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Anthem
1608 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 14 2007 : 9:26:57 PM
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quote:
As Adyashanti said (in explaining what he meant, with respect to his comments referenced above), "Basically, you can't take your baggage with you -- 'all luggage must be checked' -- and it's critical to remember that 'that which gets you to the doorway' is not that which allows you to experience what is on the other side - the Reality side - Enlightenment".
This post is picking up from the discussion in this thread here:
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....D=1081#17438
Great discussion and funny post Kirtanman!
I don't believe meditation and related practices are the only way home to our true Selves, but the most likely to deliver the best possible circumstances for awakening to be realized for the widest range of people.
It seems to me that when one embarks down the road to awakening, that getting "there" (here and now) becomes a total effort. So it begins somewhere perhaps with meditation and related sitting practices, leading naturally to asanas, self-enquiry, harmonious conduct, bhakti etc. etc., but it all leads home. Of course I am sure that any of the above can manifest in someone in any order.
I believe wanting to awaken is number one and all else that is needed will be revealed from there. This includes the perfect circumstances (that don't seem so perfect at the time!) that life will manifest for us to learn the lessons we need in order to realize how we make ourselves suffer and take ourselves away from our true nature every day.
So why do I feel meditation and related sitting practices are the most potent of the lot? Primarily because they will clear us out sufficiently so that the other tools will now work and come from within naturally. Self-enquiry is tough without inner silence, moral and ethical conduct is way easier when you are doing it because it comes naturally from within rather than because "it's the way I *should* be acting". Bhakti if it's not there initially, can intensify from inner silence, so can focus, concentration and a desire to be of service to others. If we are serving others but we resent it somewhere deep down, does it do us much good?
Then there is the energy part of the equation. When energy doesn't flow smoothly through us who knows what the resulting behaviours in a given person will be. As purification takes place and blockages are removed the energy moves through a little further and so on. And so it is said that as energy manifests itself higher up in our spiritual bodies so do our behaviours and thoughts come to reflect this. Pranayama is a great tool to help our energy to make the journey home from any point along the path.
I think it goes without saying that all "efforts" home are interconnected, I have a little bit of a personal bias that meditation and other sitting practices are the most likely to get the "fire lit" for the most people. We're all very lucky AYP gives us these important ingredients in a simple and accessible way, thank you Yogani.
A
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Edited by - Anthem on Feb 14 2007 9:52:13 PM |
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trip1
USA
739 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2007 : 11:22:19 PM
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Hi Anthem,
Great post. This discussion reminds me of a saying that I heard somewhere along my studies (who/where escapes me at the moment). It went something like this:
"Enlightenment is an accident, meditation makes us accident prone."
I thought that was a really neat way of putting it.  |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2007 : 10:49:34 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Anthem11:
"I think it goes without saying that all 'efforts' home are interconnected...."
Namaste Anthem!
Quite so indeed! Through consistent, conscious engagement of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, All of Life is Yoga, encompassing every human endeavor throughout the course of every day. 
Although the Path to Self-Realization may sometimes seem arduous and long, those who have established and maintained a well directed Sadhana generally discover that "all who wander are not lost"! 
Hari OM!
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The value of sitting practices for Awakening
