--- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <jflanegi@> > wrote: > > > > > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > <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... > > > > > 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. It is the > expectation of a result that interferes with the result of a sutra > actually, so if I or anyone else were moodmaking, there would be no > results to report! 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. >
That's not quite true. Awareness of the expected result is built into the sidhis practice. Of course, in the case of yogic flying, floating would preclude a placebo effect, at least according to most peopple but until then, you can't be 100% certain that hopping isn't just placebo, and certainly you can't be sure that any purely internal "flavor" isn't just placebo. My own take is that if it were just placebo, there would be more hopping and other flavors reported, but who can say?
