I agree with you on the skepticism. It does seem apocryphal. I personally don't have enough evidence to conclude whether it is true or not, but it was the idea that was a 'spark' for trying the meditation *myself*.

My own experiences with it make no claims of impacting others, simply of helping myself heal.

Again, I agree that there is an 'objective' physical reality.
I make no claim that I am 'responsible' for the sun coming up each morning. I understand there are physical principles at work that govern the solar system.

However, I *do* believe that I create my own emotional reality..my own *subjective* experience of the 'objective' world. I know that the brain receives way more input than is ever consciously processed. We can train ourselves to become more aware of things, and as such start to 'notice' them when before those things existed outside of our consciousness. They were there the whole time, but it was only because of our emotional attunement to them that they made it into consciousness.

(The current leaps forward in neurobiology are taking a look at a lot of these questions. For example, we know the brain can and does receive perceptual input every ~20-50ms. How does the brain sort that info, and most importantly *how does the conscious mind attach meaning* to that information?)

If I can take total responsibility for my subjective reality, then it gives me permission to examine what bits of data are making it through the conscious filter, and what bits of data are being discarded. Perhaps there is some 'filtering' rule that is not helping me, and *only by becoming aware of it* can I begin to change it. IMHO, I find that incredibly empowering.

Hope that makes more sense, and am always open to a few more challenges! Thx for the response, pachy!