THE BATTALION Page 9
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1980
Students receive ‘enlightment’ School prayer law may face suit
rom two speakers Tuesday night
By SCOT MEYER
-‘Ltl! I Campus Reporter
n ^ I Students seeking enlightment
' >re forced to choose between two
fires on meditation Tuesday
] Supjt, Both lectures took place in
1 Tower and both started at
p.m.
International Meditation
ty gave an introductory lecture
jng exclusively with transcen-
|al meditation, or TM. The lec-
jy, Jwas designed as the beginning
1 Icourse on TM, which would take
k over the weekend and cost
ir y°Wt 'flie Metaphysical Society, which
eats a different topic at each meet-
gleatured a lecture on the theory
id practice of meditation by Dr.
3am Somayajulu.
idgar Blacldedge, who spoke for
id Cu|iintemational Mediation Society,
■ that transcendental meditation
iamental technique, as opposed to
Bilosophy, or religion, or a physic-
fetivity like yoga. ”
m is an attempt to experience
iciousness as an object, Black-
ge said, in the sense that one is
ious of the air being cold, or
ions of the music one is listen-
|o., Although consciousness with
iject tends to be more practical
eryday life, by restricting one-
othis type of mental activity one
uses a fraction of his mind’s
mtial.
e practice of TM has many be
ta, Blackledge said, including in-
ed mental clarity, better phy-
health, and an improved ability
[et along with people,
lackledge said that the three
intk jwn states of consciousness
incrat* irding to scientists are waking,
ortrau jping and dreaming. Psycholog-
ruptioi have postulated a possible fourth
lowiut e, he said, which corresponds to
litation.
luring this fourth state the mind
eriences lively consciousness
lout objects of thought or percep-
a — what TM calls “pure” con-
lusness — while the body experi-
‘es deep rest, Blackledge said. It
he deep physical rest which
iri ( sunts for many of meditation sbe-
NI its, he said, because deep rest is a
iss-relieving activity,
llackledge said that a great deal of
ntific research has been done on
1, research which he said his
United Press International
BOSTON — For the first time in
more than 15 years, teachers and stu
dents in Massachusetts’ public
schools were allowed to bow their
heads and pray Tuesday.
But the new law may be short
lived. The Civil Liberties Union of
Massachusetts said it would chal
lenge the statute in court.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in
1963 local and state laws requiring
recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or Bi
ble verses in public schools violated
the Constitution’s guarantee of
separation of church and state.
The Massachusetts law, signed in
November by Gov. Edward J. King,
j requires teachers to allow for a
i period of voluntary prayer before
jeach day’s classes begin. Any stu-
j dents not wishing to participate
I would be allowed to leave the room,
! as would the teacher.
King signed the law despite claims
I it could not pass a constitutional test.
John Roberts, executive director
of the Civil Liberties Union of Mas
sachusetts, said Monday his organi
zation was “definitely” going to file a
suit against the program and “do it
soon. Perhaps (today) before the
(state) Supreme Judicial Court.”
“The law is definitely unconstitu
tional and the sooner we get before
the court the better,” Roberts said.
State Department of Education
officials have has said they believe
the law is unconstitutional, but
guidelines have been issued to aid
local school committees in im
plementing the statute, saying the
law should be presumed constitu
tional until proved otherwise.
EAT HEARTY.
DRINK FREE.
ersitv
4541
S; n
1 Apart]
i.attln
bnvoa,
en
on yli
itenck
group would try to make available to
anyone who is interested.
Blackledge stressed the scientific
aspects of transcendental medita
tion, emphasizing the fact that TM is
not a religious activity.
“Granted, these guys came from
India,” he said. “Still, Einstien was a
Jewish background, and we don’t
consider the theory of relativity a
Jewish idea.”
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi freed the
technique from the dogma of Hindu
ism and made it available to every
one, regardless of religious faith,
Blackledge said.
Blackledge said that the mantra is
not a hindu prayer of any kind.
“It is like using a boat to cross a
river; it’s great for getting you across
the river, but the goal is not the boat,
it is the other side,” he said. The
mantra is just a tool, he said.
Each TM participant is assigned a
mantra — a sort of personal key word
which opens up TM’s benefits to the
person — at the outset of, his TM
training.
Somayajula’s lecture concerned
meditation in a broader sense. He
said that transcendental meditation,
which he called mantra meditation,
used the sounds of the mantra to
“tune” various centers of the body.
Somayajulu said that mantra
meditation is not for everybody, and
that it could be dangerous for
people.
“The instructor should try to meet
the needs of the students, and not try
to impose his own system on him,”
he said.
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