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Originally posted by yogani

Hi All:

This recent email exchange might be helpful:
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Q: Could you please clarify for me one subtle moment in the practice of samyama ... my "inner light" suggested me in order to refine the sutras, to initially do samyama on each of them for a bit longer, instead of just picking it for a fraction of the second. My experience shows /since my mind is not so fast yet/, that if a hold the sutra for a few seconds /2 to 5/ it refines to a much subtler level, which is on the border of my inner silence and afterwards I transcend to a deeper samadhi. Doing so, seems to leave me with a feeling of great elevation after the practice and during the day. Is it right to do so or shall I strictly abide to the fast form of sutra picking up? I cannot yet pick it up on the finest possible level immediately, it takes a bit longer for it to get there.

A: Like with the mantra in meditation, setting a fixed mode for picking up a sutra in samyama is not the preferred way to go. Due to purification and opening occurring in the nervous system over time, the sutra may sometimes tend to stretch out, and other times be barely noticed (short, faint and fuzzy). Both are correct. We just pick up the sutra at whatever level is comfortable, and let it go. It will not always be the same, and it will interfere with the natural flow of practice to try and make it a particular way. Then we may find ourselves trying to make a longer pronunciation when the nervous system is ready to lightly touch and go into stillness. And the reverse is true also. Sometimes the mind will naturally elongate a sutra a bit (you are experiencing that, right?), and we should not try and force it to be short. It is the ever-changing landscape of purification and opening within us. We just take it all in stride and easily favor our practice without trying to over-control what is happening according to some desired outcome we might glimpse. That can only work against our progress. So we just take it easy and favor the procedure of the practice.

One thing I have said about all the AYP practices is that redesigning them while practicing based on subjective experiences occurring during practice is not a good idea. The experience will always be changing, and the practice should not be changing to follow the experience. Otherwise, we will become like a leaf in the wind, changing our practice every time the winds of inner experience shift. The experience results from the practice, not the other way around. The practice is sufficiently flexible to allow a wide range of experiences. When we realize we are off into an experience (making our strategies, etc.), we just easily come back and favor the practice as we were instructed. That is nearly always the case.

The exception in AYP is "self-pacing," where we may scale back on our practice time for a while if there is excess purification and discomfort occurring in our nervous system. We self-pace with practices for maximum progress with comfort and safety. Self-pacing is an important aspect of AYP, because we are using many powerful practices in an integrated self-directed way. Self-pacing enables us to navigate with much more horse-power in practices than is possible with more rigid approaches. The result of this flexible high-powered approach is much faster progress, and with more comfort as we develop skill in self-pacing our practices effectively.

Another thing to keep in mind in sutra repetition in samyama, particularly if the pronunciation is elongating, is a tendency we all have to "contemplate" the meaning of the sutra on the conscious level of the mind. As you know, samyama is not contemplation. We just pick up the sutra and release it in stillness. Based on our long familiarity with language (in AYP, sutras are suggested to be in our first language) we know subconsciously what it is deep in our inner silence. This is where the sutra finds its manifestation -- in stillness, gradually cultivating "stillness in action."

The fruit of samyama practice is not to be found in the meaning or expression (siddhi) of any particular sutra, but in our gradually rising ability to engage as stillness in action in our daily life with all intentions we have. So, structured samyama practice is not about enunciating any particular sutra or intention, but to gradually develop the ability to naturally manifest all our intentions from within stillness in everyday life. It is about becoming stillness in action. Structured samyama practice plays a key role in bringing about the condition of abiding inner silence, ecstatic bliss, outpouring divine love, and unity ... a life filled with many small miracles, and some big ones too.

There are additional applications of samyama practice provided in the AYP Samyama book. You may find it an interesting read.

Wishing you all the best on your path. Enjoy!

The guru in is you.

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