Lately I’ve been wondering whether some people might not benefit as much from a twice-daily yoga practice as outlined in the AYP Lessons.
I read that practices cultivating inner silence can sometimes clear fewer obstructions than those generated through daily activity. This has been described as being an “under-sensitive” practitioner, and in such cases it’s even suggested to add more practices to broaden what is being cleared.
So I’m curious—have there been cases where people were not able to build inner silence over time, despite consistent practice?
I’m starting to feel like I might be in that situation, and to be honest, it worries me a bit.
It is true that some people appear to make slower progress than others - I say “appear” because no one knows the spiritual state of another. What might appear to be no progress because the “signs” we use to indicate progress not be evident in the person may not be true for ALL. Flowers bloom at different rates and times. Because we cannot understand what makes one person appear to make rapid “progress” and another not, we call this unfathomable karma. Others say “God chooses who He wills” I find this statement quite depressing.
I want to believe that if Bhakti has been ignited, that is sufficient. You WILL make progress irrespective of practices used (while acknowledging that some practices are more effective than others)
I think it’s normal to have some doubts from time to time. I believe that you just need some persistence and a genuine yearning towards where you want to get (Bhakti, as Sey said).
That being said, if you think that you’re absorbing many obstructions in daily life, I think it can be helpful to examine your usual habits, what you spent most of your time with, etc. and see if there are some changes you would like to make. Your inner silence might give you an intuition of what things are actually necessary and which are not.
Something I’ve been realizing since posting this is that part of my anxiety may come from the way I’ve approached life in general for many years: through urgency, productivity pressure, fear, and wanting visible results quickly.
As someone in recovery, I’m beginning to see that inner transformation may not unfold in a linear or externally obvious way. I think I unconsciously expected spiritual practice to produce clear signs of progress relatively quickly, and when that didn’t happen consistently, I started wondering whether there were simply “too many obstructions.”
But now I’m starting to question whether the issue is necessarily the quantity of obstructions at all, or whether part of the problem may instead be my expectations about what progress is supposed to look like.
Lately I’ve been sensing that something quieter may actually be happening beneath the surface. Externally, I sometimes even feel less productive or functional than before, yet inwardly there seems to be more awareness of my patterns, compulsions, and conditioning.
I’m starting to wonder whether purification can sometimes involve a phase where awareness increases faster than outward functioning or visible “progress.” In other words, perhaps becoming conscious of one’s inner chaos can initially feel like stagnation, even if some deeper reorganization is occurring.
AYP’s idea of “scenery” also resonates more with me now. I’ve had experiences and energetic phenomena at times, but I’m increasingly questioning whether these are reliable indicators of actual long-term transformation.
In any case, your replies helped me reflect on all this more deeply, so thank you again.
in my experience i can say the mind is producing endless obstruction and problems that it then tries to solve. it’s kind of it’s modus operantus. it identifies with certain concepts it comes up with and than tries to solve the problems it created in the first place. thus creating the illusion of „now and later“. In my experience doing spiritual practice helped me being more aware of this repeating patterns and also being more and more able to just watch and don’t get involved in this show.
So i think one can say it boils down to if you identify with the minds story or are just aware of it..
I think you have hit the nail on the head. Awareness of our inner conditions is the progress you are looking for! It is the emergence of the famous Witness.
Good things are happening (Yogani)
