Meditation

* "Does Something Smell Bad?"
A commentary on the recent flu vaccine debacle

Mad cow in America?

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On: Meditation (Part 1)

Meditation promises volumes of benefits for both the lay-person and those seeking higher self improvement.

It has brought me insight and personal / psychological development since I began the practice at the age of 10.

What? 10 years old and meditating?

I'm a baby boomer who remembers when Bruce Lee was Kato, "side-kick" to the Green Hornet. It was around that time when I undertook the study of martial arts seriously.

Along with professional instruction, I read tons of books. Many spoke of "centering" your Chi and the flow of vital force through one's body, below the naval, as you kicked and punched. Kiai! literally means "unify the vital spirit or energy".

Only later did I realize more formal aspects of meditation via TM, Kabalah, Merkabah, etc.

Beyond Stress Relief

The autogenics training course was designed by Johannes Schultz who studied deep meditators and Yogis during their moments of most profound meditative depths. As explained there, Dr. Schultz recorded common responses. Approaching this phenomenon from the angle of auto-suggesting these same responses, the result was a surprisingly simple exercise which mimics the physiology of deep meditation.

These methods have even been recommended by doctors across Europe.

The neuro-science behind these states has also been popularized over the past few decades with beta, alpha, theta and delta brainwave patterns becoming common parlance.

But to relegate meditation to a mere "relaxation response", as profound as this is, misses grander possibilities inherent in humanity which meditation makes accessible.

From Awakened Mind's - Insight CD, Learning Strategies - Euphoria program, Hemi-sync, HoloSync, Brainwave Generator and the whole gamut of mind machines from biofeedback devices and light / sound machines all the way to flotation tanks... it has become easy to generate the mechanics of meditation.

Years of monastery seclusion to practice the "proper" technique for experiencing these states has been made obsolete through modern technology. This leaves us free to carry on with the higher stages of the practice.

Higher Meditation

As our friend Peter Shepherd says in Transforming The Mind, "Work in these dimensions will significantly reduce background tension and... enhance an individual's abilities both in comprehension and in the capacity for action. Although this constitutes a very effective course, the new freedoms are freedoms within a reality bound by constricting belief systems. In short, one may become a better business person, or a better housewife, but may still not have questioned the validity of these roles.

"[Work] on these upper levels... is concerned with shifting paradigms and acquiring greater potential freedom within an unbounded reality. The aim is to achieve independence in the unified field of life... to be [a] knowing creator of one's beliefs rather than unknowing effect of imposed beliefs (the cultural trance)."

You'll lessen the "time" between desire and its manifestation, slow and reverse the aging process... to the point of conscious immortality -- meaning that when "the transition" takes place, we retain our awareness and memory throughout the process... thus "conquering" death itself.

Ultimately, the lives we live are where the results of these practices manifest. To experience our lives as living meditations... with peace and power and strength, lie in unifying with our cosmic environment.

We enter unitary states, not just to be blissed-out (TV does enough of that), but to access that level of the psyche where the "Great Work" can begin.

Before I finalize the section of the main site on the topic of meditation, I'd like your input. What would you like answered in such a section?

Generating energy for our evolving consciousness is the goal of refined methods of meditation. These methods include sex transmutation, excellently revitalized via Marnia's "Ecstatic Exchanges". "; fasting - thus releasing energy within our bodies and raising it for the purpose of higher pursuits, and various practices of "releasing" old patterns, exemplified nicely in the Sedona Method.

Timing of these activities for maximum interaction with the forces of our (local) cosmos, also accelerates our evolution.

Yes, most programs recommend daily meditation. But at precise times of the month and year, meditation takes on special characteristics and we do well to practice with a more "ceremonial" aire.

Break out the candles, incense, rituals etc. Pursue those mild "deprivations" of orgasm and ("human") food, emphasizing to our "other-than-conscious" selves our desire to partake of the nectar of immortality... the wine of the wise.

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The following piece is actually a week old, but I found it thought provoking and thought you might too...
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Does This Smell Bad?

You've probably heard the news by now: Doctors are running low on flu vaccines and are expected to run out completely before the flu season winds down. In one of the TV reports I saw, the commentator asked, "How could this happen?" And I had to laugh. How could it happen?

Hmmm... let's put on our thinking caps and try real hard to figure it out. Could it possibly be because nearly every TV news broadcast for the past month has been saying that this will be the worst flu season in years and everyone needs to drop what they're doing - RIGHT NOW! - and go get a flu shot?

Making this news all the more dire is the fact that the final drop of flu vaccine has already been shipped out, so once the vaccine supply is used up, no more vaccine can be produced until next year. But before you barricade yourself in your home, vowing to stay safe inside until the flu season has passed, rest assured that there JUST HAPPENS to be an alternative to the dwindling vaccine supplies.

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Come and get it!
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Remember FluMist? It's the nasal-spray flu vaccine I first told you about in the e-Alert "Nose Candy" (7/8/03). Unlike the conventional flu shot, which contains inactivated flu strains, FluMist contains three living flu strains. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) calls FluMist "live attenuated influenza vaccine" or LAIV. In other words, the three strains are diluted. They're alive as you or me, but watered down.

Now - a show of hands - how many would feel comfortable inhaling not one, not two, but THREE LIVING flu strains? Not too many, is my guess. Which is probably one of the main reasons why ABC News has described sales of FluMist as "disappointing." Disappointing so far, anyway.

According to the Washington Post, the CDC gave FluMist a nice little boost last week when a statement was released "reminding" the public that FluMist is an appropriate alternative to the flu shot for those who are both healthy and between the ages of 5 and 49. Then on Monday, CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding made appearances on several national news broadcasts (including ABC and CNN) and mentioned that a large supply of FluMist is still available.

Now is it just me and my cynical streak, or does it seem somehow to be a very, let's say "interesting," coincidence that the country has been plunged into this supposedly dire emergency of vaccine shortage in the same year that a major new vaccine product is launched? No one I know has said they haven't been able to get a flu shot. And I haven't read about any doctors turning away patients who have requested a shot. But if the CDC says the supply is low, then I suppose the supply is low. And if the CDC says that the supply of FluMist is high, then I'm sure the supply is high.

What Dr. Gerberding didn't mention is that FluMist costs more than twice the amount of the flu shot. And because of this much steeper cost, many insurance companies won't offer coverage for FluMist. But that's only part of the FluMist problem.

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Pig in a poke
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As I stated in the July e-Alert, there's a long list of potential problems with FluMist, but one of the key problems is the fact that those who decide to sniff living viruses into their heads instantly become infected by the flu. The immune system then responds by creating more antibodies that, in theory, will fight off any full-strength flu strains that might come along. But in the meantime, there's a possibility that those who are recently FluMisted could be (I'll bet you already guessed it) contagious!

Nice. Just what we need in the middle of a supposed flu epidemic: more contagious people running around.

Of course, the makers of FluMist (MedImmune, a subsidiary of the drug giant Wyeth) play down the possibility of their product spreading the flu, stating that only a very small percentage of FluMist users will actually transmit a virus. Nevertheless, according to a report in Knight-Ridder Newspapers, the CDC cautions those who get a FluMist vaccine to stay away from people with vulnerable immune systems, such as the elderly or those struggling with diseases, for one week. But is one week long enough? Some hospitals are telling their personnel to allow three full weeks between their FluMist vaccine and contact with hospital patients.

Why the discrepancy? My guess is that this is such a new vaccine that no one really knows the parameters yet. Nevertheless, the CDC seems to be going out of their way to help MedImmune move their struggling product.

Add to that; the CDC web site states: "The optimal time to receive influenza vaccine is usually in October or November." So if they're using the same calendar I'm using, we're already 10 days past the optimal usage period.

And add to that; the people who supposedly need a flu vaccine the most - the elderly, and those with immune system diseases - shouldn't be taking FluMist at all. The FDA hasn't approved it for them. So the CDC is pressing those who are least vulnerable to the flu to run out and get a snootful of this expensive and relatively untested product, even though it's almost two weeks past the optimal timing for the vaccine to even work!

Does any of this smell bad to you?

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