LDS and Earth Based Religions, just curious

[_moksha]

Earth based?

Look, if I tilted at any extra windmills, I would have to put poor Sancho on steroids.

- Moksha de la Mancha

[_Mercury]

I find mysticism of any kind silly and unnecesary, unless its involving meditation and mental exercises without any "spititual" context.

I'm going through my degrees curently in Freemasonry as well.

I don't think I understand - do you not see meditation as being spiritual in nature?

I do not see it as spiritual. I see it as relaxing. Spirituality is not implied by the word "meditation".

[_Dulcinea]

Earth based?

Look, if I tilted at any extra windmills, I would have to put poor Sancho on steroids.

- Moksha de la Mancha

Hello Moksha. :) Nice to meet you.

Yes, Earth based, referring to a system of spiritualism based on nature.

[_Dulcinea]

I find mysticism of any kind silly and unnecesary, unless its involving meditation and mental exercises without any "spititual" context.

I'm going through my degrees curently in Freemasonry as well.

I don't think I understand - do you not see meditation as being spiritual in nature?

I do not see it as spiritual. I see it as relaxing. Spirituality is not implied by the word "meditation".

WordNet Search at http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=meditation
Noun

* S: (n) meditation, speculation (continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature) "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge"
* S: (n) meditation ((religion) contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects))

Do you see the mind and body as being part of the same whole or separate?

[_Mercury]

I find mysticism of any kind silly and unnecesary, unless its involving meditation and mental exercises without any "spititual" context.

I'm going through my degrees curently in Freemasonry as well.

I don't think I understand - do you not see meditation as being spiritual in nature?

I do not see it as spiritual. I see it as relaxing. Spirituality is not implied by the word "meditation".

WordNet Search at http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=meditation
Noun

* S: (n) meditation, speculation (continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature) "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge"
* S: (n) meditation ((religion) contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects))

Do you see the mind and body as being part of the same whole or separate?

I still do not see meditation as a spiritual exercise. You might, sure. But i sure don't.

[_barrelomonkeys]

I still do not see meditation as a spiritual exercise. You might, sure. But I sure don't.

You're not alone Mercury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation#Secular

Secular
Forms of meditation which are devoid of mystical content have been developed in the west as a way of promoting physical and mental well being.

Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s. Jacobson argued that since muscular tension accompanies anxiety, one can reduce anxiety by learning how to relax the muscular tension.

Autogenic training was developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Schultz in 1932. Schultz emphasized parallels to techniques in yoga and meditation, however, autogenic training is devoid of any mysticism.

Australian psychiatrist Dr Ainslie Meares published a groundbreaking work in the 1960's entitled Relief Without Drugs, in which he recommended some simple, secular relaxation techniques based on Hindu practices as a means of combating anxiety, stress and chronic physical pain.

Herbert Benson M.D., of Harvard Medical School, conducted a series of clinical tests on meditators from various disciplines - mainly Transcendental meditation and Tibetan Buddhism. He first described the results in his 1975 book The Relaxation Response where he outlined a secular approach to achieving similar results.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche founded Shambhala Training in 1976, a secular program of meditation with a belief in basic goodness and teaching the path of bravery and gentleness. The 1984 book Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior contains student-edited versions of Trungpa's lectures and writings.

The book Sensual Meditation (1980) which was written by the founder of the Raëlian movement outlines a sequence of non-ascetic meditation exercises which emphasize a Sensual Meditation involving a physical and sensual awareness connected with current knowledge of how the body and mind are organized.

The 1999 book The Calm Technique: Meditation Without Magic or Mysticism by Paul Wilson has a discussion and instruction in a form of secular meditation.

Biofeedback has been tried by many researchers since the 1950s as a way to enter deeper states of mind.[22]

[_barrelomonkeys]

Mormonism was based on folk magic, at its core in the beginning.

I was thinking that through this thread. Wondering if the "magical" appealed to Nephi and Dulcinea.

In a way I would say that you are right, at least for me. The patterns and similarities were so strong I was often struck speechless.

Oh! That is interesting. What patterns and similarities do you witness Dulcinea?

[_Dulcinea]

I find mysticism of any kind silly and unnecesary, unless its involving meditation and mental exercises without any "spititual" context.

I'm going through my degrees curently in Freemasonry as well.

I don't think I understand - do you not see meditation as being spiritual in nature?

I do not see it as spiritual. I see it as relaxing. Spirituality is not implied by the word "meditation".

WordNet Search at http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=meditation
Noun

* S: (n) meditation, speculation (continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature) "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge"
* S: (n) meditation ((religion) contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects))

Do you see the mind and body as being part of the same whole or separate?

I still do not see meditation as a spiritual exercise. You might, sure. But I sure don't.

LOL I think we splitting hairs here over terminology - Honenstly, it doesn't really matter what you call it as long as you get the same results. And you didn't answer my question - do you see the mind and body as being separate entities or as a single unit?

[_Dulcinea]

I still do not see meditation as a spiritual exercise. You might, sure. But I sure don't.

You're not alone Mercury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation#Secular

Secular
Forms of meditation which are devoid of mystical content have been developed in the west as a way of promoting physical and mental well being.

Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s. Jacobson argued that since muscular tension accompanies anxiety, one can reduce anxiety by learning how to relax the muscular tension.

Autogenic training was developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Schultz in 1932. Schultz emphasized parallels to techniques in yoga and meditation, however, autogenic training is devoid of any mysticism.

Australian psychiatrist Dr Ainslie Meares published a groundbreaking work in the 1960's entitled Relief Without Drugs, in which he recommended some simple, secular relaxation techniques based on Hindu practices as a means of combating anxiety, stress and chronic physical pain.

Herbert Benson M.D., of Harvard Medical School, conducted a series of clinical tests on meditators from various disciplines - mainly Transcendental meditation and Tibetan Buddhism. He first described the results in his 1975 book The Relaxation Response where he outlined a secular approach to achieving similar results.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche founded Shambhala Training in 1976, a secular program of meditation with a belief in basic goodness and teaching the path of bravery and gentleness. The 1984 book Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior contains student-edited versions of Trungpa's lectures and writings.

The book Sensual Meditation (1980) which was written by the founder of the Raëlian movement outlines a sequence of non-ascetic meditation exercises which emphasize a Sensual Meditation involving a physical and sensual awareness connected with current knowledge of how the body and mind are organized.

The 1999 book The Calm Technique: Meditation Without Magic or Mysticism by Paul Wilson has a discussion and instruction in a form of secular meditation.

Biofeedback has been tried by many researchers since the 1950s as a way to enter deeper states of mind.[22]

What is important is what you get from it, not what you call it. Who cares what it is called?

[_Dulcinea]

Mormonism was based on folk magic, at its core in the beginning.

I was thinking that through this thread. Wondering if the "magical" appealed to Nephi and Dulcinea.

In a way I would say that you are right, at least for me. The patterns and similarities were so strong I was often struck speechless.

Oh! That is interesting. What patterns and similarities do you witness Dulcinea?

Many similarities exist within the Temple, as well as through basic ideas expressed through parts of the Pearl of Great Price.