How convenient.
"I initiated his mother, who was in the hospital. It was a very
dramatic TM benefit. She had had ovarian or uterine cancer and the
radiation treatment had destroyed most of her intestines, pretty
much turning them into Swiss cheese. The doctors needed to operate
but she was too weak. She kept asking for more pain meds every few
minutes.
"I initiated her in the hospital. She was just alert enough to
follow the instructions, but too weak to sit, she was lying down,
only slightly propped up. After her first few minutes of TM she
looked at me wondrously and said, "I feel good." When I came back
for the first night of checking, her son met me at the door and said
the nurses were all wondering what she was doing because instead of
asking for more pain meds every few minutes, when they came to give
her her shot she sent them away, saying she was meditating and
didn't need or want it. At the end of the week she was strong enough
for surgery. I heard from her son several years later that she had
made a complete recovery and was still well."
Sal
