Thresholds of the Mind [antikvár]

Foreworc.When 1 was young, I often went to prayer meetings on Wednesday night at my local Baptist church. We talked to Godpraying for others and confessing our shortcomings. While there was a moment of silence before the prayers began, we never meditated. Later I received a formal theological education that included only one course on prayer, one course on mysticism, and no courses on meditation. In the course on mysticism, I learned that the term "mysticism" referred to "direct experience of God," but that mystical theology was inferior to systematic theology. Since I was a rationalist, at the time, that ended my interest in the mystical path until much later.In the early seventies, I attended a workshop at the Esalen Institute, in Big Sur, California, led by John Lilly, M.D. Lilly described his research on the 48 levels of consciousness he had induced using his famous float tank experiments. He also informed us that certain physical and mental exercises, which he would demonstrate in the workshop, could produce outcomes similar to the float tank if we would practice them diligently over a long period of time. However, I became intrigued with the float tank, since that seemed less arduous and was quicker, and eventually purchased one and used it for several months. My experiences were pale compared to Lilly's descriptions of his, so I eventually abandoned the project, but my interest in altered states of consciousness had been pricked, and I turned to a study of meditation.My initial venture into meditation was more academic than experientialmy usual initial approach to a subject. Most of the literature was dry and some of it incomprehensible until 1 stumbled upon How To Meditate, by Lawrence LeShan, a scholar and physician who was interested in the impact of meditation on physical healing. He defined meditation as "doing one thing at a time with your whole being," of bringing one's mental focus to a point and holding it there for increasing lengths of time. He claimed that the effect of such intense and sustained focus was a state of deep relaxation or reduc-