I like to use the "workability" criterion. Everything else is crap. But the Ship of Theseus thought experiment has been helpful to me in mantra and related questions such as the puja. For example, (ref. an actual case): - somebody mentioned to MMY that he had replaced Guru Dev's picture with a pic of Jesus. We can continue per the Ship of Theseus model and replace this and that until perhaps, we are left with mantras one can get out of a book. In my experience, the most important factors are a. technique done properly, and b. the Shakti. My TM mantra has a distinct perceptible amount of Shakti, not possessed by mantras I've received from other (non TMO) Gurus. So go figure. ... SHIP OF THESEUS from Wiki: According to Greek legend as reported by Plutarch,
The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same. Plutarch, Theseus[1] Plutarch thus questions whether the ship would remain the same if it were entirely replaced, piece by piece. Centuries later, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes introduced a further puzzle, wondering: what would happen if the original planks were gathered up after they were replaced, and used to build a second ship.[2] Which ship, if either, is the original Ship of Theseus?" --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <rick@...> wrote: > > From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com] On > Behalf Of William Parkinson > Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 1:22 PM > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: How to pronounce the mantras > > > > > > Exactly Rick. Which is not what some mantra works suggest. That is what I > think is interesting. If these mantras are the 'sonic representations' of the > deity, one would think they should be spoken, or thought inside, clearly and > correctly. If that is so, then what are we to make of our TM way of not > thinking it but faintly? What did MMY think of these mantras? Are they > symbolic, or merely tools to allow us to go inside? > > Cheers > > Bill > > > > Maharishi felt (old Rishikesh TTC tape I heard) that the mantras were a way > to attune oneself to the deity, and that that was accomplished by > transcending with them, not remaining on the gross level. > > > > From: Rick Archer <rick@...> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 10:32 AM > Subject: RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: How to pronounce the mantras > > > > From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com] On > Behalf Of William Parkinson > Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 11:48 AM > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: How to pronounce the mantras > > > > > > Hi Rob. What I found interesting in the pronunciation was simply this: books > on mantra meditation that I have state very emphatically that the mantra must > be pronounced absolutely clearly and correctly. I assume because they believe > that the mantra is some sort of sonic representation, if not sonic > manifestation, of the deity. Yet in TM we are told the mantra might will > change as we use it. And the mantra should ideally be a faint thought--not > something clear and strong in our minds.This was part of my interest in this > varient ways of saying the mantras. > > > > The TM instructions explicit advise NOT trying to think or pronounce the > mantra clearly: âMental repetition is not a clear pronunciation; just a > faint idea.â > > > > > > > > _____ > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1390 / Virus Database: 1516/3766 - Release Date: 07/15/11 >
