TurquoiseB wrote: > Everyone opened their eyes to realize that they'd > been sitting in samadhi for over an hour *by > themselves* with no "outside assistance." > It doesn't usually require any assistance to sit in a crowd of people with your eyes closed, especially if you're bored stiff. But I'd say that if someone got "zapped" then that would certainly indicate they got SOME "outside assistance". > What is the conclusion that one might draw from that? > That they were in a hypnotic, self-induced trance-state?
> That one can "get there" on one's own. > And if, as you say, they got no outside assistance, then why would they need a teacher? And why would you give Freddy tens of thousands of dollars? > And, now, having had an extended experience of what > samadhi is like, one might be able to recognize it when > it appears in one's own meditation, unlike those TMers > who still say after ten or fifteen years, "I don't > know if I've ever transcended." > I've never met any TMers, of ten or fifteen years, who said "I don't know if I've ever transcended", and I've met and talked with thousands of TMers. Most people if they fail to transcend quit the practice after a few days, not years. > (Don't bristle...I was a TM teacher...I've > heard that line spoken to me by hundreds of meditators.) > Maybe they didn't get checked very often. > The "zapping" is not a goal in itself, although admittedly > there are people in the world stupid enough to consider it > one and to flit from teacher to teacher like a druggie > doing the rounds of the local dealers. > Sort of like you have been doing all your adult life? > Done properly, it's part of a larger method of instruction. > The first part is instruction in how to meditate oneself. > The next part is a "vision of possibilities," being shown > what the established goal of this particular meditation > (samadhi, the fully conscious thoughtless state) is *like*, > and the third part is one's daily meditation, as one works > at being able to realize the goal more often and for longer > periods of time. > Maybe so, but I've never promised anything like "enlightenment" in 5-7 years like you did. I've simply pointed out that transcending is the greatest relaxation technique on the planet. > Don't try to judge it by TM standards. Maharishi *can't* > offer step two, so he doesn't. What he does offer (step one) > may be of value and you may prefer it, but to compare the > two methods is like comparing apples and oranges. > Maybe so, but you've been saying for over ten years, getting "zapped" is "no big deal".
