Meditation: the agony and the ecstacy

On the same day arrive news stories about two weird, and diametrically opposed, approaches to meditation.

On the one hand we have a man in Maine who has been charged for burning children with cigarettes as part of their meditation training. Adam Maguire was charged with two counts of domestic violence assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and violating conditions of release. Actually, this goes well beyond “weird” and into the “warped” category.

The Bangor Daily News reports that the police chief told them Maguire burned the children in their upper back and neck areas “in an attempt to show them pain compliance while meditating.” Apparently this was part of an attempt to help the children with their ADHD.

Lest anyone be unclear, this is not a normal part of meditation training, even for adults. Maguire will hopefully have plenty of time to meditate in a jail cell.

And at the other end of the hedonic spectrum, an outfit called OneTaste is running a workshop in Vegas on “Orgasmic Meditation.”

The one-day course will include:

• The beginning philosophy behind OM
• Introduction of a new definition of Orgasm — the difference between Climax and Orgasm
• Live demonstration of the OMing Practice
• Introduction to the 1’oclock spot
• Basic Stroking Technique

OneTaste is at pains to emphasize that this is meditation.

“…it’s a meditation and practice, in the same way you might treat yoga or meditation or exercise. It’s meditation for orgasm, it’s the same every time you do it, but nothing else attached to it.”

And no strings!

“You agree to connect and feel what’s happening in your bodies for 15 minutes, talk about what you experienced, then go on your way. There’s no dating or having to go to coffee after or do anything other than what it is.”

There’s no mention of whether it’s OK for participants to have a cigarette after Orgasmic Meditation.