Sri Vasudeva on Meditation

[Uma]

I started at 5:15 this morning doing the chant, listening to the talk, and meditating - and I am still not done transcribing today's message and the conversations that followed - about three hours of recordings. I'm really wanting to totally immerse myself as fully as possible. This is such a powerful period and a great opportunity to accelerate my growth.

Today Sri Vasudeva simply introduced the topic for these 40 days - lifting the veil of Maya and as he relived his early spiritual experiences in the 1970s, I could really feel his astonishment at discovering that the physical reality we all take for granted is really a dream, and actually one of several layers of dream.

The joy of enlightened consciousness is to live in a clear space where the unreal layers are seen for what they are. And he likened this to a lucid dream experience in which you know you are living in the dream so you can sport in it. This is the state called jivanmuktan:

"While still in the jiva, the sentient being, we become free: jivanmukti. That’s what we are seeking, that’s what the moksha is, freedom in the consciousness," Sri Vasudeva.

But he's going to explore the nature of this dream we call reality that is actually unreal - over the course of the 40 Days. Those of us who have had experiences of other realms - these are all layers of the dream - dreams within dreams within dreams.

There is nothing as amazing as vibrating faster than the speed of dream. That's what I experienced. To be able to see thoughts arising out of me and the whole world moving in slow motion, and to suddenly become aware that I am in a higher vantage point watching it all knowing it is not me - this was phenomenal. Like science fiction! It gives me a benchmark to know when I am getting close to this vantage point again. It's really a place of maximum power where I can sport with the dream.

If you have ever had a lucid dream - to become suddenly aware while you are dreaming that you are in a dream - it's a position of power. Suddenly the dream doesn't control you anymore, you control it! I used to have lucid dreams but I stopped them deliberately because I wasn't getting a good night's sleep. The best sleep comes in a deeper space that doesn't have any REM (rapid eye movement) so there is no dreaming, at least none at a conscious level I can see. Sri Vasudeva will probably speak of this later because he can see this level, since he is fully awake.

The questions asked during the conversation were wonderful and there was way too much information shared for me to do justice to it here. I hope you will take the opportunity to listen to it or some of it.

What struck with me powerfully today was the prayer or mantra he spoke about with such passion.

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

It means take me from the unreal to the real. (Sat=Consciousness, the true reality)
Lead me from darkness to light. (Jyoti is the light of truth)
Remove from me the illusion of my mortality and grant me the awareness of my immortality (Amrtam=blissful awareness of the soul's immortality as Consciousness)
and the OM, the primordial sound containing all sounds at the mouth of this Consciousness that always ends every prayer or mantra, taking us back to Source.
and Shanti which means peace, so we maintain that illumined state we work so hard to achieve in meditation, throughout the day

I just kept repeating it all day and felt really good doing that.
He said not to say it like a parrot, but to really understand what it means and realize it is a call of anguish from the self to the Higher Self to be released from this prison or cage of Maya, this dream that is so unfulfilling.

Those who are sincere seekers have realized this, that life without God is somehow unfulfilling, or that there must be more to life than this. And there is!


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The retreat recordings will remain online for a short time here. You may join in live at 5:15am for the morning's message and at 3:00pm for the sacred conversations and have the opportunity to ask Sri Vasudeva questions about the day's message. There is also a chant in the evening to enable going to sleep in bliss.

[running]

my perspective.

when you become to have what feels like lots of space.

that openess of the chakras becomes like gravity to the body and mind being in joy from a current passing through.

that current is like gravity to a silence in the mind.

shiva being silence. shakti being current.

there can be experiences of this during the process. at some point you become blown open enough that nothing can obstruct it.

then you become in the experience of that all the time despite what is, emotions. or thoughts. everything dissolves into the power of bliss.

the way to that openesses i have found for me is in releasing obstructions. there are many methods of doing so. pranayama and many others. much of which i dont know anything about.

for me it was through releasing of thd emotional body. going through time from the hearts memories to live through them. in doing so they become neutral in that the obstruction is gone.

that clears the chakra systems and creates an opening which creates a vast space where everything dissolves into the bliss and silence. cause that vastness is bliss and silence. so it supercedes what is.

creating what i think as life in meditation.

[Uma]

Thank you running. That was a beautiful share.

[Uma]

Yesterday Sri Vasudeva asked us to ponder that if this world is changing/transient then it must not be absolutely real. So today he is beginning to talk about that which is absolutely real: Consciousness. If the nature of Maya is ever changing and impermanent, then Consciousness is that which never changes and is eternal.

"This Maya is happening in our consciousness but it’s difficult to appreciate what consciousness really is. The whole object of the spiritual journey is to really understand consciousness. What is consciousness? Is it a product of the brain? What is consciousness? What constitutes consciousness? And therein lies the very essence of the spiritual journey. And it relates to the question “Who am I?” ~ SV

To illustrate a basic "idea" of what Consciousness is, he retold the story from the Chandogya Upanishad where Uddalaka teaches his son Shvetaketu to ponder what is inside a seed (beyond the quantum level). And that we cannot dissect the human brain and find Consciousness there (as much as psychologist are trying to do that).

I'm intrigued by the number of different ways he described Consciousness in his talk and the guided meditation:

"Maya is happening IN the consciousness."
and
"The subtle essence of that is not in the body but in the whole other dimension so the consciousness WITHIN US is not the body or IN the body but lies in another dimension."

The words IN and OUT are THEMSELVES ILLUSIONS!
I experience the cosmos as outside of me, I experience Maya as though it were outside of my individual consciousness.
But actually it's all being perceived within my mind that is using my brain - so the whole universe is inside of me, as it seems.
But actually everything is consciousness, there is nothing that is not consciousness - the entire universe including me is intelligent Source energy.

But this kind of thinking only creates confusion.
It is better IMO to experience that
I am not body
I am not mind
I am not thoughts
I am not ego
and see how far I can go with the I am nots until I hit a rock bottom level of reality.

He said yesterday that are 3 different ways of getting to the same awareness.
Say Consciousness is everything and make myself as humble as possible.
Say Consciousness is nothingness and make myself the huge ego that is everything.
Both take you to the same space, and the same Consciousness, and the same understanding that is moksha (liberating from the wheel of reincarnation).

"There are traditions in India in which one would say that it’s all false and that you should deny it: “not real not real not real” That’s a tradition “neti-neti-neti”. And then there’s a tradition that says all is real, that if anything comes out of the real it can only be real. So it’s another point of view. One can take each point of view to get to the final Self but the final Self is beyond real and unreal, beyond the duality.

One can take the idea [of "not this"] and move away from it and ultimately one can get the experience of what is. You keep on saying "This is false" and you’re true to that intellectually using discrimination, without having an opinion of what is the truth. Everything that you can observe as non-truth you deny it or you move away from it or take a distance from it.

And then there is one tradition that says, see that God/the Divine is everything – because...there’s an expansion of consciousness when you begin to think that the Divine is in everything and that nothing is unreal. So that is another way of getting to the Divine." SV

In his own journey he used both ways. He had the power of the fantastically awakened heart chakra, the power of a LOT of love emanating from Source through the heart from his first trip to India - AND HE NEVER LOST IT - so he was able to use that perpetual boost of energy to take him straight to the Source. He used the Maya to get out of the gravitational tractor beam of the Maya (my metaphor).

So he got into that space of Pure Consciousness (pure ego, pure heart, pure mind, pure vitality, pure everything)...and he sees the Maya from the vantage point of a higher dimension.


So these are just ways of thinking about it and imaging it and being open to the possibility that this world isn't real and there is a much more real world. In fact the dream world is even more real than this world so we've all got it backwards. We live in backwards land. And it's so frustrating for me to know this and have to deal with a very ignorant society that tells me if they can't see it with their physical eyes it doesn't exist.

Here is a TED Talk I like to share to give an idea of moving towards that multi-dimensional experience (although Self is beyond dimension) where brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened and had this marvellous spiritual experience that changed her consciousness completely. I don't know whether it made her a believer or not, but it was certainly an awakening of some kind:link

[Uma]

My सद्गुरू Satguru, Sri Vasudeva (lineage of Siddha Yoga / Maha Yoga)

The 40 Days Observance is an annual ashram retreat and online meditation experience hosted by my wonderful teacher Sri Vasudeva and his organization Blue Star. In 2015 I began posting my reflections about his teachings and sharing my own practice insights on Spiritual Forums. I tried to make these very profound and esoteric teachings understandable (as much as I understand them) to people not so familiar with the Sanskrit terminology and advanced meditation. I'm not trying to preach to anybody, just sharing what I knew at the time of writing the post, and looking for answers same as anybody else.

2017 40 Days "Lifting the Veil of Maya" reflections (now in progress):
Introductory preambles Introduction ; More about self discipline; Guidance on the journey ; Final introduction
Day 1 Day1 Maya - the dream realities
Day 2 Day 2 Investigating the nature of Consciousness
Live online meditation retreat from March 25, 2017 to May 5, 2017[link]

2016 40 Days "Exploring Maha Yoga" reflections:
Introduction Introduction to the 2016 40 Days Observance and this video link
Night before Preparation = Better Meditation
Day 1 Seeking the Self Within
Day 2 Mind is not a Brain!
Day 3 Being Mindful of BOTH Anatomies
Day 4 That which is beyond mind
Day 5 Deepening the practice
Day 6 Piloting my plane during sitting meditation practice
Day 7 Discriminating & detached observing
Day 8 Uniting head, heart & body
Day 9 Centering
Day 10 The Guru Principle
Day 11 Meditating on the Guru
Day 12 Light my light with your light
Day 13 Observing where I'm blocked
Day 14 Oh Goddess within
Day 15 Spring cleaning
Day 16 Goal of meditation
Day 17 Keeping my private eye on my "I"
Day 18 Acknowledging Divine power & presence and letting go to it
Day 19 Breath to brow <3 the joy of pranayama & More about prana
Day 20 Mantra power
Day 21 Guru Consciousness
Day 22 Present Moment Awareness
Day 23 No Free Lunch!!!
Day 24 From knowing to flowing to flying
Day 25 Surrendering doer-ship
Day 26 Observing ego transforming
Day 27 The super-charger meditation
Day 28 Strengthening my nervous system
Day 29 Striving for Satya Yuga consciousness
Day 30 Sporting with the elements
Day 31 Gut consciousness & power
Day 32 Emotional intelligence in the play
Day 33 Spiritual Intelligence of Crown Consciousness
Day 34 Following my Joy
Day 35 Every spiritual experience is a gift that should be put to work
Day 36 The importance of moment-to-moment meditation
Day 37 Transforming karma from the inside
Day 38 Coming into my own power
Day 39 The final surrender!
Day 40 How a master transforms other people's anger
Day After Appreciating the gifts of the 40 Days

2015 40 Days "Self Mastery - The Practice" reflections:
Introduction to the 2015 40 Days Observance link
Day before 40 Days Self-Mastery = World Mastery
Day 1 The Master within
Day 2 The Field behind form
Day 3 Yogic-Taoist combination technique
Day 4 Experiencing your Essence through relationships
Day 5 How Masters help us back to our centre; Who needs a Guru?
Day 6 Granthis - the Knots also Introduction to our 4 bodies/states
Day 7 The joy of moving from "doer" to "non-doer"
Day 8 Observing the power of the mind to create its reality
Day 9 The 4th state
Day 10 Centred in the Space beyond forms
Day 11 (Easter Sunday)
Day 12 Entering the Zone of pure potential
Day 13 Non-attachment as a proactive thing; Observing thoughts in meditation; Choosing thoughts wisely; Chidakasha - the space of memories
Day 14 Pranayama exercises
Day 15 Opening the chakras - what your yoga teacher doesn't know
Day 16 Prana awareness; Being fed from the inside and (Genesis 3:3)
Day 17 The crown chakra - the only one that is real
Day 18 Conversations with God; The power of sacred space
Day 19 Three brains meditation
Day 20 Mastering my lower nature; The joy of getting to know my chakras
Day 21 My heart chakra - bridge to infinity or limitation; Social function of the heart chakra
Day 22 Meditating to create a world without lawyers, policemen and doctors; spiritual vs religious
Day 23 My body is perfect for my soul's purpose; Moving prana while meditating; chakra teamwork
Day 24 Mastering sexual energy
Day 25 The tragedy of the soul in the human experience;Saraswati - the power of speech; Lakshmi - energy of the heart; Kali - the dismantling energy
Day 26 Karma is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get; Types of karma and other terminology
Day 27 Soul's relationship to the body
Day 28 The Secret to All Relationships & Freedom in Relationships
Day 29 Using the brow chakra effectively in relationships; Why cleanliness is next to Godliness; The best thought form of all
Day 30 Equipoise & letting go
Day 31 Ego battles with itself
Day 32 How to get the most out of mantra repetition

There is more here:
2010 40 Days transcripts: link

ॐ

[Uma]

This is Day 3 of the 2017 40 Day Observance, going another step deeper into the exploration of the Consciousness out of which Maya, dreamlike reality, is born, is sustained and is dissolved in a never-ending cycle. In the "Sacred Conversations" (the sangha that takes place at the ashram at 3pm once everyone has had a chance to digest the morning's message and take it into practice into their day's activities) - it became apparent that everyone has different ideas about what "Consciousness" in a spiritual sense is, so today's talk and meditation began to explore that further.

He spoke about Consciousness as essence, that out of which the subtle energy world of the chakras emerges including the gross physical manifestation of that subtle world. So we're sort of talking about layers of being, dimensions of existence.

And what I loved is something he said yesterday when someone asked him why meditation was so important versus other ways of getting to Self-realization. He replied,

"If you really understand what meditation is, you'll realize that every other tradition has meditation in it because meditation relates to the inner aspect of it… We need to have an internal aspect of how we're processing things so all of those [yogas/paths] require the mind. That inner processing is what meditation is. It's not just about sitting cross-legged and closing the eyes and repeating a mantra or affirmation or asking yourself the question "Who am I?". The internal processing is what meditation is so one can be walking but looking at everything and seeking to really appreciate and understand the experience that is happening in the inner space. That is where the meditation really is. In every path there is a mental aspect to it and the meditation is in the mental aspect," Sri Vasudeva 3/27/17

So meditation is critical to getting to this "essence" of being. There are many techniques of meditation but they are just different flavours of the same ice cream IMHO.

Every talk is about getting to this experience of essence - all of them. Every talk is about peeling away all the layers of resistance that we put up (and there are millions of them) so that we can experience our core space of power, this dimension beyond dimensions called Consciousness, that answers the question "Who am I?" in essence. Because every other thing that I think I am is false, is Maya.

Immanent Essence

And today he spoke about how that is Consciousness as an actor in the play (with the idea of wearing many costumes and playing many roles). In this way my essential being, Consciousness, is immanent (in and through me, all of me, in pervading everything in the universe, causing the projected universe to appear like magic...). Recently I discovered this amazing singer, Nick Pitera, with an amazing vocal range so that he can sing female parts (even Soprano) all the way to deep male Baritone. And he's put up all these amazing one-man operas on YouTube doing duets and things with himself including this medley with nine different personalities (link). So this is just to illustrate the idea of the enlightened perspective, seeing everything as the projection of the one Self, that you and I are the one Self, and we are one with trees, rocks, dogs, you name it.

That's my idea of immanent Consciousness. My essence is playing many roles just as my thoughts play roles in my dream life, so too in this gross physical world (that's mind-blowing isn't it?!).

Transcendent Essence

And then, what meditation helps to cultivate, is this transcendental aspect of my essence, of Consciousness, that witnessing ability that I have that sets me apart from simple brained creatures like animals and babies. And this is the hard part, going deeper into the witnessing I. What keeps me afloat when I get involved in the world is maintaining this witnessing I, this objective part of me that is mostly intellectual. But that isn't essence, that's just my intellect managing my mind as best it can out there in the world out there - and inside when I am meditating. Intellect can't do it all on its own. Intellect needs help.

When Kundalini awakened with me, my energy awareness took on a whole new function and became a support, a friend on the journey, my BFF in fact. It gave me that feeling that I am not alone in this big wide and often cruel world, God lives within me also. So I'm learning to keep Kundalini as active as I can throughout my day. Also not easy. But this helps support my efforts as a witness.

Bliss takes me Home

The transcendental witness becomes even more powerful if I can connect with my bliss. According to Sri Vasudeva our essential being is blissful. He said it today:

"The more aware we become, the more spiritual we become, the more spiritually conscious we become, the more we come into that witnessing nature in the rapture of Self because Self is a rapturous experience in the rapture of Self. We are in the bliss of our own Self even while we engage. The engagement has the outer pleasure, outer joy in the rapturous engagement of Self. In that one is revelling in one’s own bliss and sharing that bliss with the space totally not dependent on the pleasure or the power, but in that rapturous joy of inner self whilst in engagement not needing any power of office because inner Self is totally happy in that bliss, but enjoying the sport in the phenomenal world from that transcendental space," SV 3/28/17

So now I'm feeling crummy because I'm not feeling that bliss, and I have to use all my tools just to stay in SOME SORT of witnessing space and maintain the merits of meditation throughout my day.

AND THE CLOSER I GET THE HEAVIER ARE THE BRICKS THROWN IN MY DIRECTION, LIKE SOME KIND OF CRUEL NEVER-ENDING TEST OF ENDURANCE!!!

But I have to admit what he is saying makes perfect sense. If you have ever been in love, that's a kind of bliss too. And in that state of being in love, you might recall feeling like you're on a cloud and nobody and nothing can bring you down. That kind of happiness makes the whole witnessing practice practically effortless. And that's what I'm going for in meditation.


If anybody knows how to hold on to that kind of bliss, that is not "spaced-out" or unconscious, but allows me to stay in an objective witness space that is grounded in an earthly way, please let me know! It is said that ignorance is bliss - but I know it is not. I have lived long enough to know that the things of this world do not bring lasting happiness and joy. That's the thing with falling in love - how long can anyone sustain that? You fall in love and then you fall out of love. Transcendence, Self-realization bring the bliss that never dies!

Sri Vasudeva has said that only grace brings it on. I believe that the more I focus on the things that make me feel good about myself, the more inclined I'll be to feel some good vibes, if not bliss, at least happier even when mud is slung in my direction or whatever happens to me, and to be able to maintain the benefits of meditation, if not the actual meditation state which is my goal - to be in meditation permanently in my inner world whilst acting in my outer world in self-mastery.


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temporary link to the live talks and meditations happening now, next one at 3pm Trinidad (EST) time

[running]

Originally Posted by Uma

Thank you running. That was a beautiful share.

no prob. thanx for letting me share what i experience here!

[Uma]

Originally Posted by running

no prob. thanx for letting me share what i experience here!

Running,

This thread has turned into a kind of journal for me but I always meant for it to be a sharing thread and maybe a discussion thread, and not me appearing to have all the answers (I'm always questioning what I think I know anyway) - so I'm always excited when someone else shares (respectfully - the trolls I can do without lol).

And the beauty of this forum is that we can cross reference different threads too, so maybe if someone is interested in a particular thing but doesn't want to derail the flow here, they could put a link to another thread in a post here and start up a longer discussion over there. And if it's relevant I would include that in my "index" too. I'm open to anything.

I just can't get enough of my Teacher's teachings, they just keep opening more doors for me, so I can't stop writing about them and how they work for me or where I'm challenged - but I realize that in doing that it makes it look as though I alone "own" this thread, which I don't of course... In any case your appreciation is appreciated!

Peace,
Uma

[running]

Originally Posted by Uma

Running,

This thread has turned into a kind of journal for me but I always meant for it to be a sharing thread and maybe a discussion thread, and not me appearing to have all the answers (I'm always questioning what I think I know anyway) - so I'm always excited when someone else shares (respectfully - the trolls I can do without lol).

And the beauty of this forum is that we can cross reference different threads too, so maybe if someone is interested in a particular thing but doesn't want to derail the flow here, they could put a link to another thread in a post here and start up a longer discussion over there. And if it's relevant I would include that in my "index" too. I'm open to anything.

I just can't get enough of my Teacher's teachings, they just keep opening more doors for me, so I can't stop writing about them and how they work for me or where I'm challenged - but I realize that in doing that it makes it look as though I alone "own" this thread, which I don't of course... In any case your appreciation is appreciated!

Peace,
Uma

it seems like when people get involved in a good teacher and really into it things start cooking.

[Uma]

Originally Posted by running

it seems like when people get involved in a good teacher and really into it things start cooking.

Definitely. Absolutely. The dynamics of three beings (outer guru, inner guru, and myself) consciously involved in co-creating my spiritual evolution is hot hot hot!