Thanks for your feedback on this, Salyavin. As I've said several times, it's just a theory on my part, but it certainly explains my experiences with the TM-Sidhis. And in a very Occam's Razor fashion, since it's far less complicated than believing that some kind of mystical Woo Woo makes them "work."
My experiences were a lot like yours, including the Wow! when I first butt-bounced. Call me a cynic, or a seeker who expected something even remotely as interesting in the future, but that Wow! quickly segued into thoughts of "Nothing good is happening." :-) I gave the TM-Sidhis -- and the TM movement -- up within a few months of returning from my course. Haven't regretted that decision even once since. ________________________________ From: salyavin808 <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2014 2:10 PM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Are the TM-Sidhis nothing but Placebo Effect? It's a good theory because that's how it was on my "sidhi" course. We'd get the sutra and try it for a bit and get endless encouragement to "feel the different flavours". We were all disappointed when we found out it was in English, I was hoping for some super-mantra things. The general opinion was that if any "flavours" were felt at all it was mostly the power of suggestion that was doing it. Until we got to the "flying" sutra, the reaction of most people's minds to that was "Wow!" when they got it to work for the first time. Mine was of complete astonishment. The rest of the sutras did become more pronounced after extended practise but obviously no supernormal powers, the "flying" sutra was never that good again. Go figure. Apart from a secret wish to be able to levitate, I learned the "sidhis" because I wanted the extra depth to the standard TM and believed the hype that it was the quickest possible way to enlightenment. I did it for ten years including a great many courses. I can honestly say that I don't know what it was supposed to do, but it definitely increased the problems I had originally learned TM for. Unstressing? Not suitable? I don't care, they assessed me for the course, took my money and that was that. I realised when I quit and went back to TM 20X20 that the "sidhis" weren't making me happy at all, in fact I was pleased to be rid of it, both for the time it takes and all the worsening of the stressed out/spaced out feelings I got. No enlightenment there. Not for me anyway, other people may react differently to it. But there's a disturbing habit in the TMO of making light of the bad bits of the practise, so most people will tell you they are having a great time even if they aren't. I got interviewed for the brochures when on courses and told them what they wanted to hear even if the opposite was true. Rather I cherry picked from among the bad for the nice bits we'd all get from time to time. But the good bits of doing TM and the "sidhis" are in my top-ten best experiences in life, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Rough with the smooth and all that. Trouble is, I wasn't after up and down, I remember reading somewhere that enlightenment is beyond all that. How can you get there by going the wrong way? ---In [email protected], <turquoiseb@...> wrote : From: Michael Jackson <mjackson74@...> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>; [email protected] Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2014 1:07 PM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Are the TM-Sidhis nothing but Placebo Effect? Spot on Barry. It's just a theory, but I think one can make a stronger case for it than TM True Believers can make for how they believe the TM-Sidhis "work." I guess we'll see... -------------------------------------------- On Thu, 4/10/14, TurquoiseBee <turquoiseb@...> wrote: > >Subject: [FairfieldLife] Are the TM-Sidhis nothing but Placebo Effect? >To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >Date: Thursday, April 10, 2014, 8:14 AM > >I think one can make a case that they are. Here, >I'll start... > >First, let's look at the basic TM technique, which uses >Sanskrit mantras described by the TMO as "meaningless >sounds" (which are really the names or "calling >cards" of Hindu gods and goddesses, as anyone who can >read books from India would know) as a mechanism for >meditation. You *could* make a case that there is something >"special" about these mantras, some sonic quality >that actually facilitates meditation, because of course they >have no meaning to most of the people who think them. > >But that's not true for the TM-Sidhis. As anyone who has >ever learned them knows (but gets really, really uptight >when someone like myself points out), what you paid >thousands of dollars for (a good argument for the Placebo >Effect in itself) were a number of *English language >phrases* straight from a translation of the Yoga Sutras, all >of which very *definitely* have meaning. After a period of >TM meditation, the "TM Sidha" is instructed to >think them -- *in English* (or whatever modern language they >were taught the TM-Sidhis in) in a particular way, and then >wait for the effects. > >I believe that a strong case can be made for Placebo >Effect-like *expectation* in all of this, for three reasons. >First, the TM-Sidhis were initially marketed *as a way of >achieving and mastering all of the "siddhis" these >phrases describe*. The original (first few years) >"intro lectures" about the TM-Sidhi program were >full of promises that you would learn to levitate and be >able to perform other siddhis. Tales were told by people >marketing and selling the new (and rather expensive) courses >of people having been seen levitating, or >walking through walls, or demonstrating invisibility. All >of these tales were nothing more than urban legends, of >course, because none of this had ever happened. But still, >an *expectation* WAS formed among the people paying their >money for the TM-Sidhi course that they'd have >experiences like this themselves. > >Second are the nature of the phrases they're thinking >themselves. They *very much* have meaning, and you'd >have to be a complete idiot not to realize that when >you're sitting there thinking them that you're >"supposed" to experience what they describe. For >example, is there any question that when you're sitting >there thinking "Friendliness" that you're >supposed to feel more friendly? Or that when you're >sitting there thinking "Strength of an elephant" >you're supposed to feel stronger? Or that when >you're thinking "Relationship of body and akasha - >lightness of cotton fiber" you're supposed to lift >up into the air as if you were actually >lighter yourself? OF COURSE this is a form of suggestion, >and I think that combined with the fact that the people >thinking this last "sutra" had paid thousands of >dollars for the privilege, one can make a strong case that >any "bouncing" that follows (caused by unconscious >or only partly conscious physical effort) can be attributed >to nothing but the Placebo Effect. > >Third is the aspect of "reinforcement" that one >receives in the form of praise for claiming to have *had* >the experience of these phrases you're thinking. As >reported here on FFL, in recent courses at MUM the >participants are actually questioned after each session as >to the "depth" or "profundity" of their >"experiences." For each of the sutras (meaningful >phrases), they are expected to raise their hands if they had >a "Number 1" experience of them, a "Number >2" experience of them, or a "Number 3" >experience of them. Naturally, those who claim to have had >Number 1 experiences are >perceived as "better," and praised, further >reinforcing the Placebo Effect. > >So I think it's *very* possible to describe the reported >effects of the TM-Sidhis as "nothing but Placebo >Effect." The onus to prove or suggest otherwise falls >on those who claim otherwise, and we'll wait patiently >for you to do so. Please explain to us the "magic" >or "Woo Woo" that enables thinking *English >language phrases* to create the claimed effects of the >TM-Sidhis. Please explain to us how you somehow divorce >yourself from *expectation* when thinking these very >meaningful phrases, and thus are not deceiving yourself into >believing that they are producing an actual effect. Please >explain how you are *not* affected by being regarded as >somehow "special" merely for claiming that >you've had "profound experiences" THAT YOU >WERE TOLD TO EXPECT, and how that cannot be attributed to >the Placebo Effect. > >We'll >wait... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
