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Hmmmm...interesting. I agree that one needs to be careful that there isn't any afflilation/hidden agenda (!) but aside from that can't see that mediation could ever be anything but a good thing.
That said...even more important, in my mind, is what these kids are eating. It seems to me that chef Jamie Oliver in England has the right idea. He's going after the school lunch program. Parents are reporting the kids are calmer, more focused and sleeping better. Kids can meditate all day ever day but if they're starved for essential vitamins and minerals, and their omega-3 levels are at zero from all the processed "food" they're fed, not to mention the everpresent vending machines, nothing is going to change.
E.
Livingthequestions: I totally agree, meditation in and of itself is beneficial, even TM. The problems arise from the way in which the meditation method is used (abused) in order to gain the ends of the guy at the top.
I differentiate TM from other meditation methods (like Buddhist meditation) in that Mahesh, the Guru, Guy@Top, has used TM to feather his nest, his very, very expensive nest. TM (here I mean Mahesh and his organization) teaches that the nature of the mind is to go in the direction of more and more [a basic definition of greed]. Then he says that because of this, TM takes you to more and more deeper levels of the mind and in turn, you achieve more and more in life.
It sounds wonderful.
TM indeed is capable of taking one to deeper and deeper experience of mental quietness; except this causes dissociative experiences because it is not properly supported by the TM teachings. People begin to feel slightly crazy and eagerly buy (literally spend money, figuratively become more and more [that term again] convinced they must adhere to Mahesh's teachings) ... anyway, people eagerly buy into more and more of what Mahesh and his organization are selling.
The consequence is that adiction to the more-and-more nature of TM (Mahesh and his organization) becomes ingrained.
The Buddhist meditation, by way of comparison, indicates that experience in meditation must be experienced physically and mentally and seen for what it is, just as it is. The Buddha did not teach reliance upon himself but rather that his teachings pointed to liberation from suffering (from himself and his teachings as well). In other words, he taught self reliance, quite something different from what Mahesh did/is still doing.
But, yes, meditation in and of itself is beneficial.
I totally agree with you and Jamie Oliver. Food is important. Lifestyle is important -- the lifestyle of your own independent well-informed choosing, the the one imposed by the Guru-Guy@Top whose self-centred/self-serving agenda needs you to support him/her/it!
Apologies for the rant, but deciding which Guru is/is not corrupt or has an hidden agenda or is actually only interested in your personal growth and independence is a really, really, really difficult decision.
I like HH the Dalai Lama's cautionary advice: [i:da84345fee]examine your teacher, even if it takes 12 years[/i:da84345fee]