SEE FOR YOURSELF

Practical Experiments to Try

. . . so is it better

to study the revelations
of other folks,
. . . or to have
your
own?

Talk about it.
info@livereal.com

"Having the answer
isn't enough.
You have to do the math."
- Jed McKenna

"There are many people
who reach their conclusions about life like schoolboys:
they cheat their master by copying the answer out of a book
without having worked the sum out
for themselves."
- Soren Kierkegaard

"We do not need theories
so much as the experience
that is the source
of the theory."
- R. D. Laing

In a way, a person's entire life can be seen as an experiment in mysticism.

Even things like alcohol and drugs, for example, could be seen as a kind of crude mysticism. So can entertainment, smoking, or whatever we do to cope with day-to-day stress. Even relationships can be seen as a vehicle for transcendence - or an attempt to escape the rat-race, anyway. How? Because in a way, they can all be seen as efforts to solve the problem of life.

So if these can be viewed as forms of "crude mysticism" . . . what, then, is the real, non-crude kind?

Well, that's a pretty tough one . . . but your trusty and loveable LiveReal Agents, well, we're on it.

In our search for "a scientific approach to the good life," we know that at the foundation of all "science" lies basic experiments which yield data.

Here are a handful of the best "experiments" or practices that we have found which have proven useful for us in our own experiment . . .

"It isn't enough to talk about peace.
One must believe in it.
And it isn't enough to believe in it.
One must work for it."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Don't listen to what they say.
Go see."
- Chinese Proverb

Experiments by Douglass Harding

"Be Still and Know" by Roy Masters

Experience by Ken Wilber

Self-Inquiry by Ramana Maharshi

Self-Observation by George Gurdjieff

Spiritual Autolysis by Jed McKinna

"The majority of people
are subjective toward themselves
and objective toward all others . . .
but the real task is, in fact,
to be objective toward oneself
and subjective toward all others."
- Soren Kierkegaard

"I do not seek
to follow in the footsteps
of the men of old.
I seek
the things
they sought."
- Basho

Appendix I

What is "Meditation"?

Appendix II

So, does meditation really work?

Appendix III

"One of my shticks
is about why we need to do hard scientific research on religion. A study shows that if you ask people whether they believe in God, probably 95 percent of Americans will say they do. And there is nothing particularly great about their mental health. But if you ask them whether they have ever had any personal experience with God, only about 15 to 20 percent will say "yes." Those few have also been judged as more mentally healthy than the others."
- M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled

Appendix IV

So, if we know what "meditation" is, and we know that it really works . . . now what?

Well, it's time to get to work.

Many of these exercises can be compared to going to a gym: you get out of it what you put into it.

So, if it takes work, or commitment, or dedication, or persistence - why bother? Well, because in most cases, it's worth doing.

Many martial arts are based around only a handful of simple principles basic moves. When these "basics" are practiced, thoroughly, properly, and persistently, they lead to one becoming a true martial artist, a blackbelt, a warrior. Such "experiments" or "exercises" as those referred above have been compared to the basic, fundamental moves practiced by the martial artist.

There are few real martial arts experts in the world, and there are very few real meditators. The majority of individuals hear about them, look them over for a few moments, then forget about them and move on.

Certain others, however, run into these exercises, see the possible value in them, practice them, and persist in their practice, day after day, eventually adopting them as a "way of life." It is these individuals who truly understand the value of them, and reap the benefits.

"Do not be too moral.
You may cheat yourself out of much life so.
Aim above morality.
Be not simply good,
be good for something . . .
Let nothing stand between you and the light . . .
When you travel to the Celestial City,
carry no letter of introduction.
When you know, ask to see God - none of his servants."
- Henry David Thoreau

- and if you want to keep going . . .

Where do you go for questions about meditation,
or to find other people who are practicing it?
Where can we find those folks who might have "seen"
what meditation is supposed to show you?

Check out Modern Spiritual Giants: A User's Guide,
or talk about your results in the LiveReal Discussion Board.

"To believe
in the Tao is easy;
to keep the Tao
is difficult."
- Chinese Proverb

"No pious practice is so perfect
that it may not be
an obstacle to spirituality."
- Meister Eckhart

Related Articles:

What is "Enlightenment"?

Spiritual Giants Expanded Version

The Search for "IT"

What is "God"?

Why are we here?

Modern Spirituality: What's Hot and What's Not

The Modern Spiritual Melting Pot