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gumpi

United Kingdom
546 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  09:55:23 AM  Show Profile  Visit gumpi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I am already self-hypnotized if i buy into the idea of maya. i don't buy into that idea.

What you have said here is like saying to me, "that is just your opinion" as if it is worthless and your opinion is valuable. But of course it is my opinion which is valuable too, not just yours. When you say thoughts are somehow "bad" and the non-conceptual, non-linguistic, compassionate pure mind is "good" i don't happen to agree. Not only are you using your linguistic, impure, conceptual mind to write what you have on these forums, but i seriously doubt that you don't have that aspect of mind at other times. Perhaps your conditioning (read self-hypnosis) doesn't allow you to see what i write. But that is fine by me so long as you don't blast me with your own spiritual conditioning and expect me to swallow it whole without questioning it.
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gumpi

United Kingdom
546 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  10:00:55 AM  Show Profile  Visit gumpi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Karl, being a certified hypnotherapist doesn't make you an authority on the subject of hypnosis. There are thousands of hypnotherapists who probably don't even know much about hypnosis at all, especially past life therapists and UFO therapists. I personally know a hypnotherapist also and i have read about hypnosis fairly extensively. So it is not as if i don't know the difference between relaxation and hypnosis. I do however, know that relaxation can bring a person into a suggestible state and what i am trying to say here is that when people enter these meditative states their conditioning and expectations of what should happen affects their subsequent experiences, and i am questioning the validity of those experiences.

I think it is way too simplified to state outright that meditation and hypnosis are different in the sense that they have nothing in common. I am fairly certain they have plenty in common actually. And in many ways. Sorry if you are uncomfortable with that idea but it is a fact.
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Parallax

USA
347 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  12:10:03 PM  Show Profile  Visit Parallax's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Ok Gumpi, you're right. I hope you find peace and happiness with whatever path you decide to follow in life (including the path of "no path" if you so choose).

If you ever decide you have an interest in pursuing the AYP practices again, let us know. I'm sure everyone here will help in whatever way they can to support you in your practices (in spite of our huge egos)

Have a great weekend

Peace & Namaste
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YogaIsLife

641 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  12:25:20 PM  Show Profile  Visit YogaIsLife's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
What you have said here is like saying to me, "that is just your opinion" as if it is worthless and your opinion is valuable. But of course it is my opinion which is valuable too, not just yours.


Dear Gumpi,

For me, happiness in life and clarity of thought and expression is the measure of success and truth. In that sense, TMS's words (I mention him in this case because you reply to him but others' posts have equal significance) resonate as being "more true" than yours, Gumpi, I am sorry to say. I feel resentment, of any kind, is an obstruction to pure love and life. I sense resentment in your words, hence my feeling of intuitevely discard them as illusion. In any case my own experiences with meditation are self-validating, no need for external validation here. What I know is that truth is truth, and we can talk all we want, it will always be truth and it will reveal itself sooner or later. Somethings help, others don't. I think your negativity towards mediattion and discarding it as self-hypnosis does not help, you or others, in this aspect. Don't you think? That is an important aspect - action to help us and others evolve to a better life with less suffering, don't you agree?

Maybe you think I am self-hypnosed. I am happier and life flows better. I also see things more clearly and experience less suffering. Are this not good desirable signs in life? I believe they are. Of course, it is your choice. You can choose to discard and accept whatever you want of course. And everybody else is too. So live and let live. And, as I said before, I also believe that the best action is that which is positive, in the direction of helping us and others live a more fulfiling happier life. Again, your choice here as well.

It does not matter, in my view, what you believe or not, but what you experiece. You have written many times about the wonderful effects you were having with meditation in the forums only to contridict yourself afterwards. Why? If it really is an illusion for you (and maybe it is and the rest of us are all wrong) then maybe is it not better to move on?

With love.
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karl

United Kingdom
1812 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  1:04:03 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by gumpi

Karl, being a certified hypnotherapist doesn't make you an authority on the subject of hypnosis.



and how exactly do you know that ?

I can tell you that I both meditate and practise self hypnosis and they as as different as chalk and cheese. Now I am talking about the AYP version and no other form of meditating.

The difference is very easy to describe.

AYP meditation occupies the conscious mind because you are, or should be concentrating on the Mantra. I know that people keep going on about the vibration of the Mantra and I have no idea what they are talking about.

This concentration stops the conscious mind from going into trance and because there is no suggestions into the unconscious mind it gets all scared and tries throwing things up in an effort to survive (this is the same state that has been experimented on during bouts of human isolation and happens within sensory deprivation tanks. it's this that makes it different, in some sense you are torturing the mind in the same way as chinese water torture. All the stuff that the subconscious throws up in defense is the scenery that is mentioned many times in the AYP books......all these spiritual events are just scenery.

The real depth is in the zero state when the mind becomes still. There is very real scientific evidence that points to this state being analgous with the exact way in which the universe is expanding and reaching entropy. A space full of everything with no time and all time. How that actually makes any sense in the human condition I dont know, but I'm damned sure it's an area I want to explore.

Hypnotism is totally different. I think I am at least qualified to point out my own personal journey with this and contrast it with my experience of AYP meditation. In the hypnotic state the mind is filled at a subconscious level and the conscious mind has given up and wandered off. In effect it is like the state you feel when yopu read a good book. You are relaxed and in a learning state.

Meditation feels a lot like some army assault course compared to the warm relaxing bath in my estimation. It is without doubt one of the least relaxing things I have done. They just don't compare at all.

Peoples experience of strange events is just the unconscious defending itself and I dont think we yet understand why it does this. However I do know that when they experimented on a group of people in isolation and deprived them of vision and sound that they quickly lost track of time and space and became emotionally disturbed, some as quick as 30mins. It was interesting that there was one person who regulary meditated and she simply sat on the bed and let the hours run by without effort.

If time is an illusion as Einstein believed, then our only sense of existence would be the creation of an illusory passage of time. If we dont have this illusion we would suddenly realise that we do not actually exist at all. Meditation seems to prepare the way to understand this null point in some way and make it less scary for the poor old subconscious to understand.

Now, where that journey goes I have no idea, but hell yes I want to travel it, even if the chance of success is almost nill. Because maybe, somewhere along the way I might just get a glimpse of the universe the way it really is to understand by examining the star stuff of my own internal imaginings that is part of the universe and yet seems so apart. Does not matter if I do not get there, the small amount of effort needed does not hurt, makes me feel good and might just lead somewhere very interesting.

Sometimes you dont know if a journey will go anywhere, or that it will even be pleasant. The only way to start one is to start walking and trust your own judgement.

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themysticseeker

USA
342 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  1:45:45 PM  Show Profile  Visit themysticseeker's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
The difference between hypnosis and meditation is that when you are meditating you know it, but when you are hypnotized you don't. The difference is awareness. If you know you are self-hypnotized, then you are not in a trance. Trance is an altered state of consciousness. Meditation is the unaltered state of consciousness. Your thoughts, opinions, etc., are fabrications, alterations of the natural state of your mind. Anyone who has had a peak experience while doing some strenuous activity knows this kind of open awareness. It is very distinct from a trance, which is something like a sleep state. Sorry, Gumpi, keep trying...

I'm not saying that thoughts are bad or good. I'm saying they are conditions of the mind which is one state, and then there's an unconditioned state. Like pristine placid clear water is one state, and a rip roaring rapids is another state of water. The placid water is unconditioned. Believing that there is only one state, the rip roaring rapids, is not good or bad, just incorrect.

Look at this example, think of the first time you saw some new technology, something you have never encountered before. Perhaps you didn't act like a dog when seeing something for the first time, and run away scared. Perhaps you didn't creep up and sniff it and lick it. You perhaps took it in your hand, and looked at it. Your mind perhaps was able to just recognize it without having ever seen it. How is that possible?

Another example, anyone who writes music or poetry or draws will relate, where do the original melodies or subtle metaphors come from? From where does an ingenious work of art originate? If you examine this question you will see that there is no answer. It is actually not logically possible for an ingenious work of art to originate from nowhere, but that's exactly where it comes from. If you try to identify the origin of an inspired thought, you will search forever and never find it. However, it does come from the mind. This mind, you cannot describe.

How about when people say, "When I party I free my mind." What are they talking about? Free from what? What captures it? Where is it held? When it's free, where does it go to? Try to answer that question and again you will not find any possible answer.

When people say, "I'm going to go jogging and clear my mind." Clear of what? What's in it? Are the thoughts collecting like dust? Where? How do they collect? When they clear, what clears them? Where do they go? Again, there is no answer to any of these questions.

If you can identify it, then you would be the first, and you should win the Nobel Prize. The nature of mind is not yet the domain of scientists. Science has no answer to the question of original or novel ideas, how they originate or from where. Consciousness is still a scientific mystery. It is the domain of the philosophers and the yogis. I believe it always will be, because it is a deep mystery.

The nature of the mind is clear already, self-knowing without any object to know or any knower to know it; thoughts clear themselves, because they are insubstantial, like mirages.

You say you have an opinion. How is it held? Who holds it? What gives it meaning? When you say "I" what are you talking about? When you say "I," I know you are not talking about me; how do I know that? Are we talking about our bodies, our memories, our feelings, all of it, what? It's ephemeral, incomprehensible. Yet, we both understand it.

When you meditate, there is no meditator, and no act of meditation. These thoughts do not arise. If you just stay still, as long as you don't latch on to thoughts, they subside. If you remain inactive, non-focused and without attachment, the mind settles into its original state.

I follow the path of non-meditation, because I have seen the nature of my mind. It's like looking into empty space.

Love,

TMS

Edited by - themysticseeker on Mar 06 2009 2:17:59 PM
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gumpi

United Kingdom
546 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  2:12:14 PM  Show Profile  Visit gumpi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
You just said that hypnosis occurs when the person loses control. That is absolutely false and verges on propaganda. I advise you not to spread that kind of false information. The fact is that people in hypnosis have to let the process occur and that is one of the fundamental conditions for the whole thing to work.

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gumpi

United Kingdom
546 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  2:18:16 PM  Show Profile  Visit gumpi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
And so first you say that hypnosis is a loss of the conscious controlling mind, and then you go on to say that meditation is control of the mind and you tell me to keep on trying... I really think it is you that needs to keep on trying. Because you still don't get it.
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themysticseeker

USA
342 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  2:21:24 PM  Show Profile  Visit themysticseeker's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by gumpi

You just said that hypnosis occurs when the person loses control. That is absolutely false and verges on propaganda. I advise you not to spread that kind of false information. The fact is that people in hypnosis have to let the process occur and that is one of the fundamental conditions for the whole thing to work.





I don't know if this is in response to me or not. Yes, they let it happen. But when you are in a trance, you can't say "this is the trance; I'm in a trance." Right?

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anthony574

USA
549 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  2:45:21 PM  Show Profile  Visit anthony574's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
SO what do you believe Gumpi? Not specific to yoga, but about life in general? How solid of an idea do you think you have about the essence of existence?

You seem to believe that everyone on this site has life figured out through the yoga lense...not quite. There are some on here that hold very true to Hindu and other doctrines that include stories and theories about existence and such, but most people on here are just practicioners who follow a set of practices that are supposed to do certain things.

The people on here to me tend to be the most "right" because most people on here accept the fact that the intellect can not even come close to comprehending the universe and existence. I feel that you try to rationalize it with your mind, science, experiments...whatever. Yeah, there are nice things when science can "prove" something, but you are beating your head against a wall if you're expecting your brain to understand the nature of reality, which I'm forced to assume you want to do since you're on a spiritual website.

You, Gumpi, are never going to understand anything about life and existence. Apparently, there is "nothing" to understand. You can talk about it all you want and sound like Yoda but the fact is no one knows why we're here, what this is all about...and the only thing that most everyone can agree on is that the only thing left to us is to try to understand our existence and be happy Yoga is a way of supposedly doing that. How do we know? WE don't. We believe it because we believe that others we observe achieve wonderful states of happiness and life through practice. Is it the only way? Hell, no. But if you're expecting your path or your non-path to yield the answers you want then join the club cuz everyone wants it. But maybe that's why we're here - to want to know the answers. Knowing them all would be cosmically boring wouldn't it?
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  3:16:39 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
hi gumpi, 1st of all no body said that nathalie is a troll.

about hypnosis it's possible on the mind but what we are experiencing is far beyond mind or body maybe it's God or truth name it whatever you like.

anyways a story just passed my mind but i don't know if i remember the exact author of this short story but i think it's saint Augustine where he was walking on a beach and he found a kid digging a big hole in the sand so he asked the kid why are you doing this and the kid replied i want to move the ocean waters and put them in this whole (which is ofcourse impossible)

the point of this story is to tell us that our mind is very limited and cannot assimilate the truth or understand it.

only the self can know the self and that state of witness whom everybody speaks of in here is smthg other than the body and this is why i said yes there is hypnosis on the level of the mind but when in the state of witness you just are watching the stream of thoughts without getting identified with them.

better yet you'll have a chance to know them for what they really are as objects and thus you will use these objects and turn them into something positive and constructive.

when we meditate we wake up from hypnosis.

just concider this as another wakeup call brother and keep on working out that limited brain of yours if you like it is bound to get tired at one life or the other.

namaste,

Ananda

p.s: all brains are limited not only yours
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gumpi

United Kingdom
546 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  3:26:21 PM  Show Profile  Visit gumpi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Sorry, you are wrong. Somebody said that natalie was a troll. If that person has deleted their comment now, i cannot prove it. But i saw it first and i mentioned it twice in these threads.
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Parallax

USA
347 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  4:08:06 PM  Show Profile  Visit Parallax's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Gumpi,

Someone said Natalie was "trolling for trouble". Trolling is US slang for "fishing for", ie that Natalie was trying to "stir-up" some trouble by posting her comments on this site.

But if you don't believe me, you can be right if it makes you feel better.
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Parallax

USA
347 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  4:11:22 PM  Show Profile  Visit Parallax's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish

I think Natalie is just trying to troll for trouble. You won't find it here.




This was the post...
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Etherfish

USA
3615 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  6:38:19 PM  Show Profile  Visit Etherfish's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Here's some interesting information that sounds to me like someone who believes in meditation:

Originally posted by Gumpi in another thread about getting results from meditation:

(quote)
2 years isn't very long. Especially if you aren't practising much by way of 30 minutes a day only. Yoga is a life long project. it is worth bearing that in mind.

Didn't you say you had a hard time with your thought processes getting in the way? Perhaps you need to learn to relax fully before you start practising concentration. The mind cannot be forced into anything, it needs gentle friendly coaxing in a relaxed detached way.

Also, when you do SP do you try to physically feel the sensations moving up and down your spine or do you just use visualisation? Visualisation is just a means to concentrate the mind. it is putting the whole feeling and attention on the spine that counts. From my limited experience i can say that doing that plus adding the root lock greatly enhances the experience. I don't feel energy in my body either but sometimes i get spontaneous sensations in my back and spine that come from nowhere and feel very nice.

Expectation is a killer. When there are no experiences from practice and you keep on expecting there to be it just ends up in frustration. You either have to have only one desire in the mind only to the exclusion of absolutely everything else or you have to give up expectation.

Karma yoga and bhakti yoga work together. The whole idea is to work without expectation of results even when you don't seem to get anything in exchange. You jsut work or do things for the sake of doing them. I am not a parent, but i suspect that having a child would teach a perfect lesson in having no expectations because the child cannot really do anything for you. It is completely unselfish love and dedication to that child. You wouldn't change its nappy and then expect it to clean out the trash, for example, in exchange for your efforts.

Last but not least, i believe that bhakti or longing for the Divine is the most powerful practice. If you feel no devotion then perhaps not. However, i'm sure you can picture in your mind some kind of ideal that you can devote yourself to. Whatever it is, if you relate it to God your devotion can grow and grow and grow and things can start to happen. Don't make it an abstract concept because the mind needs form. Make it a very concrete picture and then build devotion to it slowly, in a relaxed way, without expecting to get anything from it. Lots of famous yogis have said things like they don't care, desire or want anything from God except Gods love and even if that doesn't come they continue on. It might seem pointless and unfruitful but eventually something has to happen if you persevere. You can't plant a seed in good soil, water it, give it sunshine and so on and expect it not to eventually flower. One day that seed will sprout, no matter how long it takes, and produce an effect.

Isn't it true that the more you want something the more it seems to get further away from you? Kind of like when you are told not to think about something in particular and the mind cannot help but perversely think about that very thing. Sods law. It sounds to me like you have planted a seed and you keep on digging at the soil to see if anything is happening instead of leaving it to grow by itself. It will never grow if you do that. Just forget about experiencing energy and keep on practising. If your practices aren't even giving you relaxation to any degree, then i would say forget about yoga completely and do something else.

One last thing. In my experience over the last 8 years or so when i first learnt about yoga and meditation, i had been a very heavy pot smoker before. As soon as i heard about the wonderful experiences that people had with meditation i tried to meditate, thinking that it would be better than my drug experiences. I was totally wrong with that approach. With a drug it is so easy - you just take it and get high and you can do that any time, it takes no effort. With meditation it takes effort and is not a quick fix, it is a life long practice. So comparing the experiences you had with drugs to your first attempts at meditation is completely futile and can only end up in frustration. (end quote)

http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....D=5213#45678
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brother neil

USA
752 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  7:55:01 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish

chris angel was dating britney spears; gives a little insight into who he is.


what you are implying may give insight into who you are, what is wrong with dating britney spears?
just a thought,
still with love
brother neil
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anthony574

USA
549 Posts

Posted - Mar 06 2009 :  9:55:24 PM  Show Profile  Visit anthony574's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Etherfish, that was the post by Gumpi I was referring to. It was one of the most helpful and inspiring posts on that thread!
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  12:54:48 AM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
cheers dear old gumpi.
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vijikr

United Arab Emirates
413 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  01:42:15 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi,

Sometimes People fall head over heels if I could guess with some Gurus which in the first place would like divine and then latter on they give all their life to the guru and they make make these so called devotees to think that everything is happening becaz of them and they make them depend on them for all decisions of their life which eventually drains them up and in the end all they gotta say is Meditation is bad but in reality its the other thing which caused them to them runaway...etc...

I don't know if its the case with non-believers.

Love and Light
Viji
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karl

United Kingdom
1812 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  04:20:57 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
I'm just thinking and you might get this and you might not, but here goes nothing (and everything ).

Our experience of time is an illusion. Past and present exist now. We are God, but not now, in the future, but existing now, in order to create the multiverse, which has always existed and does not exist right now. Because past and future, a time when nothing existed and a time when everything existed is together in one place, now.

You can imagine if you will. Two identical you's, one is in the future and one is in the past. If you could experience both those you's simultaneously they would both be in the 'now'. You would be initially confused because both 'nows' existed, but you would quickly become disoriented by the knowledge that there was a future 'now' and a past 'now'.

So the multiverse was once nothing and is now something and it all still exists in all those states. To make sense of it we invented time.

This is where I think meditation goes..........it's why far Eastern philosophies propose the idea of beings of higher realms existing on different planes and ultimately the existence of God. Trying to explain to people that all these things exist at once is a hard thing to conceive. Yet , many religious texts, philosophers and modern scientist hold that view. From our perspective, in the future we become as God and create the multiverse, but only God truly understands this, because only God knows what was created and lives in the past future and present equally. We are not God now though, we have a long way to go from our own particular perspective......just maybe meditation is part of that advancement.....that growing......we do it because it is what was intended as part of the past and we cannot see the future to know....so we just do so in the now and get comfortable with our own lives.
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Etherfish

USA
3615 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  10:10:53 AM  Show Profile  Visit Etherfish's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Yes, this is why being able to connect with God or whatever your highest ideal is, spurns so much criticism in the name of "science". Because it is not scientifically possible. Science only belongs to what we are today. It is necessary to keep the future isolated from the present until we reach the point that it is reality. There are endless arguments about duality VS non-dual thinking for this reason.
What we are in the present is intimately connected with the mechanism behind duality. Meditation brings us to see non-duality, and so people argue that duality doesn't exist so we don't need to meditate or do practices.
They are fooling themselves, because we live in duality, and practices are the only connection we have to the future possibility of non-duality. Especially harmful is having such a strong vision of non-duality that you tell other people not to meditate!
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Etherfish

USA
3615 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  10:23:07 AM  Show Profile  Visit Etherfish's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by brother neil

quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish

chris angel was dating britney spears; gives a little insight into who he is.


what you are implying may give insight into who you are, what is wrong with dating britney spears?
just a thought,
still with love
brother neil




Or maybe this gives insight into who you are - I didn't say there was anything wrong with dating Britney! But if you examine the life of Britney, you would not think Chris Angel could be anything but tricks.
I love Britney, but she has fallen prey to fame - one of the most powerful predators there is. It can destroy almost anyone psychologically, and she was a vulnerable young girl. She was made famous not by talent primarily, but by the powerful fame machine that creates image and charisma. This new machine creates politicians, celebrities, brands; but it destroys people.
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gumpi

United Kingdom
546 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  10:32:11 AM  Show Profile  Visit gumpi's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Sounds like the approach krishnamurti would have recommended.

The trouble with all my complaining here is when it comes to God. I don't have a problem with meditation but i do have a problem with spiritual experiences because there doesn't seem to be any actual way of eliciting them. Bhakti in AYP is not the same as bhakti yoga. In AYP is is about using frustration to commit to regular practice, which you then practice like a ritual without expectations. In bhakti yoga it is all about devotion and concentration on the Divine where all expectation is on experiencing something spiritual. So i bring up the point again that expectation and non-expectation when it comes to God seems to be an oxymoron in terms of getting spiritual experiences. What is the answer to this?

How can people realistically commit to regular meditation and have no expectations of results? There is something about this very issue that unsettles me deeply.

Nevertheless, i did meditate today and this time the mantra became "fuzzy" which i haven't experienced before. But there were so many thoughts flowing into the mind constantly, relentlessly, along with music that i just can't seem to stop. All kinds of different music tunes that i have listened to for years coming up at different times not by conscious choice but by subconscious processes. If this is part of "purification" then i wonder how long it would take to get rid of all this junk. Besides, how do you prevent more junk from getting in when you go about your daily life? You are exposed to music from TV and radio, whether of volition in your own home or from other people outside.

Another query i have concerns the deepness of going inside. Since i have suffered from very large amounts of anxiety in the past, does this hinder efforts to go inside deeply? Might i have too much beta wave activity? I can enter semi-subconscious states and stay aware but they don't turn into dream like images or hypnagogic phenomena.

So if the silent pure bliss consciousness can only arise when the karma/samskaras are exhausted, and you only spend 40 minutes a day meditating, the rest of the day picking up more and more sensory impressions which leak into the brain as more samskaras, how is it even possible to check and throw out that junk to get to the silence?
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YogaIsLife

641 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  10:56:01 AM  Show Profile  Visit YogaIsLife's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Gumpi,

quote:
I don't have a problem with meditation


Honestly, I never know what you think! You change like the wind! Nothing wrong with that, but after a while it becomes exhausting trying to undo every knot you sent forth because you come back to a previously untied one and tie it back again! Have some faith my friend and move on!

quote:
So if the silent pure bliss consciousness can only arise when the karma/samskaras are exhausted, and you only spend 40 minutes a day meditating, the rest of the day picking up more and more sensory impressions which leak into the brain as more samskaras, how is it even possible to check and throw out that junk to get to the silence?


It is great you had some success with meditation. Keep it up! Don't just do it now and then or when having "good" results. Do it regularly. Even if doubting like you are doing here do it.

Regarding your question - Yogani already gave a good metaphor - it is like digging for gold (pure silence). Yes, the dirt is karma but the difference is that with meditation you get glimpses of the gold as you go along, not just after all the dirt has come off. Have faith brother! Go on! Your pipes may be dirty but believe that going in like that like clockwork will loosen up that dirt little by little. That is bhakti. That is desire. Forward march!

And don't worry about all the impressions you are getting from daily life. That is a good question but you will find that, as your meditation progresses in weeks, months and years, you get less and
less impressed by external phenomena. Karma wheel slows down so to speak.
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Etherfish

USA
3615 Posts

Posted - Mar 07 2009 :  12:20:53 PM  Show Profile  Visit Etherfish's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Good post Yogaislife. I agree completely.
Also what makes a big difference is using the silence you gain from meditation to interact in the real world with other people.
Use your actions to make a positive difference in the world. Contribute to society by doing what you know to be right. Don't expect other people to tell you what is right; you know in your heart already. And like Mother Theresa said, don't wait for some big special thing; it's the little things that count:
Just do your job - treat people well, etc. Find things in your life that interest you besides spirituality, and grow that interest so you have to make an effort to remember to meditate.
Ironically, this will help your spirituality greatly.
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