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struggling with sambhavi

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Originally posted by Yogishammy

It's like I always have a "piece" of awareness aimed in my body/mind (feelings/thoughts). Is this a bad idea? Can it result in too much purification?

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When you go to sleep, be aware of what you may be doing, like unconscious SpB or DM.

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Posted - Nov 13 2014 : 1:14:41 PM
Good choice Dogboy. Just that Cosmic Samyama is an advanced practice... may not be a very good idea for Yogishammy.

But I guess there is no harm trying it.

Here is a topic that may help as well Yogishammy
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....OPIC_ID=1264

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Originally posted by Dogboy


Keep an eye on me Shanti!
I'm liable to do, or say anything!

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Originally posted by Dogboy

Cosmic samyama helps me sometimes, the yogic equivalent of counting sheep!

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Originally posted by Yogishammy


I'm not sure how to do inquiry. Yet it felt as if I was doing it all the time between 13 Nov - 20 Nov. With constant awareness of thoughts and feelings, it was easy to just "feel the fear, and do it anyway". How can I shed light on the fear? Should I like, sit quitly and watch the thoughts/feelings?

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Originally posted by Shanti


Self Inquiry techniques are practices that help us see how our mind works and go beyond the mind. Depending on what stage we are at in our path, we can do different kinds of self inquiry.
The best way to know what kind of self inquiry will work is to read this lesson Lesson 327 – The Evolutionary Stages of Mind

When you go through that lesson you will see, there are 5 stages of the mind:
Pre-Witnessing
Witnessing
Discrimination
Dispassion
Unity

As we continue cultivating inner silence and purifying our nervous system though our practices, we will move through the above stages of the mind.

Adding any self inquiry technique in the pre-witness stage is going to result in trying to understand the mind with the mind, which Yogani calls a non-relational self inquiry. At this point, self inquiry is more an exercise in playing mind games. At this stage we can add some self inquiry techniques with the help of another person(therapist, friend, self inquiry teacher). Some of these techniques would be "The Work" by Byron Katie, "REBT" (Rational emotive behavior therapy) by Albert Ellis, Real Love by Greg Baer. Most of these will work when done with someone who knows the technique and can help us see the pitfalls of the mind. If we are ready to accept and see these pitfalls, we can get some relief from the suffering we cause ourselves with thinking.

Then once we are in the witness stage, we can see that there is a "mind" making things happen in our life. This stage, we still cannot separate "our self" from our mind, but we can see how the mind is keeping all our suffering in place. This is when we start doing inquiry from within, from stillness, this is what Yogani calls relational self-inquiry. At this stage we can practice self inquiry techniques like "The Work" by Byron Katie, "REBT" (Rational emotive behavior therapy) by Albert Ellis, Real Love by Greg Baer on our own to start separating the mind from the self. This is a great place to start samyama too.

The next is the Discrimination stage. Here we are more rooted in stillness.
At this point we can take the mind level inquiry techniques and drop them in silence (that is why it is great to start samyama in the witness stage, we have enough silence in the witness satge to start the more mechanical process of picking a sutra and dropping it in silence). For example the work has a final step of 'Embracing Reality"... this is the hardest step at the pre-witness level, it gets a bit easier at the witness level, but in the discrimination stage, we can embrace the reality by just dropping it in stillness. In fact most of those self inquiry techniques become refined and practices like the work becomes a case of asking "is it true?" dropping in stillness and at times the answers arising from stillness without even having to go through the full process.
This is also a great time to work with the 'gap technique", because now we have enough stillness to to be able to catch the gap between thoughts. The "neti neti technique" - not this, not this... as we can again let go in stillness whatever thoughts/ideas may be arising.
It is a great stage to really work with samyama, becasue now samyama is getting more and more powerful with the increased level of silence. We can start incorporating samyama with prayer and healing and self inquiry, etc.
This is also a great point to start the "Who Am I" inquiry. Now more answers are coming from stillness.
There is more from Yogani in this lesson: http://www.aypsite.org/350.html

Dispassion is when we can now let go in stillness naturally. Here, samayama becomes a natural practice. When there is discomfort, we pick it up and let it go in stillness and without making it a formal practice. "Who Am I" kind of self inquiry takes on a life of its own and becomes more about naturally moving away from the association with body/mind and getting in touch with awareness. It is more about becoming the screen (awareness) on which the movie of life is playing.

Unity is when we live samyama. Now, there is complete trust and letting go happening every moment. There is not a doing, there is only living. The mind may still poke it's head through the doors, but there is awareness of what is going on at all times. Now self inquiry is not a practice, it is a way of life. You are the screen... nothing is not you... it is all one... it is experiencing the duality in the "one"... the non-dual.

None of these are distinct phases, they overlap with the stage before and after them and at times it may feel like moving from one to another and moving back. But when you are in discrimination, you cannot go back to the pre-witness stage permanently, or when you are in dispassion you cannot go back to the witness stage permanently, as long as you are continuing with your practices.

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