Another Reason to Arise Early for Practices

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Kundalini Yoga practice and have been primarily centered on third

eye meditations with focus on the light and sound of God for many years. I

became very interested in kundalini yoga after practicing the 5 Tibetan Rites

with very successful results and the natural progression of the rites has

finally led me to KY - which I'm so very grateful for the online lessons and for

this message board as additional support - thank you! I'm not an early

morning person and had been making my practice times at night and found myself

too stimulated for sleep most of the time then switched over to a mid-morning

time for practice. But the most amazing revelations and lightbody visits from a

teacher would wake me up out of a sound sleep at 3:00 am (when they occurred).

In a very natural way I began realizing the hours between 2:00am -4:30am were

extremely significant and very productive for meditation practice (but I just

couldn't manage to get myself into a routine for physical rites or practices -

it was hard enough to get into meditations in those hours). When I happened

onto the KY I saw hours recommended for practice and once again found the

significance of developing and keeping an early hour routine.

 

I then found the following information and it has also encouraged me to

committing to setting a time in the early morning for my practice and I thought

others might like to see this too (I can't be the only one who has a hard time

with getting out of a warm, compfy bed when it's dark and cold outside the

covers).

 

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy reading all your posts.

Suzann

 

TIME AND PLACE FOR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

 

Any time is good for devotion to the Lord, and one should seize

every

opportunity that comes his way for this purpose. But the early

morning time, which is known as the time of Elixir, is

particularly

favorable.

 

We feel tired after the day's work, but sleep refreshes us by

the

time it is early morning. The best time is from three o'clock

in the

morning onwards, when concentration is easily achieved. Guru

Nanak

has also mentioned the time of Elixir as the best time for

contacting

the True Nam by contemplating on Him and repeating His Name.

 

Another reason for this being the best time is that during the

time

of sleep, the soul (which is the attention or consciousness)

comes

down to concentrate at the throat or the navel center, and as

we wake

up in the morning it begins to scatter throughout the body. So,

if

immediately on getting up, we endeavor to withdraw our

attention to

the eye center, it can come up easily, as it has not yet

established

itself in all the pores of the body.

 

Even otherwise, the morning time is useful for spiritual

practice

because before the rising of the sun the mind's currents are

usually

concentrated. And any seed of Nam sown at this time cannot but

bear

fruit. This time of Elixir, which people in their ignorance

treat as

time for sleep, is lost in slumber by most people. But at this

time,

the devotees of the Lord are awake.

 

At the time of Elixir, currents of Grace and Benevolence flow

from

the Lord, and only those, who are awake and sit in deep

devotion to

Him, receive this great boon. Such persons conquer death while

still

alive.

 

The Gurmukhs, or devotees of the Lord, are awake in the early

morning

hours and enjoy the Bliss of their Lord's Name. A Muslim Fakir

says: "Man, you should be awake early in the morning. You

should

leave your bed, howsoever comfortable it may be, and sit in a

quiet

and remote comer of the room in remembrance of the Lord."

 

We spend hundreds of nights in pursuit of sensual gratification

or in

the acquisition of wealth. Have we ever spent a single night in

remembrance of our Lord? To keep awake at night or to sleep

less is

the natural habit of all Saints, because whatever they have

gained

was realized by them during the night. (Huzur Baba Sawan Singh,

"My

Submission")

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I was happy to read Suzann's message, in which she admitted, "I'm not an

early morning person...." And I was inspired by what she went on to say

about meditation in the wee hours, along with the passages by Huzur Baba

Sawan Singh.

 

During the work week, I mostly perform KY in the morning before going to

work, around 6:00 a.m. I feel very virtuous about this since, as a night

owl, 6:00 is abnormally early for me. However, the few times I've managed

to rustle out of bed at 4:00 a.m. my practice has seemed especially

energetic, not just physically but with a vibrancy of awareness.

 

Some months before my first KY experience, I was contemplating the planet

Mars as part of my astrological practice. Mars, the lusty, earthy warrior.

In my contemplation it came to me that the most "martial" thing I could do

would be to get up early in the morning. This didn't seem very valorous (or

glamorous) at the time.

 

Suzann's message reminded me of the truth of that insight. Thanks to her

and everyone else on this list for sharing their thoughts and experiences.

 

Sat Nam,

 

Chris B