Sri Vasudeva on Meditation

[Uma]

Day 16 of 40: April 10, 2016 link

Today since it's Sunday when a lot of people are in rest mode and the collective energy is a little calmer, Sri Vasudeva asked us to pause and contemplate the messages of the last 15 days. Too many times I want to barrel forward in my frantic pursuit of the truth. Where I live it is springtime and this morning I opened my window to take a deep breath of the fresh air and to hear the beautiful song of a cardinal - his heart bursting with joy. Won't you share this moment with me and listen?

I treasure these moments - when I really can connect with nature, it is like the angels are singing just for me and I feel God so very close, so close I can breathe Him in and He fills every fibre of my being. No wonder this time of year is so sacred in so many religions. Who cannot wake up to a morning like this and not get into a good mood - a sattvic mood?

The most important teaching of all - even if I forget all the rest - is this one, very simple:

"All that you are looking for
lies within you
at the very core of your existence."
~ Sri Vasudeva

A simple teaching in a simple book Seek God Within, by Sri Vasudeva and the experience of awakened Kundalini set me on this path so many years ago. Now I know that God lives inside me, inside you, inside everything. Experiencing That is all I want because it fulfills me on every level of my being, in every area of my life. All my goals of life are being fulfilled by this. To experience "more harmony, peace, love, light in the space, the quality of peace, infinite awareness, timeless being, inner bliss, freedom…" (sattvic qualities) that is my goal and to feel That in every moment in every fibre of my being. That brings it all home - everything I could ever want is drawn to That like iron to a magnet - an electron magnet! My desire for That is so intense nothing and no one can break my spirit!

In every 40 Days Observance Sri Vasudeva has given year after year he has always emphasized the importance of keeping that one desire strong. Like my cardinal friend who cannot be broken by the cold of winter but keeps emerging into the light, calling, calling, it is the relentless calling of the sincere seeker that God cannot ignore!

I DESIRE:

…to merge with Kundalini, to merge into the Guru…

"The Guru Tattwa, or the consciousness of the Guru, needs to be observed very carefully that the desire will grow within us to want to go there, to become that."

…my energy transforming into transcendental energy…

"The more we associate with the Gurus or evolved souls or masters who live in that space, the more we'll be transported in a magical way when we come into their energy stream."

…to become free

"And that is how the ego can be transported that it may shift in consciousness in the inner space."

I pray...

I humbly pray to my infinite Self
Hold me within You
Free me of all attachments.
My soul longs to be one with You.
I worship You oh Infinite One.
Your fragrance nourishes me and brings growth.
Free me of all unhealthy attachments
and the disease of ignorance
and light up my soul with immortal consciousness.
Please do not withhold it from me oh Supreme One.
May Your peace fill my being

Have a blessed Sunday
Aum ॐ peace peace peace...
-------------------------
All quotations are from today's talk by Sri Vasudeva

[Ilovecats]

Thank you for sharing Uma. It's really wonderful to read your reflections

I love when I hear birds singing. It was during my yoga practice today when I looked out and the sky was in such wonderful warm blue colours and I thought how beautiful and then I heard birds singing. I love these blissful moments.

[Uma]

Day 17 of 40: April 11, 2016 (link)

Today Sri Vasudeva introduced the subject of the yogic science of witnessing the ego in order to dismantle it (not kill it) that we may know God. The whole teaching is hidden inside this secret coded clue he gave us today:

"Keep an eye on the "I""

Of course I believe in Spirit - I am a scientist
When he mentioned Buddha's profound (and encoded) statement "You are a product of all you have thought," I thought I'd compare it to the paradigm of western science encapsulated for me in the words of Descarte "I think therefore I am". The Cartesian view is fundamentally an intellectual level only, scientific methodology limited to the 5 physical senses and mathematics. The Eastern scientific view, if I may call it that, encompasses a much grander paradigm, the things Sri Vasudeva spoke of - namely 3 kinds of karmas, samskaras, and vasanas that form the ego. This more expansive view encompasses not only the intellectual inquiry methodology of western science but also all the teachings about past lives; also a deep and thorough understanding of the karmic mechanism operating in our universe (what I believe lies ahead for quantum physics). I think there is nothing "wrong" with Cartesian science in and of itself (apart from ethical considerations) but that Cartesian science still resists going deeper into the spiritual nature of our universe and about using the subjective methodology we need to explore it. I found this wonderful quotation from Wikipedia that expresses how I feel about it:

Modern science is no longer denying spirit. And that, that is epochal. As Hans Küng remarked, the standard answer to "Do you believe in Spirit?" used to be, "Of course not, I'm a scientist," but it might very soon become, "Of course I believe in Spirit. I'm a scientist."

D for Detective
Sri Vasudeva gave us his famous 4 "D"s: Desire for self-transformation (see yesterday's post), Detachment(power of proper observation), Discrimination (to see true from false) and the Discipline required to keep it, to sustain it. To do all of this I need to observe my "I" in the spirit of a detective (I added this D).

This guy has to be there before the crime occurs as well as at the other times!

That's why I am forever journalling, using techniques like mind mapping as well as critically engaging my intuition, to constantly deconstruct this ego construct of mine. This is using the intellect to monitor my meditation progress and develop my practice in a methodic way.

My daily checklist
For instance in relationship with people and situations I am watching myself in the process of whatever I'm doing, like a scientific researcher with a mental checklist:

√ What's going on with my I's relationship with my gross body - shallow breathing, heart beat, muscle tension?
√ What's going on with my thinking, what patterns are emerging? How does my "I" limitation or expansiveness show up here?
√ How does this make me feel? How is my "I" emoting? Does my I identify with the feeling (ex. "I am angry")?
√ Where or how is my "I" is centered ("posturing"/"attitude")?
√ What role am I playing? How is my ego identifying itself in this moment? What hat am I wearing? Is my ego caught up it that? (I am a mother. I am female. I am this or that.)
√ What triggers are coming up from my subconscious area, any gut (triune brain or navel chakra)reactions?
√ What divine insights are coming to me from my superconscious area?
√ Is my Kundalini jumping for joy or has it retreated somewhere? How is grace manifesting in this moment?
√ What else am I picking up from the field - prompts from the guru tattwa?
etc. etc. etc. (lots of things to look for)

It may seem like a lot of work but it really makes meditation easier for me in the long run
The more I practice the teachings, the more I do this self-checking automatically. The practice of self-awareness can seem very methodical or tedious at first (unless you're a nutter like me who loves it) but it becomes intuitive and spontaneous later on. In the end there is no "practice", one is just in the flow and the "I" is in complete surrender to a greater Self.

Chasing after my ego in meditation
Today's guided meditation (link) was fantastic in terms of guiding me through step-by-step observance of the gross-body-identified-I, the subtle-body-identified-I, and the transcendental-identified-I. This ego thing of mine is multi-dimensional, hopping around from place to place and appearing in several places simultaneously. It sometimes feels like I'm standing in a house of mirrors - I can get so lost!

...but in an expansive space, I don't feel lost. I feel like I get it! I see it! I catch it! I feel it!...Guruji's teachings and my own experience tell me that the secret is to observe from a detached space that is bigger or more silent or more detached than ordinary reality, where I can see all of my ego constructs from far away - a sattelite view.

This requires something in addition to intellect. It requires my intellect to operate from a transcendental vantage point. The remarkable thing is that this is possible at all. "What?!" some of you may think, "but I thought you wrote before that there is no thinking allowed in the transcendental space." Yes I did but here's the fine print...so now I reveal another secret.

Secret revealed!
The intellect has to stop in order for the ego to enter the transcendental space, but once the ego is there - firmly centred in the house of God, that space of perfect observation - it may begin to think again. The intellect is allowed to operate in this space! I can be blissed out to the point of madness yet if I can anchor myself in my body I can be awake in the bliss! And that is the whole point of meditation - what I take away from this path of maha yoga, and the whole point of aligning myself in a mystical relationship with a Guru, the whole point of prayer and invoking help from evolved beings. It is not to leave the physical world but to be more fully engaged in it from a space of expanded awareness and power. Indupitably Watson!

So all of that is why I think Sri Vasudeva's simple words should be the prayer of all scientists:

Guide me oh Infinite One.
Hold me in Your Space.
Open my intellect to the Light.

[Miss Hepburn]

...Buddha's profound (and encoded) statement "You are a product of all you have thought,"

Thank you...I wasn't aware it was Buddha that said that...I know there is also something a couple xs in the Psalms.
This is what I believe, FOR SURE!!
(Haha, and I have excellent thoughts...so far, so good!)

[Uma]

I love your excellent thoughts Miss Hepburn, and the kind and generous way you express them

You too ILoveCats! Love your Kundalini thread

[Uma]

Day 18 of 40: Apr.12/16 (link)
Play this (Bee Gees music) while reading below:

Diverted by a teenager!
This morning as Sri Vasudeva spoke about acknowledging the power and presence of the Divine supporting our "I" (ego), the words "fed up, frustrated, disenchanted" jumped out at me. Only yesterday after a great but long day my moody teenager came home and pushed my buttons... Had I been enlightened - seeing my teenager as my own divine-self in disguise - my reaction might have been different - but my mindfulness practice gets weary as the day drags on. Without that consistency of centeredness I "lost it and got caught" in ordinary body-mind consciousness. Feeling punctured in practice, I allowed that to disembowel the rest of my evening

Sri Vasudeva eloquently expressed my feelings in today's affirmation when he said:

Oh Divine Presence within me let my mind observe You.
My heart longs for You to come into my space.
Come into my space.
My "I" is tired, weary of its wanderings.
I want to rest in You, in Your presence in me.
I want to come home to You the Source of my being.
I want to live in the constant awareness of You within me.
I long to restore that relationship that should be.

I must never give in to despondency no matter how tough things get. Fortunately Sri Vasudeva always seems to have a solution to everything...

Acknowledging and Letting Go
In today's talk he reminded me... Acknowledging the power and presence of the Divine in the times when I do not feel God's presence, and do not have time to fit in another yoga and meditation session, I have to resort to prayer and faith that, like the words of Christ in the poem Footprints in the Sand "When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you," trusting, believing (and eventually constantly knowing and feeling) that the Supreme is always there within me and I within Him/Her.

Acknowledging is pausing to observe where the Divine power and presence is and how it is operating in the moment. The next step of that is letting go. Letting go means I need to give up the fruits of my labours, leading to "I am not the doer" consciousness, and just going with the flow, trusting that when my load feels too heavy, all is none-the-less in divine order. Teenagers pressing buttons is just part of their hormonal change, and our karmic play of parent and child. If he didn't challenge me and test his boundaries something would be wrong with his developmental milestones. Should I only embrace God as the sunshine and not as the rain?

"Let the ego rest its tired self, letting go of its claim to power that it may become truly empowered and nourished.
It is in letting go that it can really merge in the Higher Self that is within."
~ Sri Vasudeva

Practice of surrender in meditation
In the guided meditation he spoke of making everything a divine offering. Interestingly he said to offer the out-breath to the in-breath and the in-breath to the out-breath. I love this! To let go even at the level of breathing, this simple practice, combined with prayer, should be very empowering. I will try it out next time I get derailed.

Meditating by the seaside, and breathing with the waves in my mind, carried by God.
Meditating by the seaside, and breathing with the waves in my mind, carried by God.
Meditating by the seaside, and breathing with the waves in my mind, carried by God.
peace peace peace

[Miss Hepburn]

Remember, Uma...(and I paid a lot of $$ in therapy to know this! LOL)

We don't have buttons.
What does this do thinking or saying that we have buttons?
It programs our subconscious minds to think others have some control over us...that
we are victims to others able to push some button in us...see
the logic?
We are not robots to be effected or controlled by others.

This is where our power begins to change.
A shift happens understanding WE are in control of what we feel.
We can feel anything we chose to...our teen can come in and
we can be uneffected by their antics...or anyone's...

We begin to become more of the Observer noticing the funny
things all around us...that as you know we create and project onto the blank screen in front of our eyes.

We are always talking to ourselves...whether we say, 'Have a nice day' or
'You infuriate me and I'm ready to stab you right now'.

It's always to ourselves.
Our thoughts about others...thoughts about our very self.

Thought this might help, it did me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Embracing God as sunshine and the rain...yes...all is within His Being...none
would exist if not for Him, (Who has no gender...ha).
But, something to keep in mind...where the 'God Consciousness' dwells...there is no duality at all...in
fact, God does not even see up and down, good or bad...all is the same ...pure experience.
I feel very lucky about this fact, lol, because I know He only sees my light that is me...nothing else....
an extension of Himself...as connected as my thumb is to me...
no rain, no sunshine...different frequencies of the same Source....all One.
Sigh, I love this Path. So exciting...so much to realize.

[Uma]

Hi Miss Hepburn,

Well I do actually have a belly button.

Of course you are right no one has control over our responses unless we allow them to - that's why I wrote "I allowed that to disembowel the rest of my evening". It was a choice, "allowed", hence the importance of staying in my place of power, in Observer mode. I was too tired and living with a teenager I have to pick my battles. Sometimes I just have to breath deep, count to 10, bite my tongue… He's really good at wearing me down - putting my practice to the test!

What the therapist wouldn't know about from school is samskaras . These are past life issues that surface as the guru tattwa does its work of purification. The more intense the purification, the more challenging the triggers - until one become equanimous (not reactive). My teacher mentioned them in a previous talk and likely will again.

I like this:

Originally Posted by Miss Herburn

We are always talking to ourselves...whether we say, 'Have a nice day' or 'You infuriate me and I'm ready to stab you right now'.

That's a very enlightened view.

[Uma]

Meditation portion of Day 19 of 40: Apr.13/16 link

CORRECTION - The livestream portion of the talk was not uploaded but they have sent me an MP3 of the talk so I will be posting again today.

Today Sri Vasudeva bypassed the lecture (see above) and went straight into the guided meditation, taking us through the basics of steadying the restless mind and cleaning up the whole system using the yogic science of pranayama. The other day I had quite a bit of trouble so I needed this review of the basics.

"It's beautiful because it's dynamic. You don't have to sit still and just hold an empty mind and wonder 'What's the next step?' Here you have the breath to hold on to, to clean up the whole system and to bring steadiness." ~ Sri Vasudeva

Basic components, in order:
1. AIR
- observance and control of breath (belly breathing, complete breath)

2. MUSCLES
- observance and control of muscles to steady the spine
3. PRANA
- ujai breathing using the mind and constricting the breath to observe and direct the prana (subtle life force energy) in the breath to where I want it to go
4. BROW
- engaging the brow chakra "to focus better and to use your willpower to focus your attention as you breathe down the spine capturing every movement and the beauty of the breath""
5. ROOT
- root lock (pulling up the perineum muscle) "so you can feel your entire spinal column is held in management" - maintain this throughout
6. CROWN
- crown chakra awareness "the 3rd eye extends right up to the crown, so take the in-breath as far as it will go and that's the bindu awareness. and when you can feel that the entire spinal column is in your awareness from the root chakra right up to the crown".
7. SPECIAL NEEDS
- breathe into any chakra area where the breath may not open fully, or where we feel some obstruction. He said the gut area opens up to infinite vitality, the heart area opens to infinite love, and the mind area opens to infinite awareness.

8. ATTUNEMENT WITH THE MASTER
Since I am doing all of this while he is doing it on the internet, he told us where he was taking his awareness so that I was able to feel what he was feeling on the inside. He said "the main thing is maintaining an energetic hold, and staying firmly focused on the brow." If you feel a connection with the master, this should work even when the broadcast is no longer live.

Breathing is something I take for granted so today was a great reminder of how powerful this is as a tool I can use in any moment - standing or sitting.

Just a few words of inspiration:

Oh Infinite Self You are the source of prana.
Let me become aware of
how the prana moves the mind and the breath,
how the prana moves along the chakras.
Guide me to discover the secrets of pranayama
I enter this new day seeking to know all of me
and to be able to manage the human experience
Guide me as I seek to bring my being into self-mastery
om peace peace peace
~ Sri Vasudeva

[Uma]

Day 19 (lecture portion) of 40: Apr.13/16

I'm now posting my personal reflections about the lecture portion that came before the meditation part from my last post (because their upload was missing). This must be backwards day for me LOL.

The meditation I just posted about covered quite a lot of advanced meditation techniques. I must be like the restless jiva-bird he spoke about jumping from branch to branch. There's a lot of terminology to deal with and today he focused on prana.

Prana - so what?
Prana awareness in meditation is the first stage in advanced meditation practice. Before Kundalini awakening there is prana awareness (or sometimes I think the two can happen at the same time). For most of us we are already aware of prana but not giving it attention, not realizing what it is. It's second nature to me now to watch the prana in the breath when I meditate. I've forgotten what it's like to focus on the the breath as air only.

Prana is life force all around us in the form of breath and in the form of thoughts (it's also in food and probably other things I don't know about). Sri Vasudeva mentioned some ways one might experience prana: for example, as a tingling in the body, a jolt when you come into the presence of someone with a lot of vitality (like an athlete), during a healing session, or when receiving shaktipat. I think there are a lot of threads on this forum where people share their experiences of prana (the Chinese call it chi as in tai chi, the Japanese call it qi as it qigong). So step one in breath awareness meditation is to become aware of prana moving in the breath. As far as meditation is concerned, that's a game changer.

There is Kundalini-as-Prana and Kundalini-as-Guru-Tattwa
I can't even remember when this prana awareness first happened to me, but the awareness definitely got more powerful when Kundalini awakened in my sushumna. It's important to know that even if Kundalini is not yet awakened one can begin to sense and recognize prana. The two things are different. I think there is a lot of confusion about that because both are Kundalini manifesting in different ways - which is why I think a lot of healers go around saying they can open up your chakras for you. The difference is the sushumna nadi - that's the central subtle channel in the spine. That's the one that controls advanced spiritual evolution. The seven major chakras are the ones involved in spiritual evolution. The rest have to do with the physical-mental dimensions. They can channel spiritual energy but they are not the ones directly responsible for enlightenment. So nobody can wake up, open or develop your chakras for you but an enlightened master who has been bestowed this power of shaktipat through the grace of guru tattwa.

Cleaner chakras, freer prana, more room to breath, better meditation...
What was really illuminating for me was when he said that the more the sushumna nadi is clear of old patterns that restrict it at each chakra, the more prana will flow freely "so the more you dismantle the patterns, the breath will move more freely". This has exciting implications for self-healing, rejuventation as well as self-mastery. For the practice of meditation, it explains why I have to do all those yamas and niyamas to purify myself on every level that I posted about earlier. All that purification creates the physical effect of breathing more freely, the psychological effect of having a more steady mind, and the spiritual effect of allowing Kundalini to move more freely up the spine. It's showing me yet another way in which the body, body and spirit are all integrated, supporting one another. It's showing me how I can work on myself from the outside in as well as the inside out.

Organized prana = steady mind
So this prana awareness is a first step into advanced meditation. The next step is to manage it using other things (see my last post) - most important of all is using the intellect. Sri Vasudeva mentioned that he used mantra as well as prana control to manage his restless mind before enlightenment (a subject for another talk I suppose).

Things that help me free up pranic flow were mentioned in the meditation (my previous post): shaktipat, ujai breath, muscles and straight spine, presence of the master and one he didn't mention which I love to do when I can, which is meditate outside in nature where the prana is flowing beautifully.

"When I pray with you, I meditate with you, I'm helping you to open up your pranic field and to bring balance to it. And when you get into that emotion with me or that mental state with me and you come more into unity with me, you will feel that your pranas start to come more into balance." ~ Sri Vasudeva

This word "balance" I think also creates a lot of confusion. It's definitely not the "balance" ordinary yoga teachers talk about, it's more to do with "alignment with" the cosmic field - being in surrender to or alignment with. The presence of the master not only increases prana but also the movement of Kundalini so it is extra powerful.

The idea of meditating inside a room is to keep the nice flow of energy in that room (in nature it dissipates) so the next time I meditate in the same spot I get a an extra boost to the pranic part of my meditation (part of his sacred space teachings). And the intention I put into my practice is very important - my will, and my heart energy, my devotion… this is all thought prana adding to the breath prana focused powerfully on a single goal. When my intention aligns with the presence of the master that is already aligned with the cosmic level (crown chakra) everything accelerates to an incredible level. I've also experienced this in a powerful group meditation when the energy builds into a kind of vortex so there is much more to this "presence of the master" thing. So so much more!

The prana flows freely when it is not bouncing all over the place like popcorn in a machine but smoothly like oil out of a spout. The restless breathing and the restless mind are linked to restless prana - so I want to pay attention to all three and make them all steady. A steady mind leads to a silent mind.

First things first - steady mind
Use the prana in the breath
That's creating my ladder
Without my ladder I can't climb to the higher heights
There are many hidden gems in today's talk worth contemplating
He is a channel of pure wisdom
so there is always more water to drink from his bottomless well
I just wanted to focus on this one thing
but I got carried away
that's where spirit takes me
down the rabbit hole
om