by seekinghga » Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:49 pm
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
#20
The Long Lost Search for Universal Spirituality
**ATTENTION: It is assumed that the aspirant has had considerable acquaintance with the practices / techniques herein described. Also, this is by no means a perfect guide.**
1. Gradually cut back on and eliminate things that you enjoy; i.e. things that you desire to do; read: things that you prefer over or besides meditation. (Reminder: this step has no philosophical or moral implications whatsoever. It is merely the temporary trimming off of things detrimental to the task at hand. Sacrifice is an Ego’s game.)
2. Increase sitting (in Asana) time to 60+ minutes ASAP. This can be forced. Pay extra heed to ensuring that the posture is steady and non-harmful to the neck, the back and the shoulders. The body mustn't disturb the mind.
3. Let the Record by thy confidant. Avoid teaching and preaching. Avoid argument, rationalizing, and idle conversation with others. Eschew social media, email, internet forums, phone calls, messaging, etc., at all cost, save for absolute necessity. (See the Reminder to step 1 in parentheses.)
4. Progressively increase the amount of time spent working on concentration; i.e. Pratyahara and Dharana.
5. Don’t allow the mind to get stuck in the quagmire of worrying over the correctness of the focus. Time will see things aright. No effort is wasted. DO NOT force anything!
6. Pranayama, Mantra, Likhita Japa, Liber Jugorum, and Oaths are tools which should not be underestimated.
7. Eventually when a fair degree of control is had over the activity of the mind you get to the point where you can shut off the mind’s more frenetic behavior at will. (Hint: The ability to do so is closely related to the technique of Pranayama, though not necessarily dependent on it.) It need not be said how beneficial this is to meditation.
8. Be calm, release, yield. "Fade" into the Sattvic mind. This is the proper attitude to have. Attaining to have constant mindfulness of your meditation the entire day is the key. This is soaking in meditation, which is also called Abhyasa. Steadily resign the mind to this. As soon as any other thoughts or considerations interfere, gently but firmly corral the attention and bring it back to bear on the focus of meditation.
9. Train the mind to obtain longer and longer periods of sustained one-pointed concentration. When this can be done continuously and with effort it is called Dhyana. When it is done continuously and automatically it is called Samadhi. When it is done continuously and automatically and when the distinction between the meditator, the mind, the meditation, and everything else ceases to be it is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
All of this is possible to accomplish in the midst of worldly life, while taking care of your familial, financial, religious (or lack thereof), and civic duties (though let it not be forgotten that these worldly duties must always be secondary to this practice of meditation). It just takes experimentation and persistence. Depending on the situation no one else might even know what is going on. "The horse's hooves were muffled by the gods.”
**ADDENDUM: Think of spiritual experience as a liquid. Words are like wicks which can soak up some of that liquid. However, when the experience ends the source of the liquid is no more, and over time (typically pretty fast) the wick dries up, leaving behind just barren, shriveled up words: concepts: worthless knowledge: even... *shudders* ...dogma. Memories, too, can only hold their bladder for so long before they start leaking. So it goes. No time to rest. E’er onward.**
Love is the law, love under will.
Last edited by
seekinghga on Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:18 pm, edited 4 times in total.
"And they that read the book and debated thereon passed into the desolate land of Barren Words. And they that sealed up the book into their blood were the chosen of Adonai, and the Thought of Adonai was a Word and a Deed; and they abode in the Land that the far-off travellers call Naught."
- LXV 5:59