--- In [email protected], new.morning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I find JohnY's comment most odd. "..why would he be > open to any experience of higher states that does not conform to the > framework that he has laid down." I have sat with MMY and various CPs > and heard literally 1000's of experiences. MMY has never said "oh, > thats an experience that does not conform to my framework". > > What he has done is clarify what experiences appear indicative of a > particular state or another. And as John said, MMY "is not impressed > with flash, or imagination." And not impressed with people labeling > their experiences when the experience is not, in his experience, > characteristic of the the label. > > > And " Hasn't anyone noticed that many (if > > not the majority of) people who have stabilized higher states move > > away from the TMO?" I have noticed that people whose experiences do > not correspond to attributes that MMY correlates with enlightenment, > at times move on, and proclaim an enlightenment of their own devising > and attributes. It may be a wonderful things -- but is it hard to > understand that the TMO doesn't jump up and down at such? >
MMY's definition of enlightenment is based completely on what he believes is samadhi, as induced/facilitated by TM. It turns out that this has a characteristic physiological pattern unique amongst measured meditation techniques, though I'm sure there are individual teachers from various traditions who still teach dhyan (TM) under a different brand-name. If you look at how the brain works, you can see a direct correlation between the physiological findings during TM-samadhi, and a large number of traditional descriptions. TM reduces activity in the thalamus directly, or so it appears. The various major states of awareness that we are familliar with ALL have distinct associated states of functioning of the thalamus: In the waking state, the thalamus functions "normally" and passes incoming external sensory input along to the various internal sensory areas of the brain for further processing. It also accepts output from these areas and merges the processed information with the raw data from the various major senses forming continuous feedback loops specific to each sense. In deep sleep, the thalamus doesn't allow much, if any, information to enter the brain from the external senses, and the brain itself enters a quiet, [apparently] no-processing mode. In dreaming, the thalamus doesn't allow much, if any, information from the external senses but DOES allow internal feedback loops. In samadhi, the thalamus doesn't allow much, if any information, from the external senses, OR from the internal feedback loops, but the brain remains alert. That means that any sensory-based mental processing, aka "thinking," just doesn't happen. Other techniques do things like reduce the activity of varous parts of the brain associated with perception of time and space, and researchers tout this as evidence that THEIR technique is the real deal because everyone knows that samadhi is timeless, spaceless, objectless, etc. TM's samadhi, OTOH, doesn't stop these areas from working--the thalamus just stops passing the sensory signals back to the brain so there is no thinking, conscious or "unconscious." With no thinking, there's no passage of time, no objects of perception, no emotions, no nuttin that can be talked about, described, tasted, cut, burned, whatever. One simple change at a fundamental physical level, and ALL the traditional descriptions of samadhi/satori are explained. BTW, some researchers on Zen theorize that Zen reduces the activity of the thalamus in a way similar to TM, but they insist it is because the thalamus has become overstimulated and therefore temporarily exhausted. Anyone remember the old SCI tape where MMY speculates that other forms of meditation sometimes induce samadhi because they exhuast the brain? The point is, TM is the most efficient meditation technique that has been measured, and has the most interesting effects on the brain, AND allows for a simple explanation of all the major spiritual traditions. Given these facts, why would the leaders of the TMO be impressed with self-proclaimed enlightened people from other traditions or even from within the TMO whose physical and mental states are obviously different, and why would the leaders of the TMO be impressed by people who are impressed by "flash" when the ultimate meditaive state is the exact opposite of "flash?" To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
