Garden of Eden lays in the Persian Gulf? Not a religious thread.

[sapphi_snake]

Dr.Grass said:

"Meditation and/or sensory deprivation. When the brain lacks external stimulation to form perceptions, it may compensate by referencing the memory and form hallucinatory perceptions."

The link says "This condition is commonly found in blind and deaf individuals."

Did these 'experts' actually study any serious practitioners? I highly doubt that. I've met many monks from all over the world and no-one has ever discussed or mentioned anything that could be misconstrued as hallucinations. I lived on a farm in India with 40 monks - 20 were doctors, 5 had Phd's and the others were engineers. They were not practicing so seriously to fool themselfes. This is BS.

"Fasting for longs periods of time is also known to cause hallucinations"

Yeah I agree, but fasting for 1 day? I also never met anyone that deprived themselves for such an extended period that it would actually hurt them somehow. There's that whole thing in the Bible that the 'body is a temple' and all that you know...

" I assume the purposes of your practices at that monsatery (or whatever it was) was to enter a trance, no?"

No, the purpose is to see things as they are, starting with yourself.

Here's a book written on the subject.

http://books.google.ro/books?id=FNIZL5nMTAUC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=meditation+fasting+hallucinations&source=bl&ots=0ACW7itlAA&sig=f4rxx5f2bq-zgu7d6IqEvoEInSw&hl=ro&ei=akOMTuvoIMua-wbHi-2uBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CGIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=meditation%20fasting%20hallucinations&f=false

I think you're giving a negative connotation to the word 'hallucination' (though, if you consider the hallucination world to be real, I can easily see why you'd think find this ideea insulting).

I'd also be careful when playing the whole 'your body is a temple' card. The body has a very bad reputation is Christianity.

To see things 'as they are'? You mean, because this world isn't real? Because it's illusory? And the state you're describing is called 'trance'.