--- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> 
> wrote:
> >
> > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote:
> > >
> > > > > > > 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.
> > 
> > Actually, what BARRY stated was that he suspected
> > *all* techniques for self-realization were placebos.
> > 
> > Which (as I pointed out) renders the notion of the
> > placebo effect completely meaningless and utterly
> > useless for making any kind of distinction between
> > spiritual techniques.
> > 
> > > 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.
> > 
> > Patanjali was writing about the real *placebo effect*,
> > BARRY means.
> > 
> > > The TM siddhis aren't.
> > 
> > Aren't what?  Aren't the real placebo effect?
> > What's a "fake" placebo effect, pray tell?
> >  
> > > Are we clear now on what my position is?  :-)
> > 
> > The question is whether BARRY is clear on it.
> > 
> > > > 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.
> > 
> > Actually, some of them decided to check around
> > and discovered that MMY was by no means the only
> > person to maintain that Sanskrit (and other ancient
> > languages) had an effect that went way beyond the
> > semantic meanings of the words.  Indeed, they
> > found it was a very common belief in spiritual> circles (including 
> some conventional religious
> > circles, such as Judaism).

FWIW, Swedish is the second official language of Finland.
I occasionally watch FST (Finland's Svenska Television, Swedish
TV in Finland). Listening to Swedish kinda makes me, a pathologically
gloomy chap, feel a bit more joyful. As soon as I change back to
a Finnish speaking channel, my normal gloomy mood returns.
I have no idea whether that's because of the differences in the
phonetic properties of those two languages, or just some negative
emotional associations I have concerning my own native language.
But it's interesting that Hungarian that's a very distant relative
of Finnish, sounds awful to me. Actually one of the "ugliest"
languages I know. Well, perhaps mainly because of a couple of
exceptionally ugly vowels. And furthermore, I believe Hungarians
are rather suicidal, like Finns, too.


> >
> I suspect Barry is just f'ing around on this one- to negate the 
> teaching of name and form is pretty rediculous. Reminds me of an 
> experiment I did for my high school science fair, where I placed a 
> sheet of metal covered with iron filings on top of a speaker and 
> then by playing different frequencies through the speaker, different 
> patterns were formed by the filings. Different frequencies, 
> different effects. Same reason we like different kinds of music, and 
> Barry brings up his musical preferences here, so why is not all 
> music the same for him? Nah, he's jerking your chain...
> 
> On the other hand, if he is being serious, it is a case of him being 
> seduced by the waking state mind and the ego, whereby transcendent 
> experiences are ascribed to one's self. Transcending becomes 
> something *special* that we are exquisitely mindful of, and rather 
> than become a way to liberation, become a method for further self-
> aggrandizement.
> 
> So its either BS or the other thing.
>


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