The potential of the human soul.

[ANDY-J]

Using yoga techniques,certain Bhuddist monks can control their body's metabolism to such an extent that they are able to survive nights on a freezing mountainside and suffer no ill effects.They achieve this by channeling their inner energies to burn away 'improper thinking'.A common thread runs through religious prayers and secular practices such as autogenic training and transcendental meditation.They all produce a calm state in those who practice them-by means of the attainment of a repetitive focus and a passive attitude towards intrusive thoughts.Religious commitment is consistently associated with better health and the reason for this is faith.What form an individuals religious beliefs takes is of no importance.The key is that they believe in an omnipotent and infallible power.We can deny the existence of God however we cannot reject the emotional and physical solace of religious faith.The most profound medicine there is is positive thought.Each and every individual possesses a dynamic soul with an infinite capacity for spiritual growth and development.Few people ever realise their potential for growth.They allow their minds to be dominated by meaningless materialistic values and flawed religious doctrines.The key to success and happiness in life lies not in material wealth-it lies in faith and belief in yourself and God.Believe in something good if you can.Or even better believe in something better than anything you can fathom.



Source-Timeless healing;Herbert Benson MD.

[peresophone]

ok andy j i see well yes it is true that a person
can relax to the point of doing such things. but the buddhist also believe in much more they are not stable in one good they believe to many things. but it nice to see you r fascinted by this trust me i like knowing of many things to so i thought i should just reply.
good day or good night(smile)

[talbert]

ANDY-J
I, myself, am a Christain who's not affraid to seek other's truths. Lately, I've been reading "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama and Howard C Cutler. I'm so thrilled to be growing in a direction of one-ness as opposed to seperate-ness (which many religions thrive on). I've not meditated as of yet... unless you count driving down the road and then wondering how I got from point A to pont B (scary, huh). Anyway, do you have any good recommendation book-wise?

[ANDY-J]

Talbert,
The source for my text was a book called 'timeless healing' by herbert Benson and I would thoroughly recommened it.Benson relates many examples of instances where people have overcome seemingly impossible odds to recover from illness and injury simply through the power of faith.He provides many examples of Bhuddist monks performing superhuman feats of endurance by controlling their bodies metabolism through thought.Also he provides startling cases of patients who have simply died of shock after an accident yet had not suffered any form of life threatening physical injury.He also provides some very convincing statistics with regard to his personal experiences of the 'placebo effect' and seems to prove that those who adhere to religious faith-regardless of denomination-live longer,more fulfilling lives than those who believe in nothing.He provides very convincing arguments to support the notion that each human being has an immense depth of untapped spiritual energy that we can access through the power of positive thought.His conclusion is that regardless of whether God exists it is our 'faith' in the existence of some omnipotent being which creates a positive outlook which has real benefits in terms of our physical and emotional well being.I don't agree with all of his assertions yet his book certainly provides a lot of food for thought.

[talbert]

Boy, you're thorough. Thanks for taking the time to address my thoughts. I'll check Benson's work out. Later

[talbert]

ANDY-J,
Just a note. I'm listening to a tape by Dr. Andrew Weil. This tape is getting me started in my meditation practice. He recommends focusing on the breath (the breath is the connection between the physical and the spiritual). I can handle this method.... I'm breathing in.... and ...out.
Times like these (war) it is coming in handy.

[Josef]

Good to hear of others meditating....dont aim for major body control...get to the peace first and just stay there awhile.
Books...Try 'You don't have to sit on the floor'...by Jim Pym...isbn 0-7126-0447-2
or...if you're serious...'Samatha Meditation'..Gen Lamrimpa...isbn 1-55939-006-9