No path or practise required.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Iamit

You bother because of the typical arrogance present in adherence to tradition, that there is no other way. You have no priviledged position any more. The world has moved on and allows for new thinking and change. Catch up or at least stop sulking in the corner vilifying those who dare to think differently. Give up trying to control it.The Genie is out of the bottle.

You have no priviledged position any more.

Awesome!

Aham Brahmasmi

[Shivani Devi]

After going through the mill, reading up on a lot of stuff and through personal experience (or lack thereof) I realised one thing.

Spiritual practice or Sadhana is required, not to understand the 'truth'...not to attain or reach any 'goal'...but to build up the whole resilience of the body, the nervous system and to fully construct the 'Light Body' in order to cope with the massive energetic shifts that are involved and released when the whole Self-realisation phenomenon becomes experiential.

It is like a 'death' whilst still alive...a death of ego...a death of personal conscience, individuality and separation and without proper preparation, without investment in Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama and basically the first four limbs of Patanjali's Eightfold system, the body itself could actually die due to the 'psychic shock'. The energy released could blow every nerve and bodily switch there is, leading to stroke, heart stoppage and actual physical death!

On the next level down from this, one doesn't die totally, they just experience a full-blown psychosis...many mental problems and mal-adjustments caused within the mind space...the manomaya kosha when the energy of Self-realisation blows through it like a tornado, often leading to hospitalisation or suicide.

On the next level down are bodily diseases and malfunctions. Sadhana and discipline are meant to strengthen the nervous system (both sympathetic and parasympathetic) and also, the auto-immune response and homeostatis, so without the proper spiritual practice before kundalini starts bolting like a wild, spooked horse, many diseases of the nervous system and auto-immune system can result, leading to diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Functional Neurological Syndrome (what I suffer from), Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (I also have these), Arrhythmia, Dysautonomia (inability of the body to maintain regular homeostasis), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Allergic responses to things one wasn't previously allergic to, Auto-immune diseases including cancers and whatnot.

This is why spiritual practice is important and for no other reason, really. Thank you.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

After going through the mill, reading up on a lot of stuff and through personal experience (or lack thereof) I realised one thing.

Spiritual practice or Sadhana is required, not to understand the 'truth'...not to attain or reach any 'goal'...but to build up the whole resilience of the body, the nervous system and to fully construct the 'Light Body' in order to cope with the massive energetic shifts that are involved and released when the whole Self-realisation phenomenon becomes experiential.

Indeed, requires a strength in stable equanimity.

It is like a 'death' whilst still alive...a death of ego...a death of personal conscience, individuality and separation and without proper preparation, without investment in Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama and basically the first four limbs of Patanjali's Eightfold system, the body itself could actually die due to the 'psychic shock'. The energy released could blow every nerve and bodily switch there is, leading to stroke, heart stoppage and actual physical death!

On the next level down from this, one doesn't die totally, they just experience a full-blown psychosis...many mental problems and mal-adjustments caused within the mind space...the manomaya kosha when the energy of Self-realisation blows through it like a tornado, often leading to hospitalisation or suicide.

I have seen a few go off the deep end because they opened things they weren't stable enough to deal with.

On the next level down are bodily diseases and malfunctions. Sadhana and discipline are meant to strengthen the nervous system (both sympathetic and parasympathetic) and also, the auto-immune response and homeostatis, so without the proper spiritual practice before kundalini starts bolting like a wild, spooked horse, many diseases of the nervous system and auto-immune system can result, leading to diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Functional Neurological Syndrome (what I suffer from), Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (I also have these), Arrhythmia, Dysautonomia (inability of the body to maintain regular homeostasis), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Allergic responses to things one wasn't previously allergic to, Auto-immune diseases including cancers and whatnot.

This is why spiritual practice is important and for no other reason, really. Thank you.

Yes, the practice is conscious awareness with mindful equanimity. That is required in what you describe.

[sentient]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

After going through the mill, reading up on a lot of stuff and through personal experience (or lack thereof) I realised one thing.

Spiritual practice or Sadhana is required, not to understand the 'truth'...not to attain or reach any 'goal'...but to build up the whole resilience of the body, the nervous system and to fully construct the 'Light Body' in order to cope with the massive energetic shifts that are involved and released when the whole Self-realisation phenomenon becomes experiential.

It is like a 'death' whilst still alive...a death of ego...a death of personal conscience, individuality and separation and without proper preparation, without investment in Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama and basically the first four limbs of Patanjali's Eightfold system, the body itself could actually die due to the 'psychic shock'. The energy released could blow every nerve and bodily switch there is, leading to stroke, heart stoppage and actual physical death!

On the next level down from this, one doesn't die totally, they just experience a full-blown psychosis...many mental problems and mal-adjustments caused within the mind space...the manomaya kosha when the energy of Self-realisation blows through it like a tornado, often leading to hospitalisation or suicide.

On the next level down are bodily diseases and malfunctions. Sadhana and discipline are meant to strengthen the nervous system (both sympathetic and parasympathetic) and also, the auto-immune response and homeostatis, so without the proper spiritual practice before kundalini starts bolting like a wild, spooked horse, many diseases of the nervous system and auto-immune system can result, leading to diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Functional Neurological Syndrome (what I suffer from), Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (I also have these), Arrhythmia, Dysautonomia (inability of the body to maintain regular homeostasis), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Allergic responses to things one wasn't previously allergic to, Auto-immune diseases including cancers and whatnot.

This is why spiritual practice is important and for no other reason, really. Thank you.

Thank you for this deeply meaningful post.
In my understanding this is also why spiritual teachers warn against getting into Vajrayana or Tantra (Energies), because once you get into them – there is no turning back.
Well, there is, but not without the negative consequences you described.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

After going through the mill, reading up on a lot of stuff and through personal experience (or lack thereof) I realised one thing.

Spiritual practice or Sadhana is required, not to understand the 'truth'...not to attain or reach any 'goal'...but to build up the whole resilience of the body, the nervous system and to fully construct the 'Light Body' in order to cope with the massive energetic shifts that are involved and released when the whole Self-realisation phenomenon becomes experiential.

It is like a 'death' whilst still alive...a death of ego...a death of personal conscience, individuality and separation and without proper preparation, without investment in Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama and basically the first four limbs of Patanjali's Eightfold system, the body itself could actually die due to the 'psychic shock'. The energy released could blow every nerve and bodily switch there is, leading to stroke, heart stoppage and actual physical death!

On the next level down from this, one doesn't die totally, they just experience a full-blown psychosis...many mental problems and mal-adjustments caused within the mind space...the manomaya kosha when the energy of Self-realisation blows through it like a tornado, often leading to hospitalisation or suicide.

On the next level down are bodily diseases and malfunctions. Sadhana and discipline are meant to strengthen the nervous system (both sympathetic and parasympathetic) and also, the auto-immune response and homeostatis, so without the proper spiritual practice before kundalini starts bolting like a wild, spooked horse, many diseases of the nervous system and auto-immune system can result, leading to diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Functional Neurological Syndrome (what I suffer from), Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (I also have these), Arrhythmia, Dysautonomia (inability of the body to maintain regular homeostasis), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Allergic responses to things one wasn't previously allergic to, Auto-immune diseases including cancers and whatnot.

This is why spiritual practice is important and for no other reason, really. Thank you.

Very interesting and pertinent post as Sentient has said also. Just a thought or 2. It's up to the teacher or school to stop the student taking on stuff he or she is not ready for. It's also probably fair to say that the student or seeker should also have a good deal of respect and regard for the changes that might occur with spiritual practices.
It seems there are also alot of seekers out there who are desperate for change, wanting so bad to become 'enlightened' wanting results, making up results at the unfortunate expense of the rest of their make up as human beings. For example they end up floating around the deva realms. what a great bliss and high, beautiful, and then sexuality comes knocking at the door or intimacy or even the taxman and they can't reconcile the different parts of themselves, resulting in psychic conflict which ends in so called 'mental illness'. With much respect to the Goenka Vipassana approach to Buddhist development, I was considering recently doing a 10 retreat in this approach and then I thought meditating 10 hours a day for 10 days straight in silence, is that what I want, and the answer is no its not. Someone said nobody ever died doing 10 hours meditation a day for 10 days ...well there is always a first lol Hey but plunging into things is not always recommended by me anyway. A friend of mine who is on SF forum is a first nations Indian and they told me of people jumping into sweating lodges and causing themselves problems too. So yep thanks for stimulating these thoughts.

[swampgrl]

What if the path, ultimately, gave nothing in return? Would you still take it for the rest of your life?

[Molearner]

Originally Posted by swampgrl

What if the path, ultimately, gave nothing in return? Would you still take it for the rest of your life?

Pascal's wager?

[swampgrl]

Originally Posted by Molearner

Pascal's wager?

More along the lines of wanting/ striving to be vs. Being.

[swampgrl]

Pascal's wager, analogous to the tree of knowledge.

or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[sentient]

I would also relate the Shivani Devi’s description above to “Shamanic Sickness”.
That is when a person has an “Awakening” and a “Shamanic Death Experience” (Empowerment), but is unwilling to fully accept the calling.

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Hey but plunging into things is not always recommended by me anyway. A friend of mine who is on SF forum is a first nations Indian and they told me of people jumping into sweating lodges and causing themselves problems too.

But aren’t those problems most often caused by fake “injuns” conducting the sweat lodge ceremonies?

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