Discourses at the Ammachi darshans in Detroit this week were a lot about making a connection of cultivating/gaining spiritual strength from spiritual practices along with compassionate humanitarianism, as you say. Light in the body, feet on the ground. "Do the work."
Yifuxero writes: Thx, the case of a connection between Transcendence and compassionate humanitarianism, perhaps can be undermined or even dismissed from a Neo-Advaitic viewpoint by saying that Transcendence alone does not imply any particular action. However, recent research coming from several areas does indeed bolster the connection between Transcendence (if done by enough people) and Global Peace.; but I must object to the idea that MMY made those connections. The new argument can be bolstered by merging 3 sources: 1. Sam Harris, 2. The polyvagal axis theory, and 3. the brain's production of Oxytocin, which is part of (2). First, from Neurophysiologist Harris: (a reasoned hypothesis) That silent medication may lead to increased awareness which leads to Empathy for others (an ability to feel what others are feeling, in some way). Finally, the increased ability to Empathize leads to what the Buddhists call Compassion (related to the love concept but slightly different). 2. Second, the Polyvagal axis, already covered on this forum. Thx Doug for introducing this to the forum.. 3. The measurement of Oxytocin output after the subject engages in various experimental activities. Oxytocin is the body's "Love molecule". For example, petting animals might stimulate hormone. High up on the list of activities that generate an Oxy response is Compassionate meditation: (silent meditation coupled with a feeling of Compassion). Therefore the missing ingredient not emphasized by MMY to any great extent is Compassion. Shalom Aleichem ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Yes, the Domes in Fairfield quite evidently are activating places spiritually too like these places are for an individual or collective. There certainly is a reality to that. Like sitting in gathered Quaker meetings meditating In effect wages peace as place more profoundly founded in what is a silence of their spiritual processes. Waging Peace now given these agitated and divided times, the imperative seems to rise as we come to know more. This becomes like a duty. Duty for those who know how to pursue and wage radical peace spiritually. To the call..to help, -JaiGuruYou Yifuxero writes: On the topic of group vs solitary meditation, having meditated in Charlie Lutes' group, the Shakti was quote powerful, but so was meditating alone in the SIMS initiation rooms. But positively the MOST powerful Shakti site I've been in was the Ramakrishna Vedanta Temple in Hollywood, CA. Thx Jim, another great essay on your part that I agree with. I've come up with a hypothesis that moral values (as a set of ethics, a major branch of philosophy), can ultimately be derived from Game Theory. Some of the results can be duplicated with a computer, but given the limited power of computers, we would have to speculate on an overall conclusion with large numbers of people.. Take tribal behavior. There's an optimum population which gives rise to a cohesive tribe (I believe it's approximately 150 people). Too little, and the members can't come together to formulate (not consciously), game-theoretic rules which enhance tribal survival. Division of labor for example. With too many people, the tribe may break off into sects that ultimately war against each other. The more simplistic outcomes can be programmed using game theory, matching what we observe. On the topic of Transcendence, I've come up with a new Koan: "Before Enlightenment, an asshole chopping wood and carrying water. After Enlightenment, as asshole chopping wood and carrying water". Thijs doesn't apply to you. I'm thinking of people like Adi Da, but that's a judgment on my part. On the topic of group vs solitary meditation, having meditated in Charlie Lutes' group, the Shakti was quote powerful, but so was meditating alone in the SIMS initiation rooms. But positively the MOST powerful Shakti site I've been in was the Ramakrishna Vedanta Temple in Hollywood, CA. Shalom Aleichem ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <archonan...@yahoo.com> wrote : War is evil, and the moral equivalent of war is evil. You are using the wrong terminology. If meditation brings peace, it is the antithesis of war, and of evil. It does not achieve its results by conflict, but by stilling conflict. The universe shows no signs of morality. Morality does not come from the gods. It is a derivative of social communal interaction for the common good. It comes from us. The peace of meditation enhances the morality of those already inclined in that direction, but there are many, many long time meditators that show no sense of moral value at all. Meditation makes what already exists better defined and understood, but it does not change reality, it reveals reality. Maharishi's World Plan does not appear in any way to have been a success except within individual minds. The world is still in as much turmoil now as it was. Look at what happened in the tale of the Bhagavad-Gita. Arjuna gains supreme knowledge, and yet he saved, in essence, no one, and was a major agent in destroying everyone involved in that conflict. As a social grace, those that like to meditate together is fine for them. It brings a feeling of security in numbers. But the goal is self-sufficiency and that means to achieve the same security without those numbers behind your back. Every spiritual organization that has ever proclaimed a heaven on Earth has never achieved that goal. Inside their little group maybe, but outside, the same old chaos and divisiveness. It is a nice thought though. Simply repeating the same refrain does not a heaven make, it means something is stuck and cannot move on. "What we mean by intelligence is the thing we do that ensures that the problem is efficiently solved and in a way that makes it appear effortless. And stupidity is a set of rules that we use to ensure that the problem will be solved in longer than chance or never and is nevertheless pursued with alacrity and enthusiasm." —David Krakauer* *David Krakauer is President and William H. Miller Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. His research explores the evolution of intelligence on earth. This includes studying the evolution of genetic, neural, linguistic, social and cultural mechanisms supporting memory and information processing, and exploring their generalities. From: "dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, November 18, 2016 11:42 AM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Call to Spiritual Order,Rally Now to Meditation! Waging Peace. Meditators! It is time for Waging Radical Peace, in groups meditating, this call now to meditation is like The Moral Equivalent of War. Paraphrased, what William James would say to meditators today: Meditators, this meditation against war is going to be no holiday excursion or camping party. The post-election feelings of division are too deeply grounded to abdicate their place until better ideals as substitutes are offered than the glory and shame that come to people and nations by politics and vicissitudes of trade and commerce in making war. It is time, for The Moral Equivalent of War: a radical modern peace-making, in meditation. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : We are most grateful to all those who came answering the call and sat up in their meditations with us in Fairfield, Iowa. It has been our honor to have had those who traveled from distant places joining alongside us here in collective meditation in these times. -JaiGuruYou Those of you that have been going to the Domes recently will be aware that many of our friends from across the country have joined us here in Fairfield over the last week or so, and they have helped boost the overall attendance in evening program to over 750 people. If you arent able to attend any of the official flying halls, please try to do group program together with friends in 2s, 3s, 4s, etc., whatever is convenient, and aim to start your yogic flying practice at the official CST times of 8:15 am and 5:45 pm. Jai Guru Dev Raja John Hagelin and the Ideal Community Group Bhairitu writes: I think Doug is lost in the nostalgia of early 1970s TM which ended when the "self appointed" purity gestapo returned from AofE courses. On 11/16/2016 11:01 AM, upfronter mailto:upfron...@ymail.com [FairfieldLife] wrote: Well, forgive this voicing of a different viewpoint, but this one's personal opinion is that one genuine disciplined meditator meditating regularly amongst 100 non-meditators is more effective in society than 100 meditators meditating amongst themselves - although there is certainly a beneficial social family aspect which cannot be denied from similar association on such a deep level. Besides, I personally have a different spiritual philosophy to that expounded by Maharishi, one which differs in certain fundamental aspects, it would seem, one which touches both my heart and mind deeply in a manner that leaves no room for the grafting of branches from other trees. I’m not sure I could listen to too much coffee-shop conversation without suggesting the smelling of stronger coffee all round. Jai Guru Dev. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : FW: e-mail response, Try to meditate in groups with a grateful heart. Remember all that TM has given you- is giving you, the countless blessings, and return your gratitude to the source. Gratitude and praise open a channel for support of nature to come to you. Listen to and read what Maharishi said about the Maharishi Effect. A full commitment by individuals who gather in groups is all that it takes. Future generations will be so grateful when they learn about you--what you did for them, this world, the future. And that includes the sacrifices you made moving to Fairfield remaining true to your convictions and to the tradition from which the knowledge came. Jai Guru Dev, ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <archonan...@yahoo.com> wrote : Quite a few of my friends meditate, and some are teachers, but most of us live far from Fairfield, IA. But we are scattered over a wide area so group gatherings of meditators tends to take place only during quarterly celebrations or occasional group meditations. Attempting to get enlightened is not a military campaign against the outer world, it is a campaign against our inner inadequacies. The outer world takes care of itself, as it says in Tao Te Ching: "So the wise adhere to action through non-action, And communicate the teaching without words." Extolling meditators to perform under command, as if they were a seal on the commercial stage balancing a ball on its nose, negates the spontaneity of effortless flow. Those who live in movement facilities live under this constriction, but those who do not often have lives far removed from life in the movement, we meditate when and where we can when we so desire. If the desire to meditate is genuine, it comes naturally, effortlessly and time will be made as allowed by the greater expanse of the world under the Laws of Nature. Spiritual movements ebb and flow, they begin, evolve, and dissipate. None of them eventually stay true to their original purpose which is simply for the human mind to wake up to its actual nature as experience opposed to its intellectual musings which flow as constricted rivers of thought. From: "dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2016 12:18 PM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Call to Spiritual Order,Rally Now to Meditation! Yes, it is quite time now to STFU and meditate. As in, ..Sit up, attend to and actually meditate. In groups. It is time to rally to meditation by all that the best of modern science tells us is statistical truth and by what we know more objectively in our experience as quite fair rule of thumb. It is quite time now to come together in collective meditation for all that is good. It is quite time now to ‘SitTFU’ and meditate. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Brave meditators, you have done all we asked you to do, and more than could be reasonably expected; but your own global country of World Peace is at stake, your partners, families, your homes and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships of waging world peace, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay in the Domes only one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty of all and to your global country of world peace which you probably never can do under any other circumstances. Free Accommodation Extended.. In conjunction with the extension of October Surprise and thanks to the generosity of Raja Hagelin, free accommodation at the ILA Campus (Pandit Campus) is also extended until the morning of Nov 15th. With warmest wishes to all, Ideal Community Group ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : No, the morning of the Election there were only a few more than 300 in the men's Dome. Yours sounds like speculation. Should need better control for results to publish. Evidently the best research would relate that just having 800 turning out once (spread around in 11 different locations in Fairfield-M.Vedic City) is not enough to have much positive national effect. We could have used you up here towards better results. People evidently are way too complacent around this, if they understand the consequence of meditating at all. If anything the low numbers meditating could indicate an inverse conclusion regardless of some personal opinion. Also, published Science Research for religious rites is not nearly so conclusive as for groups meditating. More research is needed. -JaiGuruYou ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <mdixon.6...@yahoo.com> wrote : Doug, there were yagyas done in India for Trump. Combine that with the 800 or so meditating in the dome and I'd say it all worked fine. From: "dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2016 9:21 PM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Call to Spiritual Order,Rally Now to Meditation! Peer-reviewed, published, replicated, honest-to-goodness, gold-standard scientific research leads us to make this heartfelt request of you: Come and join us for meditation in Fairfield, Iowa for this post-election period of time. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Some few meditators, like good Elijah, stand While thousands have skedaddled, In earnest for a heav'nly land They never yet have halted. With such spirituality doth remain, For they are not perverted; O may they all through groups meditating rally The glory that's departed. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Talk about complacency and even skulking, in Fairfield the evening meditation before the election had 800 in the group meditation. Half what was needed. Skulking: to keep out of sight, typically with a sinister or cowardly motive. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Those of you that have been going to the Domes recently will be aware that many of our friends from across the country have joined us here in Fairfield over the last week or so, and they have helped boost the overall attendance in evening program to over 750 people. As really wonderful as this is, it falls significantly short of what we need to create truly indomitable coherence for the nation. We therefore urge you to come to as many group programs as you possibly can over the next few days to maximize the coherence creating effect, and help us get as close to the ideal super-radiance number as we possibly can. May we particularly urge you to attend both group programs tomorrow election day! Lets see if we can double the numbers we are getting at the moment, and shoot for even higher! ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Critically, our trying to stage a coming from behind in collective consciousness we never had the numbers meditating together that were sufficient to mute what seemingly is the popular rancor and divisiveness of these times. Maybe some 2-300 or so came to help by adding to our collective numbers but data would likely bare out that these skulking times in meditation are in direct result from the 35 year decline during the Morris-Patterson administration of the TM movement of what was once a great spiritual movement of meditation and regeneration. We begin anew with large dharma. Healing the wounds… ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : When the midnight cry began, Oh what lamentation, Thousands sleeping in their sins, Neglecting their salvation. Many souls who thought they’d light, Oh, when the scene was closed, Now against the Bridegroom fight, And so they stand opposed. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Flee to Costa Rica or Canada? No, move decisively to Fairfield, Iowa ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote :
