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swordsaint
29 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 07 2017 : 05:01:39 AM
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Dear AYP Practitioners,
Hope you all are well. I would like to know more about how you connect/relate with God(s) or any of similar concept and how it impacts your yogic practices as well as day to day life.
For example, I found that when I removed the element of deity/higher power from my practices, I found it getting very mechanical. I found myself becoming more wanting to control circumstances in my life and my ego/mind was getting in the way of being happy in the present moment. This was even with regular practice (once a day not twice though) of DM. (also only DM, no SBP or other stuff)
But when I gave up and surrendered to God, everything turned around. My meditations became more blissful, peaceful and longer lasting. My day to day became more carefree. I was happy going to work without expectation. I just said Dear God, let your will be done, let me be an instrument of yours, may I be of service to all and everyone I come across today.
So my question is do you all have other similar stories? Do you have a relationship with God? Do you surrender or are surrendered to God? and how does all of this impact on your happiness.
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2017 : 03:55:05 AM
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Dear Swordsaint,
I was just pondering on that myself. Lately I have been reading and absorbing both Sri Rama Krishna, the Bhakti/Devotional Giant and Sri Rama Marharshi, the great Jnani. I am innately more of a Truth Seeker (the Jnani) than a personal God seeker. However, like you, I find Truth - the formless, impersonal God - to be dry and uncompromising while the personal, God in form, to be compassionate, flexible and rich in its many textures. So I try my best to cultivate more heart with devotion towards a personal God to create the right balance.
Sey  |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2017 : 04:35:33 AM
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Great posts, Sword and Sey.
It seems to me that...God is Self.
"Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof. Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth."  |
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2017 : 05:14:47 AM
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| Yes, God is indeed Self - the difference lies for me in the nuances of Self. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2017 : 05:57:09 AM
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Amen. The nuances are part of the joy. Thank you for putting that word into the equation, my dear.  |
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swordsaint
29 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2017 : 02:38:19 AM
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Thanks Bodhi and Sey for your comments. Yes self is the God and God is self. However theorizing vs experiencing it is totally different. Hence Yogani talks about relational vs non relational experience. Sey what you said about balance I think is key. Keep to the practices but still enjoy the love and play of a personal God.
Also some new age practices talk about happiness and levels of vibration etc. Ie the happier you are the higher vibration you are and the more you can experience God. So we need to focus on managing our emotional states and become happier. What are your thoughts on that?
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2017 : 03:56:36 AM
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"All emotion is the power of love." -- Yogani
That's a potent statement, and one that helped me tremendously when I first found AYP, and still to this day.
Even the emotions of anger and hatred are raw forms of love filtering through our consciousness and body. Fortunately, we can channel and direct any emotions (positive or negative) to our chosen ideal to achieve enlightening results. Here's a good lesson on it: http://www.aypsite.org/340.html |
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1730 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2017 : 04:15:20 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by swordsaint
we need to focus on managing our emotional states and become happier.
Happiness is a gift, not something we manage into our minds.
All you can do is keep up your practice. The rest is surrender.
Lesson 340 is a good one to read. That is the only sense in which we can 'manage' our emotions - channeling they energy towards our chosen ideal.
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Edited by - BlueRaincoat on Sep 09 2017 04:21:10 AM |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2017 : 09:07:24 AM
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Everything we talk about is relative, as these notions change along the spiritual journey. Everything that was said is true - in the context of a specific stage.
Happiness is a universal ability that can be cultivated - until we discover that happiness is our true nature. We do surrender, and let go of our resistance and protection - and eventually things start to flow by themselves, and we wonder, "Is this surrender?" Who surrenders? What do we surrender to? These questions start to lose their meaning. |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Feb 08 2018 : 10:38:34 PM
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Dear Swordsaint,
What a delicious topic! I'm sure it is different for everyone depending on personality and orientation, but for me as a bhakti-tantrika, I just can't get enough. God is so incredibly good. From the bhakti perspective, I'm really into devotion, and being a tantrika I practice yoga as "whole body prayer."
What totally blows my mind is that it just keeps getting better and better. There seems to be literally no limit to the depths of divine intimacy possible. I was thrilled back in 2011 when my reality shifted, the Bliss burst out of my meditation sessions into everyday awareness and I became conscious of God's Love and Presence 24/7. Walking around utterly in Love, waves of orgasmic ecstasy with the merest devotional thought, surely it couldn't get any better! Oh yes, it could.
The relationship has grown and deepened over time. In the most recent development, I invited Him, "What do You want to do? Here I am; I want whatever You want." I was guided into a subtle but precise combination of spinal breathing, heart breathing and bandha which quickly resulted in being flung into the abyss of Love and ecstasy for a few hours. When I got up from the practice my entire body was vibrating so intensely that I thought I must be physically shaking, but I wasn't. Felt like I was floating above my head, feet not touching the floor.
Subsequently, the Lord has taken the lead and has begun waking me up in the early morning, drawing me into that embrace with zero effort on my part. There's a saying, "At first you do yoga, then eventually yoga does you." I have now verified that empirically, LOL.  The result of all this has been feeling purified, a clear channel for overflowing Love and compassion pouring through me into the world, especially in helping my counseling clients.
The invitation was important because as much as I wanted that deeper intimacy, I felt greedy and/or unworthy, and His response reassured, allowing me to just surrender and enjoy, and also to feel His joy.
As for your subsequent comment: "Also some new age practices talk about happiness and levels of vibration etc. Ie the happier you are the higher vibration you are and the more you can experience God. So we need to focus on managing our emotional states and become happier. What are your thoughts on that?"
Forgive me if I offend anybody here with my cynicism, but - nope! Disagree completely. First off, I am not a fan of the new age, although I was in my youth and ultimately found it to be counter-productive, as discussed in this blog post, The Trap of Positive Thinking. In my experience it is neither necessary nor desirable to micromanage thoughts and feelings.
Rather, feelings come and go. Happiness, sadness, no need to cling to or push away. No, happiness is not a prerequisite for experiencing God. It's the other way around. Hanging out with God automatically results in Bliss. And sometimes God approaches to console us in our darkest, saddest times when we are the most vulnerable and therefore the most open to His healing touch.
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dv2014
USA
93 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2018 : 1:41:44 PM
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What a beautiful thread! And Radharani, beautiful post from you, as always, spot on - I wish you had a personal counseling center, I would be your first client there
Bhakti for me was not natural and spontaneous, but lessons from AYP provided a lot of clarification on the concept of 'ishta'. Your 'ishta' is allowed to evolve over time, starting perhaps as your lover, child, or somebody very personal to you, to a rather remote saintly figure or a religious deity and eventually to the ultimate God, where all conceptualizations apparently fall away. I am learning everything from the scratch, to love God, to cry to Her, and to be grateful to Her. My emotional outpourings to God are often triggered by my personal tragedies and are not always well separated from cries of self-pity, but lesson 340 gives me hope that this is the right starting point to transform them to earnest spiritual longing. |
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Dogboy
USA
2193 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2018 : 2:35:32 PM
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quote:
I just said Dear God, let your will be done, let me be an instrument of yours,
Growing up Catholic, my favorite part of mass was the eating of body and drinking the blood of Christ, for it was a tangible way to be of and with the Divine, an experienced miracle every week. God as separate entity never felt true to me, even then. I rarely went to the priest for confession, I had a direct line inside.
DM is also a direct line, my daily miracle; in surrender there is a blending. Offering up (surrendering) sutras in samyama is a devotional act, and the flow continues on well after your session has ended. It's no wonder you found God, and yourself, in surrender. |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2018 : 11:09:06 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by dv2014
What a beautiful thread! And Radharani, beautiful post from you, as always, spot on - I wish you had a personal counseling center, I would be your first client there
Thank you for your kind words! I actually do offer private counseling, by phone or email. Feel free to contact me if I can ever be of help. |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2018 : 11:12:15 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dogboy
quote:
I just said Dear God, let your will be done, let me be an instrument of yours,
Growing up Catholic, my favorite part of mass was the eating of body and drinking the blood of Christ, for it was a tangible way to be of and with the Divine, an experienced miracle every week. God as separate entity never felt true to me, even then. I rarely went to the priest for confession, I had a direct line inside.
LOVE this! As an Episcopalian that is also my favorite part. It is especially awesome to receive the body and blood of Christ prior to meditation and/or tantra yoga. |
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2018 : 04:25:38 AM
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Interesting... It is the sentence we say just before communion that does it for me and I even today I start my meditation with it: "Seigneur, je ne suis pas digne de te recevoir mais dit seulement une parole et je serai gueri" (Lord I am not worthy to receive thee but only say the word and I shall be healed)
I am waiting not for the bread and wine to fill me but that WORD... And still I wait... 
Sey
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dv2014
USA
93 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2018 : 2:06:32 PM
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Thank you! That's great to know. I may contact you at some point.
quote:
Originally posted by Radharani
quote:
Originally posted by dv2014
What a beautiful thread! And Radharani, beautiful post from you, as always, spot on - I wish you had a personal counseling center, I would be your first client there
Thank you for your kind words! I actually do offer private counseling, by phone or email. Feel free to contact me if I can ever be of help.
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2018 : 11:36:33 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by SeySorciere
Interesting... It is the sentence we say just before communion that does it for me and I even today I start my meditation with it: "Seigneur, je ne suis pas digne de te recevoir mais dit seulement une parole et je serai gueri" (Lord I am not worthy to receive thee but only say the word and I shall be healed)
I am waiting not for the bread and wine to fill me but that WORD... And still I wait...
Sey
I love this. |
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Love for God, Surrender and Happiness
