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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 11 2006 : 01:05:28 AM
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hi all,
I have started for more 2 months now. I think I am progessing well-- faster than I expected but slower than I wish!! I have some deep feeling of the inner silence at times (well, deep when compared with I just started, hopefully not deep in the future when I look back). I can also feel the inner silence in daily life (not always, though). After reading the following posts by Yoganni, I have some thoughts/questions which I hope could keep me on the track.
quote:
Losing the mantra is the name of the game. With that, the mind goes to stillness.
quote:
The number of months, years or decades we are meditating does not translate into more time with the mantra. The procedure will not change. Over time, the experience will change inside and outside meditation as our nervous system becomes more pure inside. Then we will lose the mantra even quicker! We will close our eyes and be gone into inner silence.
Here are my concerns:
1. May be at the nice days, I go to stillness when I lose the mantra. But I am more concerned about the bad times: First 90% mantra, 10% thoughts, than the thoughts dominate GRADUALLY with absolutely no stillness in between. May be I am uttering the mantra very vaguely (so, may be 5% mantra), but my mind is already with the thoughts. Isn't it lose the effectiveness during these situations?
2. I found that nice feelings usually occur when I'm on the edge of following the mantra, when I am following it at a subtle level. One of the more "physical" indication for me is the cooling of the deep part of throat area. (Does anyone has similar experience?) I try to keep following the mantra and ignore the experiences when they occur. But it's rather hard not to be distracted.(the more I got distracted and analyze the experiences, the sooner the experiences will fade away.) Can anyone help me with that?
3. I found that during a single practice session, if I got distracted for some reasons (e.g. a member of my family talks outside my room), it's very hard to go deep again. Then I will get to situation 1 above: thoughts dominate and take over, they don't go away again whether I lose the mantra or not.
4. About time management. During the bad days, after around 10 mins of nice practice, I may already going to the bad mode. I think a long time has passed because the good mode has passed already. So I peek at the clock to find that it's just 10 mins. Such distraction from looking at the clock, as explained above, make it hard to go back to the nice mode. I just lose patience. (although I always try to effortlessly follow the mantra) On the other hand, on nice days, I may overdo it because I don't want to distract myself by looking at the clock.
Would it be more effective in the long run if I adjust my practice to be a bit shorter (say 15 mins) in bad days and longer on nice days? I mean as long as I am doing it twice daily, and 20mins each on average.
I am thinking about the trainning of athletes. They usually adjust their amount of training according to their body condition on that day.
5. Although I am having some inner silence, it doesn't seems to have much influence on my life. Will samyama help manifesting the inner silence? Yoganni said it would not be harmful to add samyama too soon, but that doesn't mean it's helpful. Is it better to allocate time for other practices/meditation at the moment? (by the way, I am spending an average of more than 2 hours per day on yoga practices. 1 hour of AYP as recommended, the rest are supplementary Hatha practices like asanas/bandhas/Shatkarma. Some of them seems to have helped my AYP practices much)
Any comments are welcomed! |
Edited by - Alvin Chan on Jan 11 2006 01:26:32 AM |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2006 : 11:41:43 AM
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Alvin,
I think you are definitely over-analyzing your meditation. It's time to take a 'Just do it' attitude.
Great words of wisdom from the Nike brand.
I know it's hard for you. I used to analyze like hell myself.
Just do it.
-D
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riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2006 : 5:23:31 PM
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Dear Alvin,
Whatever experiences you have in meditation is correct for you at that time.The bad times are also a correct time and are simply the cleansing taking place.Unfortunately the flurry of thoughts are not particularly enjoyable but they are a normal part of meditation.As you progress further in levels you will find these times do decrease but it varies for everone.Simply return to the mantra when you realise you are not chanting it, without forceful concentration.
L&L
Dave
'the mind can see further than the eyes' |
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NagoyaSea
424 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2006 : 9:31:34 PM
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Hi Alvin,
Apologies if this posts twice. I'm having a problem posting lately. 
The ‘thought’ time in our meditations won’t decrease the effectiveness of the practice. It is part of the process and normal for all who meditate. Most of your concerns are addressed in Yogani’s lessons. So many of us have had the same questions.
When we get distracted by thought, we go back to the mantra. We try to find a quiet place to meditate but when there is noise from the phone, a door, our family, our neighbors, we just have to gently go back to the mantra. And if it is a very loud noise, meditate long enough to calm the nervous system again.
I can tell you from personal experience that meditation alone is sufficient to get to the place where there is awareness only, with no thought, for an extended period. And that eventually this reaches into your waking consciousness.
But I can also tell you from personal experience that adding too many practices too quickly can lead to physical issues---in my case, really bad migraines. But to remedy, I only had to be gentle with myself, and softly go back to my meditation and other base practices, dropping off the new ones.
One last thing. Meditating some is better than none at all. But, Yogani says that the consistency of twenty minutes, twice a day is preferred, and I can only say that from personal experience, I have to agree….
In light and in love,
Kathy
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Jan 12 2006 : 02:38:12 AM
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Thanks for the comments. I may be analyzing too much now. But I won't do that during my practices. I think the following are not directly touched upon in the lessons. It lies somehow in the middle between 2 situations which has been discussed.
What if, when distractions come, I don't actually lose my mantra? The distractions kicks in now and then. I think about something else for a second or two, then discipline myself back to the mantra hardly for a second, attract by the distractions again for 1 or 2 seconds, then return to the mantra for half second, etc. The mantra is somehow in the background throughout. (very vaguely when I am not attending to it)
Frankly speaking that's not a nice experience. I try to return to the mantra "effortlessly". But the quick and repeated attempts makes me a bit tired. Should I relax further and let the mantra go naturally and then pick it again? Or should I just try (but effortlessly) to hold on to it just like what I am doing? |
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yogani
USA
5241 Posts |
Posted - Jan 12 2006 : 07:21:16 AM
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Hi Alvin:
Mantra with thoughts is a common experience, and not a barrier to effective meditation. No need to make a drama of it. Just follow the procedure for effortless meditation. It is covered in the new Deep Meditation book.
The guru is in you.
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Some thoughts on meditation
