Responses to Meditation Questions

[ellie76]

Nicely done Ta-tsu-wa, great effort. I just read it (a quick glance to tell the truth, since right now I'm at work ) and it's really very helpfull. I would like to ask your permission to print it please, so I can read it over as many times as can (hopping something will stick inside my blonde head ), without being constrained by the need to use my PC.

[GilesC]

Originally Posted by ellie76

Nicely done Ta-tsu-wa, great effort. I just read it (a quick glance to tell the truth, since right now I'm at work ) and it's really very helpfull. I would like to ask your permission to print it please, so I can read it over as many times as can (hopping something will stick inside my blonde head ), without being constrained by the need to use my PC.

Well I hope he doesn't mind people printing it off. I did, so I could read it in bed.
I think anyones concern would be if material were printed off and published elsewhere, especially for someone's own financial gain, but I'm sure if it's for your own use then Ta-Tsu-Wa will be ok with that... I know I would be.

Hugs

Giles

[Ta-tsu-wa]

Originally Posted by ellie76

I would like to ask your permission to print it please, so I can read it over as many times as can (hopping something will stick inside my blonde head ), without being constrained by the need to use my PC.

By all means, feel free. I'm no attorney (I leave that to my lovely wife) but I'd guess comments posted to message boards are probably automatically entered into the Public Domain unless the board's TOS contains a specific provision to the contrary.

In any event, print to your heart's content. I seriously doubt that anything I've written is original anyway. If you hunted around you would almost certainly find someone else who'd previously expressed ideas similar to mine and probably did a better job of explaining the concepts, too.

[GilesC]

Originally Posted by Ta-tsu-wa

By all means, feel free. I'm no attorney (I leave that to my lovely wife) but I'd guess comments posted to message boards are probably automatically entered into the Public Domain unless the board's TOS contains a specific provision to the contrary.

Legally speaking, generally the copyright remains with the person who created the material (i.e. yourself in this case), but you have given permission by proxy to the website to store and display it in public. It would be illegal for anyone to copy it to their own website or publish it via other means without your permission, unless the T&C of this website had specifically stated otherwise upon your joining, which I don't believe it does.

Hugs

Giles

[ellie76]

Thanks guys, both of you. You made me smile for the first time today (not a good day at all). Oh and Ta-Tsu-Wa, yes I could've searched around the world as you say. The point it's not if the idea is original or not. All that values is your effort to make it simple and understandable, your desire to help the others. Yeah I could have found a destination, but I'd miss the journey towards it

Hugs

[michael.i]

Thank you Ta-Tsu-Wa, this a clean and clear cut. You have just expanded my awareness and peception of meditation. I will print and keep this where I can reach and read and reread it many times.

Again thank you.
Michael

[ru123th]

I want to congratulate you for your sincerity and honesty,now with feet on the groung I think people will reap the benefits of meditation more and more and will realize that any entertaiment is just an aid to accomplish statres that are inherent not only to humans but all any linig creature and will thus enjoy and be able to progresively enter into those states at will with the help of their own inner being,of course entertemeint makes it fun also, so I hope many do use life flow, as it is nice ,the sounds which are around nature allows to make the connection so much fun, thank you and congratulations AGAIN. LOTS OF LOVE RUTH

[Imagineallthepeople]

Thank you for your insights in meditation. As a very inexperienced meditator, I should find these quite helpful. These insights are worth sharing with others and well worth people's time to sit down and really study and think about them.

As to your mention of secular humanists and atheists...I understood you to indicate that it takes a belief in a god or divine intelligence to have increased "oneness" and richness of life and less fear of death.

I define atheism simply as "without god/s". In short: for an atheist, there IS no god. This is not to say there is no realm beyond that which is accessible to the 5 senses. The universe is richer in dimensions than we've been able to imagine at certain points in human evolution. But through history we've continued to discover new realms, inspite of the obstacles of philosophical/political/religious dogmas.

#1, there are some of us atheists that DO feel a deep connection with all things. #2, some atheists DO experience relationship with an intelligent Universe (mostly in a Spinozan sense). #3, most of us definately do NOT rely upon dogma and quite frankly do NOT feel any need for it. #4, there ARE atheists in foxholes and no, we have no reason to fear death. Death is simply part of life and the common human experience of it to an atheist makes life all that more precious. Whether or not there is life after death...well, we'll know when we get there, won't we? Certainly there is no harm in hoping that there is a nice afterlife...but, I'm not holding my breath! #5, yes, there are those of us atheists that DO experience a great appreciation for and sense of relationship with others. I'm a caregiver for the elderly and people with disabilities. And I care greatly for them, even when they manifest abusive behaviors. I also love my parents regardless of their physical abuse of me as a child. My love is unconditional.

Kind Regards, ImagineAllThePeople

[Marquis]

Thanks so much for pulling all these threads together - great and inspiring reading.

I came across (and subscribed to monthly downloads from) Lifeflow in August 2010 and am currently on Lifeflow4. I had many misconceptions about what Lifeflow on its own would do for me. I had never meditated before and somehow got the impression that listening to the tracks daily for 40 minutes would be the same as meditation. Michael's marketing material is very persuasive and phrases along the lines of "experience blissful sensations within 8 minutes" and "enter the same brainwave state as someone with 20 years of meditation experience" had me hooked. If there was material available advising me to meditate at the same time, I skipped it or missed it or forgot it in my rush to try out Lifeflow 10...

I wish I had read your post when I started, because I think I would be further along the journey by now. When I first listened, I expected to be transported into some realm of consciousness that was very different to "normal" and be meditating without realising it - in fact, I would usually just fall asleep or, on occasions, just follow the racing thoughts in my head. I would finish the session feeling relaxed but convinced that I wasn't fully "getting it" yet. I believe I am now calmer on a day-to-day basis than before - and that is just by listening passively to Lifeflow with no attempt at meditation.

Reading this thread has reassured me that my "efforts" have not been wasted, I have been "priming the pump". What I intend to do now is try to meditate - both with & without entrainment. And I will stick with Lifeflow 3, 2 & 1.

Thanks again!

[Rongo]

Basically, many so-called "brainwave programs" and "audio meditation entrainments" may work or not depending on personal state of the person, his mind, biology, conditioning, etc. Often people rely on some "automated" technique not wanting themselves to apply some effort of a thought to improve their situation, which is a sign of inmaturity and unwilingness to take a responsibility for your life. If you look at basics of the meditation in eastern traditions, you'll see that they always put stress on personal effort in attaining liberation. Even Buddha himself said that "you are the only one who can save yourself, no one else can do it but you".

Our "technology" oriented society offers too much "automations" which make people dependable and looking for a "magic pill" somewhere outside of their own, which is a mistake. We need to understand deep meaning of meditation and our own psyche in order to achieve any feasible success in this area. While some "audio entrainments" may be of help, we should never rely on them totally and better base our hopes on personal enquiry and experience in meditation, along with studying some basics that came to us from ancient times.