And now, a few no-nonsense words from Nisargadatta, a pre-eminently practical indian shopkeeper, now deceased:
The art of meditation is the art of shifting the focus of attention to ever subtler levels, without losing one’s grip on the levels left behind. You must be energetic when you take to meditation. It is definitely not a part-time occupation. Limit your interests and activities to what is needed for you and your dependents’ barest needs. Save all your energies and time for breaking the wall your mind had built around you. One begins with the lowest levels: social circumstances, customs and habits; physical surroundings, the posture and the breathing of the body; the senses, their sensations and perceptions; the mind, its thoughts and feelings; until the entire mechanism of personality is grasped and firmly held. The final stage of meditation is reached when the sense of identity goes beyond the ‘I am-so-and-so’, beyond ‘so-I-am’, beyond ‘I-am-the-witness only’, beyond ‘there-is’, beyond all ideas into the impersonally personal pure. At the end of your meditation all is known directly, no proofs whatsoever are required. Just as every drop of the ocean carries the taste of the ocean, so does every moment carry the taste of eternity.
Dr Mitteldorf should stop with the eastern mystical mumbo jumbo forthwith and stick to science. Try the seance for example for repeatable anomalous phenomena. Why does the low light ambience foster sub-conscious interconnectivity? Is the glass being led by one person, as orthodoxy insists without evidence, or is there a group connection? Can the finger forces be measured and correlated with changes in direction etc.
Fair enough -- thanks for the feedback. I have other outlets for mystical writing, and maybe my Substack readers are more interested in the edges of scientific discovery which are my principal focus here.
I am convinced that there are anomalous powers of mind that cannot be explained within the framework of accepted physics, and that physics will have to expand to accommodate the findings of (for example) Robert Jahn and Dean Radin. So I will continue to cover these anomalies and corresponding theoretical suggestions toward accommodating them.
But I agree, advice about how to meditate and incorporate your self-awareness into everyday life is outside the scope of this blog, and I will create another site for that.
The battle becomes seeing all this war with Russia and Open Borders as Maya, or illusion which will vanish as we become "enlightened" and generating the motivation to "change" a corrupt and decadent world all around us. Balance is important, but so is waging all-out war on those who would extinguish our life force.
I want to end the violence as much as you do, but somehow "war against war" doesn't seem the right paradigm. We must heal fears and dissolve violent impulses, rather than defeating the bad guys. As Charles Eisenstein says, if we assess the forces arrayed against us and the resources at our disposal, the logical conclusion is hopelessness. We will co-create a peaceful world, but not by dint of greater numbers or stronger force. We're dependent on grace or magic or miracles or entrainment with a larger power than we can understand.
And now, a few no-nonsense words from Nisargadatta, a pre-eminently practical indian shopkeeper, now deceased:
The art of meditation is the art of shifting the focus of attention to ever subtler levels, without losing one’s grip on the levels left behind. You must be energetic when you take to meditation. It is definitely not a part-time occupation. Limit your interests and activities to what is needed for you and your dependents’ barest needs. Save all your energies and time for breaking the wall your mind had built around you. One begins with the lowest levels: social circumstances, customs and habits; physical surroundings, the posture and the breathing of the body; the senses, their sensations and perceptions; the mind, its thoughts and feelings; until the entire mechanism of personality is grasped and firmly held. The final stage of meditation is reached when the sense of identity goes beyond the ‘I am-so-and-so’, beyond ‘so-I-am’, beyond ‘I-am-the-witness only’, beyond ‘there-is’, beyond all ideas into the impersonally personal pure. At the end of your meditation all is known directly, no proofs whatsoever are required. Just as every drop of the ocean carries the taste of the ocean, so does every moment carry the taste of eternity.
"Not a forced quietude, but a course of action that is not founded in any purposeful motive or striving." -- Jason Gregory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuDY8m72tgk
Very interesting. I can’t help but think also *doing without doing* is being in the FLOW (of whatever you are doing). Much to ponder here. Thankyou!
Deep stuff. To do nothing is a conscious decision- totally.
A paradox is intended to break your mind.
Dr Mitteldorf should stop with the eastern mystical mumbo jumbo forthwith and stick to science. Try the seance for example for repeatable anomalous phenomena. Why does the low light ambience foster sub-conscious interconnectivity? Is the glass being led by one person, as orthodoxy insists without evidence, or is there a group connection? Can the finger forces be measured and correlated with changes in direction etc.
Fair enough -- thanks for the feedback. I have other outlets for mystical writing, and maybe my Substack readers are more interested in the edges of scientific discovery which are my principal focus here.
I am convinced that there are anomalous powers of mind that cannot be explained within the framework of accepted physics, and that physics will have to expand to accommodate the findings of (for example) Robert Jahn and Dean Radin. So I will continue to cover these anomalies and corresponding theoretical suggestions toward accommodating them.
But I agree, advice about how to meditate and incorporate your self-awareness into everyday life is outside the scope of this blog, and I will create another site for that.
The battle becomes seeing all this war with Russia and Open Borders as Maya, or illusion which will vanish as we become "enlightened" and generating the motivation to "change" a corrupt and decadent world all around us. Balance is important, but so is waging all-out war on those who would extinguish our life force.
I want to end the violence as much as you do, but somehow "war against war" doesn't seem the right paradigm. We must heal fears and dissolve violent impulses, rather than defeating the bad guys. As Charles Eisenstein says, if we assess the forces arrayed against us and the resources at our disposal, the logical conclusion is hopelessness. We will co-create a peaceful world, but not by dint of greater numbers or stronger force. We're dependent on grace or magic or miracles or entrainment with a larger power than we can understand.
Who is it, testing our resolve and faith?
However stalwart our belief in good,
There comes an apparition or a wraith
To stretch and break our spirit, if it could.
Beyond the strength we recognize, there lies
A reservoir that in the worst of times
Alone is tapped, and we in anguish rise...
How long can we endure outrageous crimes?
The future e’er is hidden from our sight,
Suspense that spices drama on life’s stage.
From deepest dark returns the brightest light,
The dawning of a blessèd peaceful age.
The ancient sage endures; to us he saith:
No effort is required of thee, but faith.
Very good article. Cultivating self-awareness is critical as we enter into clown world which overflows with chaos and confusion.