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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 05 2012 : 12:42:54 AM
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Hi gentlep 
Words are tricky. All I can say is that I am very very slightly aware but do not have the ability to think, therefor I don't have any mantra and don't have any ability to notice that I am off the mantra. *shrug* Not sure if words could ever really explain this state or not. If they can, I'm not sure how to put them together.
Love!
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2012 : 03:34:49 AM
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Tricky yes, but that was very well put.
Because you think you are doing the action, it's a misconception. Instead you are prior to I , unmanifest and aware so no action/inaction is required. That's why you seem to lose the Mantra.
Think of it like a big dipper. The machinery winches you to the top of the big drop while you appear to be saying the Mantra, it appears it is you that is doing the winching(if you examine in self inquiry it is clearly seen that you are not doing anything).
When you reach the top then you let gravity take over, whoosh, you do not experience 'doing' only being. All is unfolding as it is and you are in balance with it (Yogani refers to this stage as purification).Then, just like deep sleep, once more the I emerges and becomes engaged as the doer once again. Believing it is accomplishing and controlling.
When the I is risen it is hard to accept this because we are completely identified with our nature and attached to the results of our actions. When we are in the downward slope of gravity, then we know we are doing nothing, even when this appears to be inaction and sleep, it isn't, for a brief period we surrendered our identification with action and any attachment, yet action is happening.
Its hard to see this at the beginning, later it expands into conscious awareness in much the same way. Trundle to the top and whoosh down the other side in complete unity. That is stillness in action and is the same as that which appears during apparent cessation of the Mantra.
If you have ever had an accident you will know this stage. A sense of calm where you are not involved in the actual action at all, just aware, watching only, because you have no control, then you let go of the attachment for a brief period.
That's getting a bit off the subject, but there is a time when you are seeming to do meditation and the Mantra in conscious awareness, because that's just how it is, we have to begin somewhere and go along with our self deception until we are free of it. So we carry on with the attachment and identification by following the well worn path. |
Edited by - karl on Jan 05 2012 03:46:10 AM |
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thezuck
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 6:14:00 PM
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Does it take a certain amount of physical energy (hence being rested enough)to be consciously aware of the more subtle states you speak of? I find that when I am getting enough sleep in my daily life (7-8 hours/night), I have way more energy for the brain to "sample" the moment to moment experience at a more frequent pace.
Each breath curve is observed from the start of expansion all the way to contractual finish...each mantra from the micro-second of initial manifestation to the last edge of decline before going back into nothingness.
If i am in need of sleep (consciously or not), my "sampling ability" isn't as poweful...and samyama can very easily put me into a deep state of "almost-sleep".... 
Is there any possible physical conditional correlation? Or is it just an incredibly deep state of focus?
Respectfully
Shane |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Jan 10 2012 : 10:08:56 AM
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Hi Shane, nice to see you around here again
Honestly, I don't know what it takes (other than long term consistent meditation of course  ) to be consiously aware of the more subtle states.... but I know what you are saying, and yes, I think it is important to get sufficient sleep in order to not fall into deep unconsciousness during practices.
The particular experience(s) I've been talking about in this thread don't appear to be caused by a lack of sleep although I've experienced something pretty similar due to a lack of sleep in the past. I usually get around 6 hours of sleep a night and that is generally enough for me to feel well rested throughout the day. But over the holiday season this year, which was when this particular experience started to happen regularly, I was actually getting quite a bit more than 6 hours a night (about 8 or so) and was feeling more than well rested. So I don't think that lack of sleep was contributing to it (this time).
I do however still experience what you are talking about when I don't get enough sleep. For example, in my morning practice today I lost consciousness a few times and I believe this was due to a lack of sleep. On Jan 1st we made the transition from crib to bed with our daughter (who is 19 months old now). This transition has been somewhat problematic and has resulted in a lack of sleep for both me and my wife. For some reason, just the simple action of taking off one of the walls of the crib and lowering the mattress was enough to make bed time a three hour ordeal (that includes an awful lot of crying/screaming) and she is no longer sleeping through the night. I ended up sleeping on the floor with her for several hours last night and I didn't feel well rested when I woke up this morning. The result of this was that during meditation I lost the mantra, lost all thought, but was not aware at all. These unconscious periods did not last for the whole rest of the meditation though (which is what was happening in the experiences I was talking about in the rest of this thread) and I noticed several times that I was off the mantra and would go back to it several times over the course of my 20 minutes. A similar thing was happening in samyama as well. I set my timer for 10 minutes for my samyama practice and I made it to the first repetition of Inner Sensuality by the time my timer went off. There were 30 second-ish periods where I would "lose consciousness" and not be aware, but I would at some point notice that I wasn't continuing the practice and would move on to the next sutra when that happened. I believe that my practice went the way it did today because of the lack of sleep last night. But the "quality" (or perhaps "flavor" would be a better word) of the practice today was different than the ones I was talking about earlier in this thread. The distinction between the two is very subtle though and I seem to have a hard time pinpointing and explaining exactly what that difference is though.
Anyway, I hope you had a great Christmas and New Years and that 2012 brings you everything you are looking for. Much love my brother.
Love!
Carson
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Picking up sutras/mantra *too* lightly?
