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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Apr 06 2013 :  06:50:09 AM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I think I've reached where you are at dear Anthem when you wrote this post... It's time to take a solid decision to stop for at least 2 months... I've cut back on meditation for one week and a half recently and was practicing a very little gentle set of asanas early in the morning and that was going quite well it seems... But today woke up feeling longing for meditation and prayer after having many dreams of saints last night... The result was an overload...

I've tried to live and keep on pushing under the overloading symptoms at certain times under the guide of one of my teachers... But even then the results weren't well... And after 3 months of pushing an explosion happened...

Time to self pace big time. I will cut off practices for two months... Will keep on enjoying my little 10 minutes set of asanas in the morning... Unless this brings overloading symptoms as well eventually...
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Apr 06 2013 :  9:25:42 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda

I think I've reached where you are at dear Anthem when you wrote this post... It's time to take a solid decision to stop for at least 2 months... I've cut back on meditation for one week and a half recently and was practicing a very little gentle set of asanas early in the morning and that was going quite well it seems... But today woke up feeling longing for meditation and prayer after having many dreams of saints last night... The result was an overload...

I've tried to live and keep on pushing under the overloading symptoms at certain times under the guide of one of my teachers... But even then the results weren't well... And after 3 months of pushing an explosion happened...

Time to self pace big time. I will cut off practices for two months... Will keep on enjoying my little 10 minutes set of asanas in the morning... Unless this brings overloading symptoms as well eventually...


I haven't visited the AYP site for a while now and I poke my head in tonight and see this thread revived.

I had a lot of overload off and on over the last 3-4 years of AYP. I self-paced down to 6 minutes a day of mindfulness as mentioned earlier in this thread and eventually that was too much as well. The writing on the wall was clear as day, the problem was, I wasn't interested in the message, I didn't want to stop practices. When I got them right, everything felt great. If I slipped into overload I paid a high price and one that got higher as time went on.

I yearned for the heavens, God, enlightenment, which was essentially a desire to escape a perceived lacking inside. There were things inside that needed, I thought, to be risen above, to expand my consciousness so that there would be no more suffering. Turns out after all those years of practice, the opposite was true, what was needed was to move down firmly into my body and embrace all those aspects inside that were suffering.

I haven't done any meditation or spiritual practices for 2 years and no longer miss them. There have been times when I would like to have escaped some of the unpleasantness that life can bring by at times and slip into the blissful peace of meditation, but that is no longer a luxury I am allowed to indulge.

I don't know what anyone else's path is, but mine was to go forward and embrace all aspects of life. Not to go above this world and no longer be affected by it, but to see all of the things I wanted to transcend in everyone else existing also within myself and to let suffering happen, no longer trying to escape it. Surrendering daily to the inevitability of life's pain. It will always be there and that's ok, it keeps the heart open.

Wishing you all the best as you find your new way forward.




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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  02:13:15 AM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
That's beautiful dear Anthem... Thank you for sharing... Your words of insight based on personal experience are a great gem... I understand it's time to put my feet on the ground as well... But I can't stop being in devotion mode... Even though I've decided to stop meditation... I can't help but be in love with the divine and repeat the name of Allah inside my heart... Maybe that has become an ingrained habit and a way of escaping from what is lacking inside as you said... I still have time to find out for myself... The price of doing practices or interacting with spiritual teachers is getting higher over here as well... But I am willing to still pay it on and off... But the constant pushing like before I am really done with that...

Again thank you for your valuable input...
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  10:27:18 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda

That's beautiful dear Anthem... Thank you for sharing... Your words of insight based on personal experience are a great gem... I understand it's time to put my feet on the ground as well... But I can't stop being in devotion mode... Even though I've decided to stop meditation... I can't help but be in love with the divine and repeat the name of Allah inside my heart... Maybe that has become an ingrained habit and a way of escaping from what is lacking inside as you said... I still have time to find out for myself... The price of doing practices or interacting with spiritual teachers is getting higher over here as well... But I am willing to still pay it on and off... But the constant pushing like before I am really done with that...

Again thank you for your valuable input...


Hi Ananda,

The question comes up from what you wrote, devotion to what exactly? The divine? What aspect of it? If for me, the divine is defined as being the sacred, or blissful, or ecstatic, or love or some aspect of the "positive" spectrum of reality, then I am trying to look at (and take) only part of the whole picture. Give me the sugar but keep the bitter coffee. Those are easy things to "be in love with". It is nice to go along for the ride on these heavenly experiences, but what about the divine in hurt, anguish, fear, and pain etc.? It would be nice to extract those "positive" experiences and perpetuate them 24/7 and leave the rest to the side, but from my point of view this is only half the equation. All experiences are equally divine, from my point of view, the pain included. By embracing everything that life can bring, there is peace underlying all experiences as we accept the inevitability of all aspects of life. And there is also the experiences, with all the colour and richness which yield perpetual learning and expansion of our ability to navigate life. Personally, I can no longer leave any of it aside anymore without consequences, so I don't bother trying.
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maheswari

Lebanon
2520 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  11:45:17 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
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JosephUK

United Kingdom
212 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  12:57:57 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
This is an interesting topic and reminds me of some of the phrases i came up with when i was experiencing some difficulties.

to ascend to the foundation of ones being, to cultivate bliss and ecstasy but yet be devoted to ones karmic residues/ego/repressed emotional suffering and for this also to move outward and engage lovingly and compassionately with others suffering either practically or emotionally.

For me i have noticed that the phrase stillness in action and let go and let god come to mind here. Our meditation is a doing but when our enquiry and devotion are right we need not continue doing if we are not ready.

The Iam mantra said with devotion does not create more inner silence it creates a little silence and a lot of devotion (imho) and this was the problem i faced, i was practicing too much bhakti.

but now i am understanding that my quiet life and lots of outward silence combined with mindfulness practices during daily life and sitting are powerful enough for me to be progressing. The aspects of yoga or ayp are still present but i am not encouraging them with willful intent.

i have also found that my mindfulness is developing into a gentle insight meditation which seems similar to a relational self enquiry as opposed to analysis.

interestingly it may be a lesson for me to let the mantra rest very lightly in the mind rather than saying with devotion, i'm sure yogani mentioned that in his lessons.

I'd like to bounce this idea of you guys: i believe the lack of mental focus our mental strength that i am considering may be a weak point of ayp in terms of those developing strong states of spiritual high without the psychic power to focus with awareness on a specific task maybe an issue for those who are diverting their minds to preferential mind states or mental remedying or fixing.

Thus i am saying that the development of a mindful approach (definition being aware of what is happening while its happening) may become a standard approach for any one who is not in the witnessing state (where this approach to awareness is already present)thus it maybe something to take up like stabilizers for our ladder as we climb whilst the strong winds of bhakti or shakti are blowing.

That is what arose from me from reading this very interesting thread.


p.s. i do hope we can find a method where constructive feed back and criticism can be carefully and considerately resolved so that we can all participate in the evolution of the AYP practices and associated nuances, insights and previous practices which practitioners bring.

love

Joe
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JosephUK

United Kingdom
212 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  2:17:19 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Also for those who are experiencing perhaps too much purification as a result of an mental habit of constant self enquiry it can be helpful for you to practice samyama or self enquiry with the mantra IAM or which ever of the enhancements you use.

As i have mentioned before but has been put in "other systems or approaches" their is a deity of the IAM mantra this deity can hold the mantra and your silence. this sentient being is the empowerment. He can self pace self enquiry you do, thus you can calm symptoms caused by mental habits.

i hope someone understands this.

love

joe
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  3:03:24 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
While coming back to beirut today after a long trip north of lebanon... I remembered the words of jesus (translation from arabic)" my god my god take away this cup from me" "thy will be done" and then he was put on the cross. I felt like sharing these words here. Salam
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Apr 07 2013 :  3:05:16 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
As per a certain aspect... I don't c it this way... Never did... It's a whole... A oneness.
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Apr 08 2013 :  8:55:53 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda

As per a certain aspect... I don't c it this way... Never did... It's a whole... A oneness.


I can only speak from my own experience, and it may not be applicable to anyone else. It didn't matter that I saw it as a whole, where did my actions take me? So in other words, what was I actually doing on a daily basis? I was practicing (in numerous ways), to experience more love, light, bliss and ecstasy and less suffering throughout my life. What's wrong with this? Nothing, or at least it seemed that way until a certain point. Eventually, looking for all that had to go and so did all the practices. Life made that abundantly clear. Each had to dissolve in silence by recognizing the price and limitations for each.

But this is my path so i carry on.



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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Apr 08 2013 :  10:54:29 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Dear brother, it's a personal and private experience & relation with what we consider as divine. Unlike u i can't stop from being in devotion mode or thinking about saints and repeating the names of the beloved in my heart and on my lips. Here it's sweet to pay the price but i've self paced big time bcz i have reached my limit for the time being. As per powerful practices like Dm a two momth break is smthg i need obviously or i just might be taking the easy way out.. Again this is personal.. Bcz i've been told b4 that i will get to this desert and i would have to stay in it for quite a while...

This is what fakir is (poor one).. It means taking everything away... No ecstasy.. No blisss... All taken away... Leaving the ego without any experience to hold on to... Just dryness in practice and solitude in personal life plus a constant battle within one's self (spiritual and physical) i've signed up for this i guess and i can't but see myself as a coward now.. Bcz i c this as the easy way out.. It's easy and beautiful to love from a distance but it's different to die fully in the flame.

Each own's path is different. This is why Yogani says the guru is in you. My inner guru is my heart. It wants to love and burn in the flames of love... But i can't let things be as they were... I am tired and it feels like i've grown ten years older in these last couple of years even my features have rapidly changed... All the best on ur path my friend and keep your ayp family within ur silence. Namaste
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shibumi

Canada
8 Posts

Posted - Apr 09 2013 :  11:16:54 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Incredible post Anthem. It took me much longer than you to figure out that transcendental meditation was turning me into a space cadet. A flakey, anxious, depressed space cadet. I tried everything to make it work - longer rest, shorter meditation, longer meditation, grounding etc.

I finally took a break, and after about a week I felt like I was surfacing from madness, and remembering my old self pre-TM (the opposite of what it did to me). I feel far more centered and normal and the world makes sense again - and I can connect normally with people instead of feeling like a spaced out oversensitive wreck. I cringe when I think of some of my behaviour while I was doing this form of meditation.

Interestingly enough, some of the things you talk about (accepting the good AND the bad)are tenets of zazen. Just sitting meditation, eyes open, take everything as it is, zazen. Osho also has some interesting articles on TM, zen, and meditation in general - a very unique point of view that will make you say 'aha'. Although take what he says with a grain of salt. I share your opinion that this quest for eternal 'bliss' and pain avoidance is questionable. Actually in my opinion its ridiculous - and I am having a hard time finding this thirst for bliss in Buddhas teachings. It seems like another form of attachment - similar to what drug users look for in their own roundabout crazy way.

This was only my experience of course.
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Apr 17 2013 :  03:37:29 AM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I can't even repeat the name of Allah anymore without overloading... Something is pushing me this way and accompanied with my personal stressful life these days I can't handle strong episodes of overloading as well...
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Arman

Australia
47 Posts

Posted - Apr 21 2013 :  01:30:20 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Interesting times indeed... have there been people who have become oversensitive to a point where they have had to remove most practices for an extended period of times (months?) and then eventually returned to spinal breathing and other practices? I feel like I have progressed so well over the last year or so but I feel I still have so much space to travel and I have yet become sensitive quite quickly. Likely I am over-thinking it.

I didn't realize that this is happening to so many and this thread has been slightly daunting on my heart. Does this mean that perhaps in the future, perhaps soon we need to restructure the way that these practices are introduced to people? I wonder if global sensitivity will only just keep increasing? Just thoughts on my mind.

Reading this thread I'm reminded of a passage from Autobiography of a Yogi. Perhaps halted practices is a grace and reminder of something...

The sage locked his vibrant body in the lotus posture. In his seventies, he displayed no unpleasing signs of age or sedentary life. Stalwart and straight, he was ideal in every respect. His face was that of a RISHI, as described in the ancient texts. Noble-headed, abundantly bearded, he always sat firmly upright, his quiet eyes fixed on Omnipresence.

The saint and I entered the meditative state. After an hour, his gentle voice roused me.

"You go often into the silence, but have you developed anubhava?" He was reminding me to love God more than meditation.

"Do not mistake the technique for the Goal."
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mr_anderson

USA
734 Posts

Posted - Apr 22 2013 :  1:19:39 PM  Show Profile  Visit mr_anderson's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Interesting topic.

I had huge bhakti for my chosen ideal, which in my case, was perhaps somewhat similar to Anthem's.

I imagined the following:

-A state of total 'inner freedom': I.e. no longer experiencing any sort of 'negative' internal state - anxiety, fear, unhappiness, anger, in response to external stimuli or otherwise. Therefore residing in a constant state of inner peace, suffused with joy. Therefore having a sort of Eckhart Tolle-ian detachment from it all.

-Complete destruction/integration of the shadow-self, resulting in becoming a being of perfect integrity and moral perfection: Basically I would no longer ever do anything selfish or say even the tiniest thing that might be cause even the slightest disharmony in the world. I’d no longer experience lust, all sexual union would be a kind of perfectly clean, spiritual, harmonious, experience that was fairly androgynous. All other aspects of moral perfection, giving me a kind of completely stainless conscience all the time.

Then I had a sort of ‘awakening’ experience last year, and I entered my ideal to a certain extent, I was in a state of constantly high levels of spiritual bliss, and ‘identification with form’, so to speak, seemed to break down, so all the cares of the individual human being seemed somewhat irrelevant. The Josh person seemed just to be a scripted character, less than a grain of sand in the vast ocean of manifest reality.

The paradox being, the human being was experiencing freedom from being human. Or at least something along those lines.
When the experience passed (it lasted the best part of a year), all desire for the aforementioned spiritual ideals was gone. I don’t really experience any bhakti anymore. I seem to have been re-formatted in a sense: I no longer have any neurosis or emotional instability, depression, mood swings and so on (which I used to get a fair bit). All of that unpleasant stuff has completely gone, since about March last year when the experience first started.
I’m just pretty much a normal, emotionally balanced guy. I actually got way less sensitive, I seem to be a lot tougher than I was before, which is a surprise.

I still quite frequently experience states of inner freedom and joy, but I don’t seek them anymore, as a way of escaping problems. I don’t meditate as often, although I naturally tend to find myself in states of mindful awareness. I no longer have any interest in seeking spiritual ‘highs’. I don’t really have any interest in becoming a morally perfect being anymore.

The final realization that I got was it’s quite possible that everything is just perfect, exactly as it is supposed to be, right now, forever and always, you don’t need to change anything, the world doesn’t require you to go on a grand spiritual mission or intervene and make everything perfect, the nature of duality is that there’s always going to be good and evil, shadow and light, suffering and joy, and sentient beings in the realm of duality are always going to be made up of both… and all of that is just fine. Just enjoy yourself as much as possible, don't take it too seriously, try to help others and be honest and decent if you can, but don’t sweat it too much – their own lives are their own responsibilities, follow your intuition… and you’ll be fine.

And that’s what I’m doing now. Pretty much contented with being a regular person with no particularly elevated spiritual goals.
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kami

USA
921 Posts

Posted - Apr 23 2013 :  07:23:28 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Josh,

Welcome back!! Have missed you.

Thank you for sharing. Very interesting, and I've come to some of the same conclusions as you and Anthem (although the Bhakti is still raging here). It is the promise of constant bliss and ecstasy that draws most of us to this path - freedom from all the ups and downs. However, that same promise is also a trap, where the seeking never ends. Like a drug, more and more seems to be required to keep up the ecstasy/bliss, and there is simultaneous cutting off from being human, as you say. There is also the expectation of "perfection in morality" amongst seekers, which in itself is binding, IMHO. There are all kinds of expectations set up in terms of experiences, feeling this or that and even what liberation is...

I seem to have come full circle - starting off with Bhakti, leading to openings and experiences (including expecting to transcend human-ness altogether) to Bhakti again. But the flavor has changed - I'm super happy to offer everything to my Ishta. Mundane breaths in daily life to everything "higher" or "spiritual".. In fact, there is nothing that is not totally spiritual.. The illusion of self-effort has been lifted, the expectations of achieving this or that has eased and I'm finally learning to rest and let my Ishta take over.. Such great freedom in this.

Much love.
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Christi

United Kingdom
4514 Posts

Posted - Apr 23 2013 :  07:59:22 AM  Show Profile  Visit Christi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
A state of total 'inner freedom': I.e. no longer experiencing any sort of 'negative' internal state - anxiety, fear, unhappiness, anger, in response to external stimuli or otherwise. Therefore residing in a constant state of inner peace, suffused with joy. Therefore having a sort of Eckhart Tolle-ian detachment from it all.


Hi Mr. Anderson,

Thanks for your sharing and honesty. Don't forget that freedom isn't gained by getting rid of all the things that you don't like, or by getting all the things that you like (or even some of them). So freedom isn't freedom from anger, or pain, or doubt or fear. It is possible to experience any emotion and stay free.

So freedom is freedom beyond, rather than freedom from. A saint is even free when she is in prison. So freedom is not freedom from being fully human, but rather freedom to be fully human. The initial stage, that of the witness and of detachment (vairagya), can feel at times as if we are not fully engaged with life. But that is only a stage on the path. Beyond that is the coming into the wholeness of life, re-embracing the world if you like, but knowing fully that you are not separate from it. It is the unity/ outpouring divine love stage. Even that is not the end of the path.

In both the witness and the unity stage I think it is helpful to understand freedom as freedom to be at peace with whatever arises. As Kami says above, there is nothing that is not totally spiritual, but it can appear that way when there is attachment or aversion or an ideal that is being held too tightly.

Christi
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JosephUK

United Kingdom
212 Posts

Posted - Apr 29 2013 :  5:15:00 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I guess i'm beginning to understand where i'm at compared to others.

In my ego i want bliss and ecstasy which can drive me forward but i've tripped out on amrita from my own ishta too.

for now i'm happy with my shamanic journeys which are beautiful and healing.

my guru is Jesus Christ and ive fought with that for a long time,

i know i am an innocent person and i know i have karmas.

i initially developed my bhakti through simple hypnotic techniques to stimulate the creation of love for the ego.

but then like someone said above what about God and Goddess.

so ive been working with my higher self which i thouroughly reccomend.

i have offered it the Lords Prayer which is now prayed constantly to the Angel of the Lord my God

and i have offered my prayer for silence to Shakti (for it seems to make sense that all kundalini and shakti requires is silence, inner silencce if you like to begin stirring.

this seems to be purifying my karmas and is great when combined with mindfulness. it has also helped me become mindful of the Lord who is my judge when it comes to conduct.

i worked with my higher self to shine all kinds of forgiving emotions on my body mind karmas such as forgiveness, inner smile, joy, peace, violet light (transmutation)

and now thanks to reading this forum i offer that glory and my devotional energies to the lord (lift your heart to the lord or all your desires)

so i guess just watch this space.


love

j
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BlueRaincoat

United Kingdom
1734 Posts

Posted - Jul 04 2014 :  3:56:15 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Anthem

So not that it was much of a decision but in the end, the only viable way to go forward was for all practices to stop.


Hello Anthem
I hope you will not mind having a years old post being brought up again. I stumbled across it in a critique to AYP somebody posted on some other website, then I went and found it in the forum.
I am really curious how your sensitivity to practice evolved since. Have you built up your sitting practices again? Or have you found another way to develop spiritually? I can see from your recent posts that you are still very much on the path.
Sorry if I'm barging in.
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Jul 04 2014 :  10:30:25 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by BlueRaincoat

quote:
Originally posted by Anthem

So not that it was much of a decision but in the end, the only viable way to go forward was for all practices to stop.


Hello Anthem
I hope you will not mind having a years old post being brought up again. I stumbled across it in a critique to AYP somebody posted on some other website, then I went and found it in the forum.
I am really curious how your sensitivity to practice evolved since. Have you built up your sitting practices again? Or have you found another way to develop spiritually? I can see from your recent posts that you are still very much on the path.
Sorry if I'm barging in.


Hi Blueraincoat,

You are not barging in at all, your timing was good, this is my first visit here for a little while.

I have not done regular sitting practices for 3 years now but opening to the greater reality continues in a similar way as always. It is not to say that I never will practice formally again, life may take me back that way at some future point, I am open to it. The last time I tried formal sitting practices, it detracted from balance, increasing energy above balance and pulling the mind out of full engagement in the here and now. So the same result.

Being present in the here and now, happens throughout the day and that seems to be enough for now. Increasing surrender as the mind becomes aware of resistance, is an ongoing process for me as well.

My path for the last few years has been to follow life's lead, everything I need in order to open is brought in the way of daily life experience. The separation from the so-called spiritual and the daily dream (story) is slight at best. So the path is to just live and experience and see with the inner eye.

If you are wondering if AYP works, I believe it was a significant help on my path. I also don't see oversensitiity (to the point of not being able to do any practices) as any indication that it doesn't work. If anything, it is an indication that it has done its work and is no longer needed, and something else that is then needed will eventually come along. All the practice I did eventually became enough. In my case, there was no avoiding what life wanted me to experience, so at a certain point, practices lost their effectiveness and life had to be fully lived and engaged in and that included the full human (energy) experience in order to carry on.

All aspects of life embraced and experienced without resistance and then you will know the truth of what Is, if you are truly looking.

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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2014 :  10:18:37 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I Should also add that it is any meditation practice that I can no longer do, not just AYP. One Om is enough for the head to burn for a few hours. My opinion is that AYP gives a great foundation of increased silence and can pave a path through the multitude of distractions that block knowing what you are but no system can bypass the need to really live the path life has set out for you and shouldn't be expected to.

Life will make it clear what's needed eventually. That said, the value of being constsient with the practices over the long term until it is clear they no longer benefit can not be over stated in my opinion.
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Christi

United Kingdom
4514 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2014 :  4:02:02 PM  Show Profile  Visit Christi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Anthem,

Do you engage in grounding practices, and if so, what do you do to ground yourself?
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BlueRaincoat

United Kingdom
1734 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2014 :  4:53:49 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Thank you Anthem. Your detailed reply is much appreciated.

I was in fact wondering what has been happening to your inner silence - if it's still going - or growing? - since you stopped meditation. Also is it possible to get to a point where you don't need to spend time with yourself to smooth out any ruffled feathers (as life certainly does ruffle mine and meditation is a great help in that way). Maybe you can do that on the hoof?

No, I don't really have doubts about AYP - as much as it is possible to be without doubts about anything. Many years ago I took a somewhat similar step - stopped regular yoga practice and said 'life will be my teacher'. here the similarity with your story stops however - for me it was not because I did not longer need the practice, but because I discovered serious flaws in that particular method and lost trust in that teacher. I badly missed yoga after that. My inner silence lasted some good years afterwards but then started to dwindle. When I finally found Yogani I was pretty desperate.

In short, I was simply curious if it is possible to bring the inner silence to a point where you won't lose it again even if you stop meditating.

Thank you again for sharing your experience.
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CarsonZi

Canada
3189 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2014 :  5:14:26 PM  Show Profile  Visit CarsonZi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi BlueRaincoat,

I can't answer for Anthem (although in my personal meetings with him he has always, even after quitting meditation, seemed "well-endowed" with inner silence ), but for me inner silence has not diminished but only continued to grow "post-meditation." I stopped meditating formally for a little over a year and a half ago now, for the same or similar reasons as Anthem, but so far there has been no discernable decrease in "inner silence." But perhaps I am just less "clear" now and unable to notice my own lack of inner silence.

Love,
Carson

Edited by - CarsonZi on Jul 05 2014 5:16:47 PM
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Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Jul 05 2014 :  9:43:10 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Christi

Hi Anthem,

Do you engage in grounding practices, and if so, what do you do to ground yourself?


Hi Christi,

I don't buy much into reasons, which from my point of view are made up after the fact to explain the unexplainable but aside from that, sort of would be the best answer. I don't practice anything in a daily ritualistic way (other than paying attention and noticing arisings) and feel no need to do grounding practices in particular because for the most part, I always feel very grounded unless I engage in sitting practices.

Is there activity in my life that would fall under the accepted definition of grounding? Yes, many hours of exercise each week, being very engaged in the body, walking in nature when needed etc.

Edited by - Anthem on Jul 05 2014 9:46:22 PM
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