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grihastha
USA
184 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 12:53:43 PM
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This is something I've been wondering a lot about recently (see my hand-wringing in the 'mantra enhancement' thread for the background): in DM, which we practice with eyes closed, what do you all experience? Is it uniform darkness? Light? Do you see images? Is there a psychedelic lightshow going on the whole time?
I get the psychedelic show. Always. I'm treated to a very pleasant but persistent array of coloured lights that come and go all over my field of vision. Sometimes they drift down slowly from above, somewhat like the Aurora Borealis. Mostly I see gently spreading colours - usually purple, gold, orange and deep blue - against black.
It's certainly enjoyable but also distracting especially now that I'm beginning to sense that there is a deeper calm just out of reach (which is disctracting in itself as scenery and mindiness). To make it more confusing, in samyama I find I'm 'looking' at a sort of purple-gold sunburst radiating from a central point. That's my 'inner silence' backdrop.
Anyone else have psychedelic meditations?
Emaho!
gri |
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 1:14:53 PM
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When i was a kid i used to see coloured phosphenes moving and changing shapes. These days it is pitch blackness with maybe a pinprick of bright white light showing up suddenly, almost like getting a blow to the head and seeing stars.
These things are of course not the spiritual eye. |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 1:17:30 PM
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Namaste gri.....
My meditations aren't like yours in that they are "always" psychedelic, but I do occassionally get the psychedelic "light shows" too. In fact last night during the Calgary AYP meditation group I had the most insanely energetically active and psychedelic-like meditation I think I have ever had. Bliss like you wouldn't believe too. Everyone there felt "energized" and said they had intense meditations as well....musta been something in the water ....
Anyways, I totally had the Aurora Borealis thing going on last night. I've had this before but this time was pretty extreme. I personally didn't find it hard to favor the mantra though....each time the mantra was repeated there was bliss like crazy so it was kinda easy . I DID have the mantra change for me last night though and this could have had something to do with it. I use the third mantra enhancement for DM, but last night I had it change to "Sri Om Sri Om Lam Iam Lam Iam Namah" and there was a wierd emphasis on "Lam"....I don't know why this happened but I could feel intense heat and energy at the root due to this "addition".
Anyways....you aren't alone
Love,
Carson |
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 06:18:01 AM
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I'm simply not at home. Not there at all. No light shows. A bit like being in space, just the mantra somewhere going on in a detached way. An awareness, hard to describe.
That's sometimes how witnessing feels too (I don't know it is witnessing, only that it seems similar to the way others have described it). A sort of hyper awareness in which I am both things at once and neither at the same time. That sounds confusing although it feels totally natural.
Sometimes I have the sensation of being off somewhere, a thought going on without any connection, or knowledge of what it was about, the mantra becomes more insistent and pulls me back to concentration.
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samara
Iceland
31 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 11:50:22 AM
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In the beginning of a meditation I see total blackness and sometimes that´s all there is. When strong energy is coming up the the inner space seems to brighten up, sometimes suddenly, sometimes gradually. Feels like sitting in sunshine, even though the room is dark. I rarely see colors and never psychedelic in any way. Maybe green or blue or white flares occasionally.
On the other hand I often see blue flashes or sparks with my eyes open. They sometimes seem to be outside my body and can happen at any time. I originally associated them with me making some inner discovery. They started to happen shortly after I started to practice meditation and have been on the increase through the years. Sometimes I see them several times in one day. Always blue sparks that last for about one second. I see them very clearly. |
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stevenbhow
Japan
352 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 9:32:12 PM
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| I always get the light shows as well, usually with a lot of bliss. The colors range from white to dark blue. I also see what Swami Muktananda called the Blue Bindu occasionally. |
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samara
Iceland
31 Posts |
Posted - Aug 09 2009 : 11:37:30 AM
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| Oh, so there is a fancy name for it. Blue Bindu... Thanks for the info on Swami Muktananda Steven. |
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grihastha
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - Aug 09 2009 : 1:10:29 PM
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Yes, I get that 'sitting in sunshine' feeling sometimes - lovely.
So it seems that colours/lights vary a lot from person to person. In a way I can really see the advantages in meditating with eyes open - less distracting.
Emaho!
gri |
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wigswest
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - Aug 17 2009 : 12:20:05 AM
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| Hmmm, interesting thread...I get purple "blooms" and ring-shapes...always just thought of this as a physical phenomenon to be overlooked...is it not?? |
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samara
Iceland
31 Posts |
Posted - Aug 17 2009 : 09:47:51 AM
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As long as your attention to inward experiences doesn´t interfere with your practices, there is no harm in noticing what´s going on, is there? Besides, it all becomes normal and not very exciting soon enough. Comparing experiences with other people isn´t just for curiosity´s sake. Knowing your own body, how it works and how it reacts to stimuli can also be helpful, and sometimes essential.
I have a torn retina on one eye after a childhood accident. This defect produces internal lights, resembling fireworks from time to time, in the left eye only and located in the area closest to the nose. It is a well known symptom of a torn retina and even though I had a successful eye operation to prevent blindness, the symptom is there for good. Never in a million years would I confuse these lights with the light meditation produces, even though they could easily be confused by the inexperienced. But there is a subtle difference.
Purple blooms and ring shapes... sounds familiar now you mention it. Didn´t Yogani mention something about seeing the sushumi from the inside, like a tunnel or a ring shaped form? |
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grihastha
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - Aug 17 2009 : 9:50:35 PM
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Ah - that's it. Cheers, Samara.
I've got scarring on both retinas. That would certainly explain a lot of this stuff. I CAN differentiate between my natural psychedelic light show and the actual phenomena of meditation, but the latter (which are by definition subtle) can get swamped by the former. I suspected it had something to do with the physical make-up of my eyes or optic nerve (no-one told me it was a "well-known symptom"), and now I think that's even more likely.
Emaho!
gri |
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michaelangelo7
USA
89 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 03:11:27 AM
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| yes lights are seen at the forehead level in inner 3rd vision. muktananda learned the blue pearl or siddha yoga from his guru bhagwan nityananda, whose teachings, and life are worth reading about, he was quite an extraordinary man much more so than muktananda as muktananda was known for having many sexual affairs, but a perfected siddha none the less lol. ive seen all colors from red to purple, but the most common two seem to be blue and white lights, blue being the most common for me atleast. |
Edited by - michaelangelo7 on Aug 20 2009 04:01:44 AM |
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aypyogi27
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 1:27:09 PM
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Lately while meditating, I'll lose the mantra and become aware of a golden ring and inside the ring is a liquidy deep blue light(if that makes sense) and sometimes, a brilliant sparkling white light will appear in the center of it all. And then when I realize that I'm not on the mantra, well, I just easily flow back to it. No big deal really. And after meditation while resting, the "eye" will comeback and I can clearly see it even if my eyes are open. The whole ceiling seems to become a large spiritual eye. Then when I get up and my thought streams create enough ripples on the surface of my mind, the eye evaporates. ...not enough inner silence.
It's all just scenery on our way from here to now |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 1:46:43 PM
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Hi aypyogi27 and welcome to the AYP forums! Great to have you here.
How long have you been using the AYP system? Sounds like you are doing well with it! Hope to read more from you soon.
Love,
Carson |
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aypyogi27
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 3:56:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by CarsonZi
Hi aypyogi27 and welcome to the AYP forums! Great to have you here.
How long have you been using the AYP system? Sounds like you are doing well with it! Hope to read more from you soon.
Love,
Carson
Hey Carson, I started using the AYP system seven weeks ago after having spent six years of practicing kriya pranayama for two hours a day. Things were way out of balance to say the least and I was emotionally suffering more than I can possibly describe. I didn't realize at the time that I had to plant the seed of pure bliss consciousness in the field of my somewhat plowed nervous system(which by then had a million weeds sprouting up everywhere). Right now I'm in the process of weeding(lol). Things are becoming much more stable with deep meditation and prudent self-pacing. Less can certainly be more. Thanks Yogani. Sorry for the post being off the main topic. |
Edited by - aypyogi27 on Aug 20 2009 7:35:28 PM |
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Behind closed eyes: darkness or lights?
