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At Meditation time:
Next (after World) is the Senses:
- Next, after letting go of the
external world, become aware of the individual senses and means of
expression indriyas, exploring
your sensory awareness. (more on indriyas)
- First, be aware of your
ability to move, but that you are not moving; of grasping, but that
you are letting go; of speaking, but of no longer forming any words
(the karmendriyas).
- Maintain mindfulness that these are
the exporters of actions into the external world.
- Then, systematically be aware of five
senses of smell, taste, seeing, touching, hearing (the jnanendriyas).
- Maintain mindfulness that those senses are
the importers of information and insights from the external world.
- Then, close the temple
doors called senses, and bring your attention inward, so that you can explore within, through the
levels of body, breath, mind, and beyond. (Next)
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Preparation, Daily
Life, Meditation in Action:
Senses: Yoga meditation deals systematically with all
the levels of our being, including training the senses (indriyas) as well as the
body, breath, and mind. (See Yoga Sutras,
including sutras 2.54-2.55
on Pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses.)
Everybody benefits from training the
senses: Everybody has senses and is familiar with how our senses can draw us into situations and habits that
we know are not useful. To train our senses begins with awareness
of how our senses are drawn here and there, and then observing whether our
senses are driven by unconscious habit or personal choice.
Becoming one-pointed: Yoga science teaches one to first train
the senses (indriyas) by making the mind one-pointed with mindfulness of spiritual
truth, then to train the individual senses, and then to follow those
senses inward to their source. In yoga science the senses are
considered not only the five cognitive senses, but also the five means of
expressing outwardly, including elimination, procreation, motion,
grasping, and speaking.
Sets the stage for advanced
practices: Such
sensory awareness practices set the stage for the advanced practices of
yoga meditation, wherein the aspirant goes beyond any sensory awareness
whatsoever, to deal directly with the energy of breath, the functioning
of mind, and to that beyond all of these.
Next
is Body
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This site is devoted
to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Tradition of
the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways,
while not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or
practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in
direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the
Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same with the Absolute
Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the
Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the
intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which
complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the
classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well
as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra
Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge
into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing the
pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.
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