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matangi
USA
53 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 10 2007 : 1:49:51 PM
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Hello all,
I found AYP a couple of weeks ago while researching deeper mythology to the Mahavidya Goddess, Matangi. I was trying to understand what kechari is....and the link to Yogani's kind and thorough description of the cutting process...well, I was surprised to learn what kechari is! (I think that's a ways down the road!)
I'm very grateful to Yogani's efforts here and to all of you that share so much about your own experiences.
I'm having a grand and wonderful time with my deep mediations -officially started 2 days ago. Deep peace (I fall into it almost instantly) permeates me. At the end of 20 min., peace and heartful abundance resonates within. And I haven't a worry in the world. Really mellow. Lots of mellow in my head.
Would starting pranayama/spinal breathing be a helpful balance as early as the 3rd day? My initial thought was to evaluate things in a week or two. If meditation was effortless, I was going to move on. I feel like mediation is effortless...float...peace...(ayam)....peace...(ayam)...vision...excited and return to calm....(ayam)....
A point about my biology or chemical make up. Much of my life I've gravitated toward stimulant-type products, often in the form of herbs and caffeine. I like that buzz. I bring this up because obviously this meditation feeling is quite different. I'm calm, peaceful, and alert. Is this connected to the bliss described in the lessons?
I think I might be more productive in terms of serving humanity if I can put put a little zing into my calm peace. I think my head might be a little too mellow.
On the plus side, I usually don't respond to forums let alone initiate. I guess I'm clearing out that inhibition and that is certainly appreciated.
Thank you all for all you share.
Kathy
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2007 : 2:53:03 PM
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Hi Kathy
I'm glad it's working so well. Note that you don't HAVE to do kechari ever. Meditation's the only non-optional practice.
Pranayama is pretty high up in importance, though. But I'd go with your initial thought. Make sure, over a reasonable time period, that things are stable with the meditation first. Otherwise, if there's a problem (you feel anxious or irritible or can't sleep), it'll be hard to figure out what caused it. Adding practices one at a time and waiting before the next one helps you pin down stuff better. After you do add pranayama, I'd give it a good long run before moving on from there, though.
I understand what you mean about the up vs down. Maybe this will help: mellow isn't down. it's not tranquilized. it's just clear and clean. And you may find after you do this practice for a while that your mellow produces zingy results without caffeine or anything. The buzz currently helps you fight through the dreariness of everyday existence. Practices remove that mud very efficiently, so there'll be less to fight through. In time, there will be nothing to fight at all...it's all totally smooth, even while getting lots of stuff done. Effortless. Nice!
One warning: the mind worries and schemes and calculates. And, most of all, it tries mightily to own the process. Consider your spiritual practice a refuge from all that. Yogani's instructions are so relaxingly simple. Resist the urge to complicate, even re: noble-sounding impulses like Better Serving Humanity. Just do the practices like brushing your teeth, without lots of goals, letting your mind stay blurry. There's nothing in your mind that will bring you peace. These practices, though, will bring you peace....if you simply let them work their magic.
The way to best serve humanity is to let go utterly to What Is. Trust this and fall backward into it. All the way. Don't worry, you won't crash, you'll float. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Aug 10 2007 3:02:39 PM |
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Eitherway
USA
100 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2007 : 4:50:04 PM
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Dear Jim (and ofcourse your karma),
Beautiful advice, the mind's machinations are oh so seductive but with wisdom like yours we can learn to let it do its thing while we cultivate actual peace through the practices. |
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matangi
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2007 : 8:30:05 PM
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Thanks Jim and Eitherway for the responses. Hours later my head still feels mellow - "numy" but I did accomplish a fare amount this afternoon despite this very different feeling. I'm far from driven as a doer....but navel contemplation doesn't seem a good direction either!
I was in Eckankar for 20 years and left 4 years ago. I've used mantra and various spiritual exercises but this is different.
Jim, I can sense my inner guru smiling and nudging me about "letting your mind stay blurry".
Thanks again! |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2007 : 10:32:45 PM
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Mellow's good, Fuzzy/nummy is not. If your head feels fuzzy, you are overdoing. Cut down the meditation time. AYP teaches that we should be watchful in non-practicing hours about the quality of our engagement in the world. Spacy numbness is not the aim.
On the other hand, to someone addicted to velocity (buzz, caffeine, etc), calm can feel like numbness. So just observe yourself, you'll be able to make the distinction. Watch over an arc of days and weeks, though, rather than minutes and hours. If you're spacing or numbing out, self-pace. If you don't know what self-pacing is, read the AYP lessons!! ;)
I also tried lots of stuff. Very complicated stuff. Lots of learning and. All wasted energy. Just brush your teeth twice a day. Let the cosmic barber trim your hair. That's it.
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matangi
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - Aug 11 2007 : 07:23:36 AM
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Seems nearly a hair's breadth distinction. :) And yes, the quality of my engagement in the world was my original concern when I said "serving humanity".
It is reading several threads on the forum and Yogani's lessons that has emphasized the consideration of self pacing. From all that I've gathered it seems much easier to slow down during early warning indicators than to return to balance once the line is solidly crossed.
Hypnohead is a term I learned when taking weekend intensives in hypnosis training. The feeling in my head could be described that way too. I move into the hypnotic state very easily. For whatever reason, when I first read Yogani's introductiion of the mantra - I AM - I felt an immediate deepening shift in conscious state. That was a first and emphasized how important this is for me. My first mediation was so deep that I chose to back off for a couple of weeks until I could read more about all of this. At first I was a bit surprised at how sensitive I seem to all of this but now, rather than surprised, I've decided I'm simply ripe for what AYP is sharing.
Thanks for your help, Jim. I'm going to back down to 15" sessions today to see how that might be different. Gotta' go brush my teeth. :)
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 11 2007 : 10:05:40 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by matangi
Seems nearly a hair's breadth distinction. :) And yes, the quality of my engagement in the world was my original concern when I said "serving humanity".
When AYP talks about engagement in the world, it's a lot more mundane than that. It's about how you talk to clerks in stores, how you handle the stresses and challenges of everyday living and social interaction on the most basic, mundane, level. AYP does not advocate consciously moving toward karma yoga. Service happens regardless of your intent...in fact, it happens best when your intent is completely out of the equation! AYP suggests brushing your teeth twice a day and then going out and doing what you do in the maya/samsara very naturally..........but always evaluating your behavior for signs that your nervous system is misfiring, in which case you need to tinker with the toothbrush, or brushing time.
quote:
It is reading several threads on the forum and Yogani's lessons that has emphasized the consideration of self pacing. From all that I've gathered it seems much easier to slow down during early warning indicators than to return to balance once the line is solidly crossed.
Oh, man, yeah. And one thing Yogani pointed out to me in an email (please, please, Yogani, include it in a lesson or book sometime) is that you need to keep some headroom. if you're always right up against the over-doing point, you run risk if purification (which happens in fits and starts) suddenly accelerates. You gotta leave some slack in the string!
quote:
Hypnohead is a term I learned when taking weekend intensives in hypnosis training. The feeling in my head could be described that way too. I move into the hypnotic state very easily. For whatever reason, when I first read Yogani's introductiion of the mantra - I AM - I felt an immediate deepening shift in conscious state. That was a first and emphasized how important this is for me. My first mediation was so deep that I chose to back off for a couple of weeks until I could read more about all of this. At first I was a bit surprised at how sensitive I seem to all of this but now, rather than surprised, I've decided I'm simply ripe for what AYP is sharing.
Yeah, good thinking, good writing, good experiencing. We're a lot alike. I too am very hypnotizable (I've studied self-hypnosis). And I too immediately took off with AYP. Backing off is a good instinct for us both. We're in this for the long run!
But I beg you to consider instead of STOPPING, just scaling back. Yogani is very wise when he suggests we "honor the practice" by at least touching our practice twice per day. The problem with stopping entirely for a while, which I've learned from hard experience, is that it's really REALLY easy to backtrack, and to backtrack further than you realize (going "forward" is a voyage into the unknown, so we're very conscious of "progress", but going backward, sinking into the muck and neurosis and suffering, feels familiar, so you hardly notice...it's like a ratchet wrench set the wrong way).
So if something dramatic happens, and your inner guru so moves you, do scale back your practice time, and maybe even leave off the most recently-added practice for a while. But don't ever stop all practices. You need to keep up the habit, or you wake up with mud-covered windows. It's not pretty. I know.
Remember, too, that every new practice has a breaking-in period (Yogani calls it "bumpy period"). So don't be too quick to tinker. Again, go for a day/week view rather than hour/minute view.
quote:
I'm going to back down to 15" sessions today to see how that might be different. Gotta' go brush my teeth. :)
That might be prudent. But, again, I'd suggest you not be TOO twitchy on the switch! :)
We've got it pretty easy. Yogani laid down smart track, and we, as the engineers of our respective locomotives, have one single driving control: speed up or slow down. Using that single control skillfully and wisely is the gist of AYP. Your inner guru has a very simple advisory task. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Aug 11 2007 10:07:03 AM |
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AYPforum
351 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2007 : 09:43:01 AM
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| Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement |
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Deep meditation and very mellow
