--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "Mr. Magoo" <wgm4u@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> 
> > wrote: 
> > > There are at least three. :-) 
> > 
> > Descrimination is a function of intuition, however, whatever  
> > works for you, the proof is in the puddin'. :-)
> 
> You may be right. However, in the traditions in which
> I studied the technique I describe below, they make
> a distinction between intuition (which they consider
> a mechanism based mainly on emotion) and this technique
> (which they consider a mechanism based upon discrim-
> ination). But your last phrase is right on -- what-
> ever works for you, on an ongoing basis. 
> 
> The problem with the technique I mentioned (other than 
> the obvious fact that it's not taught in very many 
> places or by very many teachers, and that it needs to 
> be taught over a period of *years* to have any real 
> value) is that it involves DOING. It's a technique and 
> an approach that appeals to those of us who believe in 
> free will and using that free will to determine the 
> "right" course of action. Plus, it only works if you 
> actually practice it; if you get lazy and forget 
> mindfulness and forget to notice your fluctuating 
> states of attention, then you gain no benefit from 
> the technique.
> 
> Such a technique is NOT going to appeal to those who
> believe that they *have* no free will and that all
> their actions are controlled by some deity or by some
> set of "laws of nature," and that thus they have no 
> control over those actions.

Whether it appeals to people who hold such a
belief wouldn't have anything to do with the
belief *unless* they misunderstood what the
belief implies. One could hold such a belief
and still find this technique appealing.

> Theoretically, a "better" approach to discerning 
> "right" action would be to "become in tune with the
> laws of nature," as Maharishi describes, and act 
> spontaneously "rightly" all of the time. Unfortunately,
> I think that most of us, having been around strong
> TMers and the TM movement and Maharishi himself for
> decades, can see that this theory doesn't seem to
> work out in practice. I don't know about you, but
> I see NO DIFFERENCE in the actions of long-term TMers
> and in non-meditators. None. Nada. Rien. Bupkus.

But you wouldn't see any difference, that's
the thing. The theory doesn't have any
implications for what actions look like in
practice.


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