Common Questions About The Afterlife

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 3320:

Originally Posted by AnotherBob

My mate is an initiated Kriyaban, formerly of SRF, who does stuff like that.

I applaud your hard work unbugging subconscious glitches in the flow! There's a Bon Teacher, Tenzin Wangyal, who has gained some popularity teaching dream yoga, and of course Namkhai Norbu has written a lot on it too.

Wile dream-work does indeed facilitate "debugging subconscious glitches in the flow", as you duly noted, there is more to conscious sleep meditations than just dream-work.

In conscious sleep, not only can one observe dream formation from start to finish and easily shift between the dream-object and the dreamer, one can also remain fully aware in the three states of man (deep sleep, dream formation, the so-called waking state) as well as during the transitions between the three states including the arising of the "I" in the so-called waking state which is not really "awake" in the Buddhist sense.

To relate this to the subject of this thread ("Common Questions About the Afterlife"), my teacher taught that there is not the slightest difference between the consciousness of the dream world, heaven (which many consider an aspect of the afterlife), and the material world. The Tibetan Buddhist Yogi Milarepa (as I learned from my time in Tibet in the 1980s) said something similar when he pointed out that whatever he could do in the dream state was also quite doable in what we call the waking state.

When I had some meditative insights on the afterlife that initially seemed quite bizarre, my teacher discussed them in depth with me while pointing me to some of the stories in the Yoga Vashistha that specifically addressed the afterlife and the various aspects of consciousness.

This is indeed a very intriguing thread thus far. I plan to go back and read more of the recent posts.

NOTE: As for your mate who is an initiate of SRF, I explored SRF many years ago and knew many direct disciples of Paramahansa Yogananda. I personally was more drawn to Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteswar. In Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, there is a chapter dedicated to the "Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar" in which Sri Yukteswar very specifically describes the "afterlife" and that is very consistent with my own understanding of the afterlife.

EDIT: This is just a preliminary feeler to something even deeper on the nature of the afterlife.

[AnotherBob]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

NOTE: As for your mate who is an initiate of SRF, I explored SRF many years ago and knew many direct disciples of Paramahansa Yogananda. I personally was more drawn to Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteswar. In Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, there is a chapter dedicated to the "Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar" in which Sri Yukteswar very specifically describes the "afterlife" and that is very consistent with my own understanding of the afterlife.

Yes, it is a fascinating chapter! I personally was also more impressed with Sri Yukteshwar, but even more so by his guru, Lahiri Mahsaya, who actually appeared in the disguise of an agricultural worker to my Mate's father. It's an incredible story, but perhaps for another thread.

I see you have been entangled in this business for some time, and I salute you for your compassionate efforts!

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[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 3322:

Originally Posted by AnotherBob

Yes, it is a fascinating chapter! I personally was also more impressed with Sri Yukteshwar, but even more so by his guru, Lahiri Mahsaya, who actually appeared in the disguise of an agricultural worker to my Mate's father.

Both Yukteswar and Lahiri Mahasaya commanded my attention as well. The chapter about Yukteswar's resurrection and description of the afterlife really resonated with me.

As for gurus manifesting literally out of thin air, that's not uncommon when the seeker is intensely engaged in the spiritual awakening process.

[AnotherBob]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

As for gurus manifesting literally out of thin air, that's not uncommon when the seeker is intensely engaged in the spiritual awakening process.

Indeed! She has all sorts of spiritual phenomena like that going on since she was 3, whereas being from a Zen background, I considered all of that as makyo, or a kind of hallucination, until one day she was standing on top of the dining room table trying to feed our canaries when she slipped and fell off the table. An invisible force stopped her in mid-air, slowly turned her body vertical, and gently set her down feet first on the floor. That was quite convincing, and more experiences followed, so I changed my opinion about all of that eventually. My current conclusion is that her lineage takes care of its own. In any case, I gave her a copy of I Am That, and within a few months of studying, she had a profound nondual awakening, which I supposed would be the end of the miraculous spiritual phenomena, but I was mistaken. Btw, when I showed her Sparrow's information here, she became quite enthusiastic about it, and remains so.

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[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 3324:

Originally Posted by AnotherBob

.. being from a Zen background, I considered all of that as makyo, or a kind of hallucination, until one day ..... An invisible force stopped her in mid-air, slowly turned her body vertical, and gently set her down feet first on the floor. That was quite convincing, and more experiences followed, so I changed my opinion about all of that eventually.

In any case, I gave her a copy of I Am That, and within a few months of studying, she had a profound nondual awakening

Like yourself, I was once very suspicious of these kinds of experiences. For example, when a sage at the Kumbha Mela (Haridwar, India, 1998) literally manifested out of thin air, my friend and I questioned whether we had a dual hallucination. However, when we returned to the ashram, our teacher motioned for us to approach the dais where she was seated with the spiritual hierarchy of the orders of Shankara. She confirmed our experience was NOT an hallucination. After a long pause, she said: "You are blessed. He does this from time to time. Everyone knows that." She then directed us to spend the day in silence and meditate on how such things are possible.....while cleaning the hallways and bathrooms to keep us occupied ... and also to keep our ego in check. Afterwards, we discussed what happened with our teacher.

By that time, I had long since realized that virtually everything ... if not everything ... is possible and don't pay much attention to what people call the "paranormal". All this is discussed in Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras (the "siddhis" or the powers) with the caveat NOT to get entangled in them.

As for the book "I Am That", I personally loved Nisargadatta's dialogues. As a matter of fact, I have a friend (revered as a saint in Hindu and Sufi circles) who met with Nisargadatta personally in India and she shared her interactions with me and they went far beyond anything in his book.

Life is fascinating ... a lila ... literally a play of consciousness ... where there is no death or "afterlife" and where anything is possible.

[AnotherBob]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Life is fascinating ... a lila ... literally a play of consciousness ... where there is no death or "afterlife" and where anything is possible.

Yes indeed! Thank you for sharing your interesting experiences and the wisdom you have gained in the process!

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[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by AnotherBob

Yes indeed! Thank you for sharing your interesting experiences and the wisdom you have gained in the process!

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