|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 04 2008 : 6:36:56 PM
|
Hi all,
During inhalation the “ishta” is circulated from outside the third eye, through the center of the head, and finally down into and within the heart organ. Go no lower in the body, as to the perineum. “Impurities” (presumably related to karma) are then exhaled back up through the same route to the third eye.
For details and cautions, see http://www.aypsite.org/220.html
“Many people do not have a clear ishta to use, which can be confusing to those coming to yoga with a non-worship orientation.” “During this practice, our heart is filled with our Beloved and impurities are expelled.”
I'd like to state my initial personal choice of ishta or Beloved. I invite you to state your own, or comment on any other aspect of Lesson #220.
In his lesson, Yogani wrote about ishta in connection with "diety, avatar or guru."
My ishta, which may seem to many more abstract than his approach, is to love, by holding in the light, three enemies or three people whom I have most resented or hated during my lifetime. Over time I can imagine that selection of my Three Evil Brothers will change as my own issues and karmic blockages are clarified.
This ishta came to me today as I was reading Chapter 15 of Richard Rolle's “Fire of Love,” in which he discusses the heart organ; while recalling that Christians claim that "God is Love"; while remembering that, according to myth, ignorant unloving people clammered to crucify 3 bad men on Calvary Hill; while remembering the 3 painful nails that affixed Jesus to his suffering on the cross; and while pondering a dream that I had not too many years ago: quote:
I find myself standing in a doorway, looking into what seems to be a small tomb. On the single slab is a naked man, sitting up but covered from his waist down by a sheet. He regards me for a time, saying nothing. I am struck by his quiet, also saying nothing but remaining in the doorway. After a period of silence he holds up his right arm towards me, and in the palm of his uplifted hand I see 3 disks. They appear the color of chocolate.
You know very well what chocolate Exlax looks like, don't you? The dream is deeply ironic. Says Rolle, “When the lid is lifted from the latrine, nothing comes out but a stink. And evil-speaking men speak from the abundance of the heart in which the venom of asps is hiding!” (See the del Mastro translation from the Latin.)
Rolle wrote his book for those desiring to love, for those “who are trying to love God rather than to know many things.” Could there be anything so challenging as loving an Unholy Trinity of Enemies? The severity of this challenge is alluded to in Ecclesiastes 4:12, quote:
Where one alone would be overcome, two will put up resistance; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
That this particular passage in Ecclesiastes, which as you know talks excessively about vanities and futilities under the sun, was already in Rolle's mind is suggested by how he penned the concluding sentence of his chapter: quote:
Behold, brothers, I have told you how I have reach the fire of love, not so you will praise me, but that you may glorify my God, from Whom I have received whatever good I possess, and so that you, judging everything under the sun as vanity, [my emphasis added] will be encouraged to imitation, not detraction.
newpov |
Edited by - newpov on Nov 06 2008 12:23:53 PM |
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2008 : 9:28:03 PM
|
Thank you for bringing up the topic and sharing your Ishta, newpov.
Recently, I discovered that my true Ishta is Sri Krishna. It came about when I was contemplating what it means to feel God's presense, so I prayed about it and wondered why I didn't feel this and ended up just letting go of it.
The following morning I awoke and heard a sound of a (wooden?) flute in my left ear that lasted like ten seconds and then this same sound, in a higher pitch, within my right ear. This was folowed, later on, with a tremendous amount of ecstasy coming from the perineum area to the heart.
So it made me feel good and I look at it like Sri Krishna chose me, since I needed to feel that love or bliss or whatever it was, that I haven't felt in a long time. It was great! So I haven't experience the merging of ecstacy with silence, which yogani speaks about, but I've have a taste. And it tastes good, very good: LOL And I'd rather experience this, on a regular basis, than having all of the knowlege in the world:
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Nov 04 2008 9:42:40 PM |
 |
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2008 : 09:27:44 AM
|
Hi all,
I'd like to write about love. Understand that I am not today, nor have I ever been, a Christian. I have not been trying to write in such limited terms, either.
But first, it's s wonderful, VIL, that things are working out for you! Had you been reading the Bhagavad Gita and other scripture or teachings knowledgeable about Krishna? I'd be most interested in various other ishtas you might have chosen before you arrived at Krishna who chose you!
After my posting yesterday, when I advanced my ishta of loving an unholy trinity (because we are commanded to love our enemies), I noticed that my suggestion was the SPIRITUAL INVERSION of Yogani's holy trinity mentioned in Lesson 220, to wit: "diety, avatar or guru".
Was Yogani being deeply ironic? Teachers often teach the astute by throwing out deliberate errors in order to draw their attention to a deeper point being made. Yogani is not an uneducated or careless or stupid man, and we know he proof-reads everything in his posted Lessons, yet he spelled deity as "diety." Why did he do this? Possibly he was drawing deliberate attention to intentioned spiritual irony.
Knowledge never hurts. Are you familiar with DeMorgans Laws for inversion within the field of mathematical logic? Yogani wrote about "a specific ishta (diety, avatar or guru)". Spiritual inversion--irony--would therefore call for something like this: "an inclusive ishta (bad guy#1, bad guy#2, AND bad guy #3)".
It's so easy to love the lovable, but only aspirants to the holy love the unlovable. So then, which path, which road, do you choose for yourself? Why are you in this spiritual game at all? We must "let go" of easy love or childish love, and, like spiritual adults (See St. Paul's hymn to love, First Corinthians 13, where, coincidentally, an appealing threesome of faith, hope, and charity are named), favor the more difficult love. This road is the "steeper climb" mentioned in a number of traditions. Perhaps this is the kind of "letting go" that Yogani had in mind when he wrote, in this Lesson, "An opening heart is one that knows how to let go."
So I think the spelling error may have been a deliberate plant, a joke, by an amused teacher laying out a bit of clever misdirection for instructional purposes! Would his students catch on?? Saith Yogani in the same Lesson, "An opening heart laughs a lot too!"
Hinduism mentions 3 chief deities worthy of adulation, although I've forgotten their names. Maybe this, too, is irony intended for reception by the relatively few.
This additional passage from Chapter 15 of Richard Rolle's The Fire of Love merits attention in connection with love and Lesson 220. quote:
For from the beginning of my alteration of life and spirit, up to the opening of the door of heaven (allowing the eye of my heart to contemplate heavenly beings with their beauty revealed, to see by which road it might seek its Beloved and to sigh continually for Him), there flowed past three years, except for three or four months.
In my dream I stood in the doorway of a tomb, not heaven! Here, then, an ironic clue that the spiritual enterprise may not be peaches and cream.
The road that Rolle advocates, by employing Authored deep irony in this passage, involves a practice that he calls contemplation; this is third eye to heart circulation involving pranayama ("sigh continually"): Lesson 220.
But instead of devoting his attention to heavenly beings in order to experience presumed rapture of their beauty or perfection, Rolle's road would have us attend to the evil and despicable who need blessing, love! Instead of the high enjoyable road, he would take the low, more noble road.
Note that Yogani associates his practice in Lesson 220 with mention of karma. Perhaps there is suffering and anguish in taking on the karma of others, however this is done. Deep empathy hurts. Many experience this as part of love.
That the setting of my dream (which happened about 3-4 years ago, well before I encountered Rolle) was a doorway into a tomb may have forecast of what lies ahead for me and possibly others.
Again, the tomb image prompts one to inquire what it means to die. Yogani's diety?
What is your ishta, and how did you arrive at it?
newpov |
Edited by - newpov on Nov 05 2008 09:43:39 AM |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2008 : 10:45:58 AM
|
Tomb? All may yet not be so bleak or impossible!
As I quoted Ecclesiastes 4:12, quote:
Where one alone would be overcome, two will put up resistance; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Walking into the tomb, whatever that means, may be what is required.
In Job 39:5, we are told that grace happens: quote:
Who gave the wild donkey his freedom, and untied the rope from his proud neck?
newpov |
|
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 05:42:45 AM
|
quote:
newpov: But first, it's s wonderful, VIL, that things are working out for you! Had you been reading the Bhagavad Gita and other scripture or teachings knowledgeable about Krishna? I'd be most interested in various other ishtas you might have chosen before you arrived at Krishna who chose you!
It was me attaching to experience. When I heard the sound of the flute I associated it with Krishna, although it was really what they call an anahata sound or an unstruck sound heard by a yogi when the kundalini purifies the sushumna nadi. I did the same thing, in the past, when I heard the ticking sound of the bell. So it was a good sign post showing progress, since I am able to seperate or detach from the experience more easily and not allow my mind to get enamored by it.
So I used the wording, "he picked me", because I was under the false notion that maybe the reason that I didn't feel the presence of God all of the time was due to the fact that I have many Ishtas. And when I was attempting to pick just one out of them all (From Hermes to Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Etc.) I couldn't decide. So when I experienced the anahata sound, of the flute, I figured that maybe Krishna made the choice for me. But that really wasn't the case and I've come to the conclusion that until I am liberated from all beliefs, my Ishta will include many spiritual teachers, which includes Krishna. And hopefully this will lead to the merging of silence and bliss where I will find no distinction between anything or anyone.
Take care:
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Nov 06 2008 06:32:28 AM |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 09:09:31 AM
|
VIL,
What you experienced (heart to perineum) might be same as Rolle, Fire, ch 15: "joyous burning ardor"? Also,quote:
when I experienced the anahata sound, of the flute, I figured that maybe Krishna made the choice for me. But that really wasn't the case and I've come to the conclusion that until I am liberated from all beliefs, my Ishta will include many spiritual teachers, which includes Krishna.
Cf. Rolle, Fire of Love, ch 15: quote:
... from that inestimable delightful heat blazing in my senses to the infusion and perception of the celestial or spiritual sound which belongs to the canticle of eternal praise and the smoothness of invisible melody (which cannot be known or heard except by him who receives it--who must be cleansed and separated from the earth), there flowed past nine months and several weeks. For when I was sitting in that same chapel and I was singing the psalms in the evening before supper as well as I was able, I jumped as if at the ringing, or rather, the playing of stringed instruments, above me. And further, when I strained toward these heavly sounds by praying with all my desire, I do not know how soon I experienced the blending of melodies within myself and drew forth the most delightful harmony from heaven, which remained with me in my spirit. For my meditation was continually transformed into the song of harmony, and it is as if I have odes in meditating. And further, I have enjoyed that same sound in psalmody and in the prayers themselves. The I have hastened before the flowing forth of that inward, indeed hidden, sweetness, to that singing I have described previously, because I have been hastening into the presence of my Creator alone.
Question: Which of all wells out there in the field of spirituality ought I to dig foremost and most deeply?
I can have faith in my yogic instructor or spiritual director, and I can hope the yogic technique I experiment with in this ongoing spiritual gamble will work for me, but there may be yet more: I must love the unlovable and wretched as well as the divine within my solitary practice. What else could possibly be the meaning of two spiritual aphorisms that I've heard for years: "The Very Low with the Very High." "As above, so below."
Paul announced his priorities: quote:
And now I am going to put before you the best way of all... As it is, there remain: faith, hope, and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.
Why do threesomes keep coming up in Christian literature? 3 in the Godhead (in Hinduism as well), 3 temptations in the desert, 3 nails in Jesus, 3 criminals on Calvary Hill, 3 essentials in Paul's hymn to love, on and on it goes...
What teaching is being conveyed? In my tomb dream, Why did I see 3 disks offered me by an uplifted, open palm?
newpov |
Edited by - newpov on Nov 06 2008 09:28:58 AM |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 10:07:41 AM
|
Hi all,
Jesus taught, "love thy enemies."
We have also heard what Paul has said, quote:
Though I command languages both human and angelic -- if I speak without love, I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing.
This may mean that love has greater primacy than his "command" of "languages" -- properly interpreted as technical yogic proficiency in mantra meditation employing seed sounds activating various chakras.
Perhaps mantra meditation ought to be followed by some spiritual practice involving visualization (of ones enemies in lesson 220), per "And God spoke [mantra practice done first], let there be light [light practice done next]."
Could loving Lucifer as well as the divine in ones spiritual practice take one to the summit of advaita?
If we love the divine first during mantra meditation, ought we to love lucifer in our subsequent light practice?
Will this serve to lift up to the highest mountain all the despicable unwashed masses? Is light practice intercessory? Ought we hold in the light those we hate and fear? This is the ishta I have arrived at.
Did Moses do anything to bring others up to Sinai?
newpov
= = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
added postscipt:
Richard Rolle, Fire of Love, del Mastro translation, concluding chapter 13, is most suggestive, even confirmatory of the direction my posts in this thread is taking: quote:
His heart is transfigured by divine fire; burning and shining with extreme fervor, he is carried into his Beloved. And if indeed he is raised up suddenly after this to the highest seats of the heaven dwellers, so that he sits serenely in the place of Lucifer, it is because, burning so greatly with love, beyond what could be made apparent, he has sought the Creator and His glory alone and, advancing humbly, he did not exalt himself beyond sinners.
|
Edited by - newpov on Nov 06 2008 10:23:41 AM |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 11:21:54 AM
|
Hi all,
Three disks: three essential practices?
That there are at least two essential practices, one relating to sound or mantra and the other relating to light or visualization, is spelled out by Ecclesiastes 1:8b: quote:
No one can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fill of hearing.
Further, pranayama is perhaps the third disk in my dream, for Ecclesiastes 1:6 reads: quote:
Southward goes the wind, then turns it to the north; it turns and turns again; then back to its circling goes the wind.
Love calls for each man or woman to be brought or drawn to the mountain top. This is the task of Moses. But the image of mountain top implies separation of peoples, those higher from those lower. So Ecclesiastes 1:7 takes an advaitic approach or philosophy by instead using sea/merging imagery: quote:
Into the sea goes all the rivers [men and women], and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go.
x.j. is right -- there is no enlightenment or one greater than the next. Ecclesiastes 1 disabuses us of our spiritual competitiveness or pretensions: quote:
Sheer futility, sheer futility, everything is futile! ... All things are wearisome... What was, will be again, what has been done, will be done again, and there is nothing new under the sun! ... Wisely I have applied myself to investigation and exploration of everything that happens under heaven. What a wearisome task God has given humanity to keep us busy! I have seen everything that is done under the sun: how futile it all is, more chasing after the wind! ... I myself have mastered every kind of wisdom and [applied spiritual] science ... and I now realize that all this too is chasing after the wind.
Much wisdom, much grief;
the more knowledge, the more sorrow.
newpov |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 11:55:48 AM
|
Hi all,
In view of the recycling of waters that Ecclesiastes spoke about, the following from Revelation 22 is absurd: quote:
Blessed are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city.
Others must stay outside: dogs, fortunetellers, and the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life.
Would you be governed by authority and fear? If so, you will buy this easily: quote:
This is my solemn attestation to all who hear the prophecies in this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him every plague mentioned in the book; if anyone cuts anything out of the prophecies in this book, God will cut off his share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are described in this book.
The free man says, to hell with all that!
Maybe all we need are three essential practices: quote:
Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone as their deeds deserve. I am
the alpha and the omega [first pranayamic practices]
the first and the last [then sound or mantra practice]
the beginning and the end [then intercessory light or visualization practice]
newpov
= = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = =
added postscript:
Recycling of waters in Ecclesiastes 1:3, quote:
Into the sea go all the rivers, and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go.
Hey there, is this the practice of amaroli?  . . |
Edited by - newpov on Nov 06 2008 12:22:26 PM |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 11:18:56 PM
|
Hi all,
Here's more quality dope peddled by a real dope, for those of you still smokin over there in that other thread...... quote:
The spirit and the bride say come. Let everyone who listens answer, come. The let all who are thirsty come. All who want it may have the water of life, and have it free. -- Revelation 22
Amaroli. quote:
Oh, come to the water all you who are thursty; though you have no money, come! Buy and eat; some, buy wine and milk without money, free! Why spend money on what cannot nourish and your wages on what fails to satisfy? -- Isaiah 55
Amaroli.
It's all divine comedy. Attend to your spiritual practices, these include toilet functions. It's all divine comedy, yes?
Just another dog like you, sometimes underdog and sometimes top dog, I promise to skip every fire hydrant in your neighborhood.
newpov
|
|
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 11:39:39 PM
|
Hey, newpov, my blissful experience didn't last and wasn't nearly as poetic and sublime as Rolle describes, although it was great. From what I've read the progressive purification of the sushumna nadi brings other more subtle sounds, one of them being stringed instruments or that of the harp, so maybe that's what he had experienced? Anyway, the most ancient writings documenting these phenomenon are from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (personal accounts from other Yogis) as well as Yogananda, Sri Savananda, Helen Balanvsky, Etc. Some of the sounds that are mentioned are: The sound of crickets (or "chi-chi"), humming bees, the bell, conch shell, lute, flute, stringed instruments, drum, double drum, thunder (or a derivative of these). And finally, there is a culmination of consciousness within the universal sound... and lastly, silence and bliss.
Take care:
VIL |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2008 : 11:52:14 PM
|
VIL,
Very interesting list!
So many special effects!
newpov |
|
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2008 : 06:24:56 AM
|
quote:
VIL,
Very interesting list!
So many special effects!
newpov
Hey, newpov, that's an interesting point, and it's probably just semantics, but the ustruck sounds aren't special effects and have been and always will be ever present. Some people are aware of the sounds and others aren't. So the difference between a list and being aware of the cosmic sound is that one is man made and the other isn't.
In other words, if a person decides to focus or not focus on the primal sound it's beneficial. The reason that this is the case is that the mind can't contain the primal sound; and as soon as a person concentrates on the sound, it will transform to other sounds and eventually find it's place of origin, which is silence. So the AYP method is to consider it scenery, in the sense that the mind can't contain it, so why bother focusing on it if the mind's going to find silence anyway? (that's just my opinion and may not be accurate, yogani or others can clarify). So I just look at it as another pathway that leads to silence, since other Yogi traditions place focus on the sounds.
So even if a person created a listing of the unstruck sounds, it wouldn't matter. Although, if the sounds themselves were used to place limitation on other people, then it would. Anyway, that's the way that I look at it.
I thought I'd post this, since I thought it was interesting:
quote:
Ancient teachings and modern science agree: you, I, all living things, all things in existence are made up at their most essential level of vibrating, pulsing energy.
For millennia, mystics have recounted their experience of this energy, which is said to manifest in our hearing awareness as a humming vibration around and within everything else.
In the Sanskrit tradition, this sound is called "Anahata Nada," the "Unstruck Sound." Literally, this means "the sound that is not made by two things striking together." The point of this particular distinction is that all ordinary audible sounds are made by at least two elements: bow and string; drum and stick; two vocal cords; two lips against the mouthpiece of the trumpet; the double reed of the oboe; waves against the shore; wind against the leaves. All sounds within our range of hearing are created by things visible or invisible, striking each other or vibrating together, creating pulsing waves of air molecules which our ears and brain interpret as sound.
So, sound that is not made of two things striking together is the sound of primal energy, the sound of the universe itself. Joseph Campbell likens this unstruck vibration to the humming of an electrical transformer, or the (to our ears) unheard hummings of atoms and molecules.
And the ancients say that the audible sound which most resembles this unstruck sound is the syllable OM. Tradition has it that this ancient mantra is composed of four elements: the first three are vocal sounds: A, U, and M. The fourth sound, unheard, is the silence which begins and ends the audible sound, the silence which surrounds it.
http://www.spiritsound.com/aum.html
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Nov 07 2008 06:48:55 AM |
|
|
|
newpov
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2008 : 07:50:02 AM
|
VIL, quote:
the difference between a list and being aware of the cosmic sound is that one is man made and the other isn't.
In that last post I was being "smart" to make a point clear to other kinds of readers who might be reading this thread; and of course you are quite right, in my opinion.
Yoga Nada meditation [added in edit: I'm not sure about the definition of this; is this mantra yoga, or just sound yoga, whether audible or not?] may be the central practice, to be sandwiched between pranayam practices and various following samyama and/or intercessory visualization practices. One fellow advocates the Gayatri mantra, saying there is no greater energy work available to human beings.
Apprenticed to the Korean master Tschu ho Lee of Chicago, I made four violins, one viola, and one cello. Bowed instruments have always held a special fascination for me; the so-called "varnish problem" has engaged me for years. The surface science involved is not widely appreciated, but chemical treatment of the wood is responsible for the incredible optical behavior noted in the classical Italian instruments. Which brings me to light practice...... 
newpov |
Edited by - newpov on Nov 09 2008 08:05:12 AM |
|
|
|
avatar186
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2008 : 7:00:23 PM
|
haha you guys are funny.
I believe their may be a universal sound, or some special sounds.
but a monk who hears a gong everyday, may be more prone to hearing it.
In my blissfull experiance that i let go.
during the morning when i would wake, i would here bands, music literally playing in my ears. NOT me creating it, i would sit, and listin to music i hadnt heard in years. this would last for maby an hour or so after waking in the morning.
At night, i would listin to music, and go into bliss, if the bliss was strong enough in its rising i would be pulled back into silence.
lucid dreams, or more conciouse, palpable dreams are also a result of such energy, as is increased vitality.
SO, lets get the possi together and go find us an accomplished Sage whos been hiding in a cave. cause the perfect method is somewere, ZLOL. probly behind me where were not looking. |
|
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 09 2008 : 06:52:52 AM
|
quote:
newpov: Apprenticed to the Korean master Tschu ho Lee of Chicago, I made four violins, one viola, and one cello. Bowed instruments have always held a special fascination for me; the so-called "varnish problem" has engaged me for years. The surface science involved is not widely appreciated, but chemical treatment of the wood is responsible for the incredible optical behavior noted in the classical Italian instruments. Which brings me to light practice......
I grew up in a very fundamentalist religion where strong emphasis was placed on moral conduct, very strict external rules, etc. It was what I now playfully consider to be very similar to the orthodox vedic ashrama system. And in line with your humorous post, it reminded me of that old movie, Sister Act, where Whoopie pretends to be a nun and the other nuns are questioning where she came from, since she's so different and is complaining how tight the habit is around her neck, and Whoopie replies that she came from a "progressive convent". So an old nun considers complaining "vanity" and follows with, "I liked my convent in Vancouver. Out in the woods. It wasn't all modern like some of these newfangled convents. We didn't have electricity. Cold water. Bare feet. Those were nuns." And another nun says, "sounds wonderful". And the old nun responds, "It was hell on earth, I loved it. This place is the Hilton!". (LOL)
So I could imagine that anything would be light practice after that. And I couldn't imagine the talent, skill and self-discipline involved. Truly amazing!
avatar186, I enjoyed your blissful experience. Great point about different sound perceptions.
Take care:
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Nov 09 2008 07:18:55 AM |
|
|
|
YogaIsLife
641 Posts |
Posted - Nov 09 2008 : 08:34:15 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by VIL
quote:
VIL,
Very interesting list!
So many special effects!
newpov
Hey, newpov, that's an interesting point, and it's probably just semantics, but the ustruck sounds aren't special effects and have been and always will be ever present. Some people are aware of the sounds and others aren't. So the difference between a list and being aware of the cosmic sound is that one is man made and the other isn't.
In other words, if a person decides to focus or not focus on the primal sound it's beneficial. The reason that this is the case is that the mind can't contain the primal sound; and as soon as a person concentrates on the sound, it will transform to other sounds and eventually find it's place of origin, which is silence. So the AYP method is to consider it scenery, in the sense that the mind can't contain it, so why bother focusing on it if the mind's going to find silence anyway? (that's just my opinion and may not be accurate, yogani or others can clarify). So I just look at it as another pathway that leads to silence, since other Yogi traditions place focus on the sounds.
So even if a person created a listing of the unstruck sounds, it wouldn't matter. Although, if the sounds themselves were used to place limitation on other people, then it would. Anyway, that's the way that I look at it.
I thought I'd post this, since I thought it was interesting:
quote:
Ancient teachings and modern science agree: you, I, all living things, all things in existence are made up at their most essential level of vibrating, pulsing energy.
For millennia, mystics have recounted their experience of this energy, which is said to manifest in our hearing awareness as a humming vibration around and within everything else.
In the Sanskrit tradition, this sound is called "Anahata Nada," the "Unstruck Sound." Literally, this means "the sound that is not made by two things striking together." The point of this particular distinction is that all ordinary audible sounds are made by at least two elements: bow and string; drum and stick; two vocal cords; two lips against the mouthpiece of the trumpet; the double reed of the oboe; waves against the shore; wind against the leaves. All sounds within our range of hearing are created by things visible or invisible, striking each other or vibrating together, creating pulsing waves of air molecules which our ears and brain interpret as sound.
So, sound that is not made of two things striking together is the sound of primal energy, the sound of the universe itself. Joseph Campbell likens this unstruck vibration to the humming of an electrical transformer, or the (to our ears) unheard hummings of atoms and molecules.
And the ancients say that the audible sound which most resembles this unstruck sound is the syllable OM. Tradition has it that this ancient mantra is composed of four elements: the first three are vocal sounds: A, U, and M. The fourth sound, unheard, is the silence which begins and ends the audible sound, the silence which surrounds it.
http://www.spiritsound.com/aum.html
VIL
This is very interesting VIL.
I was reading your post and your quote and could actually understand what the AUM sound is and how it can be heard. Is this possible? I feel that if one is attentive enough, sensitive enough (probably devolps through purification) and quiet enough (meditation being a perfect setting for this), this sound can actually become perceptible as a vibration.
I can hear (like a lot of people certainly, although some cannot) static electricity, such as a tv set that is on with no volume, a transformer buzzing, etc. I guess the AUM sound could be much subtler than that but why wouldn't we be able to perceive it? I don't see why not and it seems mystics all over the world can attest this |
|
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 09 2008 : 09:36:50 AM
|
Sure, I agree with you, YogaIsLife. When my kundalini first awoke I heard this very loud buzzing generator sound that was vibrational "MMMMMMMMMMMMM....", upon waking up, and what some consider a meditative state. This is described as the M of AUM and has been heard by Yogis, Mystics, Etc., (yoga nidra) and is well documented and was experienced as vibrational phenomenon within my body, for quite a long time. It felt like I was hooked up to this giant electical generator. As far as the totality of AUM, I haven't experienced this in its purest form. But over the six year period, since my kundalini awoke, I have heard the sound of crickets, a bell, drum, flute, etc. So I assume the flute sound is the "U" of AUM, and, with me, these sounds come out of nowhere and then disappear. And there is usually a time period that goes by where the experience is acclimated. So, you're right, it is a symptom of purification and the AYP method is just as good as any other, whether spontaneous, or if a person is trained, via mudras, or other traditions, to bring awareness to this universal sound, which ends in silence.
I don't understand the entire process and try to describe it to the best of my ability, like we all do. Sometimes I state that I have heard AUM, meaning the M of AUM, or the vibrational quality that is associated with it. So anyone's experience is just as valid as mine.
Take care:
VIL |
|
|
|
YogaIsLife
641 Posts |
Posted - Nov 09 2008 : 09:53:22 AM
|
Interesting VIL!
So, from your experience you would say that the vowels or sounds A, U and M can be perceived as separate? Or do they mingle in a continuum, one after the other, or all at the same time? I know I am probably asking the impossible here  |
|
|
|
VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Nov 09 2008 : 5:23:38 PM
|
quote:
YogaIsLife: So, from your experience you would say that the vowels or sounds A, U and M can be perceived as separate? Or do they mingle in a continuum, one after the other, or all at the same time? I know I am probably asking the impossible here
Yes, I would say that. The actual vowels are perceived separately. The M Sound is experienced as pure vibration and is heard and known. Swamij.com describes it here:
quote:
The subtle sound is always there: A vibration exists, underneath all of the grosser aspects of being, like a substratum. The subtle sound of OM Mantra is constantly there, and when heard in deep yoga meditation, sounds like a continuous vibration, ever sounding out mmmmmmm.... At a deeper level, it is extremely loud and serene.
http://www.swamij.com/om-mantra.htm#sound
The author lists the seven levels of consciousness, but it's mainly spoken from the practice point of view or using a mantra to bring attention from the the A (Gross) to the U (Subtle) to the M (Causal) Or from the awake, to dream, to dreamless sleep state. Whereas, my journey began at the M to the U and is moving to the A. Anyway, that's how it's happening with me.
OM Mantra and 7 Levels of Consciousness:
http://www.swamij.com/om.htm
Take care:
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Nov 09 2008 5:27:42 PM |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
on Love, Lucifer, Ishta, Lesson 220, Amaroli
