It seems that deep meditation as taught in AYP is practiced along the same lines as TM(I havent practiced TM just going on what ive read on the internet).
So did the Maharishi get it about right in his way of teaching then?
thanks
Chris
Yes Chris. Maharishi’s organization did teach meditation very well.
They charged a lot, and told a few major porkies to justify the high fees, but they did teach the technique of meditation very well.
Hi Snake,
Yes the Maharishi taught the art of mantra meditation correctly but it was not unique to him or even devised by him. This method has been used for thousands of years.
L&L
Dave
‘the mind can see further than the eyes’
Hari Om
Hello David/Rip ( for short) and Snake ( et.al)
If I recall, I don’t believe anyone [on AYP list] has suggested that Maharshi claimed ownership to the approach he has taught. What I have read and listened to is MMY has always given credit to the tradition of Masters going back Vayasa, Gaudapadha, Hastamalaka, and even to Narayana, let alone his teacher who was the Shankaracharaya of Jyotir Math.
My point is not one of contention, just a thought you may wish to consider. I also can undersand the angst behind the $$$$ of cost.
Capitalism, go figure?
Peace,
Frank In San Diego
Frank, yes, it’s true that he did not claim to invent it. Regarding ‘ownership’, well, he did get into a rather gray area of cultivating the notion that only his group could teach it. At least, that is what I saw in the teachers I saw, and he does maintain very strong control over what the teachers say.
By the way, the teachers who taught me told me that Maharishi was told by his own teacher, the Shankaracharya, to go forth and teach TM. This is false. Another big porkie. 
Maharishi’s guru was an orthodox believer in caste. Maharishi is not a Brahmin – and in the Shankaracharya’s view, he therefore should not be a spiritual teacher, end of story.
Fair play though to Maharishi for breaking away from these caste-restrictions.
Dear Frank,
Yes , he does not claim to have devised this method and I acknowledge his contribution to the spread of spirituality.
L&L
Dave
‘the mind can see further than the eyes’
Hari Om
Hello all, and thx for responding. perhaps at a later date we can tackle the ‘caste’ conversation. Much of my reading and study clearly points to how a person acts vs. to whom he was born that determines the quality of the individual. This is the wisdom of Bishma in the Mahabharata and is found throughtout some other literature. For myself, its all around your actions and behaviours then your DNA.
It’s interesting to note that in Sat Yuga ( or the golden age of Truth) there was no caste system at all… most if not all followed the path of Dharma and did not have to be advised on what their duty in life was to be. As time marched on, the caste system creeped in.
Let me end - I support all those on this planet that is here help us evolve and realize our full potential… I support all those that chose to be peaceful and to uplift the family of man to enlightened state. I care not what size,shape color, or race.
It is so so small thinking for us [the human race] as representatives of the divine to parse out people as if they where different types of shoes in ones closet!
Peace,
Frank In San Diego
I find the Iam mantra stimulating (almost irritating)in the sense of I feel very awake and also the so called cricket sound of nada gets loud.
In contrast when i try for comparison Shama it is very soothing lulling me to sleep almost.
When I feel stressed I would prefer to use Shama to relax but what do you think I should do in this case
thanks
That’s a good question Snake.
By the way, it’s the ‘eeee’ sound in the ‘I’ of ‘IAM’ which stimulates that ‘cricket sound’, isn’t it?
I think the classical AYP approach is not to fuss about getting more relaxed. My expectation is that Yogani would suggest to you to stick with IAM.
You could consider taking on the mantra modification, namah to the end of your ‘IAM’? As in ‘IAM namah’. You’d find that this softens your mantra. ( That’s not exactly the AYP way though – Yogani goes straight for two enhancements ‘Shree Shree IAM IAM’ and later ‘Shree OM Shree OM IAM IAM NAMAH’ which you should also consider doing. See http://www.aypsite.org/188.html )
thankyou David
Hi Rabar:
While all of these experiments sound interesting, I hope you are not doing them during your regular deep meditation sessions. It is so much simpler than that. In fact, the success of the practice depends on maintaining the simplicity of the procedure. Correct practice involves no analysis whatsoever, and no concentration. We are just easily picking up the mantra when we realize we are off with our attention into anything else. Anything else. And the pronunciation is as simple as how they say “I AM” on the English-speaking evening news. Spell it “AYAM” if you like – this removes the meaning, which is not part of deep meditation. There is wiggle room on pronunciation, as has been discussed in detail in this topic: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=529
It is not necessary to peg the pronunciation or frequency of the sound, or anything like that. It is going to be changing during deep meditation anyway, according to purification going on in the nervous system. We let it change however it will. We just begin, and then follow the procedure for coming back to the mantra at whatever level we find ourselves inside when we realize we are not on it. That is all there is to it … all the rest we are inclined to put into the process is baggage that will only hamper our natural merging with pure bliss consciousness – our inner silence.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
hi, Yogani & Rabar i have been noticing some changes happening in the mantra. i may start the mantra as "ayam" both a-sounds pronounced like in f(a)ther. then it changes to "ay-(a)m" the second a-sound is pronouced like in (a)pple. then the second part of "ay-am" changes to "ay-hum". what is this about? these changes have made me confused about pronounciation.