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Rattan
South Africa
41 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 06:47:18 AM
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Yogani often tells us that we should always come back to the practice, and to ignore the scenery along the way. To take note of the experiences, but to more or less ignore it and to just come back to the practice.
But my motivation for doing the practice is still just for the scenery. I have no burning ambition to become "enlightened" or to recognise my "True Self" I just want to have the experiences. Somewhere Yogani says:
"The rise of whole body ecstasy is nature's way of calling us to the spiritual realms, just as orgasm is her way of calling us to reproduction." http://www.aypsite.org/T16.html
And other writers say: "But if you want to get involved in cultivating your energy, you will spontaneously evolve and move to higher spiritual levels" ~ Mantak Chia and Michael Winn
And Osho in the Book of Secrets: "So whatsoever you want to play you can play, but forget the ends. If there are ends you have also turned meditation into a work. Just play it, enjoy it, love it. It is beautiful in itself. There is no need for any other end to beautify it."
So, the question that I want to get some insights from you all. Is it very misguided of me to do the AYP practices, with my only motivation the experiences I get from it?
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 09:51:38 AM
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Hi Rattan,
Welcome to the forum.
quote:
Yogani often tells us that we should always come back to the practice, and to ignore the scenery along the way. To take note of the experiences, but to more or less ignore it and to just come back to the practice.
quote:
So, the question that I want to get some insights from you all. Is it very misguided of me to do the AYP practices, with my only motivation the experiences I get from it?
We are free to enjoy any experiences outside of practices and if this serves to motivate you to continue your practicing, there is certainly nothing wrong with that. The glimpses we get along the way are very inspiring, who doesn't want to feel ecstatic and blissful?
How I feel on a daily basis is a huge motivator for me to continue practicing, at the same time, I also do love to meditate too so finding the desire to stick to the routine has never been an issue.
Best of luck!
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brushjw
USA
191 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 9:36:19 PM
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Hi Rattan, welcome to the forum and interesting topic!
As you progress in your practice you'll experience various rewards - bliss, estatic absorption, deep inner silence. There's nothing wrong with enjoying these. Yogani does not say to ignore them, he only says to focus on the method of producing the rewards (AYP), rather than on the rewards themselves. If you concentrate on the rewards rather than on a steady practice you won't progress. Who wouldn't want more peace, more bliss?
So play, have fun; enjoy the bliss and deepening inner silence. You'll find plenty of scenery-oggling posts here, some from me  And when you're ready to expand your practice, the next lesson awaits. Isn't that cool? 
Namaste,
Joe
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Edited by - brushjw on Jul 14 2008 9:39:25 PM |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2008 : 05:04:50 AM
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When I read your post, Rattan, I felt there might be some confusion here...
quote:
But my motivation for doing the practice is still just for the scenery. I have no burning ambition to become "enlightened" or to recognise my "True Self" I just want to have the experiences.
Doing the practices to start with needs a motivation - any motivation is good and you surely seem to have found yours! That is your longing (bhakti) driving you towards your ishta (ideal). If your ishta is the scenery in itself and your inner fire longs for that, that's fine! It will keep you coming back to practices on a regular basis. Due to those regular practices evolution will take place whether you aim for it or not! It's an automatical thing.
But IN practices - while doing deep meditation - it is wise to keep to the mantra and not stay and drift off with the scenery, since it is the mantra meditation in the first place that is the cause of all the nice scenery, no? So stop doing the mantra and the scenery will soon diminish, because you are no longer following the procedure of practices. It's here I sense the confusion - coming back to practices and not follow the scenery is NOT about "coming back to doing meditation regularly twice a day but ignore the pleasent scenery that might happen", but rather about "coming back to the mantra as soon as you notice you're off it due to scenery while in meditation"...
In AYP we more have a feeling of just doing the meditation as easily and non-complicated as we brush your teeth daily. We don't strive for any end goal of enlightenment - we rather enjoy ourselves both inside and outside of practices, just as Osho says in your quote above. Striving for enlightenment has never shown to be very productive, since we already ARE enlightened... we just haven't realized it yet!  |
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Rattan
South Africa
41 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2008 : 09:16:47 AM
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Thanks all for your encouraging comments.
emc, you especially have clarified it to me beautifully. Thank you. |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2008 : 09:26:30 AM
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| I'm glad to be at your service! |
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HathaTeacher
Sweden
382 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2008 : 10:21:38 AM
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A good post emc, and a universal one - be AYP, TM or zazen, it's the same principle. The method is in focus during practice because it's the source of all the other things passing by peripherally. If you'd weaken the focus, the rest would be weakened as well (whereas if you detach from the peripherals instead, you might use the energy to gradually boost your focus).
Very much so in physical practices: focus on your surroundings instead of your body in an advanced inversion asana and you fall and damage your neck. Focus on looking cool instead of your foot in martial arts and you're injured in a fraction of a second. Focus on the surrounding scenery instead of hara awareness in an inner-sking bump run and you're risking your life...
Long story short, stay focused during practice. In AYP and elsewhere. |
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Reasons for the practice?
