Questions !!!

July 25, 2001

Dear sadhakas, We have many learned

sadhakas and some new ones in this forum. We have to help

each other in our journey towards truth !

Following questions have been received from our sadhkas. I

will be grateful if you could answer them or simply

share your views on the

subject. -------------------------------\

------------------ Q1 - Is it necessary to sit in Padmasana for

meditation ? How long it takes to master

padmasana? Q2- Why is it necessary to do Sadhnaa (meditation).

Is there no other way to get to God? Q3- How

to control sex during meditation? Is it necessary to

control sex ? Q4 - Is Universe different from me

and God, or we are all one ? Is Universe alive and

conscious? Q5 - I do not get concentration during sadhnaa. When

i sit, all thoughts attack me. How to get

concentration? -------------------------\

----- I hope for a positive response from other

sadhakas..kindly share your views freely. Hari aum tat

sat PS:Those who have a question on their meditation,

obstacles, or results but feel shy to put it on board, may

e-mail them at silentsoul_55. Their quesion

will be put on the board by founders, without

disclosing their name, as we have done in past.

July 25, 2001

<<Q5 - I do not get concentration during

sadhnaa. When i sit, all thoughts attack me. How to get

concentration?>> I used to have a problem with this (still do from

time to time). A good friend told me about this

technique and it has helped me greatly! When sitting

down to meditate, let the thoughts come without

resisting them. Let them come but do not get emotionally

attached to them either way. Just sit back and observe

them as if you are watching clouds roll by in the sky.

If one gets stuck and you start to examine it, think

that you have a soft broom and gently sweep the

thought out of your mind. Another technique that

I learned in a mediation class is to occupy your

mind with something else. A mantra. An exercise

(counting back from 100). Anything to give your brain an

activity so your self can concentrate on spiritual

activities. It is important not to get upset or frustrated that

you can not seem to quiet the mind at first. The

quiet will come but you have to be patient. Om

Shanti Erica

July 25, 2001

I will try to answer as many as I

can. ********************** Lotus Position (padmasana) is considered a

proper

position for meditation. Why? Maybe because in that

position it promotes very great elasticity of the ankles,

knees, and legs because of the position which is

required. But then many people cannot perform Padmasana. I

cannot for one. I know people who perform meditation in

the Vajrasana pose by folding their legs below them.

There are people who cannot do this too. I think one

big criteria for meditation is to let the body be

relaxed, and the spine be erect. For people who just

cannot sit on the floor, they can sit on a hard backed

staright chair and meditate. As far as I know, one does

not have to be an expert to start any of the yogic

postures. A good teacher would be wonderful. I remember

when I had Yoga in school, my teacher would say do as

far as you without strainng or hurting yourself. How

long would totally depend on a person's physical

condition. **************************************** Saadhana(or Sadhana or

Sadhna), I think is different from

Meditation. Meditation is a part of Sadhana. Meditation has

many benefits and is considered one of the ways of God

Realization. But then, a pure Bhakta would say Love is the

means to attain

God. ***************************************

July 25, 2001

Continuing on the Questions : The wanting

mechanism continuously constructs images of new experiences

the mind desires, derived from memories of the past.

The mind becomes enamored with these new fantasy

images and is diverted from what actually is, here and

now. The eternal cosmic consciousness exists here and

now, never in the future, and never in the past.

Future and past are illusory and do not exist in any

real physical form outside of projections of the mind.

Wanting is part of life, creativity, family building,

wealth creation, and the survival instinct. In the sense

of preserving the human race on planet earth,

wanting is a very good thing. Where as meditation in

general talks about controlling desires, doing away with

all desires including sex, some aspects (I think

Tantra has it, but I am not sure and I would like a

clarification) deal with the sexual energy. In March 1999,

University of Utah brought out the following report

: Yoga and meditation techniques could be valuable tools

in helping teenage sex offenders reduce or control

their deviant impulses, according to new research at

the University of Utah. David Derezotes, an

associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Work,

says the relaxation techniques taught through yoga,

meditation and breathing exercises reduced stress, anxiety

and sexual impulses among a group of teen sex

offenders he observed over a two-year period. His

observations will appear in an upcoming issue of Child and

Adolescent Social Work Journal. The 14 boys, five of

whom stayed with the program the entire two years,

were clients at an Intermountain West human service

agency at which yoga and meditation were used during

treatment. They were between the ages of 15 and 18.

Adolescents, Derezotes writes, commit a sizeable number of sex

crimes -- up to 20 percent of all rapes in the country

and up to one-half of all child sexual abuse. "Early

intervention with adolescent sex offenders is important

because they are likely to continue to molest as they

age," he writes, citing previous research. "At least

one-half of adult sex offenders began offending in their

own adolescence or earlier."

July 25, 2001

If anyone wants any information about the University of Utah program, they can

check out : <a href=http://www.newswise.com/articles/1999/3/YOGA.UUT.html

target=new>http://www.newswise.com/articles/1999/3/YOGA.UUT.html</a>

July 26, 2001

Tks Devi bhakta and baburoy for answering the

questions. Devi bhakta pls continue posting some parts from

such wonderful books. I am also giving my 2

cents of views on the questions. Q1- As per

Patanjali's yoga sutras any posture which is comfortable, can

be used for meditation. Lotus position though

better, yet is not a pre-requisite. In the beginning it

is a bit difficult to sit in asana, but one can

master it in some months. Q2- Well it needs a

long discussion. In my view whole life is a sadhna and

what ever we do we follow latent path of progress

towards truth. Doing it consciously is what we mean by

sadhna here. Q3-There is no need to control sex.

Just stop thinking about sex. Kamnaa (desire) is more

dangerous than Kaam (sex). With progress in Sadhnaa sex

will automatically come down....because in the

beginning days of sadhnaa Sex and anger always flare

up...nothing to worry. Q4- Well Devi_bhakta has so

beautiful explained this. Universe is body of the God, and

is very much alive and conscious as a whole. it

reacts to our desires. But it is Maya and untrue, from a

certain plane of consciousness. q5- Concentration

is difficult in today's world. Our vrittis take over

us, whenever we sit for meditation. Sugarbradines'

views are very important. Best thing to avoid noise of

vrittis is to see them as spectator and soon they will

cool down. (it is easy to say but a little difficult

to achieve....but not impossible !) Friends

pls continue, if you have faced similar problems as

to how you handled them Hari Aum PS

tks chitra you keep on amazing me.

July 26, 2001

Q1 - Is it necessary to sit in Padmasana for

meditation ? How long it takes to master

padmasana? Before asking what is necessary for meditation, let us

ask – is meditation necessary? I know this is a

radical question, but it must be asked. Either you are

meditating for a purpose, or meditation is just happening.

In the first case, the purpose will always come in

between you and meditation. Meditation, as explained by J

Krishnamurti (considered by many to be an authority on this

subject), is essentially emptying the contents of

consciousness. The purpose of meditation, in case of a supposed

saadhaka, is his imagination about ‘enlightenment’. This

idea itself is one of the contents of consciousness.

Meditation happens when an indifferent attitude develops

about all kinds of ‘achievements’, including

enlightenment. As for padmaasana, I would recommend everyone to

read Swami Muktaananda’s account of saadhanaa. He

describes how his legs would *automatically* get locked in

padmasana and meditation would begin. It is a

different matter if you are undertaking yoga for

physiological wellbeing. There too, the realized ones have a

word of caution. UG Krishnamurti says – Yoga and

health foods destroy the body ( from the book ‘Mind is a

Myth’) Q2- Why is it necessary to do Sadhnaa (meditation).

Is there no other way to get to God? It is

entirely unnecessary to do saadhanaa – or stop it if it

happens. God has many ways of getting to us, the choice is

His. Q3- How to control sex during meditation? Is it

necessary to control sex ? It is because you control

sex during the rest of the day that the thoughts

about sex interfere in your attempts at meditation.

Then again, if you don’t want to think about

something, you will end up thinking about nothing but that.

Such is the nature of thought. There is truly no

remedy that suits all. Best is not to try to solve the

problem. Every solution will just alter the form of the

problem. The problem will dissolve if meditation happens,

by the grace of God. Q4 - Is Universe

different from me and God, or we are all one ? Is Universe

alive and conscious? All there is, is

Consciousness. Me and universe are both appearances, but God is

real. Is universe conscious? Well, which universe are

we talking about? The universe that we experience is

contained within our consciousness. We don’t know whether

any ‘objective’ universe exists independent of our

experience. There is no way of knowing. Krishna too

says ‘naaham teshu ca te mayi – I am not inside the

universe, the universe is contained within Me’

(Geeta). Ramesh Balsekar says that the impersonal consciousness

is the source of everything and permeates

everything. It means that the chair over there is permeated

by the impersonal consciousness, but there is no

separative element there. There is no ‘knowledge’, feelings

or emotions. The chair doesn’t ‘know’ that it is an

object. Q5 - I do not get concentration during sadhnaa. When

i sit, all thoughts attack me. How to get

concentration? All thoughts attack me! Beautiful. But the ‘me’

itself is nothing but a separative structure of thought.

The me (ego) is always enforced by more and more

thoughts about myself. See what happens: The ego (thought)

produces another thought – ‘I must meditate’. ‘Let

me sit down in a padmasana’ – thought! ‘Now I

must not think about sex’ – thought! ‘I must stop

thinking’ – thought! ‘I suppose some mantra should work’

– thought! ‘Om namo whatsoever…’ –

thought! ‘It seems the thoughts have stopped…’ –

thought! ‘Oh no, those sexual thoughts again….’ ‘It is

getting boring…’ ‘Maybe tomorrow it should work. I

seem to have made some progress, anyway’. And

so it goes on. You can do nothing but watch the

thoughts as they come and go. Maybe that is a hint. I

don’t know. Hare krishna. Rajeev

July 27, 2001

1. As far as mastering an asana is concerned, it

all depends on one's present physical state and the

previous practice.Any way as some one correctly pointed

out, if a posture is not comfortable , then it is

indeed not worthy to be used atlest in the beginning

stages because it will hinder stilling of mind due to

the sensation of pain that it causes. However all

asanas have their own significance. It can be seen

that even the great Adi Shankara was made to under go

practices in Hatha yoga, Raja yoga and Jnana yoga,

successively for a year each before he was declared as

Sarvagna(all knowing ) by his guru Govinda

Bhagavatpaada. This respectively symbolises the practices for Body,

Mind and Soul orAAtman.It can however be seen that all

the preparatoins are for the final stages of

Jnnaana!If one can directly reach here, others are not

required.However speaking of a general sadhaka, these are indeed

necessary in the said order to have a strong spiritual

foundation and steady spiritual growth. Though padmasana is

not an absolute need and can be substituted by

Sukhasana,all yogic texts like Hatha yoga pradeepika, Gheranda

Samhita etc do stress the importance of Siddhasana and

Padmasana for meditation.Padmasana is connected with the

sahasraara Chakra and stimulates all chakras as well as

balances energy in the spinal canal when combined with

sone hasta mudras.Tantric yoga however stresses on the

use of this asana only for many purposes.It is better

to master this asana but could begin with

sukhasana.All yogis who exist invariably in savikalpa samadhi

invariably use this or sidhhasana.The deity for this asana

is Saraswathi or vag devata and hence it is also

daid to confer mantri siddhi ! 3.It is very

much necessary to control sexual urges.Some claim to

use of sex in tantra. but this is totally different

from the ordinary sex.Actually even tantra indicates

at aatma rati i.e. copulation of shiva(paramatman)

and Shakthi(individuality) resulting in poorna

advaita, though the more grosser , physical sex is

generally interpreted by amateur tantrics.Even tantric sex

is different since here lust is completely

absent...and is just a means of achieving mental or neuro

hyperactivity. If precpous sexual energy is lost where is the ojas

which in turn has to be transmuted to creative or

spiritual energies? Sex has to be controlled by keeping

away bad company, seducing stuff,and by practice of

certain asanas bathing in cold water,regular meditation

and complete surrender to God and Guru ! 4.

Yes indeed they are all same. This realization will

automatically dawn upon us as we proceed in sadhana disproving

all misconceptions of Vallabha nimbaraka maadhwa and

other gaudiya texts. Only the supreme oneness

prevails! Only the paramatman exists !everything that is

nonpermanent is falsehoos and is a projection of maya and

nothing else !

July 27, 2001

Dear Harsha, I'am impressed by ur knowledge

and the way u think..presently I'am caught between a

strong desire to dive in the ocean of spirituality or to

continue to work in this material world and die only to be

reborn in an unknown place...to again go thru that cycle

of birth & rebirth.... Narayan Hari Avi

July 27, 2001

I believe it is normal for a person just starting

meditation to have thought. The brain is used to thinking

constantly. Meditation is learned, I believe. Just like a

yoga asana, the still mind takes practice. If a

student has an open heart and really takes the time to

practice meditation, it will come eventually. However,

different people get the results different ways. I

think that giving the brain a simple task is a very

valid and very real way to feel the brain's functions

and to practice observing and not becoming attached.

Giving the brain a simple task is like giving a child a

toy to play with. The child will occupy itself with

the toy and will not bother mom as she accomplishes

the task at hand. If you did not give the child a

toy, most likely it will tug at mom and talk to mom

and she can't get anything done. Also, mom is able to

watch the child play with this toy and notice patterns

in the play. It's easier to observe when the child

is not staring back at you. When the child grows, it

is able to sit still for a period of time but when

it is young and new it does not have the discipline

necessary to sit still. This is not to say that this

method is for everyone or will lead anywhere, but it's a

start. It helped me. Om Shanti Erica

July 27, 2001

Blessed Self, aspirants Q1 Padmasana

optimizes meditation because it keeps the back straight

thus encouraging prana to move upward and also funnels

prana to the muladhara (notice all the triangle shapes

when sitting in padmasana with the back of the hands

on the knees, tip of thumb to tip of index finger

and the other 3 fingers extended. But there

are other cross-legged asanas available for those who

cannot get into padmasana. You can even sit in a chair

with the feet flat on the floor and the back straight

and not touching the back of the chair. To

master padmasana takes as long as it takes. Have no

expectations when practicing hatha yoga. Q2 I quote

Swami Sivananda on this one: "Without the help

of meditation, you cannot attain Knowledge of the

Self. Without its aid, you cannot grow into the divine

state. Without it, you cannot liberate yourself from the

trammels of the mind and attain

immortality." "Meditation is the only royal road to the attainment of

salvation or Moksha." "Meditate. Meditate. Do not

lose even a single minute. Meditation will remove all

the miseries of life. That is the only

way." Q3 Sex and meditation. Often during meditation one

will be aware of stimulation in the genital area. This

is a normal part of meditation. The idea here is

take the sexual energy and convert it to Ojas, a

spiritual energy and direct it upward. You do that by

reminding yourself of your spiritual purpose for

meditating, reminding yourself that sexual energy can help to

fuel the meditation process, and then mentally

encouraging the ojas to move upward. If the rest of

your question 3, concerns controlling sex and sexual

thoughts outside of meditation, then, yes, you should be

controlling those impulses. You should know that your libido

may initaily be higher with a meditation practice.

Contolling your sexual impulses and thoughts is called

brahmacharya. What is the purpose of meditating for 1/2 hour, if for

the rest of the day you are dividing your attention

and your energies by engaging in sexual

thoughts? Q 4 & 5 to be continued Omprem

July 27, 2001

Blessed Self, aspirants Q4. You are in the

universe and the universe is in you. Both you and the

universe are manifestations of Brahman. Think of yourself

and the universe as mere waves in the ocean of

Brahman. To know the universe, look inside of

yourself. To know your true Self, look inside of yourself.

To know God, look inside of yourself. To come to God

and identify with God, look inside of yourself.

Whatever you want, the answer lies within. The

universe is structured as it is and has prana activating

and harmonizing it for the same reason that you are

structured as you are and have prana activating and

harmonizing you. You and the universe are both manifestations

of Brahman, microcosms of Brahman. All of your

structures, all of the structures of the universe are there

to point to Brahman. Brahman is Pure

Consciousness and is the consciousness the animates you and the

universe. Q5 The process of meditation is to remain unattached

to the thoughts that move through your mind. Let

them come in, ignore them and let them move out. Don't

fight with them, don't entertain yourself with them. To

acknowledge them with any emotional attachment is merely to

give them a force that they do not have on their own.

Practice this and those thoughts will soon show themselves

to be trivial, inconsequential and weak impediments

to meditation. They will wither and die. Their

numbers will become fewer and fewer. To aid this

process, you should use a Mantra. A Mantra is not just a

device to keep your mind from focusing on thoughts. A

Mantra has the power to take your consciousness to

Brahman. If you do not have a guru to give you a Mantra,

then use 'Aum', the universal Mantra. Coordinate the

Mantra with the breath and focus either on the Ajna

chakra in the middle of the forehead just above the

eyebrows (if you have an intellectual or rational approach

to life) or the Anahata chakra to the right of the

heart (if you have an emotional or devotional approach

to life). At all times you should be repeating your

mantra AND focusing your concentration of your

chakra. Hari Om Tat Sat Omprem

July 28, 2001

omprem :"The process of meditation is to remain

unattached to the thoughts that move through your mind. Let

them come in, ignore them and let them move out. Don't

fight with them, don't entertain yourself with them. To

acknowledge them with any emotional attachment is merely to

give them a force that they do not have on their own.

Practice this and those thoughts will soon show themselves

to be trivial, inconsequential and weak impediments

to meditation." No. To talk of thoughts as

"weak impediments to meditation" is to pass judgement

on them and the very function of the brain. They are

the radiance of the mind. They are the minds work.

Watch them come and go, yes. Realize that they are just

and only thoughts, yes. Relegate them to "

impediments to meditation", no.

Questions !!!

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