|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Tibetan_Ice
Canada
758 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 29 2007 : 11:52:29 PM
|
Hi,
I would like to say hi to everyone here and that I am grateful to find such a wonderful resource as this forum! Thank you!
I have read all of the lessons and many posts on this forum. Yet, I am still unclear about exactly how to perform the silence meditation mantra...
A) What is the proper method for repeating the mantra in the silence meditation?
1) Is it "I AM" or "AYAM" for 2 seconds, pause for two seconds then start over?
2) Is it "I AM" or "AYAM" for 6 seconds, pause for two seconds and then repeat?
3) Is it all run into each other as one big long thought that goes on until you lose it, with no pauses in between?
Example "AAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM"
4) Is there a pause in between generating or silently thinking the mantra?
As Yogani mentioned in one lesson, if it is the vibration from the mantra that does the work, isn't it better to stretch the mantra out and get more benefit from the resonating parts of the mantra?
5) To start out with the silence meditation, roughly how long should you take to say "I AM" and how long do you wait before repeating it again?
B) When one first starts out with the silence meditation, should one fix his/her gaze between the eyebrows? Should one shut off his/her eyes or keep looking through them with closed eyelids?
C) During mantra repetition, does one allow his/her throat chakra to take part in the sound or does one try to think the mantra without subvocalization?
Thanks!
Paul
|
|
|
Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 12:20:14 AM
|
Hey Paul,
quote:
A) What is the proper method for repeating the mantra in the silence meditation?
Mentally say "I am" with a calm inner voice in a relaxed and gentle manner. Seconds don't matter. Pauses don't matter. It's not necessary to stretch out the mantra, because what's more important is the vibration from the way you "say" it mentally...which should be calm, relaxed and gentle.
Starting meditation, move your attention away from everything else, and put it solely on mentally saying "I am". That means, forget about where you should put your eyes. They will go where they need to as a result of the vibrations of the meditation...accomplishing whatever they need to do in a better way than if you were to do it manually.
The mantra should be thought only, but if the throat begins to make noises, move your attention away from it and place it solely upon the mantra.
 |
 |
|
|
Springfield_Slim
3 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 02:52:26 AM
|
Here is what a wise man once told me about how to use the mantra...
"We think the mantra in the same effortless way we think any other thought."
"In this meditation, we do not concentrate, we do not try to think the mantra clearly. Mental repetition is not a clear pronunciation. It is just a faint idea. We don't try to make a rhythm of the mantra."
"We don't try to control thoughts. We do not wish that thoughts should not come. If a thought comes, we do not try to push it out. We don't feel sorry about it. When a thought comes, the mind is completely absorbed in the thought."
"When we become aware that we are not thinking the mantra, then we quietly come back to the mantra. Very easily we think the mantra and, if at any moment we feel that we are forgetting it, we should not try to keep on remembering it. Only very easily we start and take it as it comes and do not hold the mantra if it tends to slip away."
"The mantra may change in different ways. It can get faster or slower, louder or softer, clearer of fainter. Its pronunciation may change, lengthen or shorten, or even may appear to be distorted...or it may not appear to change at all. In every case, we take it as it comes, neither anticipating nor resisting change, just simple innocence."
"There is no need to try to stop thinking because thoughts are part of meditation. Even if the mind is filled with other thoughts while the mantra is going on, there is no conflict. Our concern is with the mantra, and if other thoughts are there along with it, we do not mind them and we don't try to remove them. We are not concerned with them, we innocently favor the mantra."
"Noise is no barrier to meditation. Even in a noisy market, it is possible to be thinking thoughts and whenever we can think, we can meditate. So one can think the mantra comfortably even though aware of outside noises. We just innocently favor the mantra and do not try to resist noise in any way."
"One thing is *very* important...we do not *try* to meditate. We do not try to keep the tempo of the mantra the same, nor do we try to change the tempo. And we do not concentrate against thoughts we might have, nor against noises we might hear. We do not resist thoughts, we do not resist noise, we do not resist the mantra changing or disappearing, we do not resist anything. We take it as it comes. It is a very simple, natural, innocent process."
"When we meditate, we start with a half minute sitting easily. That means, close the eyes for about half a minute, and then start the mantra easily. And when we want to end meditation, we stop thinking the mantra inside, but do not open the eyes for about two to three minutes. This is *very* important, that we start with half a minute of silence and end with two to three minutes of silence."
The magic words are... "effortless" ..."do not try" ... "faint idea" ... "quietly" ..."easily" ... "innocense" ..."take it as it comes".
- - Slim
|
|
|
|
emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 09:48:11 AM
|
Hi Tibetan Ice and welcome to the forum.
Scott and Slim gave some nice advice above. If you are curious of hearing Yogani himself talk about this I would recommend to listen to the radio recordings on Deep Meditation. http://www.aypsite.org/audio.html There you even get a small example of a pronounciation!  
|
|
|
|
anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 3:38:53 PM
|
"We don't try to control thoughts. We do not wish that thoughts should not come. If a thought comes, we do not try to push it out. We don't feel sorry about it. When a thought comes, the mind is completely absorbed in the thought."
"When we become aware that we are not thinking the mantra, then we quietly come back to the mantra. Very easily we think the mantra and, if at any moment we feel that we are forgetting it, we should not try to keep on remembering it. Only very easily we start and take it as it comes and do not hold the mantra if it tends to slip away."
that is very good advice. i find that to be the most difficult. when i come back to mantra i find it slipping away again right away and strain to hold onto it. i read in Yoga and Psychotherapy (Swami Rama) that meditation is effectively a substitute for REM (dream) sleep in that it does the same processing of subconcious and therefore reduces the necessity of REM sleep. I suppose if one were to, especially early on, try to supress thoughts and not allow them to "purge" themselves or whatever than one would not be getting the benefit of meditation. maybe by purification yogani is talking about purifying the mind of excesses of repressed information as well as the nerves. |
|
|
|
Tibetan_Ice
Canada
758 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 3:46:18 PM
|
Hi all,
Thank you very much for the extra insight and clarification. I appreciate it.
Paul |
|
|
|
Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Dec 30 2007 : 7:06:20 PM
|
Hi Tibetan Ice, welcome to the forum.
You have gotten great advice above, one thing I would like to add that often works well for me.
For the first few breaths, on the inhale I breath up the first part of the mantra AAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Then on the out-breath I breath the second part YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM down the body.
If you try it, see if you can tune into the vibration of it.
This just starts off the process for me in a deeper way, after that I just let the mantra do its own thing and would follow the normal procedure outlined in the lessons.
This is just something that works well for me, so thought to share it. It may not work or may be irrelevant to others.
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
Meditation pointers
