AYP Lesson 370 - Clarifications on the Solar Centering Enhancement

Advanced Yoga Practices
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Note: For the Original Internet Lessons with additions, see the AYP Easy Lessons Books. For the Expanded and Interactive Internet Lessons, AYP Online Books, Audiobooks and more, see AYP Plus.

Lesson 370 - Clarifications on the Solar Centering Enhancement (Audio)

AYP Plus Additions:
370.1 - Solar Centering and Heart Opening (Audio)
370.2 - Is the Solar Centering Enhancement for Everyone? (Audio)

From: Yogani
Date: November 17, 2009

New Visitors: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"

Q: I liked the new lesson on the solar plexus location enhancement. I tried it out and although I was worried ahead of time that it would take a while to get used to and that it would be distracting, it was very smooth and natural feeling.

After reading Lesson 368 again afterward, I realized my aim of placement was a little high and I will adjust accordingly.

A few hours later I felt pretty balanced, so it is the desired outcome. A couple of questions:

Why the solar plexus and not the heart? I would say the solar plexus is the center, but I know the least about it in terms of experience (and theory for that matter). Do you think this is required due to a lack of balance inherent in the mantra? Are there benefits of a mantra that moves around freely that will now not be realized?

A: Initial results sound good. Continue and see how it goes, self-pacing as necessary.

The solar plexus is not a chakra, per se. It is half way between the manipura (navel) and the anahata (heart), and serves to purify and blend both. Manipura and solar plexus are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. The solar plexus could be called both the upper manipura and the lower anahata a bridge between the two, between space and energy, between unmanifest and manifest. It is more stabilizing than either chakra, and in fact can help stabilize the entire energy matrix, even while expanding it. That is why it is used.

Continuing to meditate without the enhancement is not coming up short for any given practitioner. And neither is taking on the enhancement a retreat in any way. It all depends on experience. There has been a need for it in the community for some time, which has been creeping toward more sensitivity as energy in general has been on the rise. So now it is in the tool kit.

This is part of a multi-lesson attempt to help stabilize the growth of group consciousness and kundalini awakenings, while continuing to step forward at the same time. Lessons 365-7 addressed the under and over sensitivity aspects. Lesson 368 adds the solar centering enhancement. And Lesson 369 fine tunes mantra enhancements for improved stability.

With all of that, the hope is that we will have a steadier keel going forward for the full spectrum of practitioners. It is something that has been formulating behind the scenes for a long time to provide more means to tame wild and wooly approaches and results in practice. It is all optional, of course, and everyone is still free to be as wild and wooly as they like. There is still plenty of frontier out there. We are chipping away at it bit by bit establishing a stable presence in pure bliss consciousness for the growing community of independent practitioners.

Recall it says in Lesson 368 that the vibrational influence of the mantra remains the same when using the solar centering enhancement. So nothing is lost in terms of the body-wide effects of the mantra. The I AM (AYAM) mantra is not inherently unstable, though the matrix of obstructions in any given nervous system can produce varying effects ranging from under-sensitive to over-sensitive. Enhancements to the I AM mantra have been aggressive, perhaps too aggressive for some practitioners, so the alternate approach to mantra enhancements has been offered in Lesson 369.

Where we have been thinking the mantra in the body has been somewhat random up until now. "Unconscious," we could say. Sometimes this can be problematic, especially for those who are very much in their heads, sometimes leading to uncomfortable symptoms in the head and throat.

We have discouraged locating the mantra since the beginning, because prematurely deliberately locating the mantra can also interfere with the easy procedure of deep meditation. Even locating the mantra appropriately, as in Lesson 368, can be a less efficient practice (doing two things at once), if we are not well-established in refining the mantra first. That is what makes solar centering an advanced enhancement.

As it says in Lesson 368, there is a trade-off. For well-established meditators, the trade-off is a very positive one, which has been verified by long experience. For meditators who are still not settled in with the mantra, who try the solar centering enhancement prematurely, the addition to practice can be a distraction, dividing the mind and reducing the effectiveness of deep meditation. That is why introducing the solar centering enhancement lesson has been delayed for so long, to make sure the community of practitioners would be able to make good use of it. Now the time is right. Those who can benefit will, and those who are not ready will self-pace back to non-localized mantra, which is perfectly fine. With this option available, we can cultivate more overall stability and progress in the community.

In the old days, these methods we doled out on a very limited basis after numerous (and often unachievable) prerequisites were met. Along the way, the knowledge often became distorted and dried up for lack of practical utilization. AYP has been pioneering its way around all that, so many more can take advantage whenever ready. More options for the discerning self-directed practitioner.

The guru is in you.