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Cato
Germany
225 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 09 2022 : 12:43:21 PM
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Dear friends,
I bring two questions today:
- In the forum, here and there I read: "I did XY before I came to AYP. I believe I had had much more progress, had I come across AYP earlier."
How is progress measured, how can such a statement be made? Increased calmness, inner silence, peace, improving relationships? An increased longing for god? All of them? Just these for those people, that for those people?
- The focus of AYP is on sitting practices. Other branches (Karma Yoga, Yamas/Niyamas, etc.) are supposed to unfold naturally. Are there AYP-practices that are supposed/recommended to be done apart form the cushion during the day? Devotion for god, cultivating a certain mindset, loving service? Or are these just result from sitting practices?
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Jeanjean82
France
24 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2022 : 3:19:24 PM
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Hello,
I have not a huge experience. However i 'll bring you some idea about this subject.
For the first question: The question is good because what progress does they do with ayp? Is it increased calmness/inner silence or just energetic stuff? Maybe some people think they do progress because they have energetic experience!?
About me, increased inner silence is very subtil and progressive (and maybe not linear), i am not sure to be able to compare effectiveness of two method.
However in all likelihood some people are more sensitive..
Sorry i think it is a partial response for your question.
For the second question (and the first too), i had the same interrogation. And a lesson from yogani may give you some partial response (lesson 366) but according to me the most important part is:
quote:
Whether we perceive ourselves to be flying along in our spiritual progress, or moving very slowly, the most important factor will always be our acceptance of who we are and what we are doing in our life. If we know we are doing our best each day, we can leave the results to posterity. There is no spiritual experience or lack of one that can define our happiness. Real enlightenment is far beyond all experiences, yet it lives in the midst of the ups and downs of everyday life too.
There is something sacred about people who are solid and clear about what they are doing each day. Many who may consider themselves as being under-sensitive to deep meditation possess this gift the gift of steadiness. Enlightenment is not defined by those who are jumping up and down with kundalini, having all the drama that others might envy. That is a side show. For the most part, those who are in it know that the energy is just scenery. Those who don't realize that energy is scenery face greater obstacles than the under-sensitive meditator. There is no greater obstacle to enlightenment than a self-infatuated mind.
We are all traveling the path in our own way and in our own time. If we are able to accept our path and carry on prudently with whatever practices we have chosen, day after day and year after year, our awakening is assured. Indeed, acceptance is a sign of spiritual progress. Not passive acceptance, but active acceptance. We have also called it active surrender.
And if we find ourselves getting upset because we notice our same old bad habits happening again, stop and ponder a minute. Did we notice our old habits so much before? Could it be that our rising inner silence is giving us a clearer picture of how we have lived our life? The witness can cause us the pain of seeing. And in our seeing, we will be inspired to adjust our conduct. We will see that we can transform our raw emotions into positive bhakti. And we will see that we can inquire about our thoughts, questioning the truth of them with more clarity than we ever did before. The fact that we are becoming more sensitive to our condition is a sign of rising inner silence, and we are in a better position than ever before to do something about it.
If we keep meditating twice every day, being mindful of the finer points of practice, and taking advantage of the wide range spiritual resources at our disposal, we will find change occurring in our life. If we don't notice right away, surely others will notice benefits. With patience and persistence we will continue ahead. It is the same for all of us. Inner silence is rising everywhere. [/quote]
However i think that the "let it go" method from David Hawkins may be a good practice during the day for me but not sure to have enough inner silence to do it again.
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interpaul
USA
524 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2022 : 8:52:21 PM
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Cato, On your first question, I had made some progress prior to AYP but found Yogani's very clear and practical teachings facilitated quicker progress without the uncertainty and mystery that is so pervasive in other esoteric practices. Yogani seems to define progress as feeling better in our daily life. I have found the various milestones he outlines helpful, as achievment of milestones gives validation of the path as genuine. Reading about 24/7 ecstatic bliss is a bit out there and hard to grasp conceptually. Feeling some ecstatic conductivity brings clarity to the journey. Your list of progress measures are all valid and there are likely many more. The hard part for me is there are periods in which the progress can feel problematic when increased energy leads to feeling more emotional pain. I think you have to take a long view and check in with yourself over time, self pacing as you go.
For your second question you will likely get many answers. If you read all of Yogani's writings you will see he does focus on the sitting practices and suggests the others naturally come. Certainly AYP has Asanas, tantra and self inquiry as practices that exist outside of the sitting practices. I will defer to others who may be able to direct you to more specific information. I have personally experienced a gradual unfolding of other practices such as karma yoga etc which seem to evolve out of the practices naturally. |
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Cato
Germany
225 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2022 : 10:30:05 AM
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I thank you for your answers. Both are helpful, especially
- "...the most important factor will always be our acceptance of who we are and what we are doing in our life" and
- "The hard part for me is there are periods in which the progress can feel problematic when increased energy leads to feeling more emotional pain."
I judge that I'm still prettey much near the spiritual starting line. I am much more egocentric than I would like to be. Much more than my wife, who is the family's haven of tranqulity. Still no signs of calmness or peace visible here. However, I have to admit, yoga (both years of physical ashtanga yoga and AYP) has brought devotion and a longing for god. Being drawn to natural science, I started with an alomost atheistic point of view years ago. I can say that clearly has changed.
I guess I brought up these questions with different aspects in my mind. During the day and especially regarding realtionships, I'm sometimes in need of some inner guideline. I feel in midair when interacting with people from time to time, kind of floationg with the tide. It would be great to feel principles to rely on. Regarding AYP, those are yamas/niyamas, service (Karma Yoga), doing daily things with devotion to god (Bhakti Yoga). However, those are not practices to apply in daily living but are supposed to unfold naturally. It might sound like a dispensable difference but it makes a huge different to me. I am not sure if these words match what I like to express, I hope it is comprehensible. |
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Dogboy
USA
2192 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2022 : 01:06:10 AM
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Hello Cato
quote:
I guess I brought up these questions with different aspects in my mind. During the day and especially regarding realtionships, I'm sometimes in need of some inner guideline. I feel in midair when interacting with people from time to time, kind of floationg with the tide. It would be great to feel principles to rely on. Regarding AYP, those are yamas/niyamas, service (Karma Yoga), doing daily things with devotion to god (Bhakti Yoga). However, those are not practices to apply in daily living but are supposed to unfold naturally. It might sound like a dispensable difference but it makes a huge different to me. I am not sure if these words match what I like to express, I hope it is comprehensible.
What I discovered from disciplined practice is the tangible sense of rising of silence, in daily living, while driving, in conversations and interactions; thoughts pass through my head and it’s like I’m reading them as they crawl by, free to go. When you feel you are floating with the tide, or mid air, the weight of that moment could be experienced as silence rising. Silence is the space between words, written, spoken, thought. It is in the moment after inner inquiry (“how should I proceed?” “why did I judge that?”). It is an anchor felt in an unexpected or turbulent circumstance. The more you consider the silence present both inside and outside, and give it gentle attention, the more it will find itself in your everyday.
During SBP my intention is always to find silence and openness, so when the mantra commences it dissolves in the vacuum and becomes sensation. |
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Cato
Germany
225 Posts |
Posted - Sep 15 2022 : 5:17:29 PM
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lightandlove
Germany
85 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2022 : 07:15:45 AM
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Hi Cato,
what made the AYP practices appealing to me compared to what I did before is that they are very simple, clearly explained and seemed like a path that does the job until the end.
I liked the approach that there is no secret (as it is very common in e.g. indian traditions), no „you need a guru/initiation first“, and the main thing, deep meditation, is the first thing you learn. Just everything is provided openly, no piece of puzzle is missing.
The practices are simplified compared to many other traditions. So for example in spinal breathing no chakras or other concepts are used. Just simple breathing up and down. The main relevant thing, requiring no big concepts.
I think with this assurance that the practices are in their key form and everything provided it was easy for me to fully trust what I‘m doing also. Furthermore there is not much doubt about the source (Yogani) compared to many other guru traditions where there are accusations of rape, discrimination of the female or other things. The guru is in you is direct and on point.
All these things are a reason for me why I felt I can have „progress“ with AYP and settle into this one practice. Together with what seemed to me a faster purification in terms of released trauma and similar, It was clear for me after a while that I can and will stick to this practice, as long as it takes.
Leaving aside any effects of the practice I could feel, like true inner silence arising, this one pointedness in my practice itself is what I would actually say is what is a big „progress“ compared to my previous practices. |
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