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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Nov 16 2005 :  12:37:10 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Message
Hi there,

I wanted to see if anyone was interested in discussing crown bastrika and I also wanted to follow up on Jim's topic "Bliss Goes Dead" see reference: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....TOPIC_ID=577 .

In the above mentioned topic, I posted about how I had experienced a couple of months in succession where ecstasy and feelings of bliss were less intense than I remember and less frequent. Yogani recommended adding in another practice and the only one I wasn't using regularly at the time was "crown bastrika" which he describes in lesson #199 "Managing the Opening of the Crown": http://www.aypsite.com/199.html . By the way, I had stayed away from this mostly because I was a little afraid of taking things too far, too fast and also because I wanted to achieve some long term stability before moving on again. Using this technique doesn’t necessarily mean you are instantly turning this chakra on completely and it being fully open instantly. For me, it is more like allowing the energy to move there too and for it to gradually expand and become more active along with all the other centers in the body.

Well anyway, I started this practice again about 2 weeks ago (I had experimented very briefly a few months back) and it has been an extremely positive experience for me which I wanted to share. First of all in retrospect, what I realize now is that for lack of a better description, my crown chakra seems to have "fallen asleep" for me over the last couple of months. In the past, since kundalini became active, it had always flared up randomly every now and then but not in a consistent or balanced way and would simply seem to take over from time to time. What I realize now is that for the last 2 or 3 months, only the centers between my base and third eye have been active with the crown seeming to be pretty inactive by comparison. Basically, by adding in base to crown bastrika, in the very slow and methodical way described in lesson #199, I have been able to “wake it up” and it’s functioning has had an extremely pleasant affect.

When it turns on you can’t miss it, but the energy in comparison to the way it used to be is now very soft and gentle and leaves me feeling this way throughout the spinal nerve. I also think turning on and being fully open are two very different things. I am now getting much stronger flows of ecstasy and bliss, (in that order) than I ever remember experiencing before. There is also a very nice transfer into daily life as well. I used to think of the crown as the last thing you wanted to work on, but with my limited experience (and Yogani may disagree) I feel that it operating and being active nicely balances out everything else that is going on. While all the centers operate and continue to expand, the AYP practices continue to work on them all in an incredibly balanced and subtle way.

I don't want to encourage people to do this, but if others were hesitating as I was, I wanted to say that in my limited experience, it has been an extremely positive mudra to work with.

I am interested in what others have noticed from using this technique and I am hoping Yogani will, in the future, add in a pre-meditation practice for the crown since base to crown bastrika takes place at the end of practices. I wonder if that makes sense to practices?

yogani

USA
5241 Posts

Posted - Nov 16 2005 :  10:52:55 AM  Show Profile  Visit yogani's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Anthem:

I'll let the lessons speak for themselves on crown openings, including the risks and rewards. We each have to approach it according to our own bhakti, level of purification and known sensitivities.

I do want to add that to the extent one is doing “targeted” crown bastrika, it is okay to put it in front of meditation. In fact, both spinal and targeted bastrika can be done before spinal breathing, if desired. That would be between asanas and spinal breathing, if one is doing postures before sitting practices. There are no hard and fast rules on this. We will have the pranayama benefit whenever we do it. And our meditation will be just as effective over time whether we are doing bastrika before or after. It is a matter of personal choice. That is the advantage of open source knowledge. We can use it however we like.

Of course, there are principles, causes and effects that we are dealing with at every turn, so we can't afford to be careless in our choices on how we do things. With good self-pacing we can regulate our own progress and find our way through. That is the key, and it is especially important in approaching the crown.

Sounds like you are tiptoeing up there with some good results. Keep in mind that there will often be a delayed effect with any crown practice we do. If it feels great today, that does not mean we are in the clear. The suggestion is to continue to step carefully, and enjoy!

The guru is in you.
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Nov 16 2005 :  10:16:52 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
The suggestion is to continue to step carefully, and enjoy!


Hi Yogani,

Thank you for your post, sounds like good advice for any new situation, I will certainly be sure to continue to step carefully. You mentioned that there can be “delayed effect” especially with the crown, what in your experience is a reasonable amount of time to determine that things are clear going, as long as a month or more?

It makes a lot of sense when you say that the effects will be there whether you do "Targetted Crown Bastrika" before or after practices, either way the crown will be stimulated to function on a regular basis.

I am a little confused about how at some times, with the addition of this mudra to practices, we are encouraging energy to flow from root to third eye and at the other end we are encouraging root to crown. In terms of building a habitual pattern for the flow of energy in the body, are we not sending mixed messages to the nervous system? Is there any sense to finishing off with a minute or two of pranayama or am I missing some logic here?
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yogani

USA
5241 Posts

Posted - Nov 17 2005 :  11:20:29 AM  Show Profile  Visit yogani's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Anthem:

There can be several layers of delayed effect. The most obvious one is doing a crown thing today that feels great, and waking up tomorrow feeling totally reamed. It can take a few days or more to get over that. Needless to say, goodbye crown practice when that happens, and rightfully so.

Then there is the imbalance that sneaks up over days, weeks or months of pushing just a little too much every day. That may not be as acute as the short term overload, but can take longer to smooth out. It is a general feeling of malaise, or worse, that tells us something is not right. There are all sorts of combinations falling between the short term overload and longer term overload.

For those who are crown sensitive and dealing with the ongoing effects of a premature crown (kundalini) opening, all of this gets magnified many times over.

All of which points to the crown being a tricky business. That's why I say, step carefully. The truth of it is, when we become ready via ajna to root practices, we will enter up into the crown smoothly and naturally without much fanfare at all. The fanfare (big energy symptoms, ecstasy, etc.) is the friction of energy passing through unpurified nerves. That is the so-called ecstasy we crave so much. We don't really need those symptoms to progress, but we are all looking for handles on our progress. It is understandable. So we press on... it is the bhakti-ego-practice-purification dynamic that leads us steadily (or not so steadily) toward enlightenment.

Btw, similar imbalance scenarios can be had by overdoing any of our practices. You had that going on a month or so ago, right? The difference between that situation and a crown overload is in the degree of power involved and the recovery time -- much much greater for the crown. The crown is like a spiritual vacuum cleaner that literally sucks all of our pranic energy up and out. This is great when the nervous system is sufficiently purified to handle it. But before that it can be a major reaming -- not very comfortable, and difficult to control if it gets out of hand -- shades of Gopi Krishna there.

On the difference between the brow to root and crown to root, the ajna (brow to medulla) is the area where we have greatest control over our whole body ecstatic energy, including regulating what goes up to the crown. Ajna means "command" for good reason. The crown is just the opposite in that respect. I sometimes call it "the white hole." ... like a black hole, only going up into infinity. Hey, better to get sucked up than to get sucked down!

In terms of characteristics, the ajna has the lore surrounding it about "other realms" and so on. To be honest, all that is pretty miner compared to the ajna's primary earth benefit, which is the rise of spiritual intuition. That has huge implications in our everyday life. Spiritual intuition enables us to know and do things here on earth that we could not even imagine before. To me, that is far more valuable than seeing or traveling in other realms. The here and now is where it is at. The somewhere else is for later when we leave here. There is no escaping the work we have come here to do. We can do it now, or do it later...

In contrast, the crown is a dissolving of everything we are into the great white all-consuming beyond. From there we can come back into the earth plane as that great white beyond. But to function energetically we will have to come back to the ajna, and the heart as well, which is another important aspect. The crown is the doorway to an infinite sea of cosmic energy. We can either draw upon it judiciously or be completely consumed by it. There isn't much in-between. Our surrender to being consumed is best regulated (self-paced) according to the condition of our nervous system, which is indicated by our experiences over time.

The way the AYP practices are set up, we have the opportunity to conduct our unfoldment in a manageable sequence, building all of our energy-related practices and experiences on a firm foundation of inner silence cultivated in deep meditation, and a balanced opening of our sushumna cultivated in spinal breathing.

In the old days, the great bhaktis took a flying leap into spiritual chaos and hoped to come out the other end in one piece. Only a few did. Now we all can.

It is analogous to the lone entrepreneur leaping off the cliff with eagle feathers tied to his arms, hoping to master flight, versus the Wright Brothers spending years systematically developing the easy-to-use controls that would enable all of humankind to take flight. The first approach has led to the second approach. And with the second approach, we don't have to jump off the cliff with reckless abandon anymore, though some may still be inclined to.

So the advice is, don't confuse the flying leap (crown) for the steady joystick (ajna). The crown we can test and enter very slowly as conditions naturally permit us to do so. In that sense, the crown is not really a practice at all. It is a doorway we are opening through a variety of means, so we can pass through easily at some point. The so-called crown practices are the testing of that doorway. At least that is the AYP approach. It is the ajna we can utilize with confidence for a smooth and progressive ride leading to full opening on all fronts.

The guru is in you.




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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  12:32:22 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Thank you for all this valuable information Yogani, this is a great post, maybe even worth posting as a Q&A in the main section for those who don't make it over to the forums.

I am not well versed in yoga lore so don't no much about the "ins" and "outs" of all the chakras and what they are supposed to do for a person, more than that I don't really care if one of them makes me sprout wings and helps me fly around. All I know is that the crown has been active since kundalini started for me, I used to notice it more as it would come dramatically on at times, it would just happen by itself during meditation (sometimes for very long durations) as I tried to ignore it and went on with the mantra. I didn't really notice it wasn't active over the last few months until I started with the targeted root to crown bastrika just a while back as I reported in my above post.

For me, if doing this bastrika over time will have some dramatic affect and make things progress faster than they are now then I am not really interested in continuing at the expense of my daily well-being. One of my least favorite experiences is having a day disturbed by emotional upheaval, inner sunburn or irritability because I have done too much in practices, it's just not worth it to me.

All I know is that things are feeling better for me in my daily life since starting with it, I had felt for quite some time like something wasn't quite operating as it should be. I have energy levels more similar to the way I used to be before I ever awakened kundalini. So far I don't feel any dramatic differences during meditation accept that blissful and ecstatic feelings are more present but in an understated kind of way. Instead of riding a roller-coaster of big waves in the ocean, like at the beginning when K first became active, it is now more like a gentle underground stream that is more present in a softer kind of way.

So I suppose I will be a good case study for this practice, I will be sure to report back on this topic especially if it leads me to unpleasant results.
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yogani

USA
5241 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  07:19:59 AM  Show Profile  Visit yogani's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi again Anthem:

For the sake of clarification, sambhavi eventually goes higher and encompasses both ajna and crown. That resolves the dual focus issue you raised. I don't think folks ought to be encouraged to do that. It comes along naturally as ecstatic conductivity provides a more intimate and stable connection between ajna and crown, and the rest of the nervous system that surges up ecstatically from the root. The safety/stability factor is maintained with both ajna and crown coming together like that -- with the ajna being the point of reference going up into the crown. Interestingly, this provides the same crown vacuum cleaner effect mentioned above, but with much more stability. Such is the stabilizing power of the ajna. So do keep a hand on that joystick.

It is important for everyone to recognize that this sambhavi reference pertains to a natural progression of ecstatic conductivity and not a practice to be pressed beforehand. I don't want to send folks off on a wild goose chase to the crown. Gooses can get cooked prematurely that way!

And to your earlier question, no, I do not recommend more pranayama at the end of practices than has been discussed.

Yes, do take it easy. It is not about having the biggest ecstatic energy explosions. It is about cultivating inner silence and managing a smooth unfoldment from there. Once things get rolling, self-pacing becomes the primary focus. You are doing just right.

All the best!

The guru is in you.
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Manipura

USA
870 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  10:23:08 AM  Show Profile  Visit Manipura's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Since we're on the subject of the crown, I'll mention something that's been happening for me. I've been experiencing a lot of "action" going on in the crown, particularly 'around back', that is, toward the back of my head. It's as if there's some kind of renovating going on up there, and a back wall is being taken out. So naturally when I feel this happening during meditation I want to go up there with my attention and help out as much as possible, which immediately stops all activity. After experimenting with it, I've found that the best thing I can do is bring my attention to my heart chakra, of all places. Or, better put, my heart draws me to it, and as I let it get very open and raw (to the point that it aches a bit), the crown construction resumes in earnest. From this I've determined that 1) the heart and crown are inextricably linked; and 2) the heart opening must come first.


meg
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david_obsidian

USA
2602 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  12:09:51 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply

Hi Meg,

'nuanced congratulations' on getting some action. I've had stuff towards the back of the head like that too. I didn't think what I had was 'the crown' per se though, though it is probably certainly part of the 'construction'.

-D

quote:
Originally posted by meg

going on in the crown, particularly 'around back', that is, toward the back of my head. meg

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Manipura

USA
870 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  12:42:15 PM  Show Profile  Visit Manipura's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi David - The reason that I think it's the crown is b'c when it happens, it's accompanied by an opening up, or expansion, in the crown area, and I begin to feel like I'm sitting dead center in a theater-in-the-round. Whereas until now it's felt more like an Imax: huge, spectacular, but not 360º. What do you think yours is?


meg
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david_obsidian

USA
2602 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  1:17:06 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by meg

Hi David - The reason that I think it's the crown is b'c when it happens, it's accompanied by an opening up, or expansion, in the crown area, and I begin to feel like I'm sitting dead center in a theater-in-the-round. Whereas until now it's felt more like an Imax: huge, spectacular, but not 360º. What do you think yours is?

meg



I hadn't heard those details before. Truth is Meg, I am not really competent to evaluate what is happening to you there. It could be some 'crown' activity after all for all I know.

What you described earlier was like something I had which I did not think was crown opening.

That thing I had was, I think, just some energy blockage clearing up at pony-tail level.


Edited by - david_obsidian on Nov 18 2005 2:09:35 PM
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nearoanoke

USA
525 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  2:16:28 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
I've been experiencing a lot of "action" going on in the crown, particularly 'around back', that is, toward the back of my head. It's as if there's some kind of renovating going on up there, and a back wall is being taken out.


Hi Meg,

I too had exactly such an experience. It felt as if something is pushing back of my head from inside very hard. I used to stop i am for sometime when the pain became unbearable.

Ofcourse, I didnt experiment concentrating on heart or any chakras when that happened.



The reason many people fail in spirituality is that they try but make no attempt - Anonymous
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Manipura

USA
870 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  3:12:14 PM  Show Profile  Visit Manipura's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
>>That thing I had was, I think, just some energy blockage clearing up at pony-tail level.

That may not be so different than what I'm experiencing. An energy blockage becoming unstuck clears the nadis so that the energy can then have a clear, unobstructed path up through the sushumna. So, to use my former analogy, the tearing down of the wall in the back of my head, or the clearing up in yours, would suggest an opening up, and the accompanying sensations of expansion. Like a hose becoming unkinked, the water then flowing abundantly. If your crown has been open all along, then you may not notice the increase in energy flow.

I have read that when we have sensations at a chakra, it simply means that energy is being cleared away, NOT that we are having extraordinary openings or abilities in that chakra. When there are no obstructions, there are no sensations - the channel is simply running freely. That was surprising to me, as I had previously believed that the gnawing sensations at my heart meant that I had reached a new level of spiritual awareness. Quite the opposite! It meant I had excess baggage to burn.

FWIW, one of the authors who wrote about this was Osho.


meg
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david_obsidian

USA
2602 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  4:58:25 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by meg


I have read that when we have sensations at a chakra, it simply means that energy is being cleared away, NOT that we are having extraordinary openings or abilities in that chakra.



Sounds right.... though, is there any distinction between 'opening' and the removal of energy blockage?

Edited by - david_obsidian on Nov 18 2005 4:59:13 PM
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Manipura

USA
870 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  6:06:07 PM  Show Profile  Visit Manipura's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Probably not . . . if there is one, it's slight. Like the distinction between unkinking the hose (insignificant) and the immediate rush of water (significant). Still, it had to happen in that order.

It may be a new-age, colloquial kind of thing, but I've noticed that when most people refer to an 'opening' at a chakra, i.e., a heart opening, what they mean is that it's a done deal - their heart is open. Not that the chakra is in the process of being cleaned out. (I know had a point, but I forget what it was . . . ) So that sometimes the word "opening" is a noun, sometimes a verb.
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david_obsidian

USA
2602 Posts

Posted - Nov 18 2005 :  6:21:38 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by meg


It may be a new-age, colloquial kind of thing, but I've noticed that when most people refer to an 'opening' at a chakra, i.e., a heart opening, what they mean is that it's a done deal - their heart is open.



Sometimes they are talking about the arousal, or activation, of a particular system ... sometimes its purification ... then there's activation in the small, a momentary thing, then there is activation in the large ( big events and developments), then there is the question of what, if anything, these systems really map to... so it's hard to make a true science out of any of this at this point...

I think, btw, that chakras are, roughly speaking, brain systems. I think they are all located in the brain, but they are subjectively felt to monitor (and act) at different parts of the body.

-D

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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Nov 21 2005 :  11:13:32 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Yogani,

First I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the two new articles today on the main site, though I have to wonder how many cave-dwelling yogis would like being called "masturbators"! (lol)

quote:
The fanfare (big energy symptoms, ecstasy, etc.) is the friction of energy passing through unpurified nerves. That is the so-called ecstasy we crave so much. We don't really need those symptoms to progress, but we are all looking for handles on our progress.


This quote of yours made me realize that I am a little unclear about the milestones of enlightenment that you and others have commented on.

To paraphrase badly, I think you have pointed out that at first inner silence develops and then comes the rise of ecsatic conductivity in the first stages, then ecstatic conductivity goes 24/7 which eventually leads to bliss 24/7.

What I don't understand is that if ecstasy is merely the release and friction of blockages passing through the nervous system how does it grow and expand to happen all the time (24/7)? With this line of thinking, shouldn't it diminish if anything, you have a whole bunch at first and than it hardly happens at all? How does it grow and expand to be with a person in and outside of practices at all times?

I would love to hear your insight on this.

A




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yogani

USA
5241 Posts

Posted - Nov 22 2005 :  10:45:18 AM  Show Profile  Visit yogani's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Anthem:

The key to the ecstasy thing is in its refinement, which is analogous to purification of our nervous system, the awakening and refinement of ecstatic conductivity (also called kundalini), and introversion of sensory perception which is pratyahara. All of these are aspects of the same dynamic. As the neurological friction becomes less, the expression of ecstatic energy and our experience refines.

On the other hand, bliss is not a dynamic energy-related quality like ecstasy is. Bliss is an aspect of pure "bliss" consciousness, inner silence, which we cultivate (or reveal) in deep meditation. Inner silence does not "refine." Inner silence emerges when we dissolve inner obstructions to it. It is our own inner awareness. It is stillness. Bliss is a resident part of stillness.

So we have these two qualities -- bliss and ecstasy. One is a fixed compass (our awareness) we reveal as inner silence in deep meditation. The other is a dynamic evolution of energy flowing through our nervous system. As ecstasy (energy movement) refines, it comes to reside in silence, or bliss. Then we have "ecstatic bliss," which is a new dynamic in us that brings a "rebirth." It is the joining of "emptiness and euphoria," as Lahiri Mahasaya called it. It is also the joining of "Shiva and Shakti" as Yoga and Tantra call it. And it is the joining of "Father and Holy Spirit," as the Christians call it. The product of this joining is the Jivan Mukti (liberated soul) or Christ, which manifests as the expansion of outpouring divine love. We all know that when we see it, and it is more than enough of a miracle to see in this world. In fact, outpouring divine love brings the miracles with it, and that is the real meaning of miracles.

All of this terminology is to describe a real neuro-biological transformation that we who are doing yoga practices are witnessing at our own particular stage, and describing accordingly. The new AYP book "Deep Meditation" goes into this as well, because I think it is important even for beginning meditators to understand the difference between the qualities of inner silence, the role of energy (ecstatic or not) in navigating the overall purification process, and what the ultimate joining of these two aspects of our nature deep within us is about.

Some may see stillness and energy as mutually exclusive, and paths that attempt to integrate these two aspects of our nature as conflicted. To that, we can only say that the human nervous system operates in a certain way as it evolves spiritually, and all paths are but a reflection of that to greater or lesser degree. The addressing of polarity (silence and energy) found in spiritual paths is there because the polarity is there in nature -- in all of nature, from our human functioning and spiritual mechanics, right down to the inner workings of matter itself. So, to exclude the polarity aspect on our path, whether it be excluding inner silence or ecstatic energy, is to exclude a vital aspect of ourselves.

Having said all that, I recommend that inner silence be given the first priority, as it is the ground state and source of all energy. Yet, once we have inner silence, the witness, we will not find completion until our ecstatic energy function has been refined to marry inner silence, so we can move on to the unity stage, which is outpouring divine love. That's why the sequence of practices in AYP is the way it is -- inner silence first, and all the ecstatic energy development and refinement after that.

And, to bring us back to the topic at hand, the crown and ajna are key players in all of this, as detailed here and throughout the AYP lessons.

The guru is in you.
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Nov 22 2005 :  11:08:37 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
thank you for the thorough and detailed quote Yogani this clarifies things nicely.

A
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2009 :  2:32:55 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
i have read this topic before and here i am reading it again with pure delight and pleasure.

a big thk you for everyone who has taken a part in this beauty.

brother Anthem, i would like to know if it's okay where you are now with crown practices and how they have affected you since this topic (would appreciate it if you'd mention the highs and lows along the way)

light and love,

Ananda
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Jun 16 2009 :  10:41:29 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda

i have read this topic before and here i am reading it again with pure delight and pleasure.

a big thk you for everyone who has taken a part in this beauty.

brother Anthem, i would like to know if it's okay where you are now with crown practices and how they have affected you since this topic (would appreciate it if you'd mention the highs and lows along the way)

light and love,

Ananda



Hi Ananda,

I hope all is well with you my friend!

Well it was nice to read through these old posts, enjoyable to see how consciousness has changed since then. Lots of change, the most rewarding being the deepening of inner silence. Where would we be without inner silence? Life would sure be a lot harder! Lot's of love too, no words for it, it creates wonderful patience and moves our actions to be delivered with the gentleness of understanding.

The reading through of these posts and all the talk about the crown was more than enough to get the crown buzzing and the inner energy active, which leads me into answering your post.

My interest in the crown at the time of this post was tied mostly to being worried that I wasn't progressing due to the diminishing energy surges I was experiencing after the initial Kundalini awakening. Yogani even tactfully warned against chasing ecstasy in one of his posts above which wasn't really interesting to my ego. I failed to see at the time that that the smoothing out of the energy surges was a positive development. For quite some time over 2 years, there was no or very little ecstasy which worried me as I didn't see this accounted for in the lessons on milestones and I thought I needed to ramp up the practices to get the ecstasy flowing again. Of course this worked, but only because of the friction of extra energy passing through a blocked up nervous system. Made for some turbulent times but fun though... that is of course if your idea of fun is a roller-coaster ride!

Yogani summed it up well here for me at the time:

quote:
that is the so-called ecstasy we crave so much. We don't really need those symptoms to progress, but we are all looking for handles on our progress. It is understandable. So we press on... it is the bhakti-ego-practice-purification dynamic that leads us steadily (or not so steadily) toward enlightenment.


So I can't be of too much help here. In my case crown practices took care of themselves in the sense that they were quickly dropped from the routine due to symptoms of overload. In fact, my entire practice routine was greatly streamlined down to the current 11 or 12 minutes total from almost nearly an hour at the time of the original post above.

So no need or desire to go near the crown today. The practices I am doing, although short, seem to be more than enough to bring me to the maximum amount of "purifying" I can tolerate in a day.

Not saying this is the right decision for you, I have no idea, maybe crown practices are exactly what you need?

In my case, the primary desire is to stay on the right side of the self-pacing equation, when I do, life is grand. The smallest things though can put me over so I have to be careful, it is a constant learning process. For example, I have recently become aware that doing too many asanas can cause too much release. Another example came just today, I have burning feet and a little irritability, couldn't initially figure out why until I realized that the 1 hour massage I had where I slipped into a meditative state, loosened up my legs to the point that the energy is a flowing! So crown practices? No chance!

Hope this somehow helps,

lot's of love,

A

Edited by - Anthem on Jun 16 2009 10:51:12 PM
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Ananda

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Posted - Jun 17 2009 :  03:17:34 AM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
hi Anthem,

thk you for your generosity in sharing and you had me at "inner silence".

speaking for myself i am practicing at the crown but not to the extreme, it seems that all the practices between the root and ajna have given me some control on the whole issue plus a rise in intuition regarding when to self pace practices b4 Gehena's doors open.

plus doing some sports every day never hurts.

and God bless you brother, you are one very beautiful loving being.

namaste,

Ananda
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