--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
Thanks for this link. It doesn't seem to me that this is more than
the a priori claim that I used to make as a teacher, that TM is
different from any other meditation. What is the sample size that Fred
is claiming represents all other practices of meditation that he has
studied in this way? If his claim was correct it would really matter
who he chose, how long they had practiced. Can you imagine the fuss
that would be made if an anti TM advocate chose me as the TM guy in
the study? So for all I know he choose the village idiot of Tibetian
meditators to prove his point.
He chose the most touted study on Buddhist meditation, where the monks had
practiced
their technique for up to 50,000 hours over a period of decades...
His conclusions about what this different activity in the brain means
is right out of MMY's play book. I don't know if this is the accepted
interpretation of what such activity means or if there is universal
consensus on these points. His conclusion about how this will effect
us after meditation is just an old MMY claim. I just don't buy that
this has been studied with enough other groups to know this. I am
having trouble seeing this as real science rather than advocacy
marketing playing on the public's lack of familiarity with neuro
science.
I've run into researchers on Zen meditation who have speculated that satori is
based on
what Fred says is the case during TM. However, the Zen meditator-researchers
say that it
is a very rare occurance. As all TMers know (or at least many do), samadhi is
quite
common during TM: it doesn't matter--go back to meditating.
I don't doubt that TM has some benefits. I do doubt that they are
substantially different from other passive relaxation practices. Most
people seem to drop TM just as they do most self help programs and
techniques. If it was so superior it seems like it would have more
staying power.
Why? most people want isntant effects. Other meditation practices DO provide
instant
effects. You get the feedback of kundalini rising, or flashes of bliss, etc.
I've no doubt that
the SSRS techniques work in that they make you feel really good really fast.
But is that
enlightenment, or Just Another Buddha To Kill?
I will watch some of the other videos.Is there one comparing TM to
hypnosis?
Why would there be? The TMO doesn't sponsor such research.
And do a pubmed search on the physiology of hypnosis. Generally, you either
find no
consistent effect OR you find effects rather different from TM.
Certainly, there's no report of TM-like samadhi ala breath suspension or
thalamic activty
reduction.
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