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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 25 2015 :  02:08:45 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
well i had to try it the easy way involuntarily because i went over the edge, the point of no return, home base, and had no bhakti afterwards. So i took it easy for three days, not mustering any bhakti during DM nor SB, and even omitted SB on the last two days.

I believed it was a superior path to the one before where i describe in the posts above about placing attention (bhakti) on the mantra, i also felt i was more disconnected from other people, in a good way, becoming "untouchable". nothing like the consequences of a bhakti filled practice where i feel more emotions (and rock-like witnessing of them). After three days i felt like something was missing, i concluded it was my bhakti calling for opening and so into the fray i went with bhakti-filled favoring of the spine in SB and mantra in DM.

After doing so I was without a doubt that that is indeed the proper path. I also realized that the question I posed above was about the validity of my path and ease of it. I concluded that the path is valid and with time it will get easier, or rather with the addition of further practices (bhandas, siddhasana) it will get easier.


I noticed now that im experiencing ecstasy that the straightness of the spine was an effect on it. The straighter i pose when i sit while practicing, particularly the lower back, the less intense and more subtle the pleasure becomes. What insights can you provide on this?
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 26 2015 :  04:33:20 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Please do comment on the spine question.


Moreover i just read up to chapter 7 of john wilders secret. And oh man!. It verifies my experience!. Im undoubtedly in good company now! The swaying, everything! I love the book. I always think about what to advice newcomers, and new before any practice instructions i think i will recommend this book and " call me in the morning". Lol. I love the book.
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Dogboy

USA
2294 Posts

Posted - Dec 26 2015 :  11:27:29 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
I noticed now that im experiencing ecstasy that the straightness of the spine was an effect on it. The straighter i pose when i sit while practicing, particularly the lower back, the less intense and more subtle the pleasure becomes. What insights can you provide on this?


A straight spine is the recommended in all yoga and meditation practice for exactly this reason, to allow nadis to open and prana to flow smoother with greater ease.
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SeySorciere

Seychelles
1571 Posts

Posted - Dec 27 2015 :  03:11:52 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Feelings of ecstasy, as prana moves up and down the spine, is said to be caused by the energy hitting against obstructions. So the straighter the spine, the easier the flow of energy.

Sey
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Ecdyonurus

Switzerland
479 Posts

Posted - Dec 27 2015 :  07:42:06 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jayleno, a straight spine, especially the lower back, is very important also for a strainless, comfortable sitting posture, which is a prerequisite for sitting practices. Letting go of the external sensations is difficult if you have tensions somewhere in the body.
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 27 2015 :  9:26:40 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks for the responses.

Im going to open a new thread on some more questions on practice and the wilder book.
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lalow33

USA
966 Posts

Posted - Dec 27 2015 :  9:43:39 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jayleno,

If I had to give any advice for just about any Yoga practice over the years, it would be to give about one fourth to half the effort you are giving. I haven't read all the replies, sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation.

P.S. I'm not talking about dropping practice times or practices. What I'm talking about is if you are confused or trying to get it just right, try dropping at least half the effort.

Edited by - lalow33 on Dec 27 2015 9:53:40 PM
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 28 2015 :  01:10:29 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I'm very grateful for your dialogue.

Be mindful I'm just making the connection between my experiences and my descriptions of them and the terminology of AYP.

For example for years i knew focusing on the mantra produced pleasure and i shyed away from it due to warnings on AYP about selfpacing. Now i realize that my focusing is in fact bhakti and devotion. And that it was an essential ingredient the last 5 years. My bhakti surged this past month and pushed me to focus, or fill my practices with bhakti, knowing they would produce ecstacy. Ive now run into the scenario where im doing exactly what i did yesterday but I'm not getting the same results, and my body is more constricted and tense. Ive obviously reached my processing limit. Im going to reduce the bhakti to zero for a couple days, then resume with bhakti filled practice, and simply reduce the time, then guage my experience and continue or repeat and reduce the time even more.

I elaborate for everyone reading and for you too, you may be further back on the milestones or further up and this should give u my coordinates as to where iam in practice.

You are advicing to reduce my bhakti in a sense. I cannot argue with that, especially in my recent event, but in the spirit of helping myself and thus you too, Because of my recent discovery of the grand importance of focusing/ bhakti to catalyze the experience and light the fire, and the fact that desire, or in ur terminology, effort is the first lesson in the practices i think u are mistaken. The effort i place on it is what starts the pleasure, and after reading the secrets of wilder book, i realize: thats precisely the path and the way its supposed to be.

I highjacked this thread at first with advice, then with a digression, then assertion, and now with resolve. Ive currently no questions, and stand by my original "unstructured /uncertified" (im no self claimed expert, but simply wanted to help the original poster whom i identified with) advice. Iam just now getting the memo that the practices are to be pleasurable and pleasure is not to be avoided. And i think i knew how to do that a few years back. Haha, amen to that. And thanks so much. Even without the pleasure my life outside of practices has changed tenfold. I cannot imagine how the next few years will be WITH pleasure and the remaining techniques. Oh boy!
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Charliedog

1625 Posts

Posted - Dec 28 2015 :  07:29:22 AM  Show Profile  Visit Charliedog's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Like Yogani says, The Guru is in you
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Dogboy

USA
2294 Posts

Posted - Dec 28 2015 :  3:13:57 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
What you may not have absorbed, JL, is that the ecstatic pleasures you are experiencing are a symptom of purification, and as you purify those same pleasurable feelings may abate, or disappear all together. Already you seem very attached to this pleasure, and when it goes you are bound to think something is amiss, or that your practice is no longer effective, which is NOT the case. Your current pleasures are driving you forward, but these symptoms come and go; can you still find the drive to your meditation seat if these pleasure are absent? That will be the true test of your bhakti.
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lalow33

USA
966 Posts

Posted - Dec 28 2015 :  9:44:41 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jay,

I have no idea where I am "on the ladder" or whatever. I wasn't meaning to tell you to reduce your Bhakti. I could be mistaken, but in my experience, if you reduce some effort, there's an ease of practice. Your Ishta or the mantra has a chance to come in and take over. I call it halfassing it.(Not sure if I'm suppose to say that).

I realize that most posters want advice from people they think are close to enlightened. I'm not, so feel free to disregard.
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Blanche

USA
873 Posts

Posted - Dec 29 2015 :  08:22:55 AM  Show Profile  Visit Blanche's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I think lalow tells you to let the practice happen - I love how the Vedas put it:

"Be easy, with gentle effort."
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 29 2015 :  11:42:44 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I love this opportunity to discuss this, please know iam grateful for every character in your reply. For it is my very future self and discovery of it that we are discussing. Thank you sincerely.

There are several points that we are discussing here and i love to be specific, which is great for me because i get a straight answer from you if you reply with the corresponding point # and secondly because it helps ghost participants (readers who are on this thread but not replying)

1. Have you guys read Secrets of Wilder?

because i just did this last week after following AYP for 5 years. The experience every character describes is ecstacy. now, Ive had experience of ecstasy but have shyed away from it because of my interpretation of self pacing and interpretation of the correct method of practice, and because of my interpretation of bhakti. Its a long winded sentence that last one but please bear with me.

So if thats the way practices are supposed to be, pleasure-filled that is, i was on the right track many years back, and im relieved to find out that pleasure is indeed the path.

point 1a. @ dogboy i will continue meditation until my last breath. There. and: isnt kundalini (which is really codeword for pleasure) a permament experience down the line? ( i may be at that point in the line)

in retrospect i admire myself for moving away from pleasure these last 5 years,and if i can do it before i can do it again (or major part of 5 years, because on some occasions i was volcanoeing with bhakti and managed to produce pleasure in the practice i was doing at the time). My life has changed notably too even without pleasure, so its not a biggie (actually, yes it is lol((but theres merit to pleasure-less practice, as iam seeing today and yesterday, the rocksolid foundation is even more important than the pleasure)))

point #

2. Full disclosure: i believe the lessons to be a little cryptic. When i read them, i could interpret them to mean both ends of the spectrum. from 'fill the practices with bhakti' (not to mention desire/bhakti is lesson #1 next to "why this discussion") to 'do nothing but repeat the mantra and do not incite ecstacy'. This is so, i think, because for beginners, bhakti is a sideproduct of inner silence, which they obtain with simple bhakti-less meditation, but to those with inner silence, meditation with applied bhakti turns into an 'orgy' as termed in the book (and i agree).

@lalow33 nevermind what place you are on the ladder, i appreciate your input and take your response into consideration nonetheless. but like point number 2 above i think the lessons are rigged to fit both the beginner and the advanced. from basic development of inner silence (bhakti devotion requires inner silence) to bhakti-filled. and elaborating like i did and mentioning about our place on the ladder was an attempt to pinpoint that i believe myself to have finally crossed the threshold between those two levels, into bhakti filled practices, and perhaps help you into one too. because:

3. the bhakti lessons talk about a devotion, and about how devotion "sparks" or "ignites" and "super-charges" practices. Those are hot keywords to me now that weren't a few years back, now i beleive i understand what it means, largely because of the experience of the characters in Wilders book (an experience of pleasure during all practices). this is what i was alluding to when i talked about how advanced you were in reference to your recommendation to ease up, because your recommendation is a contrast, or the opposite. (i believe it is actually correct recommendation for the manifestation of inner silence). plus i go back to point # 1 about the WIlder book. The entire story is one of ecstacy (which i love), and if that book is a representation of the ideal path, then i know how to align myself to get ecstacy, and thus the ideal path.

@ blanche. i know exactly what you and lalow33 mean because for these last 5 years i have been both half assing it (except on the previously mentioned occasions where i was filled with bhakti/frustration and focused on my practices above normal and produced ecstasy) and taking it easy to avoid pleasure because I was interpreting the lessons to mean that correct practice is pleasure-free practice. (like i said now that i read the book, that interpretation was 100% off the mark EDIT:50% off the mark (because i was developing inner silence when not infusing bhakti)) so i know how to take it easy, in fact am doing so now because i overloaded 3 days ago with a wonderful ecstasy filled practice at full strength time (now iam going to reduce the time i apply bhakti so as to not overload).



I honestly believe, now that I am equipped with my new perspective gained from the Wilder book and by your 'take it easy' responses (theres nothing wrong with that response) that some of you might still be on the 'Inner Silence'-generating, bhakti-free DM. (like i said im on that type of DM now too to allow my body to process the ecstasy i overdid 3 days ago).

I love the ecstasy, i just love it, lets establish that. i think anyone who experiences will too. I am not attached to it persey dogboy, because it is generated when i repeat the mantra with bhakti/focus. in other words, when i follow the instructions to the letter. (favor the mantra)

4. if i follow the process called DM that will liberate me from all attachments, as it is touted to do, and it generates pleasure, what am i to do?! lol. In the past ive shyed away from it, so i know im not attached to it (i did wish i could experience more of it, but was steadfast in my devotion to 'proper' interpretation, and then i read the book... and here iam)

5.i believe at this point in time that the pleasure i experience is 'our true nature' as many lessons point out.

6.here is my new perspective in a nutshell (open like science for dissemination/examination/testing):

a. dm generates an objective perspective
b. over time by being unattached to the emotions we can direct them (bhakti) (hopefully to our practice)
c. dm filled with bhakti supercharges the practice leading to pleasure (awakening kundalini)
d. pleasure filled practice is correct practice (kundalini is awakened)
e. the body can only process a certain amount of energy/kundalini/pleasure (and everyone is different)
f. practice should be modified so as to not overload the body with pleasure/kundalini
g. practice should be continously pleasure-filled and continuously overload-free.(and this is the trick to figure out) (e.g. self pacing)
h. daily activity after a pleasure filled session is greater than daily activity after a pleasureless session manyfold, in all areas, personal, interpersonal, that is, my self image and reflection in the mirror to how others look at me and how i perceive them. (as per my experience)

and point 6a, if experience outside of practices is the ultimate test of the effectiveness of practices, then i have found the most effective practice ((pleasure filled practice that is)) because my experience with such practice is just heavenly! ((my daughters just run up to me and cannot have enough of me when i do such practice, and only then, i also have greater objective ability to discern my parenting approach, and how to approach everything for that matter)))

7.is this correct? (again, how would a person further back in the ladder answer this, and how would a person further up the ladder answer this? nonetheless please tell me what You think)


i check the forum several times a day giddily waiting for a response, please feel free to chime in.




Edited by - Jayleno214 on Dec 30 2015 01:22:51 AM
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SeySorciere

Seychelles
1571 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  12:40:58 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Dear Jay

Love your post. You are clearly intoxicated... on Bhakti and there is no better state to be in. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Steady practice will bring new openings with new understandings. Let the AYP tools do its thing.


Sey
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Dogboy

USA
2294 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  08:25:25 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I agree with Sey, enjoy where you are now, and be open to where your practice will bring you as things change. After all, things changed to bring you where you are now, right? Keep in mind you may not have "arrived" anywhere but a milestone; enjoy this rest stop while you are here.

There is also the interpretation whether you have aroused your kundalini or you have just activated prana, as I have. I'll leave that for others to parse out. Keep up your dedication!
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sunyata

USA
1513 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  09:02:24 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jay,

Thank you for posting such an openhearted post.. Looks like you have come to great realizations. The three words I'm drawn to- Self-pace, Practice, Surrender.

Like you said ecstasy is not bad but it's when we are attached/crave it. It becomes like any addiction but this becomes a spiritual addiction. We all go through this on our path, it's part of the process.

We come to a place when we see/accept everything~ Life without ecstasy, with ecstasy, ecstasy 24/7. We practice not only for us but for everyone. We understand that the divine works through this vehicle and everything around us is divine. We understand that practice is not only experiencing bliss/peace with our eye closed on the cushion for ourself. But opening our eyes and letting divine work through us in daily living. This is when practices and ordinary life becomes one. We become life.

Kundalini will do it's thing.- It's the energetic side. You are right the mortal body can only contain so much light at a time. So we self pace. But the understanding that we are much more than the energetic body is very freeing.

quote:
((my daughters just run up to me and cannot have enough of me when i do such practice, and only then, i also have greater objective ability to discern my parenting approach, and how to approach everything for that matter)))



.

Sunyata

Edited by - sunyata on Dec 30 2015 09:15:22 AM
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Christi

United Kingdom
4514 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  09:46:23 AM  Show Profile  Visit Christi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jayleno,

What a lot of questions!

You have had some good advice already from others above. I'll try and answer each question one by one:

1. Yes, I have read the Secrets of Wilder novel. It was quite a while ago that I read it, but I don't remember that every character in the book, even those who were close to John, experienced ecstasy all of the time. I remember practices were a learning curve for everyone involved in the book, including John and that ecstasy only began to be experienced by the characters, as they became comfortable and well established with their spiritual practices. John had several periods which were anything but ecstatic, as he had to deal with the issues involved with excess kundalini raging through his body. If I remember rightly, he experienced a lot of pain and could hardly walk during those times. Those episodes were an example of what can happen to someone who rushes ahead too fast with their spiritual practice. Luckily they are not mandatory for everyone.

Pleasure (ecstasy) is certainly a part of the path at a certain stage. It is caused by prana flowing through energy channels that are being purified. In the early stages of purification though, this same process of purification will be happening, but is often not accompanied by pleasure or ecstasy. Initially, usually very little of the process of inner purification can be felt. After that stage, of little or no feeling in the body, often the first symptoms of purification are things like heat, or a swirling sensation, or sensations such as electricity moving between one part of the body and another. Emotional release is also quite common at this stage, with spontaneous crying or laughing happening. These are just some of many symptoms that can be experienced in the early stages of purification before pleasure and ecstasy are experienced. So pleasure and ecstasy are really mid to late stage experiences of spiritual practice. But the whole path is necessary and valid, with pleasure and ecstasy just being symptoms that occur on the path once a certain stage is reached.

If we are experiencing ecstasy then that can be enjoyed, but we simply continue with the practices as before. As Yogani often says, it is the practices which cause the experiences, not the other way around.

Kundalini is not a codeword for pleasure. Kundalini is a word used to describe every stage of energetic transformation that happens on the spiritual journey. As mentioned above, some of the experiences that accompany a kundalini awakening, may actually be quite painful or upsetting or difficult to handle. Usually, with the right spiritual tools (practices) and with effective self-pacing, we do not need to experience too much that is difficult, and can experience much that is joyful. But everyone has their own unique set of obstructions (karma) to clear out, so at times people may need to go through some things that they find personally challenging, in order to awaken.

Kundalini is not necessarily a permanent experience. It is a stage on the path that we go through, as the chakras and nadis are being purified. Once that stage is completed, then there is a further stage, which is about the dissolution of the self into pure bliss consciousness, the transition from the witness into unity and the outpouring of divine love. Kundalini is a necessary stage on the path as it opens all the doorways, but there is more work still to do after that.

In general, the cultivation of stillness and silence and bliss is more important than the cultivation of pleasure and ecstasy, which is why Deep Meditation is introduced before Spinal Breathing Pranayama in the main lessons.

2. Everyone has a different amount of bhakti (spiritual desire), which they bring with them to their spiritual practice. So the practices are designed so that they can be done by people with little spiritual desire, or with a great deal of spiritual desire. The practices remain the same. If your spiritual desire is strong, you can use that to give you more momentum to engage with the practices twice a day. During practices, having a strong spiritual desire can increase the flow of ecstasy through the body, because prana responds to spiritually elevated desire (bhakti). So this can change our practice to a certain degree. But the actual process of cultivating inner silence in Deep Meditation and of releasing sutras into silence in Samyama, remain the same. The journey becomes illuminated from within with ecstatic love riding on the wings of bhakti, but even that has to be released and surrendered (yajna) into stillness and silence.

3. Yes, once we are able to cultivate ecstasy using spiritual practices and bhakti, we can use that ecstasy to take us forward on the path. The next stage is to cultivate inner silence through meditation at the same time as cultivating ecstasy and to allow the ecstasy to merge with the bliss of inner-silence, everywhere in the body. We need to do this again and again.

It isn't that there has to be a choice, that we either have a bhakti filled, ecstatic practice or a practice devoid of bhakti and ecstasy, which is about the cultivation of inner silence and bliss. All of these things can be cultivated and be present at once, in every sitting and when this happens it is very beneficial. We are cultivating ecstatic bliss which is the pre-cursor to unity, or yoga.

If you are experiencing any symptoms that are painful or uncomfortable during your practices, or outside of practices, then this would be an indication that you need to self-pace your practice to find a level where you can progress safely and without any uncomfortable experiences.

4. It is possible to experience pleasure without being attached to it. So the pleasure (rapture) that you experience during Deep Meditation practice, is not a hindrance to becoming liberated from all attachments. If attachment to pleasure is noticed during Deep Meditation practice, then we simply notice that and gently favour the mantra over the attachment, in the same way that we gently favour the mantra over anything else that arises. In that way the attachment to pleasure will gradually dissipate.

If you are practising the releasing mode of self-inquiry, outside of sitting practices, then attachment to pleasure would be released through that practice as well, along with everything else.

Rejecting something, or pushing it away, is not a sign of non-attachment. Attachment takes two forms: wanting to have something and wanting to not have something. So shying away from something such as ecstasy, is not an indication of non-attachment. Non-attachment is when we can be with whatever is arising and there is neither a grasping to hold onto that thing, or a repulsion to get rid of that thing.

6. f. The term "overload" does not refer to "overloaded with pleasure". It is short for "energetic overload" and is what happens when so much prana is flowing through the body as to cause displeasure. So overload is always uncomfortable or displeasurable in some way. Experiencing pleasure is never a sign of energetic overload.

6a. Experiences outside of practices are a good indication of the effectiveness of spiritual practices, but they are not the ultimate test. For example one practice may be more beneficial than another over the long term, but take longer to produce any noticeable results in the short term. Some practices may be working on more deep rooted obstructions that are harder to shift. In general, ecstasy is easier to cultivate than dispassion and dispassion is easier to cultivate than divine love. To complete the journey, we have to cultivate all these things. Yogani often suggests that we can use our everyday experiences, off the mat, as an indication of the effectiveness of our practices and in general this is true. But our experiences both on and off the mat, can fluctuate a great deal, depending on the depth of the inner work that is being carried out. In general I would say that it is best to follow the practises as given in the lessons and only use our everyday experiences as a very general guideline as to their effectiveness. Certainly don't be altering practices on a day by day or week by week basis based on experiences outside of practices. Some practices can take years to begin to produce effects, so we need to be keeping steady with our practices over the long term.


Christi
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Blanche

USA
873 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  10:21:38 AM  Show Profile  Visit Blanche's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Great discussion. I would add that pleasure/ecstasy in the body is like a portal in meditation to go beyond the body. As you sit, and relax, and let go of the effort of sitting, you start the mantra and a feeling of pleasure starts gradually to fill the body. It might start only as a feeling of well-being, or warmth in the hands, or any other pleasant sensation. It could be a highly ecstatic state. It does not matter. Stay with the mantra, and the body fills with delight, and "melts"away. Keep following the mantra in the inner journey.

Interesting clarifications regarding "overload." I think of "overload" as any effect of the practice that interferes with daily life and spiritual practice. Overload may be too much energy that make sleep impossible, or overwhelming bhakti, or anything else that makes it hard to function. Overload is an individual state: each of us differ in how much change we can manage at any given time.

Light and love, peace and joy in 2016!
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  12:32:11 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
@christi i am following the lessons precisely. The only new addition is the application of bhakti.


I think thought i was wrong in producing pleasure in the past, that is until i read the book and realized john the main character loves ecstasy as much as the next guy. before reading the book, and i didnt call what i did to produce pleasure bhakti back then. I definetly took note of what i was doing because it was so phenomenall and rewlized i was "focusing" on the mantra, which can be synonymous with "favoring".After reading the book and the lessons over again, i realize that i must be applying bhakti, and thus pleasure to every sitting otherwise im just "going through the motions" as the lessons term it.'. And i agree.

Now in order to do that i must make sure i dont burn out doing so.

I can relate to what you said about merging the pleasure with ecstasy over and over.

I suppose the question was simply whether or not to apply bhakti and whether or not to reduce practice times to have full bhakti filled sessions or maintain current full plate times and simply reduce the percentage of time that iam applying bhakti, so as to not burn out.
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Christi

United Kingdom
4514 Posts

Posted - Dec 30 2015 :  1:04:45 PM  Show Profile  Visit Christi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jayleno,

I am sure you will find a balance over time, being able to bring your devotion into practices and managing the timings so that you do not experience any issues with energetic overload.

It sounds like you have got a lot of good things going on. As bhakti becomes stronger, you will find that it will be there, whether you choose for it to be or not, so it really becomes a question of how to manage it and how to relate to it. You can use it to take you forward with speed, without it tripping you up.

For more on the merging of ecstasy and bliss, see here:

http://www.aypsite.org/113.html

For a discussion on the expansive nature of pleasure through the body and it's relationship with practice, see here:

Lesson 56 - Sambhavi – Opening the third eye


Christi
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lalow33

USA
966 Posts

Posted - Dec 31 2015 :  2:56:02 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Jay,

Thanks for the additional info. I think we are approaching practices from different experiences. Too much crown activity for me in the beginning, leading to too much energy too soon. I'm at a point now where I can keep the same practices and practice times. My daily life is much happier and smoother.

If reading the Wilder novel has charged your desire, that's awesome. I'm not entirely sure what's happening with you. If you are changing your practices or times around often, in my experience, this is not good. I've done it; I can't recommend it.
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 31 2015 :  4:21:30 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I havent changed anything. BUT the application of bhakti. I mentioned i was going to self pace in the form of reducing practice times but decided to instead either keep a level bhakti all throughout the practice time (as per the recommendations in the bhakti book) or simply apply wholehog bhakti to a percentage of the time, say 5 minutes, and do the rest of the practice half assing it as u say, which i can relate to, and are doing now.

I thank you for your response, it is great to talk about this subject of cosmic and deeply sexy importance through this medium with someone so far away.

I might make myself and my situation seem abstract through my elaboration, but in a few words i applied bhakti/desire to my practices which intoxicated me with marvelous sexual energy that turned divine as the practice session went on, and jad above average positive daily activity experiences for about 4 days consecutively.


The problem is that as the days went on and especially on the fourth day i had to apply more bhakti than the day before to achieve the same pleasure. I realized then (and stopped bhakti) that my body was at its processing limit, and that it was not a fault im my practice or bhakti intensity.

Part of the posts above are about the validity of the application bhakti, which i now have no doubt of. That is, the application of bhakti is correct for my level of bhakti. (For more info read the bhakti book).

In conclusion i must now self pace and find a balance between my bodys processing limit and my bhakti.
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lalow33

USA
966 Posts

Posted - Dec 31 2015 :  7:02:35 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I've read the Bhakti book. I guess everyone approaches it in their own way. I've never equated Bhakti with effort in meditation. I do practice heart breathing, and I find the more relaxed " letting" is the most effective( for me anyway).
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Jayleno214

USA
88 Posts

Posted - Dec 31 2015 :  7:43:25 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Well that we are different, thats for sure.

One thing we are equal in is in our desire to evolve. Amen!

Thanks for the dialogue once again. And keep up the practices!
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lalow33

USA
966 Posts

Posted - Dec 31 2015 :  8:34:04 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
If I can make it through the first 1-2 yrs., I can make it through anything. Bhakti shows up in many different ways. Steady as she goes( literally for me). I'm tiptoeing to enlightenment.. I realize others are driving and pushing the pedal to the metal. I'll " use my feet", calm and steady.
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