---In [email protected], <turquoiseb@...> wrote :
Thanks for your comments. One of the things that amuses me in this discussion is that two of the participants so far who are on record as having no need to believe in a God are also on record as having had enlightenment experiences. Whereas possibly some of those who think of themselves as believers in God have not. Such an assumption that really serves no useful purpose other than, well, you know.. Clearly belief in God has nothing to do with awakening or being able to have clear, according-to-Maharishi's-definitions periods of enlightenment. It might be helpful to know who you are arguing with on this point. My larger point is that I think that having a belief in God has nothing to do with *anything* other than having Just Another Belief. Such a belief is not necessary to follow a spiritual path, and not having such a belief is no hindrance to one. You do realize that you make this point on a nearly daily basis as though there is someone on the other side of this argument. I mean, I get the impression that people who have so called spiritual experiences may just make a note of them, and then move on. Now, I suppose there are many who benchmark these experiences, but really, it's not anything I much see here. So, maybe your comments are directed to a different audience. Even Jim, who is not bashful about declaring his enlightenment uses his own descriptions. I mean maybe they do end up corresponding somewhat to the experiences you read about in texts, and that MMY has outlined, but growth of spiritual experiences, if they are genuine, come off as being quite fresh, and usually quite confusing, at least at first.
