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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 18 2013 : 12:15:16 PM
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Namaste Folks,
I know that this forum largely discusses methods and techniques utilized towards the realization of the Divine state. I share a deep fascination and earnest enthusiasm about many Yogic techniques of attunement and tried-n'-true methods exercised to activate and expand one's own perceptual parameters. We each share this great romance with Spirit and mirror this aspiration.
But in resent years, my practice has taken on an entirely different format (for lack of a better word). It's not at all about the manner or the structural, methodological form of my meditational experiences, these days... it's all about direct energy transmutation and my conscious-awareness (is it really mine?) moving with direct intent. I am curious if others here are experiencing similar shifts in their focus?
To clarify this vague statement, I have been going into subtler and subtler frequencies of mind when I sit still and silence my thoughts... and it's become something quite wonderful and very enlightening. And I should qualify that I mean no disrespect to any method or technique of meditation or internal cultivation.
As it's been a gradual and incremental change in perception, I can only really recognize the stark contrast, when I remember many of my earlier experiences with various methods of concentration and meditation. When I reminisce my youthful days as a Sadhaka, I do seem to comprehend just how much things have shifted in my view. I know this sounds rather nebulous, so I will address some specific aspects of my recent experiences.
First of all, most of my training in pranayama has kinda dropped off of it's own accord. Not because I find it unfruitful, much to the contrary, it's just become less vital for my journey within. And I do sincerely honor it's transformational power and mind-splintering intensity. I do on occasion, still exercise my breathing within such Yogic parameters and reap much reward for the practice. I respect Kriya Yoga and all the avenues for self realization is reveals. I still honor Surat Shabd Yoga very much. They have been a life-line for my aching soul and combined with Zazen, I have found much revelation and many blinding epiphanies, within their beatific wake. But things have been morphing into something uncharted and beyond any accurate description I can voice. The path has become an enigma to my mortal mind.
Yet the most startling of spiritual realizations I am having, relate to a shift in my internal attention. Long ago, I recall focusing my mind's eye to attempt to SEE the Ajna. It was always something there but very difficult for me to visualize clearly. It began to become more and more and more visible to my searching desire and it became the object of my deepest aspiration, for many decades unfolding sequentially. It was my goal and my greatest motivation to meditate.
Nowadays I do not seek to perceive of the Ajna as an object... for I am there in an instant and instead of observing the Ajna, I find my awareness passing into direct union within it's oscillating vortex and SEE through it's transcendent lens. This began to become an obsession for me, as I truly love the Light so very, very much. I could always count of looking into this spiritual fulcrum of energy and see the blinding radiance and pulsing effulgence of the higher planes above my seemingly limited station as a mortal being.
And odd series of inspirations drew me to understand that it was also an open portal, not just a perceptual lens to look through with one's mind and soul essence. I became fixated upon passing through it's immense effulgence, as if it were a ceiling door into another, more expanded degree of higher consciousness.
I started to feel that the Ajna was a point of Atmic passage and it led directly to the resplendence of the fully bloomed Sahasrara. Suddenly, I was no longer focusing upwards on observing the Holy Light or keenly listening the roaring tone of the AUM vibration. I was finding myself dissolving within the shimmering expanse of the blooming Sahasrara! I was dying as myself and being reborn anew, experiencing a radical dissipation of my soul's separation from the Sacred Unity. I little by little fused into an inter-phase within the infinite expanse of the Godhead. I then lost myself willingly and surrendered my subjectivity before the ineffability of the Divine.
From what I can gleam ideologically, when I return from these deep immersions, is a state free of the division of subject and object. It is an emptiness which is so very full... that it is beyond any description (as many of you good people already know very well).
This leads my awareness to an Infinite Field of Unbound Spirit. A place-less place, a formless form, whereby all of the levels and degrees of ascension find their original source and merge into a singularity (a Unified Web of Absolute Being).
In this vacuum of sorts, no thought exists within the framework of the human mind and no self survives the immersion. And I honestly have not been able to discern multiple levels of consciousness above this radiant focus. It's as if all other membranes which divide this plane from that plane, have dissolved into a formless sea of Universal Being, whose only distinguishable characteristic is Supreme Love.
Not necessarily a love of anything at all... maybe it's just love for love's sake? No... that's too conceptual and smacks of anthropomorphic reasoning and human sensation. It's more like when I return from the full eclipsing with this high state, I am immediately reminded that the most similar thing I can equate it to is LOVE and nothing but that most sublime of universal forces. A love so powerful... to call it anything less than sheer bliss, is most inappropriate. It trickles down gently and then settles in the vessel of my heart, like drops of Amitra.
In such a pause between passing moments, the union of Heaven and Earth is palpably felt as more real than anything else. And this extreme joy is grounded by an intense affinity with all other soul frequencies, those that share this existential journey called life. This dream of traveling inside of the realm of the cycle of the time-space-continuum.
And I have come to understand that I do not really exist, I never did. Not a a separate part of the One, nor an aspect of the whole of Omniversal Being. There is no true division. There never was or could there ever could be and real differences betwixt this and that! I am THAT/THIS.
We are each and all of us THAT/THIS. The illusion of an isolated, individual ego-self was a mirage had by Brahman manifesting the dream of Maya. I cannot say why... and who really can? And I honestly feel that if we do emphatically claim that we do know, we are being delusional. Some answers need to remain total mysteries.
That being said, I has gradually dawned on me that there exists but One Supra-consciousness within all the myriad steams of seemingly isolated degrees of variegated consciousnesses. There is a vast singularity of being and we are naught but that Omniscience in varied and most unique expressions of Brahman's fancy.
From my tiny vantage-point, I have come to believe that it seems quite urgent that we release our mental fixations, our very nature as curious human beings. We need to stop wondering about the unlimited nature of God and begin to reflect it's perfection with clear intention and a fervently direct devotion. Thoughts and curiosities must be silenced, that we might move beyond our ordinary mortal dreamscapes and fuse into communion with the Supreme Love.
And sure, the price is ego death and the cessation of all membranes individuality. We can sincerely sacrifice ourselves to the joy of unification and the dissipation of ourselves, in so doing. I humbly feel that this is done through the movement of Atman... and by this clearly direct intention, we bloom exponentially!
This is where I began this line of thought and I was pondering today if anyone else would like to chime-in, add a counterpoint or affirm their own Sacred impressions of such expansive levels of conscious-awareness?
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
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Edited by - Govinda on Jun 18 2013 11:10:28 PM |
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kriyawit
USA
71 Posts |
Posted - Jun 18 2013 : 4:10:01 PM
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Congratulations Govinda. Your many years of sadhana have yielded fantastic rewards for you.
As there are many schools of Kriya I wonder which one you practiced. Most only teach going to Ajna or Kutastha only a few teach talabya practice to condition the oral tissues for kechari most simply leave it at curling the tongue backwards or do not specify.
What you are describing is what are called the Sahasrara Kriyas. These come to the Kriyaban to practice in the after poise state of Kriya.
I suspect you have not yet achieved Kechari Mudra above the soft pallet into the nasal septum yet.
The reason I state this is that Kechari provides exactly what you are describing immediately and this occurs during the Paravastha state which you are doing a very nice job describing.
Then again you may have it coming to you even now based on the descriptions.
If this is indeed the case that you have not had Kechari come to you yet then you are living proof that higher states are achieved in time without it.
I may not speak to this though as it came to me very swiftly and now I may never report otherwise for certain.
Most of your training in Pranayama dropping off is likely a result of so much sadhana being practiced for such a long time and you are now reaping the rewards.
Concerning the Ajna Center as the Atmaic passage you might want to watch some of Hariharanandas Utube videos on the topics of the feeble breath and the short breath.
In a nut shell one may feel the YA or the soul pulling the breath it comes in and can be felt entering in from the nose past the Ajna in the center of the head and going up to the doer the one pulling the breath at the fontanel Crown and going back out and down again. This is your passage described in another way.
This is not strictly Pranayama but is just being aware of what is happening on its own all the time.
Now to discuss other than formulaic ways of this occurring yes I have had it happen many times but the formulaic way is by far more reliable and repeatable,
I recently did an experiment and took 4 days off from Kriya practice and during this time observed what occurs. Day 1 not much difference Day 2 an increase in spontaneous blossoms of energy and bliss in the centers and movement in the spine.
Day 3 Kriyas began happening on there own without sitting for practice, experienced time and awareness shifts when an event would occur I was aware of it and taking appropriate action while two other people were coming to separate false conclusions and the transaction was handled by myself and the other party while the other two were still attempting to grasp what had just happened.
Went to a theatre to see Man of Steel movie 3d glasses forced my eyes upwards to see through them over my normal glasses I realized Shambavi Mudra was in place and went into higher states of perception missed most of the movie, spontaneous Kechari occurred at the same time. ( Movie could have waited for home video not so good wife fell asleep on 11:00 AM Matinee 3 times maybe 4 )
Uncomfortable being around so many people afterwards feel detached from the experience of wearing a physical form.
Feel the energy body of others operating at lower grating frequencies like fields of magnetism surrounding them.
If I looked in the general direction of others in a department store with strong these un sought feelings of Energy and pressure in Kutastha people would turn around with perplexed looks on there face like someone was standing to close behind them and startled them and look directly at me from across a room. The word is spooked.
Became irritable from the feeling of all these electromagnetic presences left building felt relieved. Went home and stayed there Irritability passed.
More spontaneous Kechari and kriya movement in the spine allowed to occur on it's own and slip into higher states as spine from Muladhara to Sahasrara activated thrumming OM sound present from the vibration.
Next day operating from a level that feels like I just came out of Paravastha state all day long desire to perform Kriya is a true hunger.
Finished work returned home. Sat for Kriya every step was greatly increased in intensity. Energy is incredibly strong breathless state occurring even in talabya.
Paravastha state and energies & bliss encountered almost stronger than body can handle.
So it appears that there is a point of no return and sadhana is now a way of life. I would not have it any other way. 
It also confirms something I have suspected for quite a while being that we are all incarnate here we still wear a physical form and the trick is to perform just enough sadhana and not too much that wears the meat suit out. This I suspect is where an incarnate Guru is truly priceless to be with as a true on can shape and advise how one practice Sadhana.
Doing it the hard way is possible but there sure are many things to learn.
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machart
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2013 : 12:04:18 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Govinda
Namaste Folks,
I know that this forum largely discusses methods and techniques utilized towards the realization of the Divine state. I share a deep fascination and earnest enthusiasm about many Yogic techniques of attunement and tried-n'-true methods exercised to activate and expand one's own perceptual parameters. We each share this great romance with Spirit and mirror this aspiration.
But in resent years, my practice has taken on an entirely different format (for lack of a better word). It's not at all about the manner or the structural, methodological form of my meditational experiences, these days... it's all about direct energy transmutation and my conscious-awareness (is it really mine?) moving with direct intent. I am curious if others here are experiencing similar shifts in their focus?
To clarify this vague statement, I have been going into subtler and subtler frequencies of mind when I sit still and silence my thoughts... and it's become something quite wonderful and very enlightening. And I should qualify that I mean no disrespect to any method or technique of meditation or internal cultivation.
As it's been a gradual and incremental change in perception, I can only really recognize the stark contrast, when I remember many of my earlier experiences with various methods of concentration and meditation. When I reminisce my youthful days as a Sadhaka, I do seem to comprehend just how much things have shifted in my view. I know this sounds rather nebulous, so I will address some specific aspects of my recent experiences.
First of all, most of my training in pranayama has kinda dropped off of it's own accord. Not because I find it unfruitful, much to the contrary, it's just become less vital for my journey within. And I do sincerely honor it's transformational power and mind-splintering intensity. I do on occasion, still exercise my breathing within such Yogic parameters and reap much reward for the practice. I respect Kriya Yoga and all the avenues for self realization is reveals. I still honor Surat Shabd Yoga very much. They have been a life-line for my aching soul and combined with Zazen, I have found much revelation and many blinding epiphanies, within their beatific wake. But things have been morphing into something uncharted and beyond any accurate description I can voice. The path has become an enigma to my mortal mind.
Yet the most startling of spiritual realizations I am having, relate to a shift in my internal attention. Long ago, I recall focusing my mind's eye to attempt to SEE the Ajna. It was always something there but very difficult for me to visualize clearly. It began to become more and more and more visible to my searching desire and it became the object of my deepest aspiration, for many decades unfolding sequentially. It was my goal and my greatest motivation to meditate.
Nowadays I do not seek to perceive of the Ajna as an object... for I am there in an instant and instead of observing the Ajna, I find my awareness passing into direct union within it's oscillating vortex and SEE through it's transcendent lens. This began to become an obsession for me, as I truly love the Light so very, very much. I could always count of looking into this spiritual fulcrum of energy and see the blinding radiance and pulsing effulgence of the higher planes above my seemingly limited station as a mortal being.
And odd series of inspirations drew me to understand that it was also an open portal, not just a perceptual lens to look through with one's mind and soul essence. I became fixated upon passing through it's immense effulgence, as if it were a ceiling door into another, more expanded degree of higher consciousness.
I started to feel that the Ajna was a point of Atmic passage and it led directly to the resplendence of the fully bloomed Sahasrara. Suddenly, I was no longer focusing upwards on observing the Holy Light or keenly listening the roaring tone of the AUM vibration. I was finding myself dissolving within the shimmering expanse of the blooming Sahasrara! I was dying as myself and being reborn anew, experiencing a radical dissipation of my soul's separation from the Sacred Unity. I little by little fused into an inter-phase within the infinite expanse of the Godhead. I then lost myself willingly and surrendered my subjectivity before the ineffability of the Divine.
From what I can gleam ideologically, when I return from these deep immersions, is a state free of the division of subject and object. It is an emptiness which is so very full... that it is beyond any description (as many of you good people already know very well).
This leads my awareness to an Infinite Field of Unbound Spirit. A place-less place, a formless form, whereby all of the levels and degrees of ascension find their original source and merge into a singularity (a Unified Web of Absolute Being).
In this vacuum of sorts, no thought exists within the framework of the human mind and no self survives the immersion. And I honestly have not been able to discern multiple levels of consciousness above this radiant focus. It's as if all other membranes which divide this plane from that plane, have dissolved into a formless sea of Universal Being, whose only distinguishable characteristic is Supreme Love.
Not necessarily a love of anything at all... maybe it's just love for love's sake? No... that's too conceptual and smacks of anthropomorphic reasoning and human sensation. It's more like when I return from the full eclipsing with this high state, I am immediately reminded that the most similar thing I can equate it to is LOVE and nothing but that most sublime of universal forces. A love so powerful... to call it anything less than sheer bliss, is most inappropriate. It trickles down gently and then settles in the vessel of my heart, like drops of Amitra.
In such a pause between passing moments, the union of Heaven and Earth is palpably felt as more real than anything else. And this extreme joy is grounded by an intense affinity with all other soul frequencies, those that share this existential journey called life. This dream of traveling inside of the realm of the cycle of the time-space-continuum.
And I have come to understand that I do not really exist, I never did. Not a a separate part of the One, nor an aspect of the whole of Omniversal Being. There is no true division. There never was or could there ever could be and real differences betwixt this and that! I am THAT/THIS.
We are each and all of us THAT/THIS. The illusion of an isolated, individual ego-self was a mirage had by Brahman manifesting the dream of Maya. I cannot say why... and who really can? And I honestly feel that if we do emphatically claim that we do know, we are being delusional. Some answers need to remain total mysteries.
That being said, I has gradually dawned on me that there exists but One Supra-consciousness within all the myriad steams of seemingly isolated degrees of variegated consciousnesses. There is a vast singularity of being and we are naught but that Omniscience in varied and most unique expressions of Brahman's fancy.
From my tiny vantage-point, I have come to believe that it seems quite urgent that we release our mental fixations, our very nature as curious human beings. We need to stop wondering about the unlimited nature of God and begin to reflect it's perfection with clear intention and a fervently direct devotion. Thoughts and curiosities must be silenced, that we might move beyond our ordinary mortal dreamscapes and fuse into communion with the Supreme Love.
And sure, the price is ego death and the cessation of all membranes individuality. We can sincerely sacrifice ourselves to the joy of unification and the dissipation of ourselves, in so doing. I humbly feel that this is done through the movement of Atman... and by this clearly direct intention, we bloom exponentially!
This is where I began this line of thought and I was pondering today if anyone else would like to chime-in, add a counterpoint or affirm their own Sacred impressions of such expansive levels of conscious-awareness?
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
Sometimes less words are better...are you saying love is the answer? |
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2013 : 01:19:12 AM
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Namaste dear kriyawit,
Wow, I must say that you are quite an intense individual! Cool, I really do like that. I honor and respect your presence, words and the intricacy of your ideas. So, I guess I will answer a few of your queries to get the proverbial ball rolling. If I am anything, I am an unabashedly honest person. Often my frankness upsets and offends other folks but that's just my natural disposition. And while I feel that much of my life is an utter mirage and a complete illusion, there are a few biographical admissions I must now clearly state. It won't take long, as I am a relatively simple soul.
I was raised a Christian Scientist, so metaphysics was no stranger to my youthful mind. I drowned in our swimming pool when I was about 10 years old. I left my body and experienced myself floating above my prone and seemingly lifeless material form. I was in the astral plane and didn't even know what an astral plane was! This was the very moment that I knew for a certainty that I was more that a physical organism, I was multidimensional consciousness, I was a soul with a definite connection to my Creator. I discovered the Light and felt the living presence of God all around me. I could see that above myself was a limitless realm of effulgence and limitless love. I wanted to merge but knew I still had work to do and things to learn form the sequential existence of a mortal being. I eventually returned to my mortal shell but I was forevermore changed from the startling experience.
Year later I began to study Eastern martial arts like Judo and Tae Kwon Do. I also learned to practice Hatha Yoga. I was taught to sit in Seon meditation by my Korean Tae Kwon Do teacher, Master Kim. This is the Korean version of Chinese Chan Buddhism and Japanese Zen Buddhism. I was a veracious reader, earnest in my heart's deepest quest and threw myself into a fervent study of the Eastern religions, without ever looking back. Such a joy to discover, at last a way to center my mind and still my restless thoughts.
And then I found Autobiography Of A Yogi and so, my whole world changed drastically overnight!!! I was imitated into the Self Realization Fellowship, back in 1979. I followed the techniques and methods they advocated and honestly, I never sought other branches of this art and science. Frankly, in those days, none of us in the Western world even knew there were alternate takes on Kriya Yoga. I was a young man fresh out of art school and felt a deep affinity with Sri Swami Paramahansa Yogananda. I always will.
I faithfully practiced the teachings of SRF for several years and found that some aspects of the Kriya path appealed to me more than others did. I really disliked the organizational fervor. And Sri Yoganandaji's decision to appoint his organization and legacy as Sat Guru... is not, IMHO, a wise choice to make... but he must have had his reasons. No offense to any of his faithful devotees, but I've never found what I was seeking in religious groups, cults or theological constructs.
My God is wholly cosmic, limitlessly universal and without any definitive form. So, I found myself spontaneously tuning into the inner light and inner sounds. They so profoundly brought me closer to the energy I had sought somewhere deep inside of my heart of hearts. This was the gravy my hungry soul had so longed for!
I have studied with several Masters, mostly in the early 1980s. Santji Keshavadas gifted me with my first taste of Amitra and the electrifying jolt of Shaktipad. I spent some time with Sri Swami Amar Jyoti and with Sri Swami Satchidananda. I admired the teaching of Sant Kirpal Singh, so I was initiated into Sant Mat back in 1983. Mostly I suppose, because of the emphasis on the Ajna and the Light and Sound Current? I worship the essence of Divine Light and the oscillating vibration of the Sacred Word, more than any other conceivable aspects of God.
And while I found symmetries in the Radhasoami Faith with the Kriya Yoga, that I had been taught (minus the pranayama), I was shocked and wholly disappointed by the slanderous disdain that these Sikhs regarded Hindu Yogis with. They categorically place advanced beings like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Anandamayi Ma and many other saints, as "only rising to the level of the lower astral planes". The lower astral planes? Spiritual politics are one of the most disturbing mind-traps for the seeker. Groan... obviously their elitist doctrine of personality worship is a total blinder for the vast majority of their naive followers, who accept such distorted lies for actual truth. Sigh, pride falleth before the man!
I had studied Sufism for a couple years with the late Pir Vilayat Khan, back in the 1980s and found that there are many mystical Sufi methods, essentially equivalents to Kriya Yoga and Surat Shabd Yoga techniques. No small wonder that human mind has found the same truths and symbiotic degrees of symmetry, eh? There is but One God and One reality behind all appearances. Err... I digress? You betcha. 
No, I cannot perform the Kechari Mudra. Not with my physical tongue. I gave up decades ago because I found that with my mind's innate energy, my internal focus and through direct intent, I was able to activate the Ajna and merge within it's blinding effulgence. the Ajna is both a psychic center and correlates to the material pineal gland. Likewise, I believe that we can stimulate it's awakening through various immaterial means. And despite having a normal, restricted frenulum... with focused intention alone, I can direct psychic acupressure upon this point and stimulate it's activation. I am able to effectively trigger it's cosmic buzzing oscillation and facilitate it's full activation. Then,I pas through it's vortex and merge within the unbound parameters of the field of the Sahasrara.
This exponentially amps the energy to lift the veil of mortal darkeners and so too, perceive of the blindingly bright portal to the higher spiritual realms. Manually performing Kechari would be no different and no more effective than the immediacy of bringing the mind to one unwavering point in focus and penetrating the fulcrum of the Godhead by intent alone. But that being said, both ways are able to do the same magical shift in our awareness and essentially explode or awareness into heretofore unrealized realms of being.
I this light, I have discovered that entering the breathless state is equally an act of concentration and the integration of principles that preclude the material husk's Yogic activities. When we attune to the frequencies of the supreme Truth, we automatically are drawn into the fulcrum of unbound Spirit. It doesn't necessarily require the physical shell's assistance to accomplish this shift, it also requires that we harness the limitless force of our energy to a still, immovable degree of clarity.
And thus, when we find the Sacred Gateway, the fully illumined Ajna, we are called by God to pass through the portal and freely access the next level, the expansive field of the Sahasrara. We are then wholly enveloped in the full bloom of the Thousand Petaled Lotus. We touch all that exists and more so, we willfully and immediately interlink within the fulcrum of the Divine Being.
I am just an ordinary person. Sure, I have my samskaras and transient illusions. Who doesn't? As you suggest, the mortal body is indeed a "meat suit". The human vessel is a brief dance in the eye of Eternity. Only the indwelling Paramatma survives the destruction of the Jivatma's journey through the sea of sentient existence (only God as a silent witness to the the fleeting mirage of the ego-self). The Unified Field of Being abides eternally, always had, right beyond the frail membranes of this material paradigm.
The radiance of the Divine is everywhere, always available for our total immersion. This perfection is the very quintessence of all that has come into being, whose expressions seek to wholly unite consciously within. And so, we instinctively desire to taste the flood of sweet bliss which remembrance gifts and blesses us with... as it's own joyous reward.
OM Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya 
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Edited by - Govinda on Jun 19 2013 02:38:41 AM |
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Roberto
USA
33 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2013 : 10:25:32 AM
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Dear Govinda and Kriyawit,
Thank you both for your inspiring words and this thread. Your posts are a huge help !
Rob |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2013 : 11:58:55 PM
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Dear Govinda,
Yes, what you describe sounds very familiar, especially the part about LOVE. I also practiced with SRF for many years.
FWIW, re: kechari, I never knew about the advanced version of it (with the snipping and all) but Ajna eventually opened up for me just with basic SRF kriya practice and pranayama. Perhaps kechari speeds up the process; I don't know, but it was never an issue on my journey.
Namaste. |
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2013 : 11:25:33 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by machart
Sometimes less words are better...are you saying love is the answer?
Hello machart, on many levels, I agree with your sentiments. Oftentimes, less words spoken are better than far too many (as so much of the spiritual experience is unspeakably subtle). But I am predisposed to voice my thoughts about the majesty of the Divine Presence and our opportunity to be conscious of it's immanence and so, move through the barriers of mind and ego-self, by intentional expression of unity and Atmic inter-phase.
We are each gifted the chance to bloom, to go beyond our transitory dreamscapes. Surely, this only happens when we allow it to happen. I'll admit that my semantics are unable to catch the shooting star of my inspiration. And I do agree with your insight, it may not even be possible to encapsulate in human linguistics. 
And I can't honestly say that I believe that love is the ultimate answer. It certainly is in some cases... but I was describing how I felt about my core experiences and how the Godhead appears to my subjectivity, in post eclipsing mode (one which allows for a subjective stance and an object of observation). For my windowsill, the energy of God does seems quite a bit like an undifferentiated radiance of limitless love (to me) and when perceived, it conveys a palpable presence... one which interconnects/interrelates with all that exists.
For the sake of brevity, I'll conclude with my sincere belief that we can all directly and completely merge within the Divine Field, just as soon as we allow ourselves to merge. Surely, this only happens when we allow it to happen within our own minds, hearts and bodies. I am certainly NOT underestimating or slighting benefits of the time-honored, traditional Yogic methods and effective, fruitful practices. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Ancient wisdom and indomitable will go hand-in-hand, but of course.
All Sadhana is aimed at the moment when we bring our focus so much into the present, that we not only touch the eternal, we embody it's timeless beauty through our very existence. We decide what we perceive and so, what we create. We choose and we surely ascend by will and by faith. These are some of the many blessing the Sacred One freely bestows. If love is part of that, I'm all in favor, my friend. 
That's all. Peace to you and yours. |
Edited by - Govinda on Jun 21 2013 11:50:53 PM |
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2013 : 09:00:14 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Roberto
Dear Govinda and Kriyawit,
Thank you both for your inspiring words and this thread. Your posts are a huge help !
Rob
My Brother Roberto,
There have been some remarks made, in regard to the Kechari Mudra and whether this is a prerequisite for full Ajna activation. And like yourself, I was not naturally gifted with an elongated frenulum. That being said, I first tasted the nectar of Amitra in 1984 by applying pressure to the point just touching the uvula. Now, I think that it is fair to say that it is not the material tongue entering the aperture of the nasal canal, which causes this gushing release from the pineal gland, it is the result of intense concentration, developed over years of deep meditation, all culminating in the complete bloom of focusing of one's intent.
In other words, this blissful phenomenon is result of effectively triggering the Ajna into it's awakened state. The Ajna is the Gateway. It is the portal by which we shift our perception of reality from the physical one to the spiritual one. Likewise, it is in essence, that wonderful crossroad whereby the Yogin steps beyond the finite bondage of the time-space-continuum, into Infinity.
I feel that such ancient Mudras are highly useful to tune-in to the real Sadhana we need to do. They help us to sublimate and elevate the sexual urge to it's higher counterpart, within the brain of the material body. But IMHO, this transitioning of body-to mind-to Spiritus, is of the utmost importance. It's not simply lifting the kundalini from the base to the top of the mortal crown, and in so doing, shift the orgasmic mechanism from the region of the human crotch to the pineal gland... it is ALL about transmutation and transformation of gross energy to subtle energy.
The tongue sublimates the impulse of the organism of the penis (or for that matter, the organism of the clitoris) to enter the elevated twin of the vaginal canal, that of the nasal passage. The seminal fluids transform dynamically into pranic essence and ignite the opening of the "Cave of Brahman". We are called to lift ourselves by surrender and sheer will power, into this luminous Void, to transcend the physical, astral and causal bands of membranes of manifestation. This requires changing the vibratory rate of our attention... so it is not merely a physical realignment, it is a whole spiritual realignment. A shift in ambition and a shift in direction (from outwards to inwards).
We are essentially called by our singularity of self, by our indwelling Omniself, if you will... to return to knowing directly and completely, who we are in our truest nature of being. One self, without another. A self with no form or substance. Non-dual and eternal. In this light, we are returning to our original state, as Brahman! Unbound and unfettered by any distinctions of subject and object,this and that, then and now. It's surely not about aggrandizing one aspect of dichotomous existence over the other. It takes more than a 5 or 6 inch tongue to unite the force of Jivatman within the supremacy of Paramatman. To die to the hypnosis of our Samskaras, which we hold so tightly to our of fear and desire for the experience of things. We are pulled upwards into the fulcrum of the Divine, united internally within the Godhead. We depart form this fractured material world and are reborn wholly immortal. 
Say that one was brutally attacked by another person or persons, as has sadly happened within our earth species' violent history, for many millenniums. And so, if one's material tongue were to be cut out of one's mouth (please bear with this terrible analogy, folks), would such a one then need to await another incarnation with a new physical body, to transcend the material paradigm? Granted, this would then render such a human being with no tongue to achieve Kechari Mudra at all!
Does this preclude such a victim from achieving Ajna activation or negate the flow of Amitra? I assuredly say that this is not so and such a line of thought is both superfluous and wholly missing the point of performing the Kechari Mudra. All Mudras are meditational tools for crafting our blossoming spiritual growth. They surely and without a doubt, aid tremendously in bringing our focus to a single, indomitable point of unwavering awareness.
The same can be said of our attention upon immersions within the blinding effulgence of the Inner Light and upon merging our intention within the Divine melodies of the Inner Sound Current. These highly subtle vibratory rates of Omniversal Mind, effectively lift our awareness above the isolated, sequential state of existence... and attune our soul frequency to the Indivisible plane,the realm of Unification and pure reflection of the Absolute truth.
In so doing, we shift our dimensional parameters to an expanded level of ineffable being. It is not the posture, the material pressure nor the arduous training of Yoga that gleans such a perceptual realization... it is the culmination of our crystalline intent, that lifts our mind beyond the gross sphere, to the subtle and uber-subtle realms above this material multiverse. So too, when we step through this window, cross through the psychic membrane of ego-consciousness, we touch the limitlessness of Sacred Being in all it's effulgent perfection. We then understand that this is what we are, what we have always been and that we are not separate from God.
We are most certainly not divided aspects of the One, we are the One. Nor are we eternally bound by the illusion that broken shards, scattered and disconnected from the source of all Divine creation. We are That. We are all one Supreme frequency of conscious-awareness. All of the bands of membranes manifesting to differentiate this from that... are merely our own mirage. We dream that we are separate from the effulgence of Brahman... and this is not so.
Neither does the performance of Kechari necessarily guarantee that one will taste Amitra or be able to pass through the aperture of the Ajna and shift into the full bloom and blinding resplendence of the activated Sahasrara. It certainly would help but it's so vitally important to understand why we do pranayama, practice mudras and asanas. It is solely to awaken the latent energies coiled at our base material husk, and to bring our conscious-awareness to the heights of God Realization.
Again, I'll emphatically state that it is not the pressure from the meat of the tongue, it is the pressure of the mind, which ignites the experience of complete Ajna activation. This, however is not the goal of Moksha and not enough to free the soul from the bondage of material fixation. So too, when we ascend to the third eye portal( or as I prefer to understand it, the Gateway of the Singular Eye), we need to rise further into the infinite emptiness and shimmering radiance of the United Field of Being.
We are called to pierce through the net of Maya and touch the Divine reality with our intent and our innate Atmaic quintessence. In so doing, we travel deeper and still deeper, beyond the self and the manifestation of any film of duality. we become aware of the Grand Remembrance. We then understand without any thought or movement of the mind at all, and we bloom in resplendent silence. Thus we attain a symmetry with the Imperishable Truth, the direct Gnosis that we are That. Tat Tvam Asi,... we are God and naught but God exists. Is this not the release from spiritual ignorance, the dream of isolation and endless rounds of births and deaths? Oh yeah... that's what it's all about!
As above, so bellow. Uniting heaven and Earth, for all is One Sacred Being. |
Edited by - Govinda on Jun 24 2013 09:46:19 AM |
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Roberto
USA
33 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2013 : 10:39:37 AM
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Dearest Govinda,
Thank you so much for your post. Your timing couldn't be much better my brother.
As always, your posts inspire
Namaste
Rob |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2013 : 06:59:32 AM
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Hi Govinda,
Thank you for clarifying about Khechari. Recently, there has been much discussion on these forums on this being some sort of pre-requisite for all spiritual progress. Some of us may never reach Stage II of this coveted Mudra, and then what? Some that propagate Khechari to be the be all and end all of advanced yogic techniques would say, "Too bad. Maybe in another lifetime." Which, as you elegantly describe, is baseless and untrue.
Yogani's teachings are about the whole of yoga - the combination of intent, Bhakti, practices and integration in daily life. There is no one magic bullet, be it Khechari or anything else. If it were so, those born with favorable frenulums and easily achieving it would be the awakened ones amongst us. You say it is the uncoiling of Kundalini - I'd say yes, but even that is only part of the whole. How the awakened energy transforms us is based on so many factors, including our unique matrix of obstructions/karma/samskaras and mostly, divine grace.
Amrita has been a blessing here, despite having no drive to advance from the first stage of Khechari. How come? I suspect it is only one thing - Grace. Yet, the experience of Amrita occurred long before the sudden shift of an initial nondual awakening. Can I say it was intense concentration? No. My concentration wavers.
All in all, there is absolutely no temporal relationship to any one practice and the sum of overall spiritual progress in my personal experience.. But I realize we all experience different things, and it is such eloquent sharing as yours that makes this such a wonderful community and enriches our paths. For this, I thank you.
Much love.
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2013 : 07:28:56 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Govinda
Sister kami,
I thank you for your kindness and openness. And I like to clarify that I have not come to this forum to upset apple carts or deny any of the teachings others are strictly devoted to. I came here by chance and have felt a deep kinship with many of the souls who participate in these deeply spiritual discussions. That being said, I can only be of the utmost honesty and humbly express my beliefs and experiences as clearly as I am able to, given how limiting human language can be.
Now, as far as Kechari Mudra or any other Mudras practiced... they are methods and methods are not the reality. They are avenues for our attainment and they help us to access higher states of conscious-awareness. And I'd like to emphasize that it is not the physical tongue that ignites the bloom of the Ajna, for it is more like the precursor to the Ajna's activation. It surely stimulates the pineal gland and this is wonderful. But I have found that it's really all about energy transmission. The pineal gland is the material husk of the Ajna and a conduit for the integration of perceptions derived from the 3rd eye.
I have been able to trigger the release of Amitra since 1984, either by reaching as far back as I can with the tip of my tongue and pressing gently against the point immediately in front of the uvula... or more often than not, through direct intention alone. Everything is energy and mind directs it's flow. So I believe it can be done two ways, materially and psychically.
And since these discussions have been reoccurring in various AYP threads here, I have devoted more and more time to stretching my frenulum, to experience if there is any added dimension to entering the nasal canal and achieving full Kechari Mudra. I the process, I accidentally tore the frenulum and it had to heal before I could comfortably continue training the tissue to stretch further and further.
Until I reach the desired point of tongue lengthening, I am patiently practicing this complicated Mudra. But I somehow know in my intuitive mind, that it is not the material pressure, it is the focus and attention placed upon the Ajna that ignite it effulgent radiance. Still, I am curious and I will perform the Mudra in the not-to-distant future (which is actually non-existent, after all).
Grace, on the other hand, is the most direct path any seeker can receive. Let's be completely honest here, we all study the Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras and the teachings of Shankaracharya... in the hopes of gleaning a deeper understanding of what true spirituality is really all about. We are not the material body, not the thinking mind, not the individual self... we are Atmaic expressions of the Divine Being. "Deham, Naham, Koham, Soham."
So, if the material husk is sheer illusion, how can what is unreal lead to Moksha? Thus, it is clear that Asanas, Mudras, Yantras and Mantras are highly effective tools for our attunement and our impending awakening, for sure... but they are not the ultimate goal, nor are the wholly necessary for all Sadhakas. They certainly help and are very beautiful forms to aspire towards mastering.
Grace, however, is something quite special and is beyond any duality or attainment. It takes surrender and total commitment. Had I not surrendered wholly to my exalted Gurudeva, Sri Babaji Maharaj... I would still be grasping at illusions and seeking her and there for truth. It is the greatest love affair any soul can experience and it is accessible without Kechari Mudra or any secretive technique, time-honored method or advanced Yogic practice.
When the Sacred heart opens to God in all of it's resplendent glory, there is nothing to do but bloom exponentially and shine like the light which we are all composed of. Too simplistic? I disagree with such a notion,for there is nothing more difficult to do than fully surrendering to the Supreme Being. The price for admission is death and who wants to go that far? Not material death or physical demise, rather, the soul shattering surrender of ego-death.
OM BHUR BHUVAHA SWAHA OM TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM BHARGHO DEVASYA DHIMAHI DHIYO YONAHA PRACHODAYAT OM
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2013 : 07:32:19 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Govinda
I came here by chance and have felt a deep kinship with many of the souls who participate in these deeply spiritual discussions.
My dear Govinda,
And it is such a pleasure and honor to have you here and bathe in the light of your beautiful soul. Thank you.
I agree that surrender is the most challenging practice for the ego, which inherently wants to protect its well-being. That doesn't mean Grace isn't there. As Ramana Maharshi reiterated again and again, Grace has, is, and will always be there. Shankaracharya also says the same thing, expounding on the absolute good fortune of a human birth... Surrendering to that is another matter. What isn't Grace? Us meeting here, all our gurus and teachings and experiences, life with all its blessings and challenges.. Everything seems to be bathed in divine radiance.. Such beauty!! I'm inclined to worship everyone I come across, not just beloved Babaji or Krishna. I see beauty in my own follies and shortcomings, the humorous and puzzling ways in which my samskaras surface. All Grace. (And I'm not even a good meditator, a good Khechari performer or particularly well-versed in anything, yoga related or otherwise..)
The only thing I was trying to say is that Khechari is only a technique in the whole of yoga, which is what you are saying too. I wish you the best in its mastery, my dear brother.
Much love and regards to you. |
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Moving With One's Intent: Ajna-Sahasrara-Brahman
