Well, the benefits of meditation have been scientifically proven. For that we no longer have to rely on opinion or even personal anecdotes. If done correctly, It will reliably improve your cognitive functions and have other health benefits in normal people.
It's nice that you can look past the varying beliefs, Steve. Sometimes we meet people with beliefs that contradict ours but we feel a connection with them somehow. The people I mentioned in my post are obviously not the average Joe in terms of their state of consciousness. Again, they say they are "done" and I don't feel it's my place to argue with them on that. One lady is named Nancy Neithercut who you can look up on YouTube (to see what I mean).
She is a atheist and physicalist, even though she doesn't use that philosophical last term. That's what her beliefs add up to. She doesn't believe in souls, reincarnation, or anything remotely like that. She says there is a physical world and it's the only world there is. She describes enlightenment as a shift in the brain which, when it dies, annihilates you whether you're "enlightened" or not.
"Sometimes we meet people with beliefs that contradict ours but we feel a connection with them somehow."
I remember the strong connection I had with a friend who was a very good astrologer.I remember talking to her and her son one day and the idea of Maya and cosmic illusion. They laughed at me and thought my ideas were nuts.
Whenever I brought up the idea again they just laughed hilariously.
I looked up Nancy to get a clearer picture of what you are describing. What interests me more is the lenses of perception that u have an affinity seeing thru. It is different then my own though I feel a remote connection to it. You even described this feeling of 'connection' we have with others even though it seems in contradiction to our own views. It often takes time to see thru the lens of another persons views and to understand what brought them down this road. Comet told me recently that it takes some getting used to....to get used to the color of the present forum (pink).I could not disagree..it is somewhat like walking in another room that may have different lite level...different sounds....different temperature.etc. Yet maybe we have to expose ourselves to different people and phenomena....Quite often just the rite people and circumstances open up to us to broaden our views and expand our spiritual awareness. That is what I see happening in my own life.
With u...the best way I can describe it .... is philosophy and the times of the Greeks. i recognize the advantage of seeing thru the minds and experiences of others. It often adds another helpful look at reality and to b able to see thru our own self created realities. I believe that it is a great mistake to suddenly turn people and ideas off because I have the answers and others just do not know our are not sufficiently spiritual to know. It truth...it may b that they took a journey quite unlike our own and have 'seen' some very different phenomena then myself. At times there is this sudden opening of awareness because of remaing open to the views and experiences of others. Perhaps this y we r exposed to such people that come into our lives. It is not easy to look beyond the views we hold sacred...but it may b our salvation to get beyond who we 'think' we are.
