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Cato
Germany
239 Posts |
 Posted - May 05 2024 : 2:26:33 PM
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Hi everybody,
til today, I do not know for sure - or from experience - what stillness really is. During meditation and for a few minutes afterwards, there is this state that could be what AYP calls stillness. It is a certain condition, it has some kind of texture. It brings calmness. It can be in the foreground and in the background. It has a noise and can be accompanied by thoughts. It is not a bit world-shaking, but it is there. And for this guy, it is too fleeting. |
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1571 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2024 : 06:16:23 AM
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Sey  |
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interpaul
USA
551 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2024 : 02:26:20 AM
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| Cato, I too find inner silence more subtle than I originally expected. It is calm and I experience a hum in my ears which I imagine is similar to tinnitus but I associate it with the calm state that comes from deep meditation. I have not yet achieved "abiding" inner silence but notice it whenever I bring attention to it, particularly when sitting quietly reading, in nature, or when the distractions of the day have diminished. I have come to connect inner slience as an energetic state in my head, experienced between my ears, similar to the glowing/tingling sensation I feel in my hands that comes from ecstatic conductivity. Over time I've found all these phenomenon are interconnected. I do not believe the thoughts you suggest accompany it are typical and may be a sign you are not truly in silence. The inner silence by my take is about a quiet mind that is not reactive and is a state distinct from the usual monkey mind. I just thought of a few scenes in movies when an explosion happens and the hero hears a loud ringing in his ears and the soundtrack of the show becomes very quiet or distant. The imagery is hyper real and focused. That is close to how I feel in this state. In the end we each experience the path differently. We've been fortunate to have an amazing teacher in Yogani as he's described subtle states in a way that is approachable and demystified; however, the exact way inner silence and ecstatic conductivity plays out in each of us is unique. |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2024 : 8:40:30 PM
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| Well said. |
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Mithuna
France
16 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2024 : 6:49:35 PM
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Hi,
We are used to experiencing feelings through the filter of our thoughts with which we identify and this is what we consider to be reality, mental, emotional or physical. But inner silence does not belong to any of these categories. I think that if Yogani spends a lot of time describing to us the tools to reveal this inner state while avoiding any too precise description, it is precisely because it escapes any formal description and that each of us must discover it as an intimate experience that will become a constituent of our reality.
As far as I am concerned, as I detach myself from the thoughts that come and go before my consciousness and are done and undone like clouds pushed by the wind, I first notice an inner peace and mental clarification, an emotional well-being and a physical and energetic refocusing leading to an inner wholeness. On the mental level, by allowing thoughts (in any form that affects my consciousness), to be reabsorbed, I see new, creative thoughts appear, which open up new, very concrete and liberating perspectives where the old ones were usually reactive. Thus, in my experience, inner silence, if it first manifests itself as a rarefaction and disidentification of thoughts in their broadest sense (including our affects and perceptions), turns out to be creative, as Yogani explains in lesson 13. How many times when faced with a problem that seemed to me insoluble, disturbing or even critical, the rest of this problem in inner silence has opened a way out for me, not only through new avenues, but also through a relational or real change in its manifestation. Inner silence is transformative: imperceptibly I noticed that by regenerating our inner world, it gradually change our life like a source of clear water, if we trusted it. If by its very nature we cannot apprehend it, we can see its trace, its wake in the metamorphoses of our inner world and beyond our destiny.
More profoundly, I noticed that as I gradually let what seemed to be the constitutive certainties of my personal vision come to light and be absorbed into silence, another reality was revealed in me, a place and a time outside of space and time that was extremely real, always present as long as I let it come to me. Then the inner silence becomes both the means by which the Temple of the Self is woven and this Temple itself, the container of Reality. This is perhaps what Patanjali is referring to when he says that after stopping the fluctuations of consciousness (sutra 2), the seer remains in his own essential nature (sutra 3), defining in inspiring conciseness the method and purpose of yoga.
For me this essential nature, this abode of the Self is inner silence and constitutes both the fruit of a very real experience and an ever deeper discovery of what we really are.
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2024 : 03:50:10 AM
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quote:
For me this essential nature, this abode of the Self is inner silence and constitutes both the fruit of a very real experience and an ever deeper discovery of what we really are.
Also well said  |
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Blanche
USA
873 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2024 : 2:00:24 PM
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Mithuna,
Thank you for sharing. This is a fine example of insight that rises spontaneously or in response to inquiry in the context of a consistent meditation practice. While meditation slowly loosens attachments and changes our relationship with the world, insights often mark a profound transformation in self-identity and world view.
Here is a great argument for the value of meditation and inquiry. |
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Cato
Germany
239 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2024 : 12:12:46 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by interpaul
Cato, I too find inner silence more subtle than I originally expected. It is calm and I experience a hum in my ears which I imagine is similar to tinnitus but I associate it with the calm state that comes from deep meditation. I have not yet achieved "abiding" inner silence but notice it whenever I bring attention to it, particularly when sitting quietly reading, in nature, or when the distractions of the day have diminished.
Thanks, interpaul, this is very close to what I experience. (Conductivity is yet to come).
quote:
Originally posted by interpaul
I do not believe the thoughts you suggest accompany it are typical and may be a sign you are not truly in silence.
I did not really mean to say silence is accompanied by thoughts, but being in silence does not eliminate having thoughts. In my experience, silence is subtle and most distinct in a calm state. But it can be present while having thoughts as well. However, these are my first silence-steps, so I might not yet be truly in silence, like you suggest.
quote:
Originally posted by Mithuna
On the mental level, by allowing thoughts (in any form that affects my consciousness), to be reabsorbed, I see new, creative thoughts appear, which open up new, very concrete and liberating perspectives where the old ones were usually reactive. Thus, in my experience, inner silence, if it first manifests itself as a rarefaction and disidentification of thoughts in their broadest sense (including our affects and perceptions), turns out to be creative, as Yogani explains in lesson 13. How many times when faced with a problem that seemed to me insoluble, disturbing or even critical, the rest of this problem in inner silence has opened a way out for me, not only through new avenues, but also through a relational or real change in its manifestation.
This is beautifully said. Would you mind to explain in more detail your process of allowing thoughts to be reabsorbed, of resting of a problem in inner silence? |
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1571 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2024 : 06:52:50 AM
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From the beginning when I started experiencing inner "silence", I changed that word to "stillness". I experienced stillness, not silence. It is only recently (last months or so) that I am truly experiencing inner Silence (with a capital S). A silence so deep everything else floats in it. I have a great view of the ocean from my home and a single glance at that and a deep silence of "absence" resonates. There is the ocean there, there is nothing there. The silence of "presence" has a different sound to the silence of "absence". I can't find the words to describe.
It is evident that the "absence" is an absence of me.
Just sharing another milestone along the way. It is possible (and likely) that for others, silence becomes evident before stillness. Anyone care to comment?
Sey
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Mithuna
France
16 Posts |
Posted - May 25 2024 : 8:56:39 PM
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The first problems that can appear during meditation are not really different from the thoughts that affect the field of consciousness, they are simply more structured, belonging to the category of our daily concerns. In this case, when they appear, I simply return to the mantra without trying to repress them or fight with them. Doing this at first allows them to release their emotional impact. Refocusing on inner silence rebalances inner energies by simply putting them in their place.
However, there are problems and important decisions in the course of our lives that impact us physically or materially, emotionally or mentally. Some arise consciously: in the present moment they represent an obstacle, a difficulty or a central choice. The latter arise during meditation, even though they did not seem to be consciously important. These can be relational difficulties for which an awareness emerges of a change in the behavior of a member of our entourage or problems that we had chosen to put on hold and which then take on a new acuity. In this case, inner silence becomes a revealer, a flashing light of an imbalance that is just as important for our personal becoming as it is for our relationship with inner silence (but are the two really distinct?).
Once the problem imposes itself in the field of consciousness, it is now a question of "submitting" it to inner silence. This phase can be painful, even conflictual, if the problem affects our physical life such as a material difficulty or an emotional shock or a "twist of fate" impacting our entire personal universe. It can sometimes overwhelm us by trying to oust any perception of inner silence, relegating it to the steps of our consciousness.
It is not a question here of trying to minimize or relativize it, nor of fighting against it, but simply to let the mantra imperceptibly resonate within us, thus bringing "puffs" of inner silence. The Inner Silence does not judge, is not intrusive, it is the witness and is content to look at the problem without even trying to analyze it. We are not here in the realm of quantity: even if the presence of inner silence filters through for a few moments, these moments reveal in us a sanctuary of inalienable peace, beyond the reality of the problem. And what this sanctuary diffuses is a spiritual source that acts as a soothing and energizing balm: the concentration on the mantra acts like the sound of a bell in the distance that awakens us by relegating other noises to silence by its very particular timbre, and this regardless of the difficulty or suffering we are facing.
In some cases I have felt faced with a crucial question as an "acknowledgement of receipt": strangely enough, the inner silence makes me understand that it has taken it into account and that the answer will come in its time, when I am ready to accept it or when my inner or outer universe will have changed. In return, I understand that I must then "play the game" by agreeing to give up solving the problem in my personal logic. I entrust it to inner silence and it no longer belongs to me. In my case, each time I have trusted, the problem that sometimes seemed insoluble or devastating has been effectively solved and always in a balanced and constructive way. My inner world has changed, some of its aspects have calmed down or dissolved while new leads have appeared and my environment has also changed, for example with new encounters or clues revealing a renewal. If our personal logic often offers us a solution, which may be an escape or a struggle, a system of compensations, inner silence is the Witness, the Seer.. Overlooking the situation, changing level, he makes us sense a different landscape and path. He does not impose anything, but imperceptibly suggests, in a very gentle way, always respecting our free will.
This answer does not pretend to be a method. It simply presents leads, as a testimony of what I have experienced and still live. Our destiny is structured around choices. As we accept that the inner silence, the voice of the Inner Master "enters the game", we experience immense freedom and discover a new trajectory, provided that we agree to listen to it. It is up to us to build day after day a fair and trusting relationship with the Inner Master, the Witness, the Self.
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