Mantras can't make miracles
<b>Although meditation can help ease stress, it won't cure what really ails students, society</b>
By Lara Loewenstein
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Film director David Lynch has the answer to the itching question of how to stop school shootings forever - he's going to teach 1 million students transcendental meditation. I'm almost waiting for Tom Cruise to announce his plan to convert a second million to Scientology.
Transcendental meditation is a practice in which participants sit comfortably with their eyes closed and recite a mantra for 20 minutes, twice a day. Unlike other forms of meditation, TM is not meant to involve any form of concentration or effort other than finding the time to practice it. Courses to learn TM cost about $2,500.
It almost sounds like nap time. Expensive nap time. But the David Lynch Foundation wants to teach us. For free.
Or rather, they want to fund UCLA to teach us - he's providing the funds for schools that want to include TM in their curriculum in order to end school violence. All the schools have to do is contact him. Unfortunately, I don't think UCLA is going to take up the offer.
Unfortunate because TM does have some proven benefits - namely, reducing blood pressure and stress.
But TM is not proven to stop violence. And honestly, I don't know what problems Lynch thinks people have that can all be eased with TM. Maybe all his frustrations with film directing can be fixed. But TM isn't going to put an end to concrete problems college students face such as paying school loans.
And it certainly isn't going to solve mental instability, seemingly the cause of the recent Virginia Tech shooting.
But even with all the things TM won't do, during the Web cast on Tuesday, Lynch, so-called quantum physicist John Hagelin and singer-song writer Donovan gave me an idea of what TM would do.
After telling their personal stories about discovering TM, Hagelin described specifically how TM works. According to him, meditation allows the mind to settle inward, causing the brain to be more coherent before finally coming to a sense of unity where you realize we are all part of the same entity. He even provided useful charts - to aid those who aren't scientifically minded - that detailed how the state of unity in TM is the same as the "unified field of natural laws of nature."
My, that's an eloquent phrase.
But besides not knowing exactly what a quantum physicist is, I also don't know what this unified field has anything to do with any sense of unity I might achieve through meditation.
But I'll give Hagelin points for creativity. After all, he has a Ph.D. from Harvard.
According to Hagelin, Lynch and Donovan, it's this sense of unity that people achieve via TM that will bring about world peace and consequently end school violence.
They even stressed how by using their technique we won't need to debate gun control anymore. Because once everyone knows TM, nobody will want to use a gun even if they have access to one. They're going to be too busy enjoying their higher consciousness.
I love it; it's so simple and free of politics. And totally fantastical.
Not only is TM not going to cure all ills that cause violence, I don't understand where Lynch, Hagelin and Donovan expect people who are, say, in the process of applying to Harvard to find time to meditate for 40 minutes a day.
Still, methods to reduce stress and blood pressure and increase happiness should be studied.
But considering how much trouble I have sitting still, I'd like to see some non-pseudo, and unbiasedly authored, studies comparing happiness and stress release related to smoking pot on a daily basis, swing dancing or getting laid.
But even with my attention issues, I still want to learn TM. I'm just not paying $2,500.
I quickly sent an e-mail to the David Lynch Foundation on Tuesday requesting to be taught.
He hasn't responded yet. I doubt people requesting to learn TM are the ones at risk for becoming gunmen.
So I started by teaching myself.
But the "how to" for TM is pretty secretive. I suppose they really want that $2,500. I had to settle for plain meditation with a non-unique mantra - "hamsa."
So I sat down in a comfortable position and tried it, saying "ham" when I breathed in and "sa" when I breathed out.
Hammmm ... saa.
I fell asleep after five minutes.
And now I don't have time to do my problem set. Thanks, David.
I'm sure meditation works for some people, but I'm going to go back to my nap.
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Original Source:<a href=http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/may/03/mantras_miracles/>The Daily Bruin - May 3, 2007</a>
Lara Loewenstein
2007-07-15
Sara Hood
Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu>
eng
Create a Violence-Free Society
By Marissa Camilon
Staff Writer
Amidst the midterms, papers and parties, college students can find it hard to believe that just a 20-minute period can actually make our lives stress-free and easier. This was the message that was emphasized during the Art of Living Organization's talk, "Creating a Violence-Free Society."
With guest speaker international humanitarian Swami Pragyapad, this event strived to reach out to the UC Irvine community in order to establish a more peaceful and more harmonious environment for students and faculty.
While the talk was open to the public, it proved to be an intimate atmosphere for the organization and event-goers.
Sitting in a simple white chair in the front of the room, Pragyapad comfortably addressed real life issues that we struggle with in our everyday life. According to Pragyapad, we begin our lives as children constantly being told that we are to be calm and quiet, but never told how.
If that wasn't enough of a predicament, it is also human nature for us to constantly think about the things that we are told not to think about. These inner conflicts can cause us to feel immense stress and when the mind is disturbed, the effects can be seen in all aspects of life.
Pragyapad went on to explain the four factors that affect our state of mind. The type of food we eat can be very important. As a "gas" for our bodies and brains, eating the wrong kind of food can alter our behavior. Secondly, the quality of sleep that each of us receive can have a heavy impact on our lifestyle. Also, our breathing pattern can change our mindset. It is for us to recognize that when we are in a state of fear or anger, we can breathe a certain way.
We should also recognize that intentionally taking calm, deep breaths can help change our attitudes. In addition, our understanding of what our lives are about and who we are can have an effect on our state of mind. The more we feel we have a grasp on life, the more our minds can be at ease.
Just as a disturbed mind can cause unwanted side effects, a calm mind can make everything seem just that much better. With a clear mind, one can make decisions, study and even play better. Pragyapad's key tip to getting a good night's rest is simply to work hard. Another technique to having a stress-free mind is meditation, which he defined as the "art of doing nothing."
In 20-minutes of meditation, someone can get the same amount of rest as four hours of sleep. When asked what he thought about during meditation, Pragyapad replied that he would simply "observe whatever happens in the body."
So why don't more college students take advantage of the benefits from a simple meditation? "Because they think meditation is anti-enjoyment," said Pragyapad, who insists that this is far from the truth.
For Pragyapad, a calming mind allows him to handle his frustrations and even help his grades, while studying less. Meditation doesn't even require you to necessarily go anywhere exotic, as was evident from our group meditation in a classroom. He does warn, however, that first-time meditation can lead to a sensation of sleepiness from the calming of the mind, which "passes in a few minutes."
In regard to the recent "epidemic" of violence on high school and college campuses, Pragyapad sees meditation and other stress-relieving techniques as a means to help promote a stress-free university environment.
To curb the violence, Pragyapad believes that we have to do two things. First, we all have to accept responsibility for the violent overtones in society and stop pointing fingers at each other.
In accepting responsibility, we can all contribute to the change that needs to be done to better the community.
The second step is to reach out to those people who don't know how to handle their emotions. Pragyapad says that "most of us can curb our violence tendencies; others cannot." Realizing this, we must reach out to everyone, because as Pragyapad says, it "doesn't require many to make hell for all of us." Using the methods of stress relief and meditation that is promoted by the Art of Living Organization, these individuals can learn how to deal with stress and find alternatives to such violent tendencies.
Since the shooting at Virginia Tech University and suicide on the UCI campus, Matthew Scharpnick, a student at the Paul Merage School of Business and participant in the Art of Living Organization, says that the "whole foundation is putting forth an effort in the university [setting]."
Scharpnick continues that "with things like the Virginia Tech shooting, you can't say for sure, but maybe, if he had the tools [of meditation and breath exercises], things could've been different."
The Art of Living course is a six-day class that teaches a combination of yoga, meditation and breath techniques called Sudarshan Kriya. This course gives participants the skills to deal with stress and negative emotions.
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Original Source: <a href=http://www.newuniversity.org/showArticle.php?id=5879>New University - May 21, 2001</a>
Marissa Camilon
2007-08-19
Sara Hood
Zachary Gale <newueic@gmail.com>
eng