From: farris@ruhets.rutgers.edu (Lorenzo Farris)
Newsgroups: alt.self-improve
Subject: Re: more questions about meditation
Date: 26 Jan 93 03:23:55 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

In article <1993Jan25.050644.12322@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>, radinsky@spot.Colorado.EDU (Wayne Radinsky) writes:
> Hello -- the "anxious puppy"  here.   I  asked  about meditation a few weeks
> ago...  some replys were posted but I didn't have  a  chance to reply before
> they dissappeared from my site.
> Somebody (was it Lazlo or  Lorenzo  or  some other guy?)  was saying that it
> removed things that you knew about yourself that you picked up from parents,
> school, etc... and I want to ask about that.
> Does it make you "younger" mentally? (Is this similar to how people claim TM
> slows aging)?
> Does it make you less afraid to change things about yourself (because you're
> afraid what others will think)?
> Does it make it easier or harder to learn?
> Can you meditate when you're tired?  Can you meditate when you're sick?
> Could the people who responded mail me personally?
> 


One of the things it will help you with is removing conditioning, as
it is sometimes called. The best source I can suggest for the scoop on
this idea is _Prometheus Rising_, by Robert Anton Wilson.

In my form of meditation, we try to let go of, or stop, thinking. You
normally have a number of little 'thought tapes', that you repeat to
yourself over and over again. These consists of your worries, regrets,
beliefs, etc. These beliefs have normally been accepted without any
rational consideration. If you can stop thought, and stop the replay
of these tapes, you will be able to get a better perspective on what
is going on in your head, and what you want to do about it.

When you come to understand your own mind, you understand the minds of
others as well. Especially, you will come to realize their
limitations, just as you realize how you have been limited. You will
also come to understand better what it is that you really want, and
what will make you happy. It will become easy then to change, because
every positive change you make will make you happier and feel more
powerful, and less subject to the opinions of others. In this regard,
I suggest the books of Nathaniel Branden, especially _Honoring the
Self_.

As you see and think more clearly, it will be easy to let go of other
peoples anxieties, which begin to look a bit more silly. If freeing
your mind of guilt, regrets, and worries means having a younger mind,
then yes, it does that. A friend has also shown me a report where
people who meditate apparently release large quantities of an
anti-aging hormone into their blood.

It will definitely make it easier to learn, as it will develop your
powers of concentration and your clarity of mind.

You can meditate when you are tired, but you should practice a lot
when you are not tired, so you are not as likely to fall asleep.
Meditating when you are sick would certainly depend on you proficiency
as a meditator and the nature of the sickness.

I very strongly recommend finding a teacher for meditation. There is
only so much I can tell you this way, or that you can learn from a
book. I believe there should be no problem finding a teacher in
Boulder, if that is indeed where you are.

Have fun,
		Lorenzo
-- 
Happiness is just a                     ******************************
remembrance away.                       *  Lorenzo Farris            *
                                        *  farris@ruhets.rutgers.edu *
                                        ******************************
Newsgroups: alt.self-improve