> > > > 1. Close mind. > > > > 2. Open book. > > > > > > Heh. So reading Sanskrit out loud without trying to > > > comprehend it requires a closed mind? > > > > B-b-b-but Lawson, that's what Barry *means*. > > Since you aren't going to be *using* your mind, > > you might as well close it; then you won't be > > tempted to try to make sense of the Sanskrit. > > > > <guffaw> > > > > > Seems to me that you have to have some semblance of an > > > open mind to bother with such a task, unless you're so > > > fanatical about MMY's teachings that you just assume > > > he's correct in the first place. > > > > However, there's no need for an open mind once > > you've already decided MMY isn't correct about > > *anything*. > > > > Pathological. > > Especially since BARRY is the one who has implied that > using the TM-Sidhis course, since it is not sanskrit > based, can't possibly work.
Even though Lawson seems to be under the impression that I am some sort of God, and thus he must capitalize my name, I assure him that it is not true. It is *also* not true that I have ever suggested that the TM siddhis don't "work." Why, just the other day I stated explicitly that some who practice them have very real experiences indeed. It's just that I *also* stated that I believe those experiences are pretty much the result of the placebo effect. Another thing I have stated is that the TM siddhis, in my opinion, have absolutely nothing to do with what Patanjali was writing about in his Yoga Sutras. He was writing about the real thing. The TM siddhis aren't. Are we clear now on what my position is? :-) > I mean, BARRY apparently believes that > reading/thinking sanskrit has some special effect... Nope. However, the placebo effect is multifaceted. For example, some True Believers have convinced themselves that when they hear words they don't understand it has good effects on them because of the powerful Woo Woo Rays trapped inside the words they don't understand. They have decided this because early in life they made a decision to trust Maharishi, and to not bother to think for themselves. But that doesn't mean that they don't actually *feel* some effect from doing what he says, because of the placebo effect. It doesn't even mean that some of the effects they feel aren't real -- sometimes people *do* get better from swallowing a sugar pill. Why shouldn't it be possible for fanatical TM True Believers to feel better after swallowing a load of horseshit? :-) I hope I've clarified my position so that you don't need to misrepresent it in the future, Lawson. You also don't have to capitalize all the letters in my name. :-) :-) :-)
