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YogaPat
Canada
12 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 14 2008 : 3:11:55 PM
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Hello everyone
This is my first post.I have been practicing AYP since august 2006.
I would like to know if the mantra should be heard of felt? Until now when meditating I have been hearing the mantra which for me localizes it in my head or third eye region. In one of Yoganis recent posts he says to feel the mantra. If my intention is to feel the mantra when picking it up my attention goes to my body/chest. What is the best way of picking the mantra up?
Thanks Yogani and everyone for all of the great sharing!
Patrick
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Edited by - YogaPat on Jan 14 2008 3:25:36 PM |
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YogaPat
Canada
12 Posts |
Posted - Jan 14 2008 : 6:11:33 PM
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I quickly reviewed Yoganis "Deep Meditation" book and realized the mantra is a sound thought not a feeling. I Guess I was trying to complicate things. Anyway clarification on this point would be great.
Thanks, P |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Jan 14 2008 : 7:03:09 PM
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Hi YogaPat, and welcome!
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Yes, the mantra is a thought, the thought of a sound, refining naturally again and again to faint fuzziness and inner silence.
Along the way, the mantra can be experienced in many ways -- visual, auditory, physical feeling, even smell or taste, according to purification and opening that is occurring. But we always easily come back to it as the thought of a sound at a level of clarity or faintness that is comfortable at whatever level we happen to be at the moment in the mind.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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YogaPat
Canada
12 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2008 : 02:28:33 AM
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Hey All
I was lying in bed thinking about what Yogani said about letting the mantra refine and I realized that the sound of the mantra puts the mind into stillness allowing us to trancend thoughts- slowly releasing us into our true nature. Then I realized that I am most likely just a thought to be trancended! I'm assuming part of the transformation process is knowing this experientially and shedding the thought of being just a person and going to the stillness beyond.
Is this thinking valid?
Thanks,P |
Edited by - YogaPat on Jan 15 2008 02:58:21 AM |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2008 : 10:51:13 AM
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Hi YogaPat:
Yes! Now you are taking the spontaneous leap from deep meditation to self-inquiry -- very beautiful. It is your inner silence speaking.
It is a good thing, as long as our self-inquiry (mental analysis) doesn't get too far ahead of our inner silence (the witness). If the inquiry is able to be released in stillness, it will be progressive and evolutionary ("relational"). If the inquiry is moving into thoughts about more thoughts, it will be building castles in the air and be non-progressive and binding ("non-relational"). We each can self-pace our self-inquiry according to the degree of inner silence we have coming up through our daily practice of deep meditation.
We finally have clear documentation on how self-inquiry fits into the AYP approach, in the form of the new Self-Inquiry book. Some suggested guidelines have been much needed, because with deep meditation, self-inquiry comes up as effect, which must in turn be self-paced to temper the mental excesses and tangents that can occur on the path. The new book provides metrics (measuring rods) for that.
The best thing about the AYP Self-Inquiry book is that it does not limit the method(s) of self-inquiry which might be studied and utilized. It provides measuring rods that can be used with any method of self-inquiry. Progress is more about navigation in relation to our inner silence than the particular method of self-inquiry being utilized. If the underlying principles are understood and applied, any method of self-inquiry, even one we intuit ourselves (like you are doing), can be used with benefit.
Also, with an in-common understanding of the underlying principles of self-inquiry, we can communicate with each other about it without getting lost in abstraction, which has often been the case in discussions on this subject. Apples for one person will often be oranges for someone else. The trick is to get beyond the apples and oranges to the underlying relationship between the subject/witness and the objects of perception. Then the discussion becomes an in-common one about the rise of our inner silence/witness and how that affects our view of ourselves and the world. Understanding that, it becomes clear what we must do. Keep meditating, and enjoy the divine life that is unfolding before us.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2008 : 11:16:35 AM
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I was just reading Ramana Maharshi today so this post is timely.
My question is, is the Self known only by a product of grace? Supposing i got into the hypnagogic state and asked, "who am i?" - would my "higher self" respond with an experience of bliss?
If it didn't respond, would there be any particular reasons?
I don't seem to be getting much from yoga. I have done mantra meditation with I AM, soham meditation with the breath (pranayama) and used binaural beats. With I AM, the more i try to concentrate the more thoughts there seem to be, even though i am detached from them. With So-ham, my breathing pauses and the gaps become longer the more i do it. And with BBs, i get into hypnagogic states and thoughts disappear (which is like sleep) and i guess i just go into and out of awareness. This last practice has definite signs of accomplishment such as the body becoming numb starting from the feet, strange vibratory sensations etc and after i finish a session i feel tangibly different compared to the other practices. Another thing that happens is visual and auditory phenomena and occasionally i will experience subconscious intuitions concerning various things in my life (which seem to be things in particular that i ruminate about). Hence if i have an insistent burning question, "who am i?" in my regular waking life and intensify this when i meditate, will my subconscious/higher self "chime in" and give me the "answer"?
I don't particularly want to continue so-ham by extending effortless khumbaka and i am uncertain as to how long the gap in breathing lasts anyway. How long does it last anyone?
I AM seems to be the least effective practice for me. But presumably the more this mantra is identified with, it acts as a kind of inquiry prompt to God and God responds by giving a taste of bliss?
But i have to circle back to my original question now. If bliss experiences depend on God's grace, as do psychic experiences (ie outside the control of human will), then why? A person could practice meditation their whole life and if God deems it S/he will not bestow any bliss or other experiences. I find this incredibly frustrating. |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2008 : 12:36:22 PM
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quote:
gumpi said: I find this incredibly frustrating.
This is the real challange gumpi, to keep going when nothing seems to be happening, especially when reading the posts here with so many experiences being related.
Just a thought, are you using the Ujayi breath?.I have seen people's attempts at meditation transformed almost instantly when they are shown how to do the Ujjayi breath properly.
see: http://www.aypsite.com/41.html
excerpt:
In a week or so, or whenever you are feeling steady with the ten minutes of pranayama before your meditation, add the following features: On the exhalations, allow your epiglottis to close enough so that there is a small restriction of the air leaving your lungs. The epiglottis is the door in your throat that automatically closes your windpipe (trachea) when you hold your breath or swallow. By partially closing it as you exhale, a fine hissing sound will occur in your throat. This is called "ujjayi." Be easy about it. Don't strain. Keep the slow, deep rhythm of breathing you have become accustomed to as you add this small restriction in the throat during exhalations. On the inhalations, allow the throat to relax and open more than usual. Do not restrict the air coming in. Rather, allow the deepest part of your throat to open wide, comfortably. Do not change the slow, deep
rhythm of breathing you have been doing. Keep your mouth closed
during pranayama. An exception would be if your nose is stopped up
and you can't breath easily through it. In that case, use your mouth.
Apart from that, even though you may not have any experiences during meditation, if you are practicing twice a day you will probably notice some change in the way you are during the day, how you are with people etc.. This is much more important and really what it is all about?
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2008 : 06:20:50 AM
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Hi Gumpi
quote:
My question is, is the Self known only by a product of grace? Supposing i got into the hypnagogic state and asked, "who am i?" - would my "higher self" respond with an experience of bliss?
If it didn't respond, would there be any particular reasons?
Maybe he doesn't want to talk with you? Or maybe he's shy. More likely the latter I suspect.
Will you answer a question? When you ask your higher self something, who is aware that you are asking the question?
Christi |
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2008 : 11:01:08 AM
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Christi, hehe that sounds like a koan! Hmmmmm. Of course it appears to me to be the case that a Higher Self is part of me and at the same time seperate from me. It is a paradox and i am not about to go around trying to explain that one!
But, for example, let me put it like this. If i WAS the Higher Self, why would i need to meditate? Why would people pray? Surely being God themselves it seems like a schizophrenic type of situation where God deems it ok to pray to himself and then grants such prayers. I do not claim to be God and from the point of view of my mind i see no contradiction in the act of prayer to God. People with imminance or unity consciousness or nirvikalpa samadhi would be people that do not pray since that would denote a subject and object relationship, and that makes perfect sense to me. Think about it, we may not know why suffering and evil exist from a supposedly benevolent creator, but we can understand that a self-realised person has no business in performing one gigantic miracle to eradicate poverty forever by an act of prayer. That would simply be some type of split-mind illness or something.
So i don't take back what i say when i say that i percieve there to be a difference between God and myself. As i said, why meditate? Why do people meditate unless they think it will help them to realise something? I am not seperate from my Higher Self from the point of view of the Higher Self, but from my mind and ego viewpoint, clearly there is seperation. |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2008 : 12:01:24 PM
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Hi Gumpi:
How about God living in a house with dirty windows? Wouldn't S/He be inclined to clean the windows for a better view of Self? God's inclination is our inclination.
Grace is the flow of divine desire for union. And that desire is synonymous with our own. So Grace begins and finds its fruition in us. Bhakti and Grace are two sides of the same coin.
The guru is in you.
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2008 : 12:47:12 PM
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Hi Yogani, nice response.
How did you know my windows need cleaning? 
I've read somewhere that if the body is not fit it shouldn't be an obstacle. It's just that it helps to have a fit body. (Yogananda)
Regarding the desire for union, can it be right if i said that "shiva" is "shy" because "shakti" is impotent? In which case my question would be, "is kundalini necessary for self-realisation?"
I have read that kundalini is not absolutely necessary for SR. I think Sivananda said this. I am not so sure though.
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2008 : 09:46:07 AM
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Hi Gumpi:
Yes, kundalini is necessary for realization, though it may not be called by that name. Mental dodgeball, you know. The rise of whole body ecstatic conductivity and radiance (shakti) in the neurobiology is part of the process of human spiritual transformation. Not the only part, but an essential component along with the rise of inner silence (shiva). It is what it is, no matter how it might be relabeled or avoided.
The new Self-Inquiry book also covers kundalini in relation to the mind, which makes it a bit unusual. Avowed non-dualists (and many others) tend to shun the reality of ecstatic energy awakening. We don't. Much better to deal intelligently with what is actually happening than be hanging people out to dry, which happens a lot when the truth is swept under the rug.
The guru is in you.
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 02:20:12 AM
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Hi Gumpi,
quote:
Christi, hehe that sounds like a koan! Hmmmmm. Of course it appears to me to be the case that a Higher Self is part of me and at the same time seperate from me. It is a paradox and i am not about to go around trying to explain that one!
But, for example, let me put it like this. If i WAS the Higher Self, why would i need to meditate? Why would people pray? Surely being God themselves it seems like a schizophrenic type of situation where God deems it ok to pray to himself and then grants such prayers. I do not claim to be God and from the point of view of my mind i see no contradiction in the act of prayer to God. People with imminance or unity consciousness or nirvikalpa samadhi would be people that do not pray since that would denote a subject and object relationship, and that makes perfect sense to me. Think about it, we may not know why suffering and evil exist from a supposedly benevolent creator, but we can understand that a self-realised person has no business in performing one gigantic miracle to eradicate poverty forever by an act of prayer. That would simply be some type of split-mind illness or something.
Thanks for answering the question. It wasn’t meant to be a zen koan, but I do know what you mean. Koans are mental phrases that are designed to stop the mind in its tracks. Nothing really stops the mind more effectively than asking, “who is aware of your mind?”
I wasn’t suggesting that you are God. I don’t know if you are or not. But right now all that you actually know is that when you call on your Higher Self, there appears to be no response, and at the same time, you are aware that you are calling on your Higher Self, and that there is no response. So it is like there are two selves, one, which is calling and expecting a response, and another that is aware of that process happening. One self is always in motion, always moving away from something, and the other is always watching in stillness and is always silent. But to say that the one that is watching is God would be possibly premature. After all, if it was that easy to find God, then the world would not be the tumultuous place it is and there would be many more enlightened beings around.
The self that is calling on the Higher Self and expecting a response is not really a self at all. It is just a succession of movements in the mind, a contraction of thought forms around a single idea. When it is not being watched it does not exist at all. The self that is aware of the movements of the mind is the witness self. The witness self is a step closer to God, as it is an aspect of our individual consciousness.
The next step beyond the witness is to abide in pure consciousness without any objects, or mental fluctuations. This pure consciousness is our individual consciousness and again it is not our Higher Self. It is like a lens, which reflects the Light of our Higher Self. This Light is emanating from our Higher Self continuously and is being reflected through our consciousness, giving rise to everything we see and experience in the mind as the world. This is why Jesus said: “you are the light of the world”. I believe he said many things that he meant literally, that many have since taken to be metaphorical.
It is through this Light that we come to know our Higher Self.
So you might think: Well in that case prayer cannot be effective, because firstly the person praying does not really exist, they are just an illusion created by the continuity of a thought stream in time; and secondly the prayer itself is simply a manifestation of the Light of the Higher Self, reflected through the consciousness and appearing in the mind, and so can make no impression on That which is eternally beyond even the Light itself.
But prayer is effective. It is not effective for the self who is praying (that’s the one that will be crucified), it is only effective for the self who is aware of the prayer. This is because every time we reflect on the qualities of the Higher Self, we are drawn gradually into its Light, into the Light that we are a reflection of. Conversely, every time we become lost in the movements of ignorance, we are drawn more deeply into the illusion. For the soul there are only two possible directions in which to move, either towards the Light (of consciousness), or away from the Light (into darkness and ignorance).
Bliss, like purity, radiance, power and love, are qualities of both the Light of the Higher Self and of the Higher Self, so the more we are drawn into that Light, the more those qualities will manifest as aspects of our true nature. This is how the Higher Self responds to true prayer with bliss. The more it shines through us, the more constant becomes the experience of bliss. But it does take time.
Is it true then that we can only realize our Higher Self through the grace of God? I think it is true. First we must stop identifying ourselves with what we are not, and then all we can do is surrender to the Divine Will. As Jesus said on the cross: “Your will Lord, not mine”. Then it is only through the grace that we come to know our True Self. But this grace is continuously pouring down on us and has been since before we were born. It is like surrendering into the love of God. There isn’t a lack of grace in the universe, or a lack of love, only a lack of true surrender.
So yes, I believe that someone who has realized their true nature would have no need to pray, in the sense of praying to someone outside of their Self. It would have no meaning for them exept to serve as an example for the rest of us. It also means that prayer which is simply a reflection on the qualities of God is a higher form of prayer than prayer in the sense of conversing mentally with God. The first kind of prayer will draw us nearer to Him more effectively. I was always interested in the saying of Christ: “Be still and know that I Am God”. If he had just wanted to say, “I am God” he could have said that. But to say “Be still and know that I Am God” is like teaching a form of prayer where the Higher Self is not prayed to as a separate object, but is known directly through the sense of being self aware.
Christi
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 02:37:31 AM
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Hi Yogani,
quote:
Yes, kundalini is necessary for realization, though it may not be called by that name. Mental dodgeball, you know. The rise of whole body ecstatic conductivity and radiance (shakti) in the neurobiology is part of the process of human spiritual transformation. Not the only part, but an essential component along with the rise of inner silence (shiva). It is what it is, no matter how it might be relabeled or avoided.
The new Self-Inquiry book also covers kundalini in relation to the mind, which makes it a bit unusual. Avowed non-dualists (and many others) tend to shun the reality of ecstatic energy awakening. We don't. Much better to deal intelligently with what is actually happening than be hanging people out to dry, which happens a lot when the truth is swept under the rug.
The guru is in you.
This is something that I have been wondering about for quite some time. There are cases where kundalini is recognized in other spiritual traditions and appears under other names, but it is very rare. Mostly it simply forms no part of the tradition and is denied if spoken about. I was wondering if you had any idea why this is?
Obviously most (if not all) spiritual traditions are simply not that effective, for if they were then the state of humanity would be very different than it is now. It seems to me that this denial of the role of ecstatic conductivity plays a major part in the innefectiveness of many spiritual and religious traditions. It's like, half of the equation is missing. And from where I am sitting, I cannot see that too much bliss or love can come about without the spiritual transformation taking place in the subtle body first, so it is almost like both halves of the equation are missing.
I cannot believe that most realized souls suffer from amnesia and forget how they got there and forget the incredible process of awakening that they went through. And yet, in the vast majority of cases, they simply don't talk about it. And it isn't just traditions other than yoga that this happens in. I would say the same goes for many realized beings within the yogic tradition.
Can you shed any light on this?
Christi |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 05:07:54 AM
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I very much enjoyed these two latest posts of yours, Christi. Thank you!
Two questions:
- Is the Higher Self in your terminology equal to The Source, The Absolute, The Undescribable?
- If you would continue and also add The Darkness, The Blackness, The Void into the description above, how would it fit in and how is it related to The Light? What is it in your understanding? |
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yogibear
409 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 07:51:48 AM
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quote:
Yogani wrote:
Progress is more about navigation in relation to our inner silence than the particular method of self-inquiry being utilized.
When I was a young yogi, I used to do a form of self inquiry. I would identify a particular identification that I had at that moment. Then I would make a statement containing it and its opposite like this:
"I am not male or female. I am not young or old. I am that I am."
This was said with the understanding behind it that I have no attributes and that any attributes that I might assign to myself were simply false identifications with form and that I myself am formless spirit. Oops! I am neither form nor formlessness. This would cause my mind to stop with each mini realization of this truth.
I would do this at anytime and it really calmed me down and gave me perspective.
Is this an example of what you mean, Yogani? Using self inquiry to create more inner silence?
I would also listen to other people and analyze their identifications based on what they were saying and doing something like this: This person thinks that they are this or that and based on this, they are pursueing this and avoiding that based on their false identification's definition of what gives happiness. But in fact, they are spirit and nothing but spirit.
This supplemented my more formal practice.
Best, yb. |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2008 : 05:40:31 AM
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Hi EMC,
quote:
- If you would continue and also add The Darkness, The Blackness, The Void into the description above, how would it fit in and how is it related to The Light? What is it in your understanding?
Well... I'll tell you what I have seen. And then I'll tell you what I believe.  First what I have seen:
As you travel in consciousness away from the physical realm, inwards so to speak, there are many realms made of spiritual light. Each realm is more beautiful and subtle than the last and the beings that inhabit it are more beautiful and more incredible than the last. As you get nearer to the source of the spiritual light, things become incredibly Holy, like every particle of light is just taking form and singing in praise of God, and is looking in that direction only, oblivious to all else. At this point spiritual light and sound both exist. Then after that there is only this pure light, no sound even, just silence. The light is kind of golden/ silver. Then you reach the most amazing place. It is at the end of the light. It is like a vast ocean of darkness. It is incredibly peaceful and blissful and Holy. The light is created at the edge of the ocean of darkness and streams out from there to create the entire universe. But in the ocean there is no light and no sound, it is completely black.
As to what I believe: Beyond this ocean of darkness is a supreme intelligence the like of which we could never imagine, and that this is the Light of all Lights.
The void is another name for the ocean of darkness.
quote:
- Is the Higher Self in your terminology equal to The Source, The Absolute, The Undescribable?
Yes.
Christi |
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2008 : 11:28:46 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by yogibear
When I was a young yogi, I used to do a form of self inquiry. I would identify a particular identification that I had at that moment. Then I would make a statement containing it and its opposite like this:
"I am not male or female. I am not young or old. I am that I am."
This was said with the understanding behind it that I have no attributes and that any attributes that I might assign to myself were simply false identifications with form and that I myself am formless spirit. Oops! I am neither form nor formlessness. This would cause my mind to stop with each mini realization of this truth.
Hi Yogibear,
I find what you describe to be a very effective way to gain perspective as well. When I've felt upset by a particular thought about a future, I would sometimes try to see the positive about what I was afraid of. For example, if a thought came along about how everything would go "wrong" if X were to occur at work, I would simply ask myself if this did happen, what would the positive outcomes of the given situation be if it were to occur? This would serve to disarm the thought, as prior to seeing the positive in the given situation, I would only dwell on the perceived negativity of it and I would suffer from doing so. Once the thought was disarmed (emotional content released) it would eventually un-attach and float away.
Duality is the play of opposites, nothing less than everything is both positive and negative. I see suffering occur any time we stop and see reality to be something limited and believe that what will happen or what has happened to be exclusively positive or exclusively negative. When we think of something which happens or that we want to have happen as only positive, we are in for a rude awakening. Conversely, when we see only the negative in a given scenario, we suffer and miss out on the "silver lining". There is positive and negative in every situation. Nothing in duality is one without the other.
So from my current perspective, I see this spiritual path as a process of realizing the unlimited, indefinable potential within ourseves and outside of ourselves. The infinite can not be labelled, we are missing out on reality by limiting it to what we think we see. It is the great undoing of what we thought we were and what we think reality is. It is both none of it and all of it, the divine paradox.
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Edited by - Anthem on Jan 22 2008 1:19:15 PM |
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2008 : 11:35:24 AM
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Christi,
Your experiences sound interesting but it sounds to me like you are describing trancendance and immanence at the same time, which i confess doesn't make sense to me personally at all.
I wanted to ask you, this "being" beyond the darkness, can a human being know it and become omniscient, like some gurus claim? |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2008 : 06:52:43 AM
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Hi Gumpi
quote:
Christi,
Your experiences sound interesting but it sounds to me like you are describing trancendance and immanence at the same time, which i confess doesn't make sense to me personally at all.
I think that's just it, the person cannot make sense of it at all, because the person is the whole problem, the beginning and end of ignorance so to speak. I can't make any sense of it either... I was simply describing what I have seen.
quote:
I wanted to ask you, this "being" beyond the darkness, can a human being know it and become omniscient, like some gurus claim?
I have no idea. What they do say, is that we are it (the Supreme self) already, we have only to realize that. I have no reason to disbelieve them.
Christi
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Edited by - Christi on Jan 23 2008 07:07:03 AM |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2008 : 04:26:11 AM
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Thank you for a very interesting description of what you have seen, Christi!
What comes to me, also having read Anthem's post: "Nothing in duality is one without the other." is that also complete empty darkness and complete bright light are opposites and thus, duality! None of them alone is Oneness. They are nothing without eachother. They are the Whole together.
And I remember how Bernie brought us to that blackness... He just asked us to close our eyes. Usually we see colours and flickering spots and patterns all over. But the background is always black. That IS the Great Empty Blackness!!! We were encouraged just to focus on that blackness and ignore the "scenery" of colours - which is only movements in the mind, the more colours, the more mind movement. To identify with nothing but the blackness. And he described that as: She! The womb of the Universe, the female unlimited pure potential. It's with us, it's inside of us, it's what we see behind our eyelids. And it is pure love........ The light is the masculine, pure consciousness. And pure Truth. Two sides of a coin, unable to exist without eachother. Yin and Yang. Shiva and Shakti.
During doing The Form with Bernie, most people took a good dive down into the Blackness... |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2008 : 09:26:27 AM
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Hi EMC,
quote:
Thank you for a very interesting description of what you have seen, Christi!
What comes to me, also having read Anthem's post: "Nothing in duality is one without the other." is that also complete empty darkness and complete bright light are opposites and thus, duality! None of them alone is Oneness. They are nothing without eachother. They are the Whole together.
And I remember how Bernie brought us to that blackness... He just asked us to close our eyes. Usually we see colours and flickering spots and patterns all over. But the background is always black. That IS the Great Empty Blackness!!! We were encouraged just to focus on that blackness and ignore the "scenery" of colours - which is only movements in the mind, the more colours, the more mind movement. To identify with nothing but the blackness. And he described that as: She! The womb of the Universe, the female unlimited pure potential. It's with us, it's inside of us, it's what we see behind our eyelids. And it is pure love........ The light is the masculine, pure consciousness. And pure Truth. Two sides of a coin, unable to exist without eachother. Yin and Yang. Shiva and Shakti.
During doing The Form with Bernie, most people took a good dive down into the Blackness...
This is a subject that I am very interested in, and it is not often discussed.
Yesterday I found a description written 2 years ago by a Buddhist of moving from the last stages of the spiritual light of consciousness into the darkness of the void beyond it:
... when I am out of body in the expanse of infinite space and time, then I realize that all of those points of light are not just stars and planets and galaxies, but they are also beings singing the most blissful chorus and radiating bliss-filled love. ...
I have found if I remain in this domain unattached to anything then my awareness expands to embrace all of those beings and points of light. Those beings and points of light become the cells of my organism, and my psyche includes all of the other psyches in the universe. This stage the Buddha called "akincannayatana" which is often translated as the domain of No-Thingness. ...
Further, I have found if I remain in absorption attached to nothing then my awareness enters into a domain in which there is no perceivable object. It is as if all the non-material senses have completely gone as dead as the physical senses. There is not even a sense of time or dimension or location in space. I believe this domain the Buddha called "nevasannanasannnayatana," which translates as the domain of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. I believe this is cessation (nibbana/nirvana) union (yoga) with the Infinite in which there is no sensible dimension, blackness, the full enlightenment. The Sufis called this absorption state "fana" which means annihilation.
Jeffrey S. Brooks 2006
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2008 : 10:25:47 AM
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Hi EMC,
The irony of duality, is that when you look closely enough at it, it is no longer dual, it is all positive. If you look deeply enough, you can find that there is positive hidden in the negative. So from my perspective. it's a paradox because "it's all good". Haven't most rock musicians known this for years?
This awareness has been a source of tremendous happiness for me lately, there's nothing to do, because it's all good. Whatever life brings my way is what I want because I know my highest good is being delivered. If I think it's negative, then I keep looking at it until I find the positive.
Lucky us and all we do is complain about what life brings us most of the time, too funny! |
Edited by - Anthem on Jan 24 2008 10:27:26 AM |
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Black Rebel Radio
USA
98 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2008 : 12:54:41 PM
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Amen to that Anthem!
Mac |
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