A reply to an email:
Maharishi died on Tuesday, did you hear? — J
Yes. I saw it mentioned on the internet. He was a great and benevolent influence. You learned meditation from his system of Transcendental meditation didn’t you? I started a formal meditation program while in college and it was a Zen method by Phillip Kapleau (author of “Three Pillars of Zen”) and my initial instructor was a student of his. I think my instructor might have also been a philosophy teacher at Uconn, but I can’t really remember anymore. Meditations can evolve and I guess they all begin with an attempt to rein in the mind and learn to focus and concentrate. I remember reading an interesting book by Christmas Humphries way back then (40 years ago) entitled Concentration and Meditation that described these initial stages. Eventually I was able to tap into, and focus on, my kinesthetic sense (inner body sense of muscles, joints, organs) and my meditations have been along those lines ever since. My focus is the bioenergy and mainly where it is blocked (tension, stiffness, strain, distortion). There isn’t a great distinction anymore between my meditations and my yoga. It is largely about untying knots and unblocking. And where that might lead is anyone’s guess. I am hoping towards greater freedom, spontaneity, maybe even enlightenment.
~ Allan Saltzman