Problems with Mixing Traditions

[Guest guest]

We who are just living with the influences that we find in our surroundings

can get very confused by the apparent overlap between traditions. I

understand that the teacher of vipassana yoga (G???) asks that students

don't mix his teachings with other teachings. Not because they are

necessarily incompatible, but because he wants students to experience his

"pure" teachings before they make comparisons. No doubt the same could be

said for Kundalini. 40 days of one clearly defined set of instructions

strictly followed is not asking a lot.

 

There is after all no strict boundary between traditions. The overlap

always interests me. I read in one of our member's messages that in the

vipassana tradition, you follow the breath, watch the body and allow

thoughts, images and feelings to pass through without reacting to them in

the same way that you watch the body. This is what I learned from Guru Dev

in relation to Sat Nam Rasayam, a Kundalini healing tradition. (Even within

Kundalini yoga, there appear to be separate traditions.) The one set of

instructions is the same, but the whole may not be. I can't judge and at

the moment, it doesn't matter. I don't need to evaluate any tradition. I

need to go as far as I can with with where I happen to be at the moment and

watch.

 

The problem is I have other traditions also in my background. I am tempted

to mix them up because they feel like part of me and I am not divided into

segments. I honestly become confused at times. As I write this, I find

that the mixing of subtle results from different practices and mixing the

technical details are different. For example, I was doing Ashtanga yoga the

other day for the first time in more than a year. It felt very fresh and

new. I felt as if my approach to the sequence and the physical feeling had

changed. I was more aware of the movement of prana and my aura. The

special breathing practice of ashtanga yoga (ujai breath) felt much less

forced. The asanas were easier and everything took me much longer. I was

more relaxed and less goal oriented. In some subtle way I think I was

bringing the affects of my Kundalini practice to Ashtanga.

 

In contrast to this subtle mixing, several years ago I hurt myself getting

into an Ashtanga pose using the Kundalini Breath of Fire. The cramping that

occurred was very quirky and didn't even feel like a physical injury. Since

then, I decided that teachers insist on the purity of their traditions for a

good reason and I should not tamper. There is a difference between my

Kundalini practice affecting my total way of relating to my body and prana

and tampering with the explicit techniques of each tradition.

 

That separation of traditions is easier said than done. I still remember

the invocation to Ashtanga yoga. Nevertheless, the other day, I was a bit

flustered and all I could remember was Ong Namo guru dev namo. Yesterday,

doing Ashtanga Yoga, I found myself counting the breath "Whahe guru." It

felt better than the "1, 2, 3, 4" that I was taught by an Ashtanga teacher.

This morning during Sadhana before I began pranayama, I wanted to do Sun

salutations. I know Yogi B. also teaches Sun Saluations, but he does not

teach the ujai breath or the Ashtanga version of the Sun Saluations. So is

it dangerous or for some reason wrong to do Ashtanga Sun Salutations before

kundalini pranayama? Where does one draw the line? Is there a physical or

spritual problem with doing Ashtanga Sun Salutations before Kundalini

pranayama? Brad how do you do Vippassana meditations and kundalini yoga

without getting the waters muddy?

 

I will be teaching in a school where all other classes are Ashtanga or

Hatha. It will be very important to keep a clear distinction between

Kundalini and other traditions. I am taking the place of a Kundalini

teacher who taught classes that mixed hatha and Kundalini. Also, it will be

important to express a cordial relationship with other traditions and

teachers. No doubt students will constantly make comparisons. The problem

goes far beyond relationships with yogic or other Asian tradtions. For

example, Orthodox and Reformed Jewish students, in the past, have expressed

strong reservations about saying or thinking mantra. Clearly, they need to

draw the boundaries as they see fit. So these thoughts have public as well

as private implications.

 

-

"Brad Greenstreet" <sixthchakra

<Kundaliniyoga>

Sunday, June 23, 2002 3:34 PM

Re: Mantra or Vipassana

 

 

> Sat Nam Devinderjit,

>

> "I've never combined the Vipassana meditation techniques with Mantra

> meditation."

>

> Thats sounds scrambled, I hope you didn't misinterpret something from

one of

> my posts. Vipassana is mindfulness meditation, on the breath etc.. , Laya

meditation

> on mantra (sound) and pranayam (breath, silent mantra).

> I don't know that much about Vipassana, but I don't believe you ever use

a mantra.

> Did someone recommend that?

[Guest guest]

Hi Gian,

 

"Brad how do you do Vippassana meditations and kundalini yoga

without getting the waters muddy?" -- When I do Vipassana I'm with

a group at someone's house. But if I did it at home, i would simply

do it the same, concentrate on the breath, and I wouldn't feel like

I had to tune-in.

 

Where I take teacher training they teach and certify in Hatha,

Astanga, and Kundalini. Some of the Kundalini classes have Hatha

or Ashtanga students certifying in KY. The specific class was

a 'Group Teaching' class where we took turns teaching, and being

students. I remember on the Hatha people used Namaste to tune-out.

The instructor made a point of telling her 'thats not how we do it

in KY', we sing the Sunshine Song. That may not be a good example but

for me its that simple

When I do Hatha occasionally in the morning instead of a kriya, I

just time myself in different poses and try to immulate what my Hatha

teacher has us do in class. I don't even think about KY.

 

For me its no problem to seperate disciplines.

 

Blessings

 

Brad