--- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com, "tarah513" <faithearden@...>
wrote:
large snip
>
> Bob --- you really got to me when you offered this:
>
> What I suggest is that you actually sit in
> meditation and see what it does for you. I expect there
> is little likelihood that you will start wearing a cross
> or a yalmulka or start treating cows as gods. What I do
> think will happen is that you will gain great insight
> into who you are and what life is all about. And these
> realizations will form a Faithe religion you can have real
> faith in.
>
>
> You infer that I do not meditate. Think about what you wrote. Think
> about the perception that one has about YOU when you offer this to them.
> EVERYONE meditates...it is as natural as breathing. What is NOT natural
> are all the guidelines espoused to others to better perfect their
> meditation.
>
Yo Faithe,
The sound of me typing causes certain musical sounds.
My fingers hitting the keys are like playing an instrument.
The result of these things doesn't really make me a musician,
does it? And since everyone makes some noise or another, does
that mean "EVERYONE" is playing music? If this analogy is
to a tune you don't like, I can understand it. But letting
your mind run wild and living totally in reaction to its
fluctuations isn't meditative and is really what is "NOT
natural". And I think there is no better thing that you can
do for your Self and everyone than share those methods and
concepts that have helped you evolve in consciousness. And
those who do are offering something similar to what a music
teacher is doing....making sweeter notes more often
available and lessening the none harmonic tonalities of life.
Peace and blessings,
Bob

Some who meditate to manage stress
(I prefer the term: manage joy) and
find peace of mind, have been known
to experience a startling revelation:

God showing up (Self-Realization,
Enlightenment, Samadhi...) - which
is an incredibly effective and
wonderful life-long stress reliever.

Reminds me of the "But Wait!"
commercials. But wait, if you
order our meditation package
right now, we'll throw in
God-Realization at no extra
charge. Just pay shipping and
handling.

Jeff

"Papajeff" <jeff@...> wrote:
>
> Some who meditate to manage stress
> (I prefer the term: manage joy) and
> find peace of mind, have been known
> to experience a startling revelation:
>
> God showing up (Self-Realization,
> Enlightenment, Samadhi...) - which
> is an incredibly effective and
> wonderful life-long stress reliever.
>
> Reminds me of the "But Wait!"
> commercials. But wait, if you
> order our meditation package
> right now, we'll throw in
> God-Realization at no extra
> charge. Just pay shipping and
> handling.
>
> Jeff
>
Yo Papajeff,
Seems like a good deal! It also works in reverse.
Sometimes people get thrown into God-Realization
and then have to readjust their stress management
to accommodate their new (and ancient) indisputable
understanding of Reality. Drug use often does this
(IE: Mescaline, Peyote, LSD, etc). Gurdjieff called
them "Stupid saints", and Meyer Baba used to go to
so called "insane asylums" to bring people out of
their transcendental states. Both would then teach
them various techniques to deal with integrating
their minds, bodies and emotions with the bliss,
visions, ecstasies, etc they were experiencing.
And then they lived truly happily (well balanced)
ever after.
Peace and blessings,
Bob

sandeep chatterjee <sandeep1960@...> wrote:
>
> With speakers on full blast and bringing in lots of patience and
> time..........invite a wandering  to....
>
> http://www.the-covenant.net/Haq%20ali%20ali.html
>

Absolutely powerfully beautiful! The urge to join in seems
irresistible, as is enjoying the joining to the power and
beauty of the Absolute. Thanks for the pointing!

The successful person in the art of living
makes little distinction between their work
and their play, their labor and their leisure,
their mind and their body, their education
and their recreation, and their love and
their religion. They hardly know which is
which, they simply pursue their vision of
excellence in whatever they do, leaving
others to decide whether they are working
or playing. To them the are always doing both.
-----------------------------------------------
From a Zen Buddhist text seen on the
Jerzee Devil (knifemaking) Forum

Dear Faithe,



--- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com, "tarah513"
<faithearden@...> wrote:

<snip>

>
> I appreciate the belief in this "ONENESS" stuff...however I don't
> believe that...not at all.


-------

Yes it is not a belief.

Belief and it's counter part aka non-belief about a particular
belief/all beliefs...

...are the same chattering of thought.

-------


I don't want to be one with all, and through
> meditation have learned that the most I can do is be myself,
understand
> myself and change myself.
>
> I am no more "one with all" than I am my father or mother. I am as
> separate from them as I am from each of you, and every other part of
> nature. I can be AFFECTED by others and nature, but I am not you, I am
> not the wind, I am not the birds, I am just me.


----------

Cool.

Now what is that "I" which was repeated so many times in that
exposition?

What or who is that "I" which is not blah blahr?

And whatever thought arises as an answer.....

....the quest remains.....

.....who is it that took delivery of that thought and believed that to
be the answer.

Very soon the quest deepens........as to who is it that is .....in this
very quest as to what is this "I"?

Viewing these pixels.....immediately thought may arise as "Oh that's a
stupid useless infinite regress and I have better things to do at the
farm".


The quest remains..........who is it that took delivery of the thought "
"Oh that's a stupid useless infinite regress blah blah.




And the taste of that which is.


Which is not an experience of a taste......... for thought ....

(and taste is just the thought of the experience of an
sensation)........

......thought  can never partake  this feast.



----------


> No, the drop of water is  no more the ocean than I am the Earth.


--------

Good.

Now forget water, Ocean, mudslides and Earth.

Who has taken delivery of this thought as that particular assertion.

What is asserted or what is negated...........is hoopla of thought.

It is of no import.

Where is the delivery taking place?

Where is the stake of ownership getting driven aground?




Can the destination be any different to the source?

Can there be anything as a separative locale as a destination?

Can there be anything as a separative locale  as a source?


---------





>
> Bob --- you really got to me when you offered this:
>
> What I suggest is that you actually sit in
> meditation and see what it does for you. I expect there
> is little likelihood that you will start wearing a cross
> or a yalmulka or start treating cows as gods. What I do
> think will happen is that you will gain great insight
> into who you are and what life is all about. And these
> realizations will form a Faithe religion you can have real
> faith in.
>
>
> You infer that I do not meditate. Think about what you wrote. Think
> about the perception that one has about YOU when you offer this to
them.
> EVERYONE meditates...it is as natural as breathing. What is NOT
natural
> are all the guidelines espoused to others to better perfect their
> meditation.
>
> I just finished reading a book - "House to House". It is written by an
> army infantryman and gives an actual account of what was incurred in
the
> battle of Fallulah in Iraq. While this soldier was fighting for his
> life, bleeding & being choked by his enemy,  looking eye-to-eye with
> each other, he is meditating! He gives a deep glimpse into his psyche
> and what was going on with him as he finally is able to reach for his
> knife and begin the long & painful death moves against the Iraqi
> insurgent. He is talking to "god". He is talking to himself, wondering
> how he is ever going to be able to live with himself after this.
>
> I challenge all of you to read this book and then site all the
glorious
> repartee of "ONENESS" and how everything is as it should be.

---------


If anything has appeared as a phenomenal event...........it could not
have been otherwise.

Including the appearance of thought as a challenge for glorious
repartee(s).

And including this very repartee.

----------


>
> I feel more and more isolated the older I get...and I do not mean this
> in a negative way. I LIKE IT.



------

A true liking of isolation......would it have a space.....for an arising
need to assert it.

Who is the other.......... in the gestalt of isolation...... to whom an
assertion can be made to.

In isolation.........can the recognition of  isolation be cognized?

It is only within the cognition of a crowd.......that the belief of
being in isolation ....exists.


---------


>
> Everywhere I go religion of one type or another is thrown out as
> explanations for all that is. I am SO SICK of the BIBLE, the KORAN and
> all the other religion  writings in the world. It is written, most
> accept it, so it must be right! It is not right for me. I look at the
> universe and realize what peabrains we really are and take that into
> consideration when whether to accept or not accept these spiritual
> writings. They are all nothing more than a means to control the people
> AND a means for people to not take responsibility for their own lives
&
> situations. Spouting off snips of writings (such as "thy will be
done")
> just turns my guts.


----------

A good workout of the guts does wonders for constipation.

-------




>
> This "source" that all talk about. Let me tell you my thoughts on THE
> SOURCE. The source is as dysfunctional as my parents (and obviously as
> dysfunctional as me) given the current state of affairs.


-------

Which assumes that current state of affairs is dysfunctional.

Rather than the definings as "Functional", "Dysfunctional" (they just
keep changing with time)

who is it that is taking delivery of the thought as the particular
defining.

------


   The source fucked up.

--------

What is wrong is some good old fucking up?

You advised above that you came to be around....

..... due to some of the same good old nookey.


And without a fucked-up Faithe, how can the fuck-up be a TOTAL Fuck-up?

:-)


------



   I envision our "source" no more than another peabrain
> seaching for its source! It was given certain rules, earned power of
> some type, and thoroughly fucked up the planet Earth with human
beings.
> It is now totally out of control (called global warming). Now if that
> isn't indication of the total mess we find ourselves in, then I don't
> know what is!


------

Why do you assume that the continued state of existence as it appears to
be...

..which includes a tiny microscopically iota of a mote of dust called
this Universe.....

..... within which appears an infinitesimally small speck of a planet...

... in which dots further infinitesimally wisps .....popularly called
humans with their issues

whether it is their breeches getting warmed up or global warming....

....why do you assume that the continued state of existence as it
appears to  be,

is a vaunted goal of any significance?



Has the appearance actually appeared in the first place?



----------



>
> We are born, we live, we die..


-----------

This is the nub.

Is there birth?
Is there living?
Is there death?

What is that apriori believed assumption .......which lends credence to
the above beliefs?



----------




>.and what grandiose schemes we have
> created to beat our chests with pride!
>
> I have shared a tiny-weeny bit with you. I have NOT shared the big
stuff
> because in doing so, I know what happens...and I just don't want to go
> through that.

> I will tell you this, there is NOTHING that I cannot learn
> if I want to - through meditation.

-----------



That which is learned or experienced..

...no matter how profound or profane the believed dimensions of the
particular learning/experience....


...is not meditation.




Laaaa Deee Dada Dada Deeee

--- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com, medit8ionsociety
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> "Papajeff" <jeff@> wrote:
> >
> > Some who meditate to manage stress
> > (I prefer the term: manage joy) and
> > find peace of mind, have been known
> > to experience a startling revelation:
> >
> > God showing up (Self-Realization,
> > Enlightenment, Samadhi...) - which
> > is an incredibly effective and
> > wonderful life-long stress reliever.
> >
> > Reminds me of the "But Wait!"
> > commercials. But wait, if you
> > order our meditation package
> > right now, we'll throw in
> > God-Realization at no extra
> > charge. Just pay shipping and
> > handling.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> Yo Papajeff,
> Seems like a good deal! It also works in reverse.
> Sometimes people get thrown into God-Realization
> and then have to readjust their stress management
> to accommodate their new (and ancient) indisputable
> understanding of Reality. Drug use often does this
> (IE: Mescaline, Peyote, LSD, etc). Gurdjieff called
> them "Stupid saints", and Meyer Baba used to go to
> so called "insane asylums" to bring people out of
> their transcendental states. Both would then teach
> them various techniques to deal with integrating
> their minds, bodies and emotions with the bliss,
> visions, ecstasies, etc they were experiencing.
> And then they lived truly happily (well balanced)
> ever after.
> Peace and blessings,
> Bob
>

Thanks, Bob. Very cool
information about Gurdjieff.
That has been a suspicion
of mine for some time, that
a fine line separates the
"insane" from the "enlightened"
and wonder about crossovers -
including my own wanderings.

One Love,

Jeff

One of my favorite daydreams
as a child was the idea of
being invisible. With extreme
stealth I would slip through
a room full of people,
apparently unnoticed.

No one spoke to me or looked
my way. Then one day, July 21,
1975 at about 9:30 in the
morning, it really happened.
I was quietly meditating and
in a flash of a moment...

I disappeared into a mist
of Unconditional Love -
never to be seen again.

Oh, you can still see my body
and hear my voice...but no
one can see "Me", or what
Ramana called the "I-I".

Just imagine the freedom
of being invisible. Nothing
in the world can threaten
or disturb. We just become
the witness of whatever
we choose.

Another one of meditation's
magic shows.

One Love,

Jeff

ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) — Near death experiences (NDEs),
reported to include sensations such as life flashing
before the eyes, feelings of peace and joy, and
apparent encounters with mystical entities, may be
caused by raised levels of carbon dioxide in the
blood. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open
access journal Critical Care investigated the unexplained
events in 52 cardiac arrest patients.
Zalika Klemenc-Ketis worked with a team of researchers
from the University of Maribor, Slovenia, to examine
patients who reported NDEs. She said, "Several theories
explaining the mechanisms of NDEs exist. We found that
in those patients who experienced the phenomenon,
blood carbon dioxide levels were significantly higher
than in those who did not."
Of the 52 patients, 11 reported NDEs. Their occurrence
did not correlate with patients' sex, age, level
of education, religious belief, fear of death, time
to recovery or drugs given during resuscitation. They
were more common in people who had previously
experienced NDEs. According to Klemenc-Ketis, "Our
study adds new and important information to the field
of NDE phenomena. The association with carbon dioxide
has never been reported before, and deserves further study."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Reprinted here for no commurcial use and thus
permitted under the Fair Use statutes

This Oneness, or the flip side, which is Everything is much like looking into
the Grand Canyon, or maybe Yosemite from Glacier Point, or high up in the Rocky
Mountain National Park or most any forest glen. There is this feeling found in
nature that has an enlightenment feeling to it. It's not really enlightenment
because that vast Knowledge of what is right is missing. This nature feeling is
not the same as where one has arrived at some puzzle about oneself found while
watching the breath and offered it up to that Knowledge. That Knowledge is
rather like a child before a parent who tells what needs to be done about some
life's problem, a needed guidance that makes life better. The point here is that
the oneness (everything) of nature and That, which comes from Grace is just a
feeling that comes from the experience. It is not the object itself. It's
nothing you can intellectually command, rather it has to be experienced.

No problem; the email status for this account has been changed to "No email". I
would like everyone to know that they can easily change their own email status
by going to their members info section. For some, a daily digest of all the
posts for the day can be sent, as well as other other choices such as no Email
notification of posts at all. When the volume of posts gets too heavy, it's
great that Yahoo has given us other options than just receiving all of the
posts. Please adjust your settings for this and every group you belong to so
that you just get what you really want. No point in having your peace taken away
from belonging to a site dedicated to helping to increase your peace!

--- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com, "mary kelly" <jeboa@...>
wrote:
>
> Please remove this e-mail address
>
>
>
> From: meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Sandeep
> Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 8:37 PM
> To: meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Meditation Society of America] Re: And now back to me...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear Faithe,
>
> --- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:meditationsocietyofamerica%40yahoogroups.com> , "tarah513"
> <faithearden@> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> >
> > I appreciate the belief in this "ONENESS" stuff...however I don't
> > believe that...not at all.
>
> -------
>
> Yes it is not a belief.
>
> Belief and it's counter part aka non-belief about a particular
> belief/all beliefs...
>
> ...are the same chattering of thought.
>
> -------
>
> I don't want to be one with all, and through
> > meditation have learned that the most I can do is be myself,
> understand
> > myself and change myself.
> >
> > I am no more "one with all" than I am my father or mother. I am as
> > separate from them as I am from each of you, and every other part of
> > nature. I can be AFFECTED by others and nature, but I am not you, I am
> > not the wind, I am not the birds, I am just me.
>
> ----------
>
> Cool.
>
> Now what is that "I" which was repeated so many times in that
> exposition?
>
> What or who is that "I" which is not blah blahr?
>
> And whatever thought arises as an answer.....
>
> ....the quest remains.....
>
> .....who is it that took delivery of that thought and believed that to
> be the answer.
>
> Very soon the quest deepens........as to who is it that is .....in this
> very quest as to what is this "I"?
>
> Viewing these pixels.....immediately thought may arise as "Oh that's a
> stupid useless infinite regress and I have better things to do at the
> farm".
>
> The quest remains..........who is it that took delivery of the thought "
> "Oh that's a stupid useless infinite regress blah blah.
>
> And the taste of that which is.
>
> Which is not an experience of a taste......... for thought ....
>
> (and taste is just the thought of the experience of an
> sensation)........
>
> ......thought can never partake this feast.
>
> ----------
>
> > No, the drop of water is no more the ocean than I am the Earth.
>
> --------
>
> Good.
>
> Now forget water, Ocean, mudslides and Earth.
>
> Who has taken delivery of this thought as that particular assertion.
>
> What is asserted or what is negated...........is hoopla of thought.
>
> It is of no import.
>
> Where is the delivery taking place?
>
> Where is the stake of ownership getting driven aground?
>
> Can the destination be any different to the source?
>
> Can there be anything as a separative locale as a destination?
>
> Can there be anything as a separative locale as a source?
>
> ---------
>
> >
> > Bob --- you really got to me when you offered this:
> >
> > What I suggest is that you actually sit in
> > meditation and see what it does for you. I expect there
> > is little likelihood that you will start wearing a cross
> > or a yalmulka or start treating cows as gods. What I do
> > think will happen is that you will gain great insight
> > into who you are and what life is all about. And these
> > realizations will form a Faithe religion you can have real
> > faith in.
> >
> >
> > You infer that I do not meditate. Think about what you wrote. Think
> > about the perception that one has about YOU when you offer this to
> them.
> > EVERYONE meditates...it is as natural as breathing. What is NOT
> natural
> > are all the guidelines espoused to others to better perfect their
> > meditation.
> >
> > I just finished reading a book - "House to House". It is written by an
> > army infantryman and gives an actual account of what was incurred in
> the
> > battle of Fallulah in Iraq. While this soldier was fighting for his
> > life, bleeding & being choked by his enemy, looking eye-to-eye with
> > each other, he is meditating! He gives a deep glimpse into his psyche
> > and what was going on with him as he finally is able to reach for his
> > knife and begin the long & painful death moves against the Iraqi
> > insurgent. He is talking to "god". He is talking to himself, wondering
> > how he is ever going to be able to live with himself after this.
> >
> > I challenge all of you to read this book and then site all the
> glorious
> > repartee of "ONENESS" and how everything is as it should be.
>
> ---------
>
> If anything has appeared as a phenomenal event...........it could not
> have been otherwise.
>
> Including the appearance of thought as a challenge for glorious
> repartee(s).
>
> And including this very repartee.
>
> ----------
>
> >
> > I feel more and more isolated the older I get...and I do not mean this
> > in a negative way. I LIKE IT.
>
> ------
>
> A true liking of isolation......would it have a space.....for an arising
> need to assert it.
>
> Who is the other.......... in the gestalt of isolation...... to whom an
> assertion can be made to.
>
> In isolation.........can the recognition of isolation be cognized?
>
> It is only within the cognition of a crowd.......that the belief of
> being in isolation ....exists.
>
> ---------
>
> >
> > Everywhere I go religion of one type or another is thrown out as
> > explanations for all that is. I am SO SICK of the BIBLE, the KORAN and
> > all the other religion writings in the world. It is written, most
> > accept it, so it must be right! It is not right for me. I look at the
> > universe and realize what peabrains we really are and take that into
> > consideration when whether to accept or not accept these spiritual
> > writings. They are all nothing more than a means to control the people
> > AND a means for people to not take responsibility for their own lives
> &
> > situations. Spouting off snips of writings (such as "thy will be
> done")
> > just turns my guts.
>
> ----------
>
> A good workout of the guts does wonders for constipation.
>
> -------
>
> >
> > This "source" that all talk about. Let me tell you my thoughts on THE
> > SOURCE. The source is as dysfunctional as my parents (and obviously as
> > dysfunctional as me) given the current state of affairs.
>
> -------
>
> Which assumes that current state of affairs is dysfunctional.
>
> Rather than the definings as "Functional", "Dysfunctional" (they just
> keep changing with time)
>
> who is it that is taking delivery of the thought as the particular
> defining.
>
> ------
>
> The source fucked up.
>
> --------
>
> What is wrong is some good old fucking up?
>
> You advised above that you came to be around....
>
> ..... due to some of the same good old nookey.
>
> And without a fucked-up Faithe, how can the fuck-up be a TOTAL Fuck-up?
>
> :-)
>
> ------
>
> I envision our "source" no more than another peabrain
> > seaching for its source! It was given certain rules, earned power of
> > some type, and thoroughly fucked up the planet Earth with human
> beings.
> > It is now totally out of control (called global warming). Now if that
> > isn't indication of the total mess we find ourselves in, then I don't
> > know what is!
>
> ------
>
> Why do you assume that the continued state of existence as it appears to
> be...
>
> ..which includes a tiny microscopically iota of a mote of dust called
> this Universe.....
>
> ..... within which appears an infinitesimally small speck of a planet...
>
> ... in which dots further infinitesimally wisps .....popularly called
> humans with their issues
>
> whether it is their breeches getting warmed up or global warming....
>
> ....why do you assume that the continued state of existence as it
> appears to be,
>
> is a vaunted goal of any significance?
>
> Has the appearance actually appeared in the first place?
>
> ----------
>
> >
> > We are born, we live, we die..
>
> -----------
>
> This is the nub.
>
> Is there birth?
> Is there living?
> Is there death?
>
> What is that apriori believed assumption .......which lends credence to
> the above beliefs?
>
> ----------
>
> >.and what grandiose schemes we have
> > created to beat our chests with pride!
> >
> > I have shared a tiny-weeny bit with you. I have NOT shared the big
> stuff
> > because in doing so, I know what happens...and I just don't want to go
> > through that.
>
> > I will tell you this, there is NOTHING that I cannot learn
> > if I want to - through meditation.
>
> -----------
>
> That which is learned or experienced..
>
> ...no matter how profound or profane the believed dimensions of the
> particular learning/experience....
>
> ...is not meditation.
>
> Laaaa Deee Dada Dada Deeee
>

Stop Being Tired
Whenever I write anything, I always give it to
my wife to proofread (I kant spel two gud). It
makes me feel very secure knowing that everything
will be just as it should. But often during
the writing itself, my inner Witness observes
my body tensing up, my mind chastising me, and
my emotions getting riled up. "I" then
order them to relax. This is an example of being
aware of inappropriate energy use/misuse. Whenever
we are doing anything, either our body, our mind,
or our emotions should be doing the bulk of the
work uninterferred with by the other two facets of our
being. If it is a physical task, just our body
should be involved. If it is a mental one, just
our mind, and if it's an emotional situation, just
our feelings. Yes, we do have to use all three to
some degree, but we should be doing it in a sensible,
appropriately balanced manner. For instance, if
you are trying to hammer a nail into a piece of wood, you
are better off if you just let your eyes and hands
do the task. If you let your thoughts or emotions
get involved, you better get ready to
put some ice on the finger you will all too
often smash.Tensing your entire body while performing
a task that only requires the use of a few muscles,
mindless mental judging, comparing, and
commenting that isn't needed, and extremes of
uncalled for emotionality are incredibly draining.
Similarly, habitual mannerisms rob you of tremendous
amounts of energy. For example, do you twiddle your
thumbs? Do you laugh a little after every statement?
Do you pull on your collar, play with your hair,
or scratch your ear even though it's not itching?
What do you do? Why do you do it?
You've probably wasted enough strength to have
moved a mountain. It's no wonder that so often
you feel tired, grouchy, and generally miserable.
The solution is to become aware of your life as it's
taking place and when you realize that you are
expending energy needlessly, stop doing it. This
is where the inner Witness comes in. There is a
consciousness, an awareness that has always been
present and is here now, that is a Witness to the
stimuli your senses react to, the mind changes
that are never-ending, and to your continual
emotional fluctuations. It is the ultimate proofreader.
The more you are at one with it, the more you are
capable of being in control of your actions and
thus able to cease doing those that are energy
draining and unproductive. And this is where
meditative technique comes in.
Meditation can be partially described as a state
of at-oneness with  the inner Witness. Whatever
method you use that works for you,  that produces
that state, is the right one. For some, it may be mantra
(repeating a word, phrase, or mystic formula),
others may do  visualization techniques, while
many find success by merging with
loving energy, and so on and so on. Sometimes
you can be in touch  just by being reminded to
be aware of your body in the present moment.
For instance, right now please check out where
your tongue is. Is it in  the middle of your mouth
as it would be if you were getting ready to talk?
Why? You're just reading. No one is going to
call on you or ask you  to make a speech. Relax
your tongue. Think of all the energy you have
been wasting over all these years by maintaining
unneeded tension on the muscles that control your
tongue. You may have started this draining
unconscious habit when you were in grade school
and realized that the  teacher might call on you
and you had better be ready to answer
promptly. Similarly, your peer group when you
were a teenager would have expected you to quickly
add to the conversations you had with them,
and your boss has shown you that your job could
be at stake relative to being able to swiftly
respond verbally to whatever is needed for business.
These and other events have led you to maintain
fatiguing physical, mental  and emotional tension.
This subconscious muscle readiness manifests in
many different ways. Rather than just discussing it,
please experience it  now first hand, and start
to do something about it…
Be aware of your hands and fingers. Are you using
any muscles that  aren't needed? Are you habitually
ready to write, type, hold a steering  wheel, or
whatever? Relax. You're probably seated now. Do you have
your legs, buttocks, shoulders, or any other body
parts tense now? Witness. Let them relax. Command
them to relax. Now witness what emotions you are
feeling. Do you detect anxiety, exuberance, or
anything in between?  Command your emotions to
relax and maintain a calm tranquility. Now, be
aware of your minds' chatter. Is it judging,
comparing, or commenting? Command your  mind to
be silent. Save your energy for things that make
you feel good, high, blissful. But to do that,
you've got to witness yourself doing these useless
things. The awareness that you are using to check all
this out is your Witness, your Real Self. By being
at one with it, you are in the position of having
real self-control and the ability to see and
cease all fatiguing, unneeded, reactive and habitual
expenditures of energy. What is needed is a consistent
method for remembering to witness. Meditating twice
a day for 20 minutes has far more than 40 minutes
worth of effect. It brings about a complete
neurological and psychological process that leads
to more and more times during the other 23 hours
and 20 minutes that you are at one with your
awareness, your Witness. It's like tilling the
soil, pulling out the weeds, and plantings seeds
in a garden. When the time is ripe, Mother Nature,
Grace, will cause the flower you are to bloom. And
you will know the blissful feeling of divine security
and experience the infinite, eternal, pure loving
consciousness that assures you that everything is
just as it should be, and you will live happily ever after.

April 11, 2010
Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again
By JOHN TIERNEY
As a retired clinical psychologist, Clark Martin was
well acquainted with traditional treatments for
depression, but his own case seemed untreatable as
he struggled through chemotherapy and other grueling
regimens for kidney cancer. Counseling seemed futile
to him. So did the antidepressant pills he tried.

Nothing had any lasting effect until, at the age of 65,
he had his first psychedelic experience. He left his
home in Vancouver, Wash., to take part in an experiment
at Johns Hopkins medical school involving psilocybin,
the psychoactive ingredient found in certain mushrooms.

Scientists are taking a new look at hallucinogens, which
became taboo among regulators after enthusiasts like
Timothy Leary promoted them in the 1960s with the slogan
"Turn on, tune in, drop out." Now, using rigorous
protocols and safeguards, scientists have won permission
to study once again the drugs' potential for treating
mental problems and illuminating the nature of consciousness.

After taking the hallucinogen, Dr. Martin put on an
eye mask and headphones, and lay on a couch listening
to classical music as he contemplated the universe.

"All of a sudden, everything familiar started evaporating,"
he recalled. "Imagine you fall off a boat out in the
open ocean, and you turn around, and the boat is gone.
And then the water's gone. And then you're gone."

Today, more than a year later, Dr. Martin credits that
six-hour experience with helping him overcome his
depression and profoundly transforming his relationships
with his daughter and friends. He ranks it among the
most meaningful events of his life, which makes him a
fairly typical member of a growing club of experimental
subjects.

Researchers from around the world are gathering this
week in San Jose, Calif., for the largest conference on
psychedelic science held in the United States in four
decades. They plan to discuss studies of psilocybin and
other psychedelics for treating depression in cancer
patients, obsessive-compulsive disorder, end-of-life
anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction
to drugs or alcohol.

The results so far are encouraging but also preliminary,
and researchers caution against reading too much into
these small-scale studies. They do not want to repeat
the mistakes of the 1960s, when some
scientists-turned-evangelists exaggerated their
understanding of the drugs' risks and benefits.

Because reactions to hallucinogens can vary so much
depending on the setting, experimenters and review
boards have developed guidelines to set up a
comfortable environment with expert monitors in
the room to deal with adverse reactions. They have
established standard protocols so that the drugs'
effects can be gauged more accurately, and they
have also directly observed the drugs' effects by
scanning the brains of people under the influence
of hallucinogens.

Scientists are especially intrigued by the similarities
between hallucinogenic experiences and the life-changing
revelations reported throughout history by religious
mystics and those who meditate. These similarities
have been identified in neural imaging studies conducted
by Swiss researchers and in experiments led by Roland
Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins.

In one of Dr. Griffiths's first studies, involving
36 people with no serious physical or emotional problems,
he and colleagues found that psilocybin could induce
what the experimental subjects described as a profound
spiritual experience with lasting positive effects for
most of them. None had had any previous experience with hallucinogens, and none
were even sure what drug was
being administered.

To make the experiment double-blind, neither the subjects
nor the two experts monitoring them knew whether the
subjects were receiving a placebo, psilocybin or another
drug like Ritalin, nicotine, caffeine or an amphetamine.
Although veterans of the '60s psychedelic culture may
have a hard time believing it, Dr. Griffiths said that
even the monitors sometimes could not tell from the
reactions whether the person had taken psilocybin or Ritalin.

The monitors sometimes had to console people through
periods of anxiety, Dr. Griffiths said, but these were
generally short-lived, and none of the people reported
any serious negative effects. In a survey conducted two
months later, the people who received psilocybin reported significantly more
improvements in their general feelings and behavior than did the members of the
control group.

The findings were repeated in another follow-up survey,
taken 14 months after the experiment. At that point most
of the psilocybin subjects once again expressed more
satisfaction with their lives and rated the experience as
one of the five most meaningful events of their lives.

Since that study, which was published in 2008, Dr. Griffiths
and his colleagues have gone on to give psilocybin to
people dealing with cancer and depression, like Dr. Martin,
the retired psychologist from Vancouver. Dr. Martin's
experience is fairly typical, Dr. Griffiths said: an improved
outlook on life after an experience in which the boundaries
between the self and others disappear.

In interviews, Dr. Martin and other subjects described their egos and bodies
vanishing as they felt part of some larger state of consciousness in which their
personal worries and insecurities vanished. They found themselves reviewing past
relationships with lovers and relatives with a new sense of empathy.

"It was a whole personality shift for me," Dr. Martin
said. "I wasn't any longer attached to my performance and
trying to control things. I could see that the really good
things in life will happen if you just show up and share
your natural enthusiasms with people. You have a feeling of attunement with
other people."

The subjects' reports mirrored so closely the accounts
of religious mystical experiences, Dr. Griffiths said,
that it seems likely the human brain is wired to undergo these "unitive"
experiences, perhaps because of some
evolutionary advantage.

"This feeling that we're all in it together may have
benefited communities by encouraging reciprocal
generosity," Dr. Griffiths said. "On the other hand,
universal love isn't always adaptive, either."

Although federal regulators have resumed granting
approval for controlled experiments with psychedelics,
there has been little public money granted for the
research, which is being conducted at Hopkins, the
University of Arizona; Harvard; New York University;
the University of California, Los Angeles; and other places.

The work has been supported by nonprofit groups like
the Heffter Research Institute and MAPS, the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

"There's this coming together of science and spirituality,"
said Rick Doblin, the executive director of MAPS. "We're
hoping that the mainstream and the psychedelic community
can meet in the middle and avoid another culture war.
Thanks to changes over the last 40 years in the social
acceptance of the hospice movement and yoga and meditation,
our culture is much more receptive now, and we're showing
that these drugs can provide benefits that current
treatments can't."

Researchers are reporting preliminary success in using
psilocybin to ease the anxiety of patients with terminal
illnesses. Dr. Charles S. Grob, a psychiatrist who is
involved in an experiment at U.C.L.A., describes it as
"existential medicine" that helps dying people overcome
fear, panic and depression.

"Under the influences of hallucinogens," Dr. Grob writes, "individuals transcend
their primary identification
with their bodies and experience ego-free states before
the time of their actual physical demise, and return with
a new perspective and profound acceptance of the life constant: change."

----------------------------------------------------------------------This is
being shared for n on-commercail purposes and thus fall under the Fair Share
statutes.

Dozens of videos of Swami Satchidananda on YouTube
http://tinyurl.com/y7yhhdn

"RELIGION AND CONFLICT"

GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES IN YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY.
THE LATEST VOLUME OF THE SPIRITUAL WEB SITE www.ahwan.org (or www.ahwan.com) :
VOLUME 109, April 2010 ISSUE,  has been published and uplinked with the article
"RELIGION AND CONFLICT"


- If you visit the site, and have any observations to make, I shall be grateful.
In this issue we have also interesting questions from readers dealing with
"Concepts of Rtam and satyam" "If jivatma nad paramatma are same why bother
about anything?", "How to know if I am in tune with Divine", "Emulating your
ishta", and "A message for navaratra"etc.
You can also browse the previous articles by clicking on the ikon `articles'.
Please share it with your friends and dear ones.  God bless you-  Sri Bimal
Mohanty. (bimal_mohanty@...)
PS – To continue spreading the benefit of AHWAN to all, we need your assistance
if you please. Click on `special information' on the homepage of www.ahwan.org.
If you do not wish to receive this information about future issues, please
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If you wish someone to receive this information as compliments from you please
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____________________

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through discussing, speaking, writing, inter-netting.

The Eight Things Need To Be Reduced

Author: The Sie Bien & Lie Ming Sen
Translated by: D. Wijaya

The eight things that have to be reduced when you
want to have a better result in practicing Taoism are:

1. Lessen envious / jealousy.
Envy is a burden for oneself and usually would
to a destructive conduct. This character has to
be eliminated.

2. Lessen criticizing others.
Lots of people does not like to be criticized,
moreover, the critics are said in front of the
public in attacking manners. Hold down and find
a wiser way out is a way to compensate those criticizing.

3. Not to show off.
Showing off will lead to arrogant. It seems like
"only I who exist, but you aren't".

4. Reduced revenge action.
Revenge is also a burden towards oneself. Especially
when it is applied to small matters. We will be
exiled from our community, not having any friends
and destroy ourselves.

5. Lessen the action of taking anything into account.
In our conduct, if we always calculate on benefits
and losses up to small matters, then how are we
going to learn and practice Taoism? Learning and
practicing Taoism needs an open mind, simplicity of
attitudes and conducts / behaviors in life, but
still have principles.

6. Not to make any trouble, not being a nuisance
or annoying others. Those are often become a disaster,
which caused a broken friendship and inharmonious life.

7. Reducing the desire of winning over.
Generally, one is still tight to wealth and fame.
If he always wants to win, this means seeking for
fame and as if he is the best, actually, he is still at beginner-level of
learning Taoism, that is
"There is only me, but no one else".

8. Reducing the feeling of being right.
Usually if considering oneself being the most
righteous, meaning he is the cleverest and others
are wrong and stupid. A person that feels being the
most righteous or the cleverest, really is the most
stupid person, or in other words; that is his
stupidity by showing off being the most cleverest.
This person is still at the stage of
"There is only me, but no one else".

By reducing your bad characters bit by bit, so it
will change your attitude from the stage of
"There is only me, but no one else" to
"I'm the first one and you are next",
until then reach the stage of
"You are the first one, I'm the next".
-------------------------------------------------------------
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This site contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not always been specifically
authorized by the copyright owner. We are
making such material available in our efforts
to advance understanding of environmental,
political, human rights, economic, democracy,
scientific, spiritual, and social justice issues,
etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use'
of any such copyrighted material as provided
for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
the material on this site is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use',
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner

Purifying the Mind

The mind is almost always impure, and it
almost always brings in uninspiring thoughts.
Even when it is not doing this, the mind is
still a victim to doubt, jealousy, hypocrisy,
fear and other undivine qualities. All negative
things first attack the mind. The mind may reject
them for a minute, but again they knock at the
mind's door. This is the nature of the mind.
The heart is much, much purer. Affection, love,
devotion, surrender and other divine qualities
are already there in the heart. That is why the
heart is much purer than the mind. Even if you
have fear or jealousy in the heart, the good
qualities of the heart will still come forward.

But again, the heart may not be totally pure
because the vital being is near the heart. The
lower vital, which is situated near the navel,
tends to come up and touch the heart center. It
makes the heart impure by its influence and
proximity. But at least the heart is not like
the mind, which deliberately opens its door to
impure ideas. The heart is far better than the
mind. And best is the soul. The soul is all purity,
light, bliss and divinity.

1. Becoming the soul

In order to purify your mind, the best thing to
do is to feel every day for a few minutes during
your meditation that you have no mind. Say to
yourself, "I have no mind, I have no mind. What
I have is the heart." Then after some time feel,
"I don't have a heart. What I have is the soul."
When you say, "I have the soul," at that time
you will be flooded with purity. But again you
have to go deeper and farther by saying not only,
"I have the soul," but also "I am the soul." At
that time, imagine the most beautiful child you
have ever seen, and feel that your soul is infinitely
more beautiful than that child.

The moment you can say and feel, "I am the soul,"
and meditate on this truth, your soul's infinite
purity will enter into your heart. Then, from the
heart, the infinite purity will enter into your
mind. When you can truly feel that you are only
the soul, the soul will purify your mind.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Much more by and about Sri Chinmoy is here:
http://www.srichinmoy.org/
----------------------------------------------------------------
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not always been specifically
authorized by the copyright owner. We are
making such material available in our efforts
to advance understanding of environmental,
political, human rights, economic, democracy,
scientific, spiritual, and social justice issues,
etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use'
of any such copyrighted material as provided
for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
the material on this site is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use',
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner

Brief Meditative Exercise Helps Cognition
ScienceDaily (Apr. 19, 2010) — Some of us need
regular amounts of coffee or other chemical
enhancers to make us cognitively sharper. A newly
published study suggests perhaps a brief bit of
meditation would prepare us just as well.
While past research using neuroimaging technology
has shown that meditation techniques can promote
significant changes in brain areas associated with
concentration, it has always been assumed that
extensive training was required to achieve this
effect. Though many people would like to boost their
cognitive abilities, the monk-like discipline
required seems like a daunting time commitment
and financial cost for this benefit.
Surprisingly, the benefits may be achievable even
without all the work. Though it sounds almost like
an advertisement for a "miracle" weight-loss product,
new research now suggests that the mind may be
easier to cognitively train than we previously
believed. Psychologists studying the effects of
a meditation technique known as "mindfulness "
found that meditation-trained participants showed
a significant improvement in their critical cognitive
skills (and performed significantly higher in
cognitive tests than a control group) after only
four days of training for only 20 minutes each day.
"In the behavioral test results, what we are seeing
is something that is somewhat comparable to results
that have been documented after far more extensive
training," said Fadel Zeidan, a post-doctoral
researcher at Wake Forest University School of Medicine,
and a former doctoral student at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte, where the research was conducted.
"Simply stated, the profound improvements that we
found after just 4 days of meditation training- are
really surprising," Zeidan noted. "It goes to show
that the mind is, in fact, easily changeable and
highly influenced, especially by meditation."
The study appears in the April 2 issue of Consciousness
and Cognition. Zeidan's co-authors are Susan K. Johnson,
Zhanna David and Paula Goolkasian from the Department
of Psychology at UNC Charlotte, and Bruce J. Diamond
from William Patterson University. The research was
also part of Zeidan's doctoral dissertation. The
research will also be presented at the Cognitive
Neuroscience Society's annual meeting in Montreal, April 17-20.
The experiment involved 63 student volunteers, 49
of whom completed the experiment. Participants were
randomly assigned in approximately equivalent numbers
to one of two groups, one of which received the
meditation training while the other group listened
for equivalent periods of time to a book (J.R.R.
Tolkein's The Hobbit) being read aloud.
Prior to and following the meditation and reading
sessions, the participants were subjected to a broad
battery of behavioral tests assessing mood, memory,
visual attention, attention processing, and vigilance.
Both groups performed equally on all measures at the
beginning of the experiment. Both groups also improved
following the meditation and reading experiences in
measures of mood, but only the group that received
the meditation training improved significantly in
the cognitive measures. The meditation group scored
consistently higher averages than the reading/listening
group on all the cognitive tests and as much as ten
times better on one challenging test that involved
sustaining the ability to focus, while holding other
information in mind.
"The meditation group did especially better on all
the cognitive tests that were timed," Zeidan noted.
"In tasks where participants had to process information
under time constraints causing stress, the group briefly
trained in mindfulness performed significantly better."
Particularly of note were the differing results on
a "computer adaptive n-back task," where participants
would have to correctly remember if a stimulus had been
shown two steps earlier in a sequence. If the participant
got the answer right, the computer would react by
increasing the speed of the subsequent stimulus, further
increasing the difficulty of the task. The meditation-trained
group averaged aproximately10 consecutive correct answers,
while the listening group averaged approximately one.
"Findings like these suggest that meditation's benefits
may not require extensive training to be realized, and
that meditation's first benefits may be associated with
increasing the ability to sustain attention," Zeidan said.
"Further study is warranted," he stressed, noting
that brain imaging studies would be helpful in confirming
the brain changes that the behavioral tests seem to
indicate, "but this seems to be strong evidence for the
idea that we may be able to modify our own minds to
improve our cognitive processing -- most importantly
in the ability to sustain attention and vigilance --
within a week's time."
The meditation training involved in the study was an abbreviated "mindfulness"
training regime modeled on
basic "Shamatha skills" from a Buddhist meditation
tradition, conducted by a trained facilitator. As
described in the paper, "participants were instructed
to relax, with their eyes closed, and to simply focus
on the flow of their breath occurring at the tip of
their nose. If a random thought arose, they were
told to passively notice and acknowledge the thought
and to simply let 'it' go, by bringing the attention
back to the sensations of the breath." Subsequent training
built on this basic model, teaching physical awareness,
focus, and mindfulness with regard to distraction.
Zeidan likens the brief training the participants
received to a kind of mental calisthenics that prepared
their minds for cognitive activity.
"The simple process of focusing on the breath in
a relaxed manner, in a way that teaches you to regulate
your emotions by raising one's awareness of mental
processes as they're happening is like working out
a bicep, but you are doing it to your brain. Mindfulness
meditation teaches you to release sensory events
that would easily distract, whether it is your own
thoughts or an external noise, in an emotion-regulating
fashion. This can lead to better, more efficient
performance on the intended task."
"This kind of training seems to prepare the mind
for activity, but it's not necessarily permanent,"
Zeidan cautions. "This doesn't mean that you meditate
for four days and you're done -- you need to keep practicing."
---------------------------------------------------------------
This article is being shared for non-commercial purposes
and thuis qualifies for use in accordanv=ce with the Fair
Use statute.

It seems that Reiki classes
are everywhere. Google.

--- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com, Mo W <rlx48mssge@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the poems, it help thoughout the day.
>
> small question would know of Reiki Masters that have training classes
starting soon for Reiki I beginners -
> I wanting expand my learning besides Massage Therapist -
>  Mo
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Papajeff <jeff@...>
> To: meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wed, March 31, 2010 6:29:03 AM
> Subject: [Meditation Society of America] Love is an arrow
>
>  
> It has been said that
> learning to love is THE
> solution to everything
> that disturbs our peace
> of mind.
>
> But we do not learn to
> love by rational choice
> or process, or by moral
> prescription.
>
> Love is an arrow that
> pierces the heart.
>
> When it hits, we die to
> an old self and a new
> Loving Self emerges.
>
> If we feel a certain
> emptiness, that the deep
> love of the poets and
> artists and romantics has
> eluded us, it is because
> we have locked our identity
> up in a prison of the mind.
>
> And the mind, the ego -
> as popularly considered,
> stands as a sentinel, and
> grabs anything that comes
> close to our conscious
> awareness and offers up
> a rational explanation.
>
> That is the only tool
> of the mind. And in its
> protective role (that we
> have given it) it catches
> any arrows of unfamiliar
> energy...
>
> but, a couple of possibilities
> (at least) exist. One, a
> stunningly beautiful person
> comes into your life and
> before the mind can react,
> cupid zings an arrow right
> on target.
>
> The other, is when you are
> meditating or completely
> absorbed in some activity -
> watching a sunrise or
> viewing a work of art, or
> any number of things...
> and the mind chatter goes
> silent.
>
> If you have been longing
> for love or peace of mind,
> especially with ardent
> desire, in this silent
> moment THE arrow of Love
> can hit...and change
> everything, everything,
> everything in your entire
> life.
>
> The old self dies and a
> new Loving Self emerges.
> There's no way to explain
> it. It must be experienced
> to be understood.. .
>
> but if the mention of it
> resonates in your heart,
> you're on the right path.
>
> One Love,
>
> Jeff
>

I just need to know how old you are and what types of meditation (or a brief
description) you use in your life? I also would like to know some reasons why
you practice meditation.


My paper is for college. Its about why and how people of this age group meditate
in America. Then i will link this research to American Buddhism in general.

All of the information gathered will be strictly confidential.

I appreciate all of your help!


Thank you!

:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjkO64vZb8U

Don'ts

Don't be self centered.
Don't try to glorify yourself in the eyes of others.
Don't praise yourself to yourself or others.
Don't boast about how high, good, generous, strong, beautiful,
blissful, courageous, wise, or loving you are.

Do's

Do witness how your mind just chattered saying
"I don't do those type things!"
Do be compassionate, selfless and humble.

Kir Li Molari

From The Telegraph (UK)
Man claims to have had no food or drink for 70 years

Indian military scientists are studying an 82-year-old
who claims he has not had any food or drink for 70 years.
Prahlad Jani is being held in isolation in a hospital
in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely
monitored by India's defence research organization,
who believe he may have a genuine quality which could
help save lives.

He has now spent six days without food or water
under strict observation and doctors say his body
has not yet shown any adverse effects from hunger
or dehydration.

Mr Jani, who claims to have left home aged seven
and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man in
Rajasthan, is regarded as a 'breatharian' who
can live on a 'spiritual life-force' alone. He
believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours
an 'elixir' through a hole in his palate. His claims
have been supported by an Indian doctor who specializes
in studies of people who claim supernatural abilities,
but he has also been dismissed by others as a
"village fraud."

India's Defence Research Development Organisation,
whose scientists develop drone aircraft, intercontinental
ballistic missiles and new types of bombs. They believe
Mr Prahlad could teach them to help soldiers survive
longer without food, or disaster victims to hang on
until help arrives.

"If his claims are verified, it will be a breakthrough
in medical science," said Dr G Ilavazhagan, director
of the Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences.
"We will be able to help save human lives during
natural disasters, high altitude, sea journeys and
other natural and human extremities. We can educate
people about the survival techniques in adverse
conditions with little food and water or nothing at all."

So far, Mr Prahlad appears to be standing up to
scrutiny. He has not eaten or drunk any fluids in
six days, and similarly has not passed urine or a stool
in that time. He remains fit and healthy and shows
no sign of lethargy. Doctors will continue observing
him for 15 days in which time they would expect to
see some muscle wastage, serious dehydration, weight
loss,and fatigue followed by organ failure.

It is common in India for Jains and Hindus to fast,
sometimes for up to eight days, without any adverse
affects, as part of their religious worship. Most humans
cannot survive without food for 50 days. The longest
hunger strike recorded is 74 days.

According to Dr Sudhir Shah, who examined him in
2003, he went without food or water for ten days in
which urine appeared to be reabsorbed by his body
after forming in his bladder. Doubts were expressed
about his claim after his weight fell slightly at the
end of the trial.

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