First Experiences
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 3 years before Jul 23, 2016
bandika 3 years ago
I’ve just read through the Meditation Pictorial and started to practice the basic techniques I found in the first few chapters. I would like to share my experiences.
During meditation I move my consciousness into the back of my head. My mind become almost completely silent, I had only a few thoughts. It’s quite good sensation to be there, however it is hard to stay there for a long time. From that point I had different experiences.
In some cases I feel energy rising in my upper body. The location of that is always changing, I felt it in different parts of my spine or in my chest. I also perceived some faint clouds of light in my head which moved randomly everywhere or towards my forehead area. Sometimes I also had a sensation of being in a vacuum which pulls me towards my third eye area.
I keep on practicing, and hope to get more results later.
Alfredo 3 years ago
Very nice!
You will notice that it is difficult to stay at the back of the head sometimes and that the concentration is pulled away once and again. No matter, bring it back, even if it becomes penance. The purpose for being in that location is to stay away at the beginning from the cinema show being constantly enacted by the intellect.
It is good to do some breath infusion - pranayama - before starting the meditation, as it prepares you and also develops the ability to hear the Pranava (Om) by energizing the subtle body. You could watch the videos by Michael posted here, or simply use the Omkar and/or Thokar Kriya as described in Ennio Nimis' book, the one you referred to in your first post, and which I posted in pdf file here. Nadhi Shodhana - alternate nostril breathing - is also helpful, and there are several good You Tube videos on it.
Once you tune to Pranava, this is the best anchorage for the meditation at the back of the head, as the sound will help you concentrate there.
MiBeloved 3 years ago
Bandika,
I concur with what Alfredo suggests.
I feel that you should be patient with this as sometimes we go through long stretches without anything exciting happening and still we should persist with the practice.
If you expect that you will always have something happening, then you will be discouraged and may stop practicing, so be committed to practice no matter what.
You have a long way to go, so set your mind on the journey and persist even when you do not get sensational experiences.
bandika 3 years ago
Thank you for your answers!
I will add pranayama to my practices. Actually, I practiced the simplest Kriya Pranayama which is found in Ennio Nimis’ book. During that I was able to hear something, but I’m not sure that it was the same Alfredo mentioned. It is hard to decide whether it was a sound or just a kind of vibration. It was perceptible not only in my head, but in the upper part of my neck as well (and maybe below). That time I didn’t pay attention to that, now I will try to discover it again.
Alfredo 3 years ago
Another way to tune to Naad or Pranava and learn to recognize it is by practicing Yoni Mudra (in Kriya Yoga is called Jyoti Mudra). It is also described in Nimis' book, as well as Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
At the conclusion of this Kriya, both the eyes and the ears are covered or plugged to increase the perception of light (jyoti) and sound (Naad or Pranava) respectively, the latter being Om, the mystic sound. Sound is also a vibration.
Another simple way is to plug your ears with your fingers right after the pranayama session, to locate Naad and right away go into samyama proper.
By the way, Jyoti Mudra after pranayama won't fail to show the signature of the ajna chakra (brow chakra), which is a doughnut-shaped, blue-black halo with a orange/yellow sun in the center, and it will also show, more often than not, if the practice was deep enough, the many-pointed orange/yellow star signifying the 3rd-eye, these pertaining to your original question.
