Theos-Talk Archives (June 2005 Message tt00563)

June 25 2005

Dear Odin:

I think "mediation" is a tricky word Mr. Judge wrote: (Theos FORUM., pp.
116-7)



Q.:	What mental obstructions are in the way of meditation and most
frequently present?

W.Q.J.-The greatest foe and that most frequently present is memory, or
recollection. This was at one time called phantasy. 

The moment the mind is restrained in concentration for the purpose of
meditation, that moment the images, the impressions, the sensations of the
past begin to troop through the brain and tend to instantly and constantly
disturb the concentration. Hence the need for less selfishness, less
personality, less dwelling on objects and desiring them,- or sensation. If
the mind be full of impressions, there is also a self-reproductive power in
it which takes hold of these seeds of thought and enlivens them.
Recollection is the collecting together of impressions, and so it
constitutes the first and the greatest obstruction to meditation.
T F pp 116-7

This is also relevant, as Patanjali speaks of the distractions the Mind
encounters when it tries to focus in attention and mediate:


"Modern minds are always dwelling on objective modes of thought which
constantly ignore the truth that the mind is the source alike of pain and
pleasure, of punishment and reward. The Universe is a vast ideation alone,
and everywhere we must remember that the mind rules. Until the mind is free,
illusion exists on every plane. 

In Devachan and in Earth-life the illusions are equally great. Inasmuch as
the mind is the ruler, the guide, and the standard, it must happen that we
will often suppose we have been unjustly treated. Now the mere fact that we
were not does not prevent the feeling of unmerited suffering unless the
person is fully aware of the fact and accepts it. And as most of us are not
fully enlightened, we are constantly subjected to what seems unjust.
Criminals often think they have been victims of injustice. This must be
taken into account in nature, for their minds and thoughts are as much a
part of it as any other mind. Hence a large sum of suffering must exist that
is classed as unmerited. " T F p. 82


"Q.:	What finally becomes of thoughts, both good and bad, sent out by
human beings?

W.Q.J.-It has been said that "thoughts are things," an assertion with which
I am prepared to agree entirely; and I also firmly believe that the time is
not far off when their substantiality will be recognized and understood by
science more fully than at present.

A thought implies many things besides pure force exerted. If force is
exerted, then there must be that which exercises it. What is this, and what
is the effect of the exercise? When we think, it is known that there is a
disturbance or disintegration of the grey matter of the brain. But next we
must observe that there is at the same time physiological disturbance,
change, or alteration in the whole frame. 

For instance; a thought of shame or disaster or punishment may bring all
over the body a hot flush or a cold shiver; the thought of a great danger
just escaped has made men dizzy and women faint. Is there nothing in this?
Further, each thought makes a picture, save perhaps a purely metaphysical
syllogism, but even there it is difficult to escape the formulating by the
mind of some concrete illustration as the syllogism proceeds; and even in
pure mathematics it will be impossible for the thinker to prevent the rising
up of a picture of the figures used in the operation, because from youth the
numerals were impressed on his memory. 

Going on with this, we see that clairvoyants report that each thought makes
a flash or picture objective to the inner sense, and from all the
experiments in hypnotism we find that the old claim of occultism that each
thought makes a definite picture must be true. Every clear seer will confirm
this from personal experience. Still further; the astral light being a
preserver of these pictures like a photographic plate, it follows that every
thought has its picture preserved, and by that means what has been done or
is being done may be known unerringly. Therefore thoughts, while they may be
fugitive so far as concerns the thinker, are not so otherwise, but persist
as seeds for good or evil in the whole race.

But, still more, every thought leaves a seed in the mind or manas of the
thinker, no matter how fugitive the thought was. The whole sum of such small
seeds will go to make up a larger seed for thought, and thus constitute a
man of this, that, or the other general character. Thoughts, then, are
highly important, for, as the Buddha said, we are made up of thought and
built of thought; as we think, so we act and will act, and as we act and
think so will we suffer or rejoice, and the whole world with us.
T F pp 91-2

Hope this is of help


Dallas
 
=======================================

-----Original Message-----

From: Odin  
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 12:35 PM
To: 
Subject: Meditation induces high-amp gamma synchrony

Practitioners understand "meditation," or mental training, to be a
process of familiarization with one's own mental life leading to
long-lasting changes in cognition and emotion. Little is known about
this process and its impact on the brain. Here we find that long-term
Buddhist practitioners self-induce sustained electroencephalographic
high-amplitude gamma-band oscillations and phase-synchrony during
meditation.*

(see attached)

*W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior,
Waisman Center, and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department
of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison,
WI 53705; and Shechen Monastery, P.O. Box 136, Kathmandu, Nepal