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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
 Posted - May 11 2009 : 2:12:26 PM
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Namaste Friends....
Hope you are all having a blissfilled Monday!
Lately I have been choosing not to do my practices in my usual silent meditation room. I don't know about you all, but I sometimes find it easier to lose myself in silence when surrounded by distraction. Well, now that it is starting to become summerish in Canada, I have been choosing to do my afternoon (and occasional morning) practices in my backyard. I allow my dogs to run freely in the yard, and there are birds and sunshine and wind, sounds of traffic on the roads in the distance, maybe someone mowing their lawn somewhere down the street, etc etc. What I am finding is that I am going DEEPER into meditation then when I do my practices in a quiet room surrounded by silence. I am finding it easier to lose all thought, and am hitting levels of samadhi I have never hit before with regularity. I even did meditation in the mall the other day while my wife shopped for lingerie(I hate going into those stores ) and when she came out and saw me she told me I looked retarded with my eyes half open in sambhavi and my face contorted a bit in kechari . I tried to care, haha. I just couldn't find an embarrassed feeling anywhere though. I was very blissful instead. Anyways, just wondering if anyone else out there enjoys meditating in distracting places and find that they can go even deeper in these situations.
Love,
Carson
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Edited by - CarsonZi on May 11 2009 2:13:40 PM |
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miguel
Spain
1197 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2009 : 3:50:30 PM
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hi Carson.
I try to dont get atached to silent enviroments,altought i dont avoid them. I preffer allow what is happening in dm and watch it like i do with my toughts,always favouring the mantra.DM book "talks" about this attitude in dm.This teaching was a GREAT help after reading it.Before,this was a constant problem in my meditations.
on the other hands,it seems you are having wonderfull development in your path.Beautiful post and feelings.
Thanks for sharing.
all the best. |
Edited by - miguel on May 11 2009 3:52:33 PM |
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Akasha
421 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2009 : 6:42:42 PM
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I touched on the DM book, and can one go into meditiative 'dm state' while in waking normal life? eyes wide open, like almost like automatic- is that the idea,eventually perhaps--it becomes an automatic state?
i have experience a witnes state, that is perceptual , not thinking mind, and i am finding the DM quite hlepful on many levels, even if thr purgin can be a little umcfortable sometimes, but rising ecstasy other times.
enjoying, each day, exploring.
Also why is DM such a powerful practice? EVen if this warrant s another post- sorry carson. Is there a scientific rationale exapnding on yogani's explanations & terms. If there is, it sounds like one is resetting the natural frequenices of the ns? Good!
I think the reference to 'tuning fork' came to mind. clearly it does'nt matter if there is research. If it does something good then that is what matters. I wonder if research anyway has been done into the mechanisms behind internal mantra yoga. It is like i can almost hear tight muscles release, muscle tone re-adjusting, as my mind wanders into mantra,losing and returning etc. The body is finding it's own homeostasis. yes one particular session was quite spiritual and provided the most release. the only way i can describe it it was like i burnt off alittle karma. i could almost envisage myself objectively, the physical form and the mind(like above the crown almost,being purified, re-born a little- perhaps this is the shine folk refer to,perhaps not- the habituation,grooves of one's own existence becomes clear). this was amore glamorous session and felt little sensitive next few days.
defintely obstructions in the mind & freedon for the soul perhaps, so in turn this raditaes and expresses itself outwardly
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Edited by - Akasha on May 11 2009 6:59:48 PM |
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christiane
Lebanon
319 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 03:58:11 AM
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hi..
I did deep meditation once in nature.. knowing that for pranayam, it's very helpful to be in natural surroundings in the mountain.
But surprizingly enough, despite the wind, birds sounds, I was able to dissolve and go in. I felt there was no more boundaries.. the limits of the physical body expanded and dissolved. So everything around was included in "the inner space".
Now, meditating in a dark room is another experience.. There is more "darkness" to explore. The outside experience was rather a fusion between "in" and "out".
2 days ago, I spent about 90 minutes meditating (not deep med) in a lovely garden surrounding an isolated church in the mountain.
It was heaven there: alternate fog and sun, perfect temperature, pure fresh air (you could almost drink it with your nose!)
It was such purity all around that only by gazing at the sky, I couldn't bear it and cried.. It was such a pure presence.. I felt God's rays of light penetrating me..
I sat down, laid my back on the trunc of an old olive tree and watched my belly and breath for a while. I came to a point of literally merging and tuning to the "rythm" of life around me.
I was no more part of that space. I dissolved in it.
Then, I looked up to the sky and saw a huge group of storks flying towards the church place. They stopped right above the church and started to fly in circles.. I couldn't believe my eyes: such a breathtaking vision of Life..I just felt like joining them, really!
I closed my eyes again and meditated..
Then a family came with their children to play with them on the grass.
I felt no disturbance at all.. rather I felt them "included" in the expanded space I was one with.
When the lady saw me suddenly, she got scared! She asked me if I was ok, coz I looked like a statue  (it's not that usual to see someone meditating in public places..)
I just apologized for frightening her and felt big love and gratitude..
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Edited by - christiane on May 12 2009 04:06:58 AM |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 08:46:55 AM
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Hi All,
It is wonderful to be experiencing the silence in crowded places and being able to meditate in such places. It is important though to keep in mind that meditating in crowded places or in a garden or in a bus is OK if you have a time crunch or if it is an additional meditation session you want to add to your current routine (like Christiane did), however if possible, do the twice a day routine indoors. Just keep in mind, it was the twice a day meditation that got you to a place where you can enjoy the silence in a crowded place.. honor the practice and give it the best environment possible, then take that silence out into the noisy world with you. Not saying you should never meditate in noisy places, all I am saying is whenever there is an option of meditating in a noisy place or in the silence of your home, chose the second.
Lesson 31 - Meditation Q&A – Enjoying the great outdoors |
Edited by - Shanti on May 12 2009 08:47:23 AM |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 09:15:10 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Akasha
Also why is DM such a powerful practice?
I am quoting from a post I had written some time back, hope it helps:
Repeating a mantra like we do in the AYP meditation does three things in my experience, first during the process of saying the mantra and losing it and then coming back to it, we learn how to let go, surrender.. By not trying to control the mantra we are un-learning our mind's need to control and in the process gently letting go/surrendering to our ishta. This is the hardest step for many, just allowing the mantra to take over and in the process losing your mind.
Second thing it teaches, is to access the gap.. the silence that is really us. During meditation, the point where we realize we are off the mantra and go back to the mantra we actually touch the silence. As we continue with meditation, this gap expands and we find we were lost in the silence.. between no mantra/no thought and mantra. Here we touch our heart.. in the gap, when the mind is lost for a few mins the heart has a chance to overflow into our lives. Many people experience this (even if for a fleeting moment), but don't know it.. it is a moment when people see that perfect sunset or sunrise or see the face of their new born child for the first time or fall in love, at those moments the mind is silent and heart is experienced (the gap in thoughts is experienced). Most people don't realize that the feeling of loving was experienced because for those few min the mind was not there, they actually think it was the other object involved that gave them the feeling of the overflowing heart and get attached to that object and try to recreated that moment. As long as the mind is trying to recreate the feeling experienced without the mind, it's not going to happen. This is what meditation does to us, slowly expose us to the gap again and again, and hence we experience our heart again and again.
Third is the vibrational qualities of the mantra purifying our nervous system as we meditate on it. Yogani explains this in Lesson 188 - Q&A – Mantra Design 101. The mantra will slowly break down the obstructions and hence purify the nervous system and allow us to enjoy the silence in our every day life. |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 11:28:42 AM
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Hi Christiane....
A wonderful sounding experience....I was right there with you . Thank you for sharing.
Love,
Carson |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 11:39:30 AM
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Hi Shanti!
quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
It is wonderful to be experiencing the silence in crowded places and being able to meditate in such places. It is important though to keep in mind that meditating in crowded places or in a garden or in a bus is OK if you have a time crunch or if it is an additional meditation session you want to add to your current routine (like Christiane did), however if possible, do the twice a day routine indoors.
I know this is the teaching, and I can understand why if you aren't hitting deep silence in meditation, but if you are actually going DEEPER when there is constant distraction, why would it matter? For me it seems if there is constant sound around me, then I am not distrubed by any of it. And I find that if I am sitting in my silent room and my dog decides to shake and her collar jingles, that that pulls me out of DM. If I am outside and there is the sound of the wind, and distant traffic, and my dog shakes and her collar jingles, I don't hear it. I stay deep in meditation. To me it shouldn't matter where you meditate as long as you are connecting. That's just me though, everyone is different.
quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
Just keep in mind, it was the twice a day meditation that got you to a place where you can enjoy the silence in a crowded place..
Yes of course Shanti.... Do not forget where you came from. Thank you. (it's not always nice outside here in Canada, so I am "forced" indoors many days anyway, haha).
quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
honor the practice and give it the best environment possible, then take that silence out into the noisy world with you.
Is the best environment for one always the best environment for another? Is the best environment one day always the best environment another day? Is it always important to restrict yourself to meditation in a dark, quiet place?
quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
Not saying you should never meditate in noisy places, all I am saying is whenever there is an option of meditating in a noisy place or in the silence of your home, chose the second.
And I'm not saying you should always meditate in a noisty place. But I don't know about when having the option between a quiet place and a noisy place, always choosing the quiet one. Perhaps on days when you feel distracted. But for me, some days I feel so steeped in inner silence already, I could sit and meditate anywhere at anytime no matter what was happening around me. And on those days, especially when the sun is out (don't know what it is, but the past month or so I have really had this love affair with the Sun) I really like to meditate out in the sunshine. The sounds of everyday life don't seem to hinder reaching deep inner silence so why not?
Thanks for the advice!
Love,
Carson |
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grihastha
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2009 : 10:24:58 AM
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I've been finding it isn't quiet at all lately when I meditate - birds, cars going by, kids... Short of constructing a padded cell for myself (my family might think that isn't such a bad idea), I have to accept it.
There are two things that want to happen: I want to actively block out the sounds, ignore them; or analyze them: 'dog,' 'rooster,' 'is that child hurt or annoyed?' 'crow or raven?'... Particularly distracting, I find, are cars going past. You have the noise building in the distance, very demanding of attention, then the doppler effect as it passes and recedes. One day I made the connection between noise, of all kinds, and speech, ie mantra, which some see as the creative principle manifest (Vak or Saraswati or Matangi, the goddesses who reign over the instant that thought becomes speech - all encapsulated, for me, by Om. So I invited the distractions in as bhakti, acknowledged them as God, and sent my Self out into the distractions, melted into them. Sometimes I feel almost formless, nothing more than a sound-board. I don't listen: I am 'listen.'
Another approach: the other day things were quite quiet but a large, buzzy fly had found its way into my room. Flies are a particularly insistent distraction: they stir feelings of annoyance, but they also lull - that lazy summer feeling. I suddenly realized that this fly was nothing more or less than Maya, the great Queen of Illusion. So I just acknowledged Her and, as we are all Maya, the fly became a brief source of happiness and then faded out.
Sorry for the long post! But without those padded cells, silence is pretty much impossible and I've found that, since I've welcomed distraction, it's added something to my practice, however subtle... |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2009 : 11:03:25 AM
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Welcome to the AYP forums Grihastha a pleasure to read your posts!
This is very much how I feel as well. Distractions are only as distracting as you allow them to be. Don't label them as distractions and they are something else. And much easier to let go of. Silence, at least in my home, does not happen, so.....learning to accept and work with the distractions has become essential to hitting DM for me. Thank you for your post. I very much enjoyed reading it.
Love,
Carson |
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grihastha
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2009 : 3:57:19 PM
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| Thanks, Carson! I'm glad it made sense... |
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Meditation with distractions
