Greetings all,
I have corresponded with Yogani in the past for over a year and he always sent me lengthy, excellent replies. I think he is doing a great job with AYP.
My background in yoga is based on my reading of Paramahansa Yogananda. It was the first things on yoga i read. It felt like being born again. I thought yoga was just sad people doing postures (! how wrong i was!).
I have meditated in the past 4 years but without very much experience or result because unfortunately i have had a drinking problem. But i have had a few experiences and so i know meditation works.
I am here just to ask questions and possibly give info about Yogananda and the Kriya yoga path. plus if there is any interest i can share my experiences with alcohol and drugs.
I wanted to know from kriyabans what their experience was with Hong-Sau and how it compares to Yogani’s mantra meditation.
David R
Welcome David! Yes, please share your experiences. There’s already a conversation going on about drugs and depression, if you’re interested.
Welcome to AYP David! We’re very glad you’re here.
Light and Love,
Kathy
Welcome David 
Louis
Welcome David.
David, welcome to the board. I don’t know about the Hong Sau technique, but if it is of any use to you, I do know that “Omkar kriya” is one of the “advanced Kriyas” of the kriya schools, and that this is very similar to Yogani’s mantra meditation, except that it is done with the mantra “Om” and in a “listening” way.
Welcome David
Do share your experiences; we all grow through each others words.
May all your Nows be Here
Welcome to the forum David 
RICHARD
Thanks all for your welcome 
David, i didn’t know about Omkar kriya except for breifly reading about it and certainly didn’t know it was related to mantra meditation.
What i really want to know is if any of you can vouch for the potency of the I Am mantra as opposed to other mantras such as Hamsa? Also, my understanding was that OM was the highest mantra. I know that that the sounds of Om are contained in most of the famous mantras but still, i was wondering about a “stand-alone” OM.
Lots of David’s around here aren’t there? lol
Hi David,
I can vouch for the potency of the I AM mantra after having used it for more than a year. OM may very well be the highest mantra, but there are specific reasons why we use I AM instead of OM for our deep meditation. Instead of going into the details, they are discussed in Lessons 186 and 188:
http://www.aypsite.org/186.html
http://www.aypsite.org/188.html