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DoctorWho
USA
47 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 03 2012 : 6:11:58 PM
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Hello All!
I've been reading the forum for a long time now and decided to join. I hope to get some insight from those of you further along the path. Any advice would be greatly welcomed and appreciated.
I've tried various meditation techniques over the years mostly in the Buddhist tradition and later delving into Kriya yoga. Not too long ago I found my all too eager self slightly over doing pranayama practice and decided to back off a bit and reassess my path and find the right balance and yoga practice. I've been visiting AYP for years and love the balanced approach Yogani has so wonderfully suggested in his lessons.
In the last 2 months or so I discovered Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi and Self Inquiry. (I'm no spiritual 'newbie' and yet I was stunned I had never heard of this guy! Go figure  )
Being big on the Buddha-Dharma and generally more of a Jnana type of cat, I totally gravitated to the concept, his words and the Advaita teachings. Needless to say, I am just getting started with the Self-Inquiry approach.
My question is this: As someone who wants to follow the AYP teachings, is it a bad idea to substitute the I AM meditation with Self Inquiry?
Perhaps this is a question for Yogani but I have a feeling many of you could throw some very sound advice my way. Perhaps an integrated approach? Maybe add Self-Inquiry later? I don't want to mix techniques and dilute one or the other if you see what I mean. Self-Inquiry resonates strongly with me. Maharshi states it is the only method one needs. But I am more than willing to explore I AM meditation thoroughly too.
I wish to go slow and work myself back into pranayama practice after some consistent purification over the next 6 months or so. Perhaps someone could shed some light on the I AM meditation and why it may benefit me more at this stage. I am known to 'bite off more than I can chew' and I am determined to go slow and steady. Just want to make some informed choices.
I'm open to any and all suggestions.
THANK YOU ALL
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1553 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2012 : 04:39:53 AM
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That would certainly NOT be the AYP way. AYP recommends the I AM mantra for Deep Meditation and has a clear stance on self-enquiry (You may wish to read up the lessons on that one). Self-enquiry without the presence of solid inner silence is considered non-relational and an intellectual exercise. If you feel you have already have a solid base of inner silence from the other forms of meditation you have been practicing before, you may wish to practice Self-Enquiry between meditations; not during.
Sey |
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2012 : 04:53:46 AM
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Well it's not the AYP approach and who knows who is right. Follow your inner Guru. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2012 : 09:54:45 AM
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Welcome to the AYP forums DoctorWho. 
Since we don't know much about you, so I cannot guess how in touch with your inner silence you are. If you feel you have access to inner silence, then inquiry works wonders, but if you are not in touch with your inner silence, then self inquiry becomes a mind game and a huge trap to wiggle oneself out of.
See, meditation is a tool we use to get in touch with our inner silence. Once inner silence starts overflowing into our lives then self inquiry becomes an automatic process (or it can be made into a formal practice) and really is a powerful meditation technique as well. But this can only happen if we can access our inner silence, before that it is a technique of the mind trying to figure the mind out with the mind... not very effective, just lots of confusion. Reading some famous literature before we know how to read well will not do justice to the writings. Or trying to understand quantum physics when we have not taken basic physics in school is nothing but an effort that leads to frustrations.
So you can decide if you need to work on inner silence (which BTW amazes us with it's mysteries no matter how much in touch with it we may be... it is a never ending outpouring/revealing of the divine) or if you are in tune with it then self inquiry will do it all for you.
Wish you all the best. |
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DoctorWho
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2012 : 4:16:20 PM
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Thank You.
Just what I needed to hear and kind of what I suspected.
I do need to cultivate a much deeper inner silence in my life via meditation. Sey, Karl and Shanti your comments are so appreciated. I feel I'm in the right space. I look forward to corresponding with you all in the future as things progress.
BE WELL AND HAPPY |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2012 : 6:19:14 PM
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Yogani writes about this subject in lessons 324, and 325, on "self-inquiry" and "relational and non-relational self inquiry":
http://www.aypsite.org/324.html
http://www.aypsite.org/325.html
I think it is easy for enlightened people to forget how they got there. It's like a rich person saying poor people don't have significant problems. And what makes it worse, is we don't remember how many lifetimes we spent working on enlightenment before.
So if a yogi isn't sure how he got there, how can he be a good teacher?
That's one of the ingenious aspects of Yogani's "open source" system. There is a good solid foundation (Deep Meditation), and all kinds of feedback between students, to verify the effectiveness of practices.
There are lots of gurus teaching their students useless practices, because they did them, and now they are enlightened. But this is backwards logic. If 99% of criminals drank milk as a kid, does that mean drinking milk causes one to become a criminal? Of course not. That's where constant feedback helps us to discover what works best.
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DoctorWho
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2012 : 8:10:32 PM
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Wow Etherfish! Those articles were custom made for my questions here. Thanks for taking your time and effort to post them. Who knows when I may have stumbled across them...
Per the article, I do have a degree of stillness/awareness through meditation over the years to generally detach myself from those knee-jerks and reactionary habits Yogani speaks of. But I am not going to presume I'm ready to move past foundational practices. The last thing I want is to get caught in mental gymnastics. And the more I understand the basis and power of using mantra in meditation (which is new to me) the more I see it as essential. Besides, I practice mindfulness/Self-Inquiry throughout the day which really keeps me centered. No need to abandon it altogether. I know it will simply grow, evolve, deepen and become intertwined with all of my practice over time.
I should have stayed with this site years ago. I don't have anyone to speak with about spiritual matters so this type of communication is a breath of fresh air and wonderful guidance too.
Thanks again!!!
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Substituting I AM meditation with Self Inquiry??
