Thu 04 Apr 2002 20:00
p20 tony schwartz what really matters
in a matter of weeks I began to experience some breaks in the battle. I became more easily absorbed in the word one and in the rhythmic patter of my breathing. Occasionally, I moved below--or perhaps beyond--the level of words and conscious thoughts.
I found that when I wasn't actively thinking, my awareness became broader and clearer than usual. Rather than flitting chaotically between thoughts, perceptions, and physical sensations, my attention grew more fixed and stable. I could put it where I chose. Rather than being unsettled, distracted, or controlled by the activity of my mind, I felt some detachment--more as if I were its benign observer.

p21
Often I wasn't aware that anything out of th eordinary had occurred until I opened my eyes. Only then did I realize that what had felt like the passage of a few minutes had in fact been twenty or 30.
when that happened, I felt lighter, calmer, and even happier.

I gained more resilience. When something upset me, I could return to a state of equilibrium more easily, without conscious effort.

I tried meditating direcly after an upsetting event-
at times it simply melted away.
.

a safe harbor, a place to go that was calm and quiet even as storms raged around it.

whenever I was able to mute my tendency to think, analyze, and assess, I felt more control and comfort, not less.

p22- meditating- migrane
I'd gained control of an involuntary pysiological process.
meditation had prompted blood flow in head to normalize.

stuck in train in darck.
meditate, breathing slowly and rhythmically.
longer we sat, the calmer I felt.

p23 the unique state of consciousness it helped access and the possibility thta it might have som relationship to my search for wisdom.
I turned to richard alpert, a.k.a. Ram Dass.

Alpert @ harvard and leary began conducting scientific research into psychedelic drugs.

Maharajji.

baba ram dass, sanskrit for 'servant of god'

Be here now the loose story of his search for enlightenment
drew large crowds to talks about his experience in India.
and a manual for conscious being
1972
cult best seller
introduced thousands of young americans to meditation, yoga, chantin, breathing techniques, spirituality, and the notrion that it is possible to achieve higher states of consciousness and a more meaningful life.

I was in college at the time.
antiwar politica, finding a girlfriend, and building a career in journalism interested me more than mysticism. The consciousness movement barely flickered on my radar screen.

ram dass' main spiritual practice:
service to others.

counseling the terminally ill to working on behalf of seva, an org that does work with the blind in India and Nepal and development work in guatemala.

now focused on aging. meditates at least an hour each day and longer when he goes on an extended retreat by himself at least once a year.

p26
Until you know a jewish middle-class upwardly mobile anxiety ridden neurotic, you haven't met a real achiever.

a childhood of material priviledge and emotional despair.

.