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Konchok Ösel Dorje
USA
545 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 17 2009 : 6:02:10 PM
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I am very eager to see Yogani's self-inquiry instructions. The latest lessons are regarding self-inquiry and the natural state of unconditioned awareness. I really see a huge global consensus among all the meditation traditions growing around this process. It is the best short-cut to high level meditation practice. Yogani I'm sure still adheres to his yoga practices as better for introducing "the witness" as he calls it. These do have a nice role.
But I'm very excited about the manner in which self-inquiry has blossomed in all the traditions. Not that it's a new thing. But at this moment, many teachers are utilizing these excellent methods to introduce people to high levels of awareness in a relatively short period of time. These are not dependent on philosophy. It does represent a huge leap, an advancement to the process.
There is no higher method than to rest in the "unconditioned awareness" as Yogani says it. I have a really strong feeling that this is the tick that going to click us over into a mass awakening. This energy is non-dual, so the more who join this inquiry and share the experience, the more magnified the well of wisdom awareness will be for us.
Let the age of Mind Yoga dawn.
Great job, Yogani. |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2009 : 11:56:46 PM
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I'm excited too.....I find that Self Inquiry is a huge stimulator for my personal spiritual progress. Seeing through our mental confinements is liberating and bhakti inspiring. I look forward to the new lessons.
Love,
Carson |
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chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2009 : 05:21:48 AM
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I have practised self-enquiry consistently for 30 years. It arose spontaneously, in response to the dilemmas of life. Many yogic phenomena have arisen spontaneously as a result of this practice. The practice tells us to continue enquiring, whatever arises and to ignore such phenomena, which most of the time I have found is manageable. If you lack courage, like me, sometimes you may need advice or corroboration of some of the more extreme phenomena. But we learn mostly to ignore them. For some, there will be no phenomena, they are only a transition, a bubbling of the consciousness which is being deeply stirred.
Read a page of Nisargadatta each morning and each evening. To start with it may seem strange, but you will get the hang of where he is coming from. Seeing where he is coming from, you have the Right View, bam!). Reading Nisargadatta, becoming preoccupied with his teaching, you will spontaneously enquire from time to time during the day, and all will happen of its own accord.
It has worked for many. Nisargadatta is the 'purest' teacher of this path I have found. He offers no practice. He asked for nothing for himself. He allows no hooks to get caught up on. He talks ABOUT nothing. He refers directly to whatever is said to him and simply cuts it to ribbons. Eventually we have nothing. And everything.
chinna |
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Konchok Ösel Dorje
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2009 : 10:26:00 AM
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Thank you Chinna, I will look into the teacher you mentioned. You may also want to look at Milarepa's Songs; there is also a book by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal called "Clarifying the Natural State," which is a book of enormous importance. Of Course Gampopa's "Jewel Ornament of Liberation" sets the stage for understanding how to integrate self-inquiry into daily life. A more difficult but very short read is Tilopa's "Ganga Mahamudra."
I've looked into how various teachers from diverse traditions do self-inquiry. There is very little difference. There are different starting points, but all tend to venture into the questions without answers. Zen Koans are excellent examples. See "Blue Cliff Record," a beautiful and sort of mind bending read. Vipassana teachers like Jack Kornfield are teaching self-inquiry. Yoga practitioners have been doing this for a long time. All of this is fantastically important, and is the universal approach to short cut enlightenment. |
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chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2009 : 7:10:56 PM
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Dear Ösel
Thank you for these texts. I read many Tibetan and Dzogchen texts at one time, but not these, so many thanks I will look them out. I have worked with Blue Cliff Record and Master Dogen's collection of Koans on and off for many years, as well as the prose Shobogenzo.
My recommendation, and love, of Nisargadatta Maharaj is because he is so direct, he makes it all so straightforward. There is nothing esoteric about him, he was relatively unlettered and poor, a householder whose business was selling cheap handmade cigarettes. He claims no status and asks for nothing, except his interlocuter's sincerity and courage. He uses little technical language, and has read few books. But his impact on contemporary advaita and self-enquiry is matched only by Ramana Maharshi, a very different character, as pacific as Nisargadatta is explosive. Ramana embodied the silence; Nisargadatta embodied the work of deconstruction which uncovers it.
Both different from the formal, rather mannered culture of Zen, and secret esoteric culture of Tibet, which for me too often get in the way of understanding. I spend too much time trying to compare levels and stages and schools and texts and not enough time focusing on the heart of the matter. I am sure it is different if one is a committed part of a sangha or a zendo, but I could never get over the self-consciousness of adopting another culture. So I was always drawn to the most direct approaches which didn't require it. 'As many faiths, so many paths'. |
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AYPforum
351 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2009 : 3:05:26 PM
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| Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement |
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Self-Inquiry
