Is meditation a STS act?

[kycahi]

Wonderful, kycahi, as usual. So why did they named their company to "Light Lines"?

Thanks, very much Ankh. The company name was actually L/L, but when she told me the name, she didn't say the / character. Don sometimes referred to it as "L over L." Nowadays, he might say "L slash L," to be cute. Lots of businesses officially rename themselves with their initials--Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing became 3M and British Petroleum became BP, for examples. He set the name to be L/L and privately revealed why he chose those letters.

They named their printed publication Light Lines as a whimsical use of the two Ls. At some point they changed the company name to L/L Research. I'm sure that Don liked that word because he always wanted these endeavors to be viewed as scientific rather than mumbo-jumbo-ish. He saw all of his investigation as a scientific pursuit, with the added necessity to be gullible during the data gathering phase, then later scrutinize it rigorously. He was okay with the word "spiritual," though, in the right context.

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If that's what you feel is best then I would stick with it. There's nothing wrong with what you described. Meditation in its essence is silent contemplation, so for example, working over some thought in mindful contemplation is meditation. The only requirements are silence and a straight spine if possible, which means you can lay down on the floor or relax in a recliner.

That is one good form of meditation, but my favorite is to let the mind wind down and stop thinking about anything. IMO the word that some sects use, "Om" or "Aum," is for the purpose of keeping the mouth muscles from twitching, which they might do if they were replaying some event and saying in their mind what they wish they had said at the time (haven't we all been there and done that? :-/ ). Also, while playing that word in their head they are not letting thoughts creep in.

I came from a logic-based background and took a long time to stop the thoughts and then to accept that good things happened to me as results of meditation. I was oversold on "seeing colors" and "feeling the presence" of something or another, which never happened (thank goodness). Finally I noticed that loaded conversations didn't rile me as they used to, and I could study better with better retention. Certain elements of whatever I was reading looked like good candidates for a quiz, for example, and indeed they were there.

Years later, I noticed that I could be in a noisy place and still get some meditation-like benefit from "going within." So please go through the learning curve, no matter how long it takes--days, weeks, months. My key to stopping the thoughts was to notice them and have them fade away, rather than scold myself when I noticed it happen.

Oh, and if you notice some sound, whether a bird singing or a truck rumbling, pay attention to it for awhile, without forming words in your head, then dismiss it. After 20 minutes or so, you might decide that this was another failed attempt. It wasn't. It got you closer to your goal and it even benefited you as if it were "real meditation," because it was.

At some point, you will feel the "switch" into a different mode of calm awareness. Aha! Next time you might not get it, but soon it will be there again, and sooner, and then most of the attempts. Even before that, though, you probably will notice that your life has improved. Someone close to you might have noticed it, too, or even ahead of you.