Patanjali is for Real
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 3 years before Jul 09, 2016
MiBeloved 3 years ago
When doing naad meditation if one finds that one is attracted to thoughts, then it means that one did not do breath infusion practice or that the infusion was insufficient to completely move the subtle body above the level where such thoughts usually occur.
When this happens there is no cause for alarm but the student should make a note of it in order to determine what is happening, so as to have a scientific understanding of how the yoga process works.
First of all if you did not do breath infusion immediately before meditating, then if thoughts arise, you should know that this is normal. Then you can do whatever you feel suitable to deal with the thoughts. But at least you know that this is normal and you won’t have any illusions about being able to meditate in a thought-free state.
The normal condition of the mind is for thoughts, ideas and images to have the space with the core-self under a state of hypnosis viewing the display. This is normal. Accept it as such and do your best with it.
If we go to Patanjali, we find that he lists asana postures, then pranayama breath infusion, then pratyahar sensual energy withdrawal, and then meditation (samyama).
Thus if you skipped the asana postures and the breath infusion practice, you will have to begin in the next step which is pratyahar.
Pratyahar is the withdrawal of your attention from external concerns, even external concerns which have become internal mental and emotional obsessions. These concerns play out to the core-self as imaginations in the mind.
If you skipped pranayama, then you will be confronted with the imaginations in the mind. You will have to deal with them in some way or the other, to achieve pratyahar introspection.
If you fail to complete pratyahar and you decide to meditate without completing that, then it means that you will not move on to samyama which is the three highest stages of yoga as one sequential practice. But this also means that you might feel that you have moved on, even though you did not. You are in some state of mind. You are satisfied that it is meditation. But still it is not what Patanjali described as samyama, the three higher stages of yoga in one sequential progression.
Failure to complete the pratyahar sensual energy withdrawal will result in a hip-shod, skip-and-miss meditation practice.
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However even if one does the breath infusion, there might still be on some days, when there are problems with thoughts, idea and images in the mind. Why?
Because there are the first two stages of yoga which should be honored. This is Yama moral restraints and Niyama approved behaviors. If there was a breach of these and a failure to comply with these, then there will be problems even if one did a full session of pranayama. There is a statement in Patanjali about the great commitment (mahavrata) which is not to be broken regardless of time or place. This means that if one breaks the yama moral restraints for any reason, there will be an inefficiency in the other higher practices.
Once the student understands this, he or she can figure this in and go ahead with the practice in a realistic way.
Alfredo 3 years ago
Indeed, very real.
This describes my experiences so far very well.
The PM Naad meditation is much better when it comes to thoughts than the AM, in correspondence with the breath infusion practice, which is also stronger in the PM, besides being helped by cycles of Thokar Kriya pranayama that contribute towards the energization of the subtle body.
That connection with the Yamas and Niyama is one I feel the yogi often does not give enough consideration, but they are pillars on which the practice is verily supported.
