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Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 15 2009 : 09:21:04 AM
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Hi all,
I have been trying to get to the second stage of kechari for the past few months but haven't had any luck yet. I have read some of the forum discussions here as well as the lessons 108 and 205.
A discovery that I made last night was that even though I still cannot perform the second stage of kechari with my tongue, I can actually take the tip of my index finger behind the soft palate and touch the same spot with my finger tip.
My question is: Do you think touching the point behind the soft palette with finger tip would produce any spiritual benefits?
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Feb 17 2009 : 12:42:23 PM
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To be honest and open-minded about it, I guess that it might have some benefit. I can't rule it out. However, it's not practical to sustain, is it? So that strikes against it considerably. Also, unless the finger-tip is very smooth and remains moist (and I'm not sure if it would, easily) the surface of the finger might be unpleasantly rough for stimulating the septum.
Besides, even without sticking our index finger up our nose from the back, we Yogis look like crackpots enough already, don't we? 
This brings up an idea I hadn't thought of before -- it might be possible to insert an appropriately-moulded prosthetic into the nose to stimulate the septum, and in turn to move that with the tongue. Not sure how well it could work, but it is an idea. I wonder if some yogis have though of that before -- they wouldn't have had a prosthetic but hey, maybe a piece of fruit or meat...
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Edited by - david_obsidian on Feb 17 2009 2:29:25 PM |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Feb 17 2009 : 12:55:00 PM
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LOL, David! ROTFL!
I'll be the first one to buy one of those! |
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Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2009 : 07:23:53 AM
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Hi David,
I know it sounds quite weird :)) But for me sitting for 20 minutes a day with my finger up my throat isn't any harder than all the other practices that I do. For the past 3 days I've been trying it with rubber gloves which is relatively smooth and doesn't dry too quickly. Yet every 5 minutes I'd take it out to check/re moist.
What I know so far is that it generates a general good feeling in my body but haven't yet felt anything close to what Yogani describes as the giant leap! (Maybe I haven't found the right spot yet) |
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sparkyfoxMD
United Kingdom
35 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2009 : 09:02:53 AM
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Hi Emil
You could try the old take-a -long-spoon and-bend-the-handle-back-trick, insert-and- hook -under -the-soft-palate-and-pull-gently? |
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Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2009 : 11:55:10 AM
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Hi Sparky,
Is that to stimulate the point behind the soft palate with the spoon or to pull it forward and get the tongue behind it? |
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sparkyfoxMD
United Kingdom
35 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2009 : 01:13:05 AM
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| to pull it forward and stretch the soft palate |
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Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2009 : 08:36:22 AM
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Do you stretch the soft palate? I thought only the tongue can/needs to be stretched. How far will the soft palate come forward? Is it for getting the tongue behind it instantly or is it an exercise for long term benefits? |
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yogani
USA
5201 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2009 : 10:48:19 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Emil
Hi all,
I have been trying to get to the second stage of kechari for the past few months but haven't had any luck yet. I have read some of the forum discussions here as well as the lessons 108 and 205.
A discovery that I made last night was that even though I still cannot perform the second stage of kechari with my tongue, I can actually take the tip of my index finger behind the soft palate and touch the same spot with my finger tip.
My question is: Do you think touching the point behind the soft palette with finger tip would produce any spiritual benefits?
Hi Emil:
Just a reminder that the ecstatic sensitivity of the "secret spot" on the back edge of the septum in the nasal pharynx does not come primarily from the physical act of kechari. Rather, ecstatic conductivity rises in the whole body through a combination of practices, primarily deep meditation and spinal breathing pranayama, and then the rising sensitivity may draw us toward kechari and other manifestations of yoga. This is why non-yogis who can mimic stage 2 kechari mudra gain little benefit. They should be tipped off about the broader implications of what they are doing. 
None of this is to say those who are inclined to pursue kechari should not. Our desire (bhakti) is an essential part of the process. But it is good to know that the physical act of kechari alone will not produce the entire result. Once ecstatic conductivity is present in the neurobiology, then kechari will have increasing effect, as many here have experienced.
Natural kechari also stimulates the deep throat, which is tied in with the rise of the "nectar cycle" beginning in the GI tract, discussed in this recent lesson: http://www.aypsite.org/304.html
This is another way we may be naturally drawn into kechari (the tongue going back), with the throat becoming ecstatically sensitive, along with the septum and many other regions of the neurobiology.
Given these dynamics, I'm not sure that using a synthetic kechari method with finger or mechanical device will contribute much. When kechari is called for, it will come. The results will be there as soon as the tongue naturally goes back to stage 1 (tip of the tongue going toward the point where hard and soft palates meet on the roof of the mouth), so it is not necessary to rush to stage 2 and beyond. We will know when it is time.
Be sure that enlightenment is possible without the full extent of the physical act of kechari mudra. In this sense, kechari is effect as much as cause, largely dependent on on the rise of abiding inner silence and ecstatic conductivity.
Of course, everyone will follow their own bhakti and path, so these are just a few observations for consideration.
When we are inclined to pursue development of the habit of kechari mudra, a good place in our routine to do that is during spinal breathing pranayama, and not during deep meditation. Once the habit is naturally present, then kechari can appear automatically in deep meditation in a way that does not divide the mind. There is only one procedure we can consciously be doing during deep meditation, and that is the procedure of deep meditation (easily favoring the mantra over anything else that may come up). If we are deliberately doing anything else, then we are not doing deep meditation. This is why we consciously cultivate mudras, bandhas and siddhasana outside our deep meditation session. Then when they come up as spontaneous habits during deep meditation, this is fine.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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Kechari Mudra with the index finger!
