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Searchtruth
Argentina
16 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 08 2009 : 10:22:42 AM
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| Hello everybody. I just started doing some deep meditation a few days ago and i think am already off the path. First of all, i think that my technique is flawed ´cause my mind just simply cannot STOP thinking, it just keeps popping thoughts all the time, so could you guys please give me some little advice based on your personal experiences, and if better mayble layout some guidelines for a better and more efficient DM practice. Thanks guys. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2009 : 10:45:37 AM
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Hi Searchtruth,
Welcome to the forums.
Thoughts are normal. They are a part of the process. Yogani explains it well in this lesson:
Lesson 159 - Q&A – Too many thoughts in meditation?
quote:
Thoughts are a normal part of meditation. They come as obstructions are being released in the nervous system. If you meditate much longer than 20 minutes, you will be releasing too much in one session, and that is the cause of the irritability and headaches. So, go back to 20 minutes and follow the procedure for easily coming back to mantra whenever you realize you are off it. Once you begin meditation, if you have nothing but thoughts for the whole time, that is okay. It is what needs to happen right then as your nervous system is purifying deep inside. It will not always be like that. Experiences change over time. Right now, your experience is thoughts -- which is release of lots of deep obstructions. Good things are happening, but a bit too much with such long meditations.
If you are doing meditation according to the lessons, then I suggest you review all the lessons and Q&As on the procedure of meditation. Thoughts are a normal part of the process. It may seem very mundane sometimes in meditation. I can assure you that you are deep in meditation. If you were not, you would not have irritability and headaches from overdoing it.
Also, make sure you take adequate rest time when coming out of meditation, as instructed in the lessons. This will facilitate smoothness in activity.
Follow the easy procedure and you will be fine. If you have further difficulties, let me know.
So it's OK to have thoughts. Whenever you realize you are thinking, go back to the mantra. It's a very easy process. Even after a few years of meditation, I can still go through some sessions of being very mindy, when I realize I am off the mantra I just go back to it.. it's just a part of the process.
Wish you the best. |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2009 : 10:47:11 AM
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Hi Searchtruth and welcome to the forum.....
First off, take a deep breath and relax.... It's all good.
Second, everyone goes through this. This is normal. I assume you have read the lesson on Deep Meditation since you talk about your "DM" practice, but in case you haven't read it here is the link: http://www.aypsite.org/13.html
Next I will describe a "normal" DM session so that perhaps you can see that what you are likely going through is exactly what you are supposed to be doing.
Sitting comfortably, relaxing the breathing, you introduce the mantra..."I AM".....you might say it again..."I AM"...or you might already be off into thoughts....After a couple of minutes you notice that you are thinking about what you want for dinner....you go back to the mantra...."I AM".....you might say it again, or you might go back into thoughts of this or that which has happened to you today....go back to the mantra...."i am".....continue like this for your set time.
You might feel that this is ineffective, or that it is not doing much, but that is an illusion of the mind. There are several things happening here. First, you are training the mind to concentrate on one thing. And it WILL get easier with time and practice. Second, you are purifying your nervous system every time you say the mantra. Third, you are experiencing little bits of inner silence the moment you realize you are in thought and choose to go back to the mantra. So the benefits are at least 3 fold, even when you don't hit samadhi or whatever you have as an expectation that DM should be like. Continue as you are and you will see the benefits start to pile up. Good luck my friend.
Love,
Carson |
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Searchtruth
Argentina
16 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2009 : 9:41:21 PM
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| Thanks carson, i´ll give it a try. |
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Jo-self
USA
225 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2009 : 10:12:32 AM
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Carson:
Minor nitpick. I would just suggest that the word 'concentration' not be used here. Someone may read it and later on confuse concentration with DM or try to short-circuit the process by effort. Since the mantra will change the deeper one goes (thats the teaching anyway) there is no set thing to concentrate on. Its more of an "Absorption", from one treatise yoga.
Maybe its just semantic.
quote:
Originally posted by CarsonZi
First, you are training the mind to concentrate on one thing. And it WILL get easier with time and practice.
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2009 : 4:39:13 PM
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Then there is the music  I have had a week of tunes. We all get it. Thoughts, music, images, sensations......just let them go naturally and easily, if they hang around thats also fine, just go back to the mantra when it feels comfortable to do so.
It's a bit like climbing a long hill. Sometimes your breathing gets all messed up and you begin to gasp and struggle, the harder you try, the more effort you put in the more difficult it becomes to breath.
Just slow right down, take a breather if you need to, the hill is long enough for many stops, many rests. Sometimes you will go fast, sometimes you will wonder if you can ever climb the hill at all, but every step is one step slightly higher and slightly further.
You may get to the top in this life, the next or in a million lifetimes, it's a long journey, but once you have started the path unfolds. Stop, enjoy the scenery, take a deep breath and just begin the climb once again. |
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brother neil
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2009 : 9:05:42 PM
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At times mind may kick and scream, at times nothing seems to happen, at times you may go real deep. For me it is best to stick with the practice. I have nothing better to do with an hour of my life everyday then to relax the mind.
good luck to you
Neil
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Christi
United Kingdom
4429 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2009 : 07:16:21 AM
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Hi Jo-self,
quote:
Carson:
Minor nitpick. I would just suggest that the word 'concentration' not be used here. Someone may read it and later on confuse concentration with DM or try to short-circuit the process by effort. Since the mantra will change the deeper one goes (thats the teaching anyway) there is no set thing to concentrate on. Its more of an "Absorption", from one treatise yoga.
Maybe its just semantic.
quote:
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Originally posted by CarsonZi
First, you are training the mind to concentrate on one thing. And it WILL get easier with time and practice.
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I think in the early stages,concentration is an O.K. word to use. Dharana means concentration in sanskrit, and in the yoga sutras dharana comes before dhyana and samadhi. Dhyana is the next step in meditation when the mind becomes merged with the object of concentration, and then samadhi is the beginning of absorption states where the mind is transcended altogether.
Christi |
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Searchtruth
Argentina
16 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 07:57:13 AM
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Howdy, again, am back with some questions if you don´t mind.
The first thing is that am not a native English-speaker, my native language is Spanish, so i find it a bit unconfortable the "I am" mantra, but as i changed to it´s spanish equivalent "Yo soy" i noticed an immediate changed, i became more focus, so is this valid, to switch the language of the mantra?.
And the other thing that i want to ask you is regarding to the meaning of the mantra, do i have to focus on the meaning of the mantra, o just simply concentrate on the word without any meaning??
Thank you.
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 08:11:41 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Searchtruth
so is this valid, to switch the language of the mantra?.
No.
quote:
Originally posted by Searchtruth
And the other thing that i want to ask you is regarding to the meaning of the mantra, do i have to focus on the meaning of the mantra, o just simply concentrate on the word without any meaning??
No meaning, just the words.
This lesson may help:
Lesson 115 - Q&A – Mantra, language and meaning
No, don't translate the mantra. As has been said before, the mantra is not about language or meaning. If we had been given it orally, there would be no spelling, no language, and no meaning. Just a sound vibration to use in meditation in that specific way that allows the mind to go naturally to stillness.
If the I AM spelling is distracting, then think of the same sound spelled another way like – AYAM. Same pronunciation, no meaning, and no language. If we try and attach a meaning to it, we will not be doing our meditation a favor. Let there be one sound in our life that does not have a worldly connection. Let it be the mantra. The mantra should mean only one thing – It is our ticket to ride to the infinite. Let us use it for that, and for that alone when we are meditating.
If meanings and language come up in meditation, we just regard them as any other thoughts coming up, and easily go back to the mantra at whatever level of quietness or fuzziness it is. Then we continue our inner march to stillness, inner silence, pure bliss consciousness.
The mind settles down to stillness best when using the vibration alone. Meanings tend to pull us to the surface of the mind, so we easily let them go and favor the finer levels of the vibration of the mantra. Meanings and language are for the outer word. Vibrations naturally becoming finer and finer are for the inner world of pure bliss consciousness. The mantra is for that. It is not a word of meaning. It is a vibrational vehicle that refines and disappears as we ride to the infinite every day.
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Searchtruth
Argentina
16 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 08:58:15 AM
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| Shanti, and to what do you attribute the sudden change on the quality of the meditation?, i could literally feel more focused. |
Edited by - Searchtruth on Apr 21 2009 09:05:54 AM |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 09:23:21 AM
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Hi Searchtruth,
In AYP deep meditation, we don't focus on the mantra, the idea is to pick the mantra and lose it, and then come back to it. When you are focused on the mantra, you are keeping you mind active, the idea is to let go the control of the mind, be easy with the mantra, lose it during the process and pick it up again. In the process of losing the mantra and picking it up again, you touch the silence that is really you. It's a very easy process. Also, the vibratory quality of "i am" will work on purifying your nervous system.
From the lesson Lesson 188 - Q&A – Mantra Design 101
"Mantra syllables are like tuning forks in the nervous system. Each vibration resonates in a different part of our inner circuitry. This is true with or without ecstatic conductivity previously awakened. The difference is that, when the nervous system is ecstatically awakened, the effects become experiential, and can be observed in the body. The effects are experienced with the inner senses and have an ecstatic overtone. The resonating effect of a syllable deep in the silence of the mind loosens obstructions in a particular way unique to that syllable. With that experience-based feedback, and knowing the most effective and safest order of awakening the nervous system, especially the spinal nerve, the mantras can be suitably assembled. Let's get more specific.
I AM (by any spelling) resonates in the full length of the spinal nerve from the third eye to the root.
As has been said in earlier lessons, I AM is a "dual pole" mantra. The resonance of it in the spinal nerve is the reason why. "I" is the shiva component, and "AM" is the shakti component. With this mantra we are bringing the mind to stillness in such a way so as to purify the full length of the spinal nerve. By using a mantra that resonates between the third eye and the root, we are following the safest and most balanced path of awakening, just as we do in spinal breathing pranayama. The two practices are parallel methods, both working to purify the spinal nerve on their respective levels in the nervous system. Both practices, done in sequence (spinal breathing and then meditation), awaken and stabilize our ecstatic energies and inner silence. Together, these emanate out naturally from the spinal nerve."
Yogani has done extensive study on the "i am" mantra and hence recommends it. There are many other mantras that have been used over centuries, and yes, each one will have its own set of vibratory qualities. If you feel more comfortable with "Yo soy", you can continue, but it is not recommended by Yogani. Language and meanings of a mantra will take away from the simple tool of deep meditation. |
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Searchtruth
Argentina
16 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 09:33:16 AM
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| Thank you Shanti. |
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Konchok Ösel Dorje
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2009 : 3:44:22 PM
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If you can manage to sit perfectly still, then even if your mind is racing, at some point the pranayama and mantra will allow your mind to synch in with your still body. I also recommend for beginners doing a short set of Hatha. I like Surya Namaskar, Crescent moon pose, chair pose, boat pose, and seated straight leg stretches. These will help your lower body and upper body relax so the pranayama and mantra can work with less distractions. Play a soothing ambient track like singing bowls for the first twenty minutes of your hatha and you will settle down.
If you want to stay with "Yo Soy" or just "Yo" then you are still doing yoga, just not AYP Yoga. You are doing Advaita. If it resonates with you, there is no harm in it. Many great yogis were enlightened keeping attention simply to the sense of "I" or "Yo." There is no one way. Try both.
"AYAM" is a mantra. "Yo soy" or "I am" is not. In Advaita, you are not repeating a mantra; you are taking the Self as the path, and discovering the source of awareness. It is not the words "I am" or "Yo soy" or "I" or "Yo" that is the meditation. It is the sense of being a self, an I o un "Yo." It is meditating on your sense of self-awareness. It is a fast and powerful path. Try it. You might like it.
If you enjoy that path, and it resonates with you as true, then everyone here will respect it, including Yogani. You may still use all these practices. There will be no conflict. As has been said many times, it is all the same elephant.
I wish you well. |
Edited by - Konchok Ösel Dorje on Apr 21 2009 3:57:52 PM |
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