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reidmantra
United Arab Emirates
57 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 25 2014 : 9:54:03 PM
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| Hello everyone! I am a newcomer to this forum and have many questions on the correct practice of samyama and the correct practice of meditation. Although I have been practicing DM for about a year and enjoying it very much, I frequently am plagued with doubts about whether I am doing it correctly. It is the same thing with samyama. I started using the AYP list of sutras about six months ago and other than some increased inner peace during the practice of the technique and more happiness in activity after my rest period, nothing else happens during the practice. I have read and re-read the descriptions on this forum of peoples experiences with the sutras and if they are the types of experiences that the sutras produce, then maybe I am doing samyama wrong because I don't get anything like that. I want to tell all of you how I do it and then you can tell me where I am making the errors (if any) - After 20 minutes of DM I wait about one minute and then gently introduce the first sutra and then let it go into silence. After about 15 seconds I introduce it again and then let it go again into silence. I do this with all the sutras. Is that all there is to it? The reason I ask is because I have read on this forum that you have to try and "feel" the essence or energy of each sutra and I don't know what that means, let alone how an analytical person like me is supposed to do that while practicing the sutras without engaging in mood making. I don't think that mood making is part of the technique of samyama. Am I wrong about this? If I am doing samyama correctly then why have I never felt anything from the lightness sutra such as feeling spacious or extremely light in my body? Am I just an under-sensitive samyama practioner? What am I doing wrong? I hope some of you will respond to this topic and critique my technique or help me get the right perspective. I want to thank all of you in advance for your responses. - reidmantra |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 07:08:00 AM
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Hi Reidmantra,
The practice involves picking up the feeling of each word and releasing that into silence. So for example if you are using the sutra "abundance" it would be what abundance feels like to you. It is the feeling that is important. We only touch very briefly on that feeling and then release it immediately into stillness. So it is a "touch and release" practice.
Here is the description from lesson 150 of using the word "love":
"In your easy silence, pick up, just once, the fuzziest feeling of the word "Love" in your own language. Don't deliberately make a clear pronunciation, or mental images of this or that scene or situation that represent Love to you. Just have a faint remembrance of Love, and then let go into your silence, the easy silence you are in as you pick up the faint meaning of Love. Don't contemplate Love or analyze it during samyama. Don't think about it at all. Just come to it once in a faint, subtle way, and then let go into silence. It is a subtle feeling of Love we are coming to, nothing more, and letting it go. Like that." [Yogani]
So I would not say it is mood making, but it is about touching upon a subtle feeling in stillness.
Christi |
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reidmantra
United Arab Emirates
57 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 09:28:41 AM
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| Hi Christi. Thank you for your response. I was wondering what happens if I am not sure what a certain sutra feels like to me? How do I handle that while doing samyama? Thanks in advance for your response. -reidmantra |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 10:14:15 AM
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Hi reidmantra:
The meaning is embedded in the word in consciousness, so just touching the faintest feeling of the word and letting it go is all that is needed.
Sounds like all is going well with results of your practice. Relax and enjoy!
The guru is in you.
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reidmantra
United Arab Emirates
57 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 11:22:58 AM
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| Hi Yogani. I don't quite understand what you mean when you say "the meaning is embedded in the word in consciousness"? Are you saying that pure consciousness `recognizes' the intention as being an aspect of itself so we don't have to worry if we can't conceptualize the meaning because the PC inside of us already knows what it is? I also really don't understand what you mean by the instruction "just touching the faintest feeling of the word". Are you saying that because each word is a sound we just faintly introduce the sound of the word and then let it go? You Yogani, are a master of analogies and the use of metaphors to make seemingly abstract things clear to your readers. If you wouldn't mind, would you please give me an analogy or metaphor (or both) so I can clearly understand you above instructions? Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to give me in this. Namaste and Shanti to you Yogani. -reidmantra |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 12:00:19 PM
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Hi reidmantra:
Like the rest of practices, it is like driving a car. We don't have to think about all the inner workings, or even about what we are doing at the controls. We just do it because it has become wired in us. Same with using sutras in samyama. After some initial getting used to practice, we just touch the faint feeling of the sound of the sutras and let them go, and that's it. The timing between sutras also becomes mostly automatic. It is a cultivated habit of applying attention subtly in stillness. This gradually becomes a natural habit outside structured practice also, leading to many "small miracles" and more effectiveness in daily living.
It is very simple. It is important to keep it simple and not over-analyze the process. The whole thing is happening beyond the busy mind. 
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 12:36:15 PM
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Inner silence amplifies subtle thought. The more subtle the thought-feeling, the more traction in stillness there is to move the vibrations across inner space, which manifests as external reality. Similarly, the more silence, the more subtle the thought-feeling is. The dynamic is symbiotic and self-sustaining based on surrender and release.
All is vibration emanating from the field of pure tranquility.  |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 2:24:02 PM
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"Silence Amplifies"...paradoxes within yoga never fail to bring joy to my being!
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reidmantra
United Arab Emirates
57 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 4:52:52 PM
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Thank you very much Bodhi Tree for your answer. It is interesting that you call the sutras "thought-feeling". I understand the (thought) part but not the (feeling) part. Let me explain what I mean. Let us take the example of the lightness sutra. I use the english of Akasha, so to me it is: Inner Space-lightness of Air. Now to me, that is a thought. If there is enough inner silence, the thought can be picked up and released in a very faint and subtle way. I get that part too, and this is my experience. Now with this particular sutra just by way of example - I have never had an experience that my body was vacant and spacious inside. And that because of that truth, my body can become light like air and move upward. As I understand Yogani's instruction to me earlier today, the `feeling' part of the sutra is what it feels like to think it in that faint and subtle way at that deep level. However, we are NOT trying to 1. imagine what it would feel like to be spacious inside and 2. Not trying to think about or contemplate the meaning of the sutra while we are using it. Such imagining and contemplation would have the effect of engaging the mind in to much activity while we are trying to stay deep in silence. The whole idea of samyama is to pick up the thought at that deep level of silence and release it into the silence without worrying about meanings or feelings of the particular sutras. The effects will be experienced in daily life and it is there (in activity) that we will experience the meanings of the sutras. Am I correct in what I have written here? Any responses from you or the group would be greatly appreciated! I apologize to the group if I am splitting hairs when it comes to the technique and I know that Yogani says that this stuff is all `under the hood' but I tend to be a bit analytical and feel more confident with the practice when I understand the little details surrounding these techniques.
Ps. I deeply appreciate all of you who have responded to my questions. Namaste and Shanti to all - reidmantra |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 7:15:19 PM
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If you want to be analytical, try this: think the sutra without ANY feeling, then release it. Do this for a year's worth of sittings. Report back then with results.
Nasmeste! |
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reidmantra
United Arab Emirates
57 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2014 : 11:44:44 PM
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| Hello Dogboy! I see by your response to me that I am completely over-analyzing the whole technique of samyama. Yogani thought everything was going ok in my practice so I think that it is high time that I stop analyzing the whole thing and just relax, let go in silence, and enjoy the process. I do have a major tendency to over think things most of the time and I am hoping that DM will help me to change that from the inside out. I am grateful to Christi, Yogani, and Bodhi-Tree for enhancing my understanding, and you Dogboy for giving me in your latest response a very needed dose of reality. Which is essentially - Less thinking, more practice! As I am pretty new to posting questions to this forum, I don't want to turn people off. If I have done this in any way, I apologize. Well, time to meditate! -reidmantra |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2014 : 05:51:34 AM
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2014 : 06:52:17 AM
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I think you're right on target, reidmantra. As Yogani often says, the proof is in the pudding of our quality of life (emotionally, in personal relationships, how we interact with the world, etc.), beyond our intellectual understanding. But, I think a rudimentary understanding is helpful. So, on that note, I just wanted to say one more thing about "thought-feelings".
In my experience, thoughts and feelings are forever interconnected, just as the body and mind are forever interconnected. Both are vibrations. A thought is a vibration perceived in the empty space of the mind. A feeling is a vibration felt in the physical/energetic body, which is also witnessed by the aware mind. Therefore, a sutra can be felt and touched from all three places: body, mind, and spirit (awareness). Yoga is the practice of joining all the parts.
In order of creation, it's often said that the layers unfold in this sequence: 1) spirit (preceding creation) 2) mind (the perception of creation) 3) body (the fulfillment of creation). So, in samyama, we start from the silent spirit, release through the mind, and then, miraculously, the essences will somehow manifest in the body of creation. It works from the inside out. Deep Meditation goes the other direction--working from the outside in (from the body/mind towards stillness). This inward/outward dance is a brilliant combination which makes us whole. "Your faith has made you whole." Wholeness. Union. Integration.
Hope this helps, and if it further confuses you, please disregard. Most importantly, the simple technique of samyama works--I know that from direct experience, having practiced it daily for several years now.
Godspeed, and thank you for starting the topic! Great stuff.  |
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jonesboy
USA
594 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2014 : 10:15:01 AM
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Hi reidmantra,
I understand the confusion. I can tell you it wasn't until this week that I could pick up the sutra without saying the whole word before letting it go. I would think Love instead of L. I can say it still worked but I am sure the effects would be less because I have not been able to do it right.
When you meditate can you feel the mantra? Can you feel the brain, the energy it uses for the thought? I believe, I sure hope that is what everyone is talking about. Feel the beginning of the thought of Love. You are just pressing on the edge of the bubble and then letting go, so to speak.
Don't worry to much. Just do your best in practice and watch how over time it will refine itself in practice and improve your life in the mean time!
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AYPforum
351 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2014 : 12:05:35 PM
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| Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement |
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