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Rick
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 05 2020 : 12:22:47 AM
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I have been doing 5 minutes of SBP and 20 minutes DM twice a day for about two months and it's great. I have noticed that still, peaceful, thought-free beingness within more often and I am grateful.
I have noticed during DM that I will often mentally say "I AM" and then just be in the thoughtless, still zone and experience that until I think to say I AM again or other thoughts pop up and then I say I AM again when I catch myself following thought. My question is- is it the goal to experience that thoughtless, still beingness or to really make it a focus to repeat I AM with constant conscious intent? Thanks for any help. |
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2020 : 12:53:54 AM
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The mantra should be repeated effortlessly every time you notice you are off it, so yes, as soon as you notice you are in Stillness and not repeating the mantra, you pick it up again at the same level you left off.
Sey 
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Rick
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2020 : 01:06:50 AM
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| Thank you so much for your reply #128522; |
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2020 : 07:30:58 AM
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| the practice is not the goal, and thoughtlessness is but temporary like anything else ,awareness is key, sitting behind all these constructs focus, goals ,or intent lies a greater reality ,meditation allows for a greater depth of experience, the good the bad the ugly all reveal there heads ,self realization is just that the self or sheaths of the self slowly begin to appear ,karma becomes apparent ,like a raft taking us onto another shore meditation gives us the tool for the journey ,repetition of practice is all important it can vary between intent, focus stillness ,friction and many other words to describe the feelings we receive during our seated practice and of course daily life ,self pace when needed that is an art in itself, inner self control the study of intuition and reactions can be difficult but once understood changes your whole way of beingness ,beyond the shanti beyond the bliss lies another river with another raft to another shore from east to west to north to south in all directions . |
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1730 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2020 : 4:17:25 PM
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Welcome to the AYP form, Rick.
You have already got the answer, but I will say it too, in different words: Your goal during meditation is to pick up the mantra as soon as you notice you are off it. That's it. 
What happens as a result of meditation is beyond goals. Specifying goals would only get in the way.
Enjoy your practice. |
Edited by - BlueRaincoat on Apr 05 2020 4:18:08 PM |
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Rick
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2020 : 8:42:10 PM
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| Thank you for the responses everyone. I have now begun to focus on the mantra exclusively. The thoughtless, still beingness is so nice though! I have been the victim of a seemingly uncontrollable racing negative mind in the past. Learning to put some space between my Self and thoughts has been sooooo liberating. I am not my thoughts and I don't have to get caught up in them and imagining about the future. It is good to be here in the now moment. I am grateful to have found the information on this website. It was just what I needed. Thank you Yogani! |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Apr 07 2020 : 07:52:41 AM
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Hi Rick,
It is great that the DM works well for you. The goal of the meditation is not to get really good at saying the mantra. As you say the mantra, there will be times when you go in samadhi/thoughtlessness. While in samadhi, you would not know that you are not with the mantra. When thoughts start again, such as "Oh, this is nice", "This is thoughtless, still beingness", the samadhi is over. And the only way back to it is to go back to the mantra.
And yes, thank you, Yogani! |
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2020 : 5:05:46 PM
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dwelling in the mountains all is a splendour of green and blue
the sky the peaks the valleys below
before samadhi the blend in the permanent
requires only the senses to feel all itseems
in samadhi there are no mountains no valleys
the colours are as one or not
the peaks have no height only reach
a feeling of sense becomes what is felt
after samadhi they all exist as if seen in the clearest of skies
like a distant thought that has flown in the wind
you are sure they were there
but now they are gone returning only by will alone
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Rick
USA
4 Posts |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4371 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2020 : 3:29:28 PM
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quote:
My question is- is it the goal to experience that thoughtless, still beingness or to really make it a focus to repeat I AM with constant conscious intent? Thanks for any help.
Hi Rick,
Neither of these two things are the goal. The goal is to effortlessly repeat the mantra whilst favouring it with your attention over anything else going on. Each time you realize you are off it, you come back to it. That is the goal of the meditation. This is actually stated in lesson 13:
"Easily repeat the mantra silently inside. When you realize you are not thinking it, then easily come back to it. The goal is not to stay on it. The goal is to follow the simple procedure of thinking the mantra, losing it, and coming back to it when you find you have lost it. Do not resist if the mantra tends to become less distinct. Thinking the mantra does not have to be with clear pronunciation. I AM can be experienced at many levels in your mind and nervous system. When you come back to it, come back to a level that is comfortable, not straining for either a clear or fuzzy pronunciation." [Yogani]
To put it another way, you could say that the real goal of meditation is Self-realization. This is far more subtle than either attachment to a mantra, or attachment to samadhi (inner silence). It is a long process which involves the rise of the witness quality, the ability to know ourselves to be separate from what we perceive. What we perceive is everything that arises in consciousness.
This process of separation between the perceiver and the perceived can happen both when the mantra and thoughts are present, or when the mind is silent. But it happens more easily at first when the mind is quiet, when the churning of thoughts is reduced (yoga chitta vritti nirodha). So, the process is more subtle than a question of mantra/ thoughts, or no thoughts/ samadhi. It is more of a stepping back, away from whatever is arising, or not arising in the mind. This is the first stage of Self-realization. The next three stages (viveka, vairagya, yoga), follow naturally from this stage.
For more on the stages of the mind see here:
Lesson 327 - The Evolutionary Stages of Mind
And on the cultivation of the witness see these lessons:
Lesson 333 - Dissolving the Witness in Unity
Lesson 350 - Practices for Moving Beyond the Witness Stage
Christi
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Deep meditation mantra question
