|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 20 2005 : 12:39:23 PM
|
Inspired by a post from Melissa:
quote:
Originally posted by Melissa
Anyway, when I was doing this other practice [Hermetics], I mastered "emptiness of mind" meditation to the point where I could do it for an indefinite period of time, mostly through sheer force. I always felt like there was still some underlying "stuff" though.
Not sure Melissa in particular needs this, but I can offer help for some people who bring forced concentration as a habit from other meditation practices, or maybe they bring it spontaneously of their own accord. In general you want to get rid of forced concentration for our mantra yoga practice, because it actually gets in the way. How do you do that?
Forced concentration does actually have significant merits for certain kinds of meditation practice. It can help to build a sort of 'concentration muscle' in the brain, speaking figuratively now. It's usefulness depends on a lot of factors, incuding innate skill.
I have a suggestion for you if you have a habit of bringing in 'force' in your meditation. I'm not going to alter the instructions of lesson 13. This is a side-practice you can do occasionally before your meditation, or in a meditation by itself.
The underlying principle is that to learn to relax a 'muscle' that you are spontaneously engaging, one of the best things you can do is bring it into extreme engagement, then instantly drop the extreme engagement. Cycles of this awaken the relaxation ability, somewhat paradoxically, perhaps.
The same thing works with mental concentration.
So, as an occasional side-practice for meditation ( a side dish, not the main course of lesson 13), what I would suggest is the following practice:
- in seated postion, engage your ability to keep the mind empty by sheer force of concentration, using your utter maximum power -- do it for several seconds then, suddenly, let everything go. Enjoy the rest from the disengagement, and rest for a while until you feel 'ready' to engage again (this might be from say 10 to 30 seconds). Then engage again, disengage again in another cycle. In the engagement, use maximum force -- in the disengagement, drop all and maximally enjoy the rest.
You'll start to become more familiar with the position of disengagement, and it is from that, not engagement, that mantra yoga is done.
Remember, this is a side dish, not the main course. Take the main couse exactly as written:
http://aypsite.org/13.html
I hope someone finds that helpful, or maybe has comments.
-David
|
Edited by - david_obsidian on Jul 21 2005 12:56:23 AM |
|
|
Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2005 : 3:06:36 PM
|
David - I tried your suggestion, or a variety thereof, and it was extremely helpful in helping me to know what the relaxed state feels like. I tightened my mind like a fist around the mantra for about 15 seconds (I AM!! I AM!!), then let it go into as relaxed a state as I could, then some more, and some more, until I felt as softened in my concentration as was possible. In that place, I started the mantra again, and found that it naturally became softened too - like a wave. Interesting how forcing something in one direction allows you to experience its opposite. Thanks for the suggestion - I think I have a better idea of what everyone's talking about, and a glimpse of the goal is always the most helpful instruction.
meg |
 |
|
|
david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 10:17:22 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by meg
David - I tried your suggestion, or a variety thereof, and it was extremely helpful in helping me to know what the relaxed state feels like. I tightened my mind like a fist around the mantra for about 15 seconds (I AM!! I AM!!), then let it go into as relaxed a state as I could, then some more, and some more, until I felt as softened in my concentration as was possible. In that place, I started the mantra again, and found that it naturally became softened too - like a wave. Interesting how forcing something in one direction allows you to experience its opposite. Thanks for the suggestion - I think I have a better idea of what everyone's talking about, and a glimpse of the goal is always the most helpful instruction.
meg
Hi Meg,
I'm glad to hear it helped. Indeed you have suggested an interesting variation, in which instead of emptying the mind, it is concentrated fiercely on the mantra, then released.
Here's a suggestion for yet another variation if anyone is curious --- after doing the fierce concentration on the mantra for 15 seconds or so, battling everything but the mantra out, release it suddenly -- then, enjoy the feeling of rest and release and ..... enjoy the pleasant echo of .... the ..... m a n t r a . . .
[For anyone who reads this, remember this variation is a sort of side-exercise to mantra yoga and is not proposed as a general replacement for mantra yoga practice ]
Thanks and blessings,
-David
|
Edited by - david_obsidian on Jul 23 2005 09:24:31 AM |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
getting rid of forceful concentration in meditatio
