Refreshing - we see that not everyone is impressed with "I went to
India and so I'm an expert."
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*From:* "Tormod Kinnes tkin...@gmail.com <mailto:tkin...@gmail.com>
[FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
*To:* FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
*Sent:* Saturday, November 22, 2014 5:51 PM
*Subject:* Re: [FairfieldLife] Many Swami Brahmananda Saraswati
discourses are waiting to be published
Dear Bhairatu
You write of your background for saying "TM is nothing but . . .".
Good. But I cannot help noting that you still don't give real
examples to document your stand.
For example, you write:
"I also like to refer to Sivananda's "Mind Its Mysteries and
Control" . . . to point out the method of meditation TM uses
with the mantras is nothing new either as that work was first
published in 1936."
I took the trouble to search through Sivananda's book, but if it
contains anything specific about the TM system, I missed it.
The Smartist mantras and the main criteria for selecting from among
them are not specified there, not as far as I could see after a quick
search. Nor are Guru Dev's warning that OM (which is often found in
Sivananda's writings) is not a proper mantra for householders.
You write
"mantras were published in the west before Maharishi".
Yes, but a mass of syllables is not the TM system either. Many sounds
and words of the language - Long, Fine, and so on - may in fact be
used as mantras.
Then you suggest something about seed sounds:
"TM uses beej mantras because they don't need any empowerment."
You also say that the TM initiation ceremony helps, and that other
ways may help too.
"The puja helps but Indian astrologers and ayurvedic
practitioners hand them out to clients without any elaborate
initiation."
In Guru Dev's discourses one finds a similar view in choosing the
mantras. One gets a suitable mantra either by the guru or in some
other way. Paul Mason has gathered, translated and published several
books with ideas of Guru Dev.
"where the beej mantras came from . . lost in antiquity and
undoubtedly commonly in use even at the time of Shankara."
This seems to be speculation.
"TM is really just "yoga lite". -
I should say your proofs are lite too. Good, specific documentation
is the thing called for.
ROUNDING OFF
There are some sources outside TM, sources that reveal the settings
and transmission to Maharishi when he was trained by Guru Dev,
benefited by his company, and was asked to bring swift and deep
meditation to the masses.
Elsa Dragemark presents Dr. Raj Varma:
"Doctor Varma came to Guru Dev six months before Maharishi and
knows more about Guru Dev and Maharishi than any other person I
have met. [p. 240]
Dr. Raj Varma tells (in Elsa Dragemark. The Way to Maharishi's
Himalayas. Stockholm: E. Dragemark, 1972):
........................................
Maharishi loyally followed in his master's footsteps. . . .
Maharishi stayed with Guru Dev until the day his master left his
body. It was in Calcutta, the 20th of May, 1953.
Guru Dev then called Maharishi and asked him to sit down. Guru
Dev said:
— My time is up. It is time to leave, but still one thing
remains. There was something else I should have done, but I did
not have the time to carry it out. It is the usual custom that
the work remaining for a guru is completed by his disciples. It
is a tradition that the father's task is completed by his son and
what now remains you shall complete by yourself.
— Master, Maharishi said, by your lotus feet, what remains? Your
wish is my command. What do you wish, tell me, so that I can
fulfil it. Guru Dev said:
— Look around. Many people are dejected. There is a lack of
energy in their minds. Their minds are not strong enough. What I
{p. 261] have taught you also contains the knowledge of the
technique for the householder, which has been misinterpreted and
forgotten during the centuries. This should now be perfected into
a simple method suitable for everyone. Ask the people to sit and
meditate after this method a few moments every morning and
evening. Teach them to enjoy life. . . .
........................................
Accordingly, basic TM is meant to be a well simplified and
streamlined mantra meditation for others than monks. It is mantra
meditation, yes, but there is a system beneath also (it seems to be
Smartism), and Guru Dev's teaching that OM is to be avoided among
householders, but not necessarily by monks and nuns.
Thus, there are mantras you won't find in TM. I should say it is
specialised mantra lore, with some elements in common with other
mantra teachings, as you suggest, but with a few decisive
characteristics of its own too.
If other mantra methods eventually come up with research
documentation that is as good as the better TM documentation,
I won't say TM stands out a lot.
Till then . . .
Regards,
--
T. Kinnes
