> > > <snip>I personally > > > > believe that the latter are a made-up set of > > > > techniques that have nothing to do with what > > > > Patanjali was describing, but if others choose > > > > to believe that they're "authentic Patanjali" > > > > and derive some benefit from practicing them, > > > > cool. > > > > > > Kind of an odd thing to hear coming from you Turq. > > > > I don't see why; my stance on the siddhis > > hasn't changed since 1978. > > Nor your success with them apparently...
Well, since I haven't practiced the TM siddhis since 1978, that would make sense. :-) But in the time since I have experienced a few minor siddhis, as well as having witnessed a few major ones. They're fun, but like you I don't confuse them with self realization or mistake them for it. > > > I had unmistakable, repeatable and sustained experiences > > > of siddhis doing the program, and after stopping the practice > > > of it. For you to imply that Maharishi could equal the > > > achievement of Patanjali ... > > > > I know you're trying to be cute, but that's not what > > I was implying. > I don't think that the TM siddhis > > do anything at all; any effect is the result of the > > "Dumbo's feather" syndrome, also known as the placebo > > effect, also known as moodmaking. > > You have missed the point of the siddhis, which is to practice > them innocently, without any expectation of a result. That is possible. When it comes to investing my time in a spiritual practice, I'm a results kinda guy. > It is the > expectation of a result that interferes with the result of a > sutra actually... It never interfered with the minor siddhis I was able to perform in the time since I stopped prac- ticing the TM siddhis. You might be onto something with regard to them. > ...so if I or anyone else were moodmaking, there would be > no results to report! I corrected this misstatement of mine in an earlier post. I shouldn't have used the word 'moodmaking.' I believe that your experiences were real; as I said before I am just not convinced that the cause of the experiences was caused by the TM siddhis. Triggered as a result of the "feather" of practicing the TM siddhis, yes, but caused by it...I'm not sure I buy that. > If you are familiar with the practice of sanyama, > you would see these mechanics as obvious, and a direct > repudiation of your statement about moodmaking or > Dumbo's feather. Sorry to say, you don't know what > you are talking about here. I retracted 'moodmaking.' I still believe firmly that "Dumbo's feather" is an applicable analogy.
