Secret Universal Mind meditation (for analysis)

[padma norbu]

So, this thing is quite popular with a lot of people who couldn't get enough of What the Bleep Do We Know, The Secret and Eckhart Tolle...



I finally watched this to satisfy my curiosity and for no other reason.

As I watched it, I began to think... "awwww, why no good subliminal CDs for Buddhists?"

And then I began to wonder what we could extract from such a thing.

For anyone who has 10 minutes to waste and is actually interested in examining these supposedly miraculous and life-changing, brain-transforming affirmations, which parts seem salvageable to you?

I thought about this for a few minutes before I left for work in the morning and decided we have sadhanas for that type of transformation. I wouldn't mind a nice subliminal for Buddhists, but I don't think such a thing actually exists. Which is rather surprising given the market value of Buddhism in western culture.

[padma norbu]

btw, i never finished it and my guess is you probably won't either.

This just got me thinking and sharing the video is just a way to introduce the topic of possible benefits of such an approach (subliminal/hypnosis) with Buddhist practice.

[Paul]

btw, i never finished it and my guess is you probably won't either.

No, it's WAY too creepy. I don't like hypnosis, especially when it's some new age type wanting to do it.

[padma norbu]

I can see how you might not want to watch that video because who knows what kind of subliminal stuff is going on there. Maybe most of all the suggestion is being placed in your mind that this is really working and you should run off and leave a 5-star review on Amazon for this product.

But, in general, I don't find hypnosis or subliminal messages for positive change creepy at all since we are hypnotized daily by the world around us, especially all forms of advertising, of course. Our government has been experimenting with inaudible subliminals since the 70s at least, so I don't think there's any chance they haven't unleashed this on the public in various ways. Hypnosis itself is as simple as putting up a convincing presentation, which people do all around us every day. So, when I consider the ingrained habitual responses we are trying to undo from aeons of karmic accumulations, the idea of somehow working directly on deep parts of the personality effortlessly (and perhaps even while you sleep) by having an mp3 play on repeat is very appealing to me.

[deff]

it may not be totally related... but for a while i would listen to a recitation of the diamond sutra while i slept... seemed to work a bit, i remember waking up once in the middle of the night with an "aha!" moment from it

[padma norbu]

Say now... Diamond Sutra while sleeping actually sounds like a good idea... Heart Sutra, too.