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catrynn
Ireland
68 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 12 2014 : 05:45:29 AM
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I read posts about 'The Work' and about 'The Presence process'. Both seem to me to be doing the same sort of thing - purifying us, our emotions, our bodies and our thoughts though in different ways. I wonder whether the AYP practises have the same effect.
I have done some of 'The Work' and am now doing 'The Presence process'. If I just did AYP, would the results be similiar - clearing out all our baggage? Is this what Yogani means by purifying? Or does it help our emotional clearing to do these other techniques so that our AYP practice is then more powerful, with these other practices acting like a shortcut detour? 
It's only that one technique can lead to another that people swear by and then another pops up and I find it hard to see the way. Perhaps my guru within is too clouded!  |
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kami
USA
921 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2014 : 07:07:11 AM
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Hi Catrynn,
Yes, AYP will do the same thing. Ultimately, all paths lead to purifying, which is really another way of saying, "clearing of perception". Deep meditation and pranayama lay the groundwork for samyama and self-inquiry. These two powerful practices eventually cause the "push off the cliff", when perception has been cleared to a certain degree. The push is what results in returning home to our true nature. As Yogani says, it is a journey from here to here. There are infinite paths, but they all eventually lead here.
Having said that, AYP is unique in that it works well in conjunction with the Work or the PP. However, it is helpful to always keep one core practice.
Hope this helps. 
Love.   |
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Ayiram
88 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2014 : 07:46:41 AM
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Hello Catrynn,
i read only the fragments of those two books you mention and IMO it´s something that would go under the category of self-inquiry.and to be able to do some quality work there, one needs a certain level of inner silence. inner silence helps us notice the inner signals that call for our attention. and once we notice them, we need the strength and wisdom to face them and let them go eventually. and that is something that comes from inner silence too. so, meditation is a prerequisite for efficient self-inquiry. and AYP has proven to be highly efficient in producing inner silence, at least in my case.
so, yes, all of it helps us purify ourselves, but the AYP-cleaning goes much, much deeper...
self-inqiury is something that happens naturally as we do our practices regularly...
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catrynn
Ireland
68 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2014 : 11:13:13 AM
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Thank you both very much. Yes the more I go on, the more important I think inner silence from deep meditation and SBP is. So from what you say, is there any advantage in doing 'The Work' or TPP if our AYP practices are as strong as they are? I am only doing TPP because I felt that it would clear my emotions to do the AYP techniques better. But I just have this niggling feeling that maybe it is not really necessary to do other techniques and that AYP has everything we need...
I am very glad to be doing TPP as it sort of leapt out at me at the time and I am learning so much, but it is early days yet. Another seven weeks to go! Whether 10 weeks of AYP instead would leave me in a similar place, is really open to discussion
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Ayiram
88 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2014 : 05:34:41 AM
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Hey Catrynn ,
...don´t doubt your inner guru  .
nobody but yourself can tell you what´s the best for you...
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2014 : 06:28:48 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by catrynn
Thank you both very much. Yes the more I go on, the more important I think inner silence from deep meditation and SBP is. So from what you say, is there any advantage in doing 'The Work' or TPP if our AYP practices are as strong as they are? I am only doing TPP because I felt that it would clear my emotions to do the AYP techniques better. But I just have this niggling feeling that maybe it is not really necessary to do other techniques and that AYP has everything we need...
I am very glad to be doing TPP as it sort of leapt out at me at the time and I am learning so much, but it is early days yet. Another seven weeks to go! Whether 10 weeks of AYP instead would leave me in a similar place, is really open to discussion
Hi catrynn,
Before AYP I followed different paths, which led to an huge amount of practices. I ended up fighting with myself, my family and my job in order to create time and space for practices. The "fun" faded away...
Now, with AYP I found a much better balance between practices and daily life. Actually it is not a fight anymore (which I realise just now when writing this post!).
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kami
USA
921 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2014 : 06:30:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by catrynn
Thank you both very much. Yes the more I go on, the more important I think inner silence from deep meditation and SBP is. So from what you say, is there any advantage in doing 'The Work' or TPP if our AYP practices are as strong as they are? I am only doing TPP because I felt that it would clear my emotions to do the AYP techniques better. But I just have this niggling feeling that maybe it is not really necessary to do other techniques and that AYP has everything we need...
I am very glad to be doing TPP as it sort of leapt out at me at the time and I am learning so much, but it is early days yet. Another seven weeks to go! Whether 10 weeks of AYP instead would leave me in a similar place, is really open to discussion
Hi Catrynn,
If you are so strongly drawn to it, I'd recommend finishing it. So many here have benefitted from the presence process, as discussed here: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....PIC_ID=13230
Sometimes there may be a worry about stopping core practices for a period of time and "losing out". But, it helps to keep in mind that this is a long-term process that does not end. Your Bhakti will carry you through, no worries.
Love to you. |
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catrynn
Ireland
68 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2014 : 07:40:58 AM
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Thank you Ecdyonurus. Of the practises I have tried, AYP is the one that I find fits in with my life without all the hassle and over-indulging before. I think my mind has side tracked me to thinking I may be missing out by not doing AYP for 10 weeks when in fact my bhakti is the thing to follow!
'Sometimes there may be a worry about stopping core practices for a period of time and "losing out". But, it helps to keep in mind that this is a long-term process that does not end. Your Bhakti will carry you through, no worries.'
So thank you too Kami for your very wise words. I appreciate them. Nothing like mind tricks to realize how our mind/ego can sabotage us!
And I greatly appreciate the link. That forum will keep me going through the sticky bits
to you both |
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mr_anderson
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2014 : 10:01:16 AM
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Hi Catrynn,
quote:
If I just did AYP, would the results be similiar - clearing out all our baggage? Is this what Yogani means by purifying?
My two cents is that in most cases, it's extremely helpful to do some work (like TPP) which specifically teaches us to stay completely open & non-resistant, deeply allowing ourselves to feel our emotions fully, whilst not jumping into a mental story/projection or behavioral reaction to the emotion.
TPP is a short-cut for this kind of work, albeit an intense one.
AYP purifies the nervous system, for me (I can't say it's the same for everyone) AYP brings on bliss (whether ecstatic or non-ecstatic), and cultivates the experience of ourselves as free awareness. I feel that it also purifies the 'spiritual nervous system' of the body - allowing prana to flow in the right places.
TPP gets right to the heart of our emotional reactivity and our darkest, deepest and most troubling buried emotions. It's bhakti and the inner guru that will you lead there either way ultimately, but TPP in my view is a different type of purification to AYP.
There's a danger with more 'transcendent' types of spiritual practices, that bring on a lot of bliss and so on, that one is tempted to bypass all the intensely unpleasant emotional stuff, and stay in the 'bliss zone' instead. This can lead to a disembodied spirituality, where we go into intensely transcendent and/or blissful states, but remain an emotionally reactive, unbalanced person, who hasn't dealt with their core feelings of separation etc. Of course, the inner guru reveals all this stuff in time, when one is willing to see it.
I find TPP was very good preparation for AYP. One after the other gradually leads you into a way of being which is BOTH transcendent, blissful, free - and also fully embodied, honest with yourself, engaged with the world, free from attachment to 'states and experiences' and emotionally open and present.
If you feel guided to TPP, which you clearly have done (judging by our brief exchanges ), I recommend you stick with it until the end. |
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catrynn
Ireland
68 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2014 : 06:20:15 AM
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Hi mr anderson!
I was going to ask you that question anyway but you found it first! Thank you for your answer. It was very clear
I am slightly confused in all this about purification. I have the idea that our body, mind, emotions and spirit are very interlinked. About a year ago I got a neck injury and went to a oractioner to get it put right. I went a number of times and each time I had emotional issues surfacing - like things around being 'stiff necked'! I would not have believed that manipulation in one part of my body could cause all this stuff to come up but it did.
I was meditating at the time but not AYP. Then I find AYP and Yogani mentions all about purification and opening when we do deep meditation. I just took this to mean that all our systems were getting purified and opened - our emotions, mind and body. Some thoughts would surface and be more intense than others in DM and some feelings which made DM difficult at times - Well not difficult, just strong enough to make the favouring of the mantra difficult. I sort of assumed that everything was being purified and that other practices like amaroli, doing asanas and then paranayama would just open and purify what needed to be purified in my system of being before my system was strong or clear enough to manage the ecstatic side of things.
But I have no idea if this is correct at all or if it is only my personal experience or even my expectation. That is why I asked the question, as if AYP techniques are purifying and opening in the way that is best for me, is that not enough?
Then along comes bhakti and The Presence Process is thrown into my lap! But Byron Katie's The Work was also thrown into my lap a number of years ago and then I found it very useful at the time. It made me examine what I was thinking and how wrong that could be. It showed me too that my thinking affects my emotions of the moment, the now. Which comes first, emotion or thought is probably debateable but I found if I thought more 'correctly' then my emotions were less up and down. Which is a purification and opening too.
So if we follow Michael Brown as he tells us about Presence, with its total knowledge of each of us and giving us each the appropriate way to take us forward, I suppose all these techniques do add up to clearing the whole system and each has a 'knock-on' effect on the other. I suppose I was being wishful about just having one system that would do all this but at my age, I realize that a few intense weeks may give results I need while sticking with one system may be slower!! If I were younger there would be no problem
I guess this is my two cents worth! Hope it makes some sort of sense
Catherine |
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