[FairfieldLife] Re: Immortality questions
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Jul 26, 2005, at 4:33 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: Just a question, inspired by my recent read of the latest Harry Potter book. I remember that a few years after I left the TM movement there was a lot of big talk in the movement about physical immortality. Immortality was the buzzword du jour. Whatever became of this fascination? I always wondered if it had anything to do with the death of Dr. Dwivedi, at the time one of the worlds leading experts on rasayana and longevity. They were promoting this immortality idea, along with this group of Vaidyas who were pasted on every bottle they sold; then he, well, died. A friend of mine, an MD, attended one of the TM Ayurveda cert. courses presided over by Chopra et al in FF. He really pushed some questions on this whole immortality trip they were trying to sell and he said basically the gist was the soul/consciousness was immortal NOT the physical body--although they contradicted that time after time in their phrasing. I imagine it sold a lot of product at the time but was dropped when someone figured out it was a law suit waiting to happen: 'hey I took amrit and PK, etc. and I'm still dying'. He commented that some of things at the course was pretty out there but esp. the tapes they were made to watch of Mahesh. He said he truly was left wondering if Mahesh was insane. I remember being shocked of that at the time, but he felt he certainly met the criteria. First of many wake-up calls. At the time, the MD's who were certified were allowed to prescribe metallic rasayanas, all listed as code names/numbers. They were supposed to--for the 7000 dollars it took for the course--refer all patients in their area to these new 'instant Vaidyas'--but it never really materialized. Thanks for your input, Vaj. I have no problem with longevity being promoted. I had a good friend who was an apprentice to a famous Chinese tonic herbalists, and a great deal of their science revolves around not only long life (tonic herbalists tend to live well into their 90s and 100s), but about enjoying that life as long as it goes on. It's the talk about physical immortality that gets me. How could *anyone* who has had a daily taste of dying (for that is what transcendence is) be in the least concerned about physical death? Death is a fear one expects to see in those who *don't* have any direct experience with eternality. When a fascination with physical immortality appears in someone who has taught meditation for decades, it kinda makes me wonder about that person's sanity as well. Unc To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Immortality questions
On Jul 26, 2005, at 7:33 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: It's the talk about physical immortality that gets me. How could *anyone* who has had a daily taste of dying (for that is what transcendence is) be in the least concerned about physical death? Death is a fear one expects to see in those who *don't* have any direct experience with eternality. When a fascination with physical immortality appears in someone who has taught meditation for decades, it kinda makes me wonder about that person's sanity as well. Not only that 'attachment to the body' is one of the kleshas Patanjali lists! To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[FairfieldLife] Re: Immortality questions
Response below. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Just a question, inspired by my recent read of the latest Harry Potter book. I remember that a few years after I left the TM movement there was a lot of big talk in the movement about physical immortality. Immortality was the buzzword du jour. Whatever became of this fascination? I remember thinking at the time that something was 'way off about this. In most of the spiritual teachings I've run into, a fascination with physicial immortality is looked upon as a *very* dangerous indicator, a sign that the person becoming fascinated with it is off track or lost in Maya. Interestingly, in the fictional wizard world of the Harry Potter books, it is looked upon the same way, as an indicator that the wizard who becomes fascinated with immortality has lost his or her balance. So...many years later, is there any talk in the TMO about physical immortality, or was that just a passing fad? And, for those who might remember, did the passing fad appear around the time of Maharishi's heart attack? I would prefer mass delusion to passing fad, but that's just my prejudice speaking. There was a rough correspondence between Maharishi's health crisis and the passing fad, but it would be difficult to document either event precisely enough to evaluate the degree of correlation. The fad was also quite clearly an outgrowth of the movement's interest in Ayurveda, and its extreme application, Kaya Kalpa (by virtue of which one is enabled to rejuvenate one's body and extend the life span). Proponents of Kaya Kalpa justify it in terms of enlightenment; ie, it's thought to be easier to maintain spiritual progress if one isn't forced to take a new body. I always thought it interesting that at the peak of this phenomenon, I seldom heard anyone mention the possibility that M was going to be around forever. His departure was assumed, but always projected to some indefinite point in the future. I also remember hearing a conversation at Revelations a few years ago when I heard some True Believers discuss M's immanent passage (meaning, within a few years). This was the first time I had heard people still in the fold talk about his death openly. Recently I have heard a few conversations where people were once again talking about immortality (as a personal expectation). These are comparatively rare these days. Living in Fairfield, especially, one can't help but be aware that the actuarial tables apply to Sidhas as much as anyone else. In fact, when you read the obits in the Fairfield Ledger, it seems that nonmeditators tend to live longer than meditators. L B S To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Immortality questions
Living in Fairfield, especially, one can't help but be aware that the actuarial tables apply to Sidhas as much as anyone else. In fact, when you read the obits in the Fairfield Ledger, it seems that nonmeditators tend to live longer than meditators.L B S-As Iron Maiden says, "Only the good die young. The evil seem to last forever." To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Immortality questions
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, L B Shriver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Living in Fairfield, especially, one can't help but be aware that the actuarial tables apply to Sidhas as much as anyone else. In fact, when you read the obits in the Fairfield Ledger, it seems that nonmeditators tend to live longer than meditators. L B S --- It could also be that there are a lot more older nonmeditators living in Fairfield than there are meditators -- which is why we see a lot of 70/80 year olds passing in the nonmeditator group -- it would appear they live longer. The meditating group does not have a lot of members in that age group - hence we don't see obits for them in the paper. But I suspect our numbers will be high in 20-30 years or so (if we haven't all left town by then). To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[FairfieldLife] Re: Immortality questions
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ffia1120 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, L B Shriver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Living in Fairfield, especially, one can't help but be aware that the actuarial tables apply to Sidhas as much as anyone else. In fact, when you read the obits in the Fairfield Ledger, it seems that nonmeditators tend to live longer than meditators. L B S --- It could also be that there are a lot more older nonmeditators living in Fairfield than there are meditators -- which is why we see a lot of 70/80 year olds passing in the nonmeditator group -- it would appear they live longer. The meditating group does not have a lot of members in that age group - hence we don't see obits for them in the paper. But I suspect our numbers will be high in 20-30 years or so (if we haven't all left town by then). There are more nonmeditators than meditators in every age category. If you see more meditators in a given age group (50-60, for example) croaking, it naturally gives rise to speculation. L B S To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
