Practice Report - Alfredo D - Sunday 11/9/2012
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 5 years before Nov 29, 2017
Alfredo 5 years ago
ॐ नमः शिवाय
AM Practice
Practice was good overall and lasted 80 minutes.
Svadhyaya: Switched to “Meditation Pictorial”, finishing Chapter 13, and starting Chapter 14: “Thought Concentration”.
Dedication: 5-minute mantra session invocation of Lord Shiva. Practice dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Breath Infusion: 45 minutes of Bhastrika prânâyâma while doing several asanas. Concentration was again mainly on the thighs. Kundalini was solicited successfully twice before going into meditation.
Meditation: Consisted of 30 minutes with concentration on the Naad sound which was quite audible and was followed and tuned into. I just held onto Naad as instructed. Brow chakra area was quite active during breath infusion, giving many beautiful concentric rings of different blues, with the inside golden star perfectly visible; however, it would not show during meditation.
Spiritual State of Mind: I am adding this entry here because I believe it is important for the proper Sadhana to maintain the proper spiritual state of mind between practices. Little I advance, if after breath infusion and meditation, again become distracted and do not comply with Yamas and Niyamas. The tools I have, the tools to perform Brahma-Abhyasa, as per Panchadasi, like this: “The practice of meditation on Brahman, the wise cognizer, means reflection on It, talking about It, mutually producing logical arguments about It – thus to be fully occupied with It alone.” Panchadasi VII-106. Another tool is the mantra given to me by Swami Jyotirmayananda. I call my state of mind today good, Sattvic-like.
Dream recall: One dream recalled distinctly. As explained in “Meditation Pictorial”, Chapter 13, I also experience that when I sleep with no air conditioning, like now at home that is cooler, and all windows open, the quality of dreams rapidly improves, not only in recalling power, but also in being less troublesome. Last night I recalled a dream where I was in Cuba during as a teenager, strong and supple, flying around the place I was born. This was definitely a lucid dream, as I distinctly knew I was dreaming, and found myself marveling at the fact that I digressed and tried to explain certain things that occurred later in life, and thinking: “obviously you are dreaming, for this happened after this time”.
MiBeloved 5 years ago
Alfredo wrote:
Brow chakra area was quite active during breath infusion, giving many beautiful concentric rings of different blues, with the inside golden star perfectly visible; however, it would not show during meditation
MiBeloved's Response:
I am hopeful that the students are not a brow chakra addicts. I am hopeful that the students are not spending time focusing on third eye when they should be focusing down in the body and getting the energy to go downwards so that third eye only becomes relevant near the end of a session of practice when the trunk of the subtle body was dealt with thoroughly.
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Alfredo wrote:
Spiritual State of Mind: I am adding this entry here because I believe it is important for the proper Sadhana to maintain the proper spiritual state of mind between practices. Little I advance, if after breath infusion and meditation, again become distracted and do not comply with Yamas and Niyamas. The tools I have, the tools to perform Brahma-Abhyasa, as per Panchadasi, like this: “The practice of meditation on Brahman, the wise cognizer, means reflection on It, talking about It, mutually producing logical arguments about It – thus to be fully occupied with It alone.” Panchadasi VII-106. Another tool is the mantra given me by Swami Jyotirmayananda. I call my state of mind today good, Sattvic-like.
MiBeloved's Response:
One way to learn about something is to learn about its opposite. For instance, in teen years a grandparent who served as a parent, got terrible ill and was admitted to a hospital. Right then her value was realized because there was no one to manage and no one to cook. I was sent to another old day during the day for food and to my view, after tasting her food, she could not cook.
Even though the original grandparent did so much, it was not realized during her functioning but it was immediately appreciated when she was hospitalized. This is reminiscent of the statement that you do not miss the water until the well runs dry.
Brahman abhyasa translates roughly into the lifestyle practice (abhyasa) which is primarily designed for a focus on spiritual reality (brahman).
The opposite is put into one word from Patanjali which is abhinivesha. If one did the opposite of abhinivesha that would be brahman abhyasa.
Here is that masterful verse of Patanjali (my translation):
Yoga Sutras: Chapter 2 Verse 9
स्वरसवाही विदुषोऽपि तथारूढोऽभिनिवेशः॥९॥
svarasavāhī viduṣaḥ ’pi tatha rūḍho ‘bhiniveśaḥ
svarasavāhī = sva – own + rasa – essence + vāhī – flow, current, instinct for self-preservation (svarasavāhī – its own flow of energy of self preservation); viduṣaḥ – the wise man; ‘pi = api – also; tatha – just as, so it is; rūḍho = rūḍhah – developed produced; ‘bhiniveśaḥ = abhiniveśaḥ – strong focus on mundane existence due to instinctive fear of death.
As it is, the strong focus on mundane existence, which is due to the instinctive fear of death, which is sustained by its own potencies, and which operates for self-preservation, is developed even in the wise man.
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What is that factor which does not require self-preservation?
Can that be located in the human psyche?
Can the individual focus on that?
Such a focus is the life of brahman abhyasa.
Alfredo 5 years ago
Thank you very much!
Will follow strictly instruction of infusing breath downwards primarily, without becoming concerned or distracted with the brow chakra.
Abhivinesa, yes, to be sublimated to its opposite.
By the way, when I wrote Brahma-Abhyasa, I was indeed referring to the Brahman.
Alfredo 5 years ago
PM Practice
Consisted of Satsang, lecture, and 1/2 hour meditation at the Hindu Temple of South Florida.
Jettins 5 years ago
Alfredo wrote:
Last night I recalled a dream where I was in Cuba during as a teenager, strong and supple, flying around the place I was born. This was definitely a lucid dream, as I distinctly knew I was dreaming, and found myself marveling at the fact that I digressed and tried to explain certain things that occurred later in life, and thinking: “obviously you are dreaming, for this happened after this time”
Jettins' Reply:
I’ve been meaning to get to this post, sorry for the delay.
Alfredo,
I would agree. A lucid dream to me is becoming aware that I am dreaming while in the dream. This simplified explanation would also suggest that all lucid dream experiences are astral projection experiences. Indeed, but the thing to consider is that even though a lucid dream happens in astral "space", not all spaces or states of being while in the astral are the same. Another thing to consider is that our state of being at any given moment will determine our level of lucidity (which is derived from our psyche), which then determines our dimension of being or place/state of residence in the astral domains. A dimension of being is not necessarily permanent even after physical death. The “state of readiness” that is required to leave a certain states will not be achieved by wishful thinking if the individual is lucky, and beyond realization if individual is unlucky.
A mechanism for transferring lucid awareness should be the goal. What for? After hundredths of consciously aware jumps into the astral realms I’ve realized that what plagues those having difficult experiences in the astral is their lack of creative potential and the conditions within the psyche that create such a state. This could be interpreted several ways and even seems to encourage the need for knowledge and creativity? Isn't that another form of illusion and even attachment? Remember, this is astral existence. Saying what we can get ourselves into in the astral is the best I can do. Many things have been left unsaid. It is the reader that will decide.
If one could experience lucid states beforehand one could have conscious interactions within the psyche and create positive change slowly but surely. It is why even short lucid experience are important, it can get you closer to integrating and releasing shadow versions of yourself that are part of you. Often referred as repressed states in our subconscious that are part of the landscape of what is our psyche.
I could go forever talking about this, but I am confident you can understand the condensed version.
Alfredo 5 years ago
Juan:
Thank you very much, I will review your comments again in detail and with great consideration. Your expertise in these matters is a great asset to this site.
