Hi again Bliss Hunter,
I will attempt to give some more answers to your questions above rather than trying to give another version of Lesson 150 or 151.
I don’t understand how exactly should I pick up the sutra, I understand that I should take only the meaning of the word (fuzziest feeling) but even when I’m trying to do that I can still hear the sound of the word very clearly in my head like any other thought, even during the 15 seconds it keeps comming up several times as a clear sound, for example when I do the word “Love” I can hear the word “Love” echo inside my thoughts over and over again, what should I do? Should I resist it?
The way you describe it happening is fine, at this stage. The process will happen differently at different stages of purification, so in 1 year from now it will probably happen a little differently, and so on. The important thing is to not resist, because resistance will impair all yogic process and progress. The way a process happens when we practice it in a relaxed way is the right way for it to happen at that time.
What do you mean by “and then letting the sutra go into silence”? Should I just say the sutra once in my head (for example to think “Love” once as a clear word in my thought) and then stop thinking it and just observe the thoughts as they come naturally in my silence?
Another way of saying “and then letting the sutra go into silence” could be “and let the sutra fade into silence” or “forget about the sutra”. When you say “think ‘Love’ once as a clear word in my thought”, it doesn’t quite follow the instruction in Lesson 150. It would be better to “think ‘Love’ once in a very faint way”.
In many of my meditations I don’t reach deep inner silence, will it disturb me when I do the Samyama practice? must I reach deep silence before I start the Samyama?
This is a relative question, what is deep and what is not. For Samyama to work, there needs to be some measure of silence, or calm, after the meditation, when we relax. What happened earlier during the meditation itself is not important. The deeper the silence is after meditation, the easier it will be to do Samyama. If the mind would be full of wildly running thoughts that consume all our attention, then it would hardly be possible to do Samyama.
I’m just interesting, what do you think will happen if I’ll add the sutra “Bliss” to my list? will it help me to feel the bliss?
I don’t know, if I were you I would try it, but give it some time. Sutras are not intended to be changed often, they need plenty of time to do their work.
Please, if possible, try to explain it in you own words, as simplest as possible, links to other pages will be OK but I also want to hear the explanation from you, in simple words as you can.
The best source or information I can imagine is Yogani’s new book about Samyama, like Anthem suggested. It expands on everything in the lessons and adds a lot more knowledge about how Samyama relates to spiritual transformation (which is closely tied to bliss consciousness): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978649621/002-5079307-9533614?ie=UTF8&tag=advancedyogap-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0978649621
I suspect that most of your questions about Samyama could be cleared up by studying this book!
Hello BlissHunter,
you are wondering about general experiences with Samyama. To be honest, my best results have been with regular meditation so far. Occasionally I have done samyama and gotten good results. But it hasn’t been for me something that multiplies the power of meditation considerably or anything like that. It’s more like a pleasant round-off — when I bother with it.
That doesn’t mean that it isn’t significant for other people, so you certainly shouldn’t take that as any sort of discouragement. The results from specific yoga practices are highly individual – and that point is worth knowing.
It’s just that I heard that the Samyama should be much more powerful than the normal TM practice, and that the changes are much faster here comparing to the regular practice, I heard that people who are practicing Samyama feels lot of bliss during and after the practice, I just wanted to know how much from it is true.
I hate to say it, but there is probably some ‘marketing’ involved in what you heard. The ‘TM-Sidhi program’ (which is indeed just samyama as you said) were always a source of very high fees for the TM organization. Samyama can be a good adjunct to meditation. But, to be honest and direct, I think it was over-hyped by the TM organization largely so they could be overpaid for it. There, the spade is called a spade!
There is no need here to over-hype samyama. Since AYP does not charge at all for it, we cannot be overpaid for it. Look at as a valuable member of the Yoga toolkit that is provided here, and no more.
Thanks for the answers, I don’t know how to explain it, I know the instructions, and I know what “I should” do, but when I’m sitting with my eyes close, and I try to follow this instructions, I find it very hard to do it, my brain takes me to so many directions, and when I try to take the sutra “in a very faint way” it’s just not going, and I just have to say it loud as any other thought in my head.
Again, it’s very hard to explain.
About the bliss, I saw some interviews with people who practice sidhi, and they all look SO HAPPY! they have such a big smile on their face, and they say that the bliss that comes from practicing the sidhi is something out of this world. I just wonder if people who practice Samyama from this site have reached to the same achievements.
Is there someone here that have learned the TM Sidhi?
About the bliss, I saw some interviews with people who practice sidhi, and they all look SO HAPPY!
Bliss, who organized the interviews and selected the ones they were going to show you?
when I’m sitting with my eyes close, and I try to follow this instructions, I find it very hard to do it, my brain takes me to so many directions, and when I try to take the sutra “in a very faint way” it’s just not going, and I just have to say it loud as any other thought in my head.
Hi Bliss Hunter,
What you say sounds to me like there may not be a tangible amount of inner silence yet. In my experience the inner silence is something that you can put your attention on, and when you do, then there won’t be any thought present at the same time. And, when the attention is on the silence, then one can initiate a very faint word, idea or thought - the sutra.
As far as I understand, inner silence is a prerequisite for bliss (or is it not?). In any case, at least from my own practice, I see deep meditation as the primary technique to achieve both of these, in line with David’s experience. I have also found what has been closest to bliss via meditation. But, on the other hand I haven’t done samyama for as long as meditation, so it’s hard to compare. I would also be interested in hearing from others who have done both meditation and samyama, from which they have experienced most bliss.
You said you had done TM meditation for 5 years. Some have said that this should be very close to AYP deep meditation, except for the mantra. But if the mantra is different then maybe the results can be much different. Have you meditated in TM regularly twice a day for the 5 years? Maybe it could be a good idea to focus your practice on AYP deep meditation for a while?
Edit: added last paragraph
Hi Bliss Hunter:
Check this topic for an interesting discussion on samyama results: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1034&SearchTerms=sidhi
Also, if you like, contact this forum member – a TM teacher (one of several who have visited here), who now teaches independently and has recommended AYP samyama to his students.
You can find lots more info by doing targeted searches both in the forums and in the lessons. It takes some work to find out what is going on. It takes some serious study, and dedicated daily practice over time. Rome was not built in a day.
Nearly everything we learn for the first time has a “clunky stage” in the beginning. Just keep going with daily practice and things will refine gradually. That is how it is with all spiritual practices. Samyama is no exception.
As has been suggested already, it is best to start at the beginning of the AYP lessons, and go one step at a time. Then you will have the best chance for results.
If we rely on others too much, expecting instant answers, we will likely come up short, and be disappointed. Disappointed about what? Disappointed because others are not doing for us what we ought to be doing ourselves?
If you don’t have the patience for it, then go do the TM/Sidhi program – much more hand-holding there. Ultimately, you will find the same is true there as here. Success in anything takes dedication over the long term.
Don’t get me wrong, the TM/Sidhi program is very worthwhile, especially for getting a good foundation in Samyama practice. At the same time, we will only get out what we put into it. The same is true of AYP Samyama, and everything else we do in life.
The main difference between TM/Sidhi and AYP Samyama isn’t in the technique itself. It is in the degree of hand-holding from the TM folks on the front end (for a price), versus the degree of flexibility offered in AYP self-directed practice combined with a wide range of additional practices that complement each other, leading to broad results in full scope human spiritual transformation.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
