Enlightenment Milestones

[Anthem]

Hi Yogani,

I went looking for this today and couldn't find it easily and I thought this was such an excellent explanation of the evolution of the enlightenment process that I wanted to re-post it here. Besides, this section of the forum hasn't had a new post for a long time![]

"So we go from inner silence, to energy experiences born of the friction of neurological purification, to the flat witness, to energy becoming ecstatic conductivity, to the merging of ecstasy and inner silence and becoming ecstatic bliss, to the unity experience of outpouring divine love."

Yogani

[weaver]

Yes, Anthem, I agree that this is an excellent explanation of the evolution of the enlightenment process. I don't remember reading it just like this, so I am curious in which lesson or message you found it?

[Anthem]

quote:Originally posted by weaver

Yes, Anthem, I agree that this is an excellent explanation of the evolution of the enlightenment process. I don't remember reading it just like this, so I am curious in which lesson or message you found it?

Ah yes, I meant to include that link:

http://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/index.php?topic=667&whichpage=1

It's in the thread on Samadhi about half way down on the first page.

[Anthem]

I'm coming up on 1 year of doing twice a day AYP practices without having missed a session and I have taken some time recently to reflect on how things have changed for me after this effort. In the spirit of the science of yoga and doing our best to verify cause and effect, I thought it would be fun to discuss some of the changes we have observed in ourselves inside and outside of practices.

Reflecting over the last year of practices, I have definitely noticed some differences in the dynamics. I remember not being able to feel my spine or spinal nerve much at all at the beginning outside of any major energy surges. I remember becoming aware of the spinal nerve very acutely one day outside of practices, more near the base, and noticed that over the last year, my awareness of the spinal nerve during pranayama and meditation has increased at a steady rate. I now have a steady ecstatic feeling in the spine which is not nearly as intense as times of intense purification or energy surges, but is growing steadily and daily.

I make a distinction between energy surges (which still happen but are fewer and farther between) and the way I feel during regular practices because i think the latter is the best reflection of how things really are. I used to look for the energy surges and want to hang on to them because a- they felt so good and b- they were very physical and real examples of big things happening, but the truth is they are fleeting and come and go and aren't permanent like the things that grow slowly over time.

Changes I have noticed in my conduct and conduct towards others were covered a while back in this post:
 
http://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/index.php?topic=545&whichpage=1

In addition to these improvements in conduct, I am not sure why but it is easier to read people and understand their thoughts, feelings and motives. One of the most poignant things that has happened is that I feel much more completely in the here and now. When in this head-space (for lack of a better description), everything is more intense looking, vivid, colorful etc. and even the most mundane activities become fascinating. I feel more in tune with the energy around me and as I mentioned in another post I often feel I am carrying around an inner happiness that radiates from the inside and is very comforting.  For some time now, I also see a  barely suggested background luminescence, for lack of a better description, like white waves or points of light on a dark background whenever looking at any object, like a wall, the floor, the sky, my foot, always there behind it all, always present, can’t explain it.

I would love to hear what others have observed?

[cosmic_troll]

Hello Anthem,

Most of what you mentioned in your last paragraph, I can relate to (vividness, fascination, etc.). However, for me those experiences have been intermittent. Which makes sense because my practice has been intermittent.

When I'm at a peak in my practice, I usually feel more "real" and connected, if that makes sense. Other people notice me and acknowledge my presence more, so I feel like I exist more than usual. Everyone seems friendlier, and women actually smile at me

On rare occasions, I feel something take control of my body, and all my movements are fluid and perfect. The feeling in my spine makes me giddy, so I chuckle and laugh when this happens.

And something really weird... which happens daily, is that certain numbers really stand out and I see them everywhere. For example, every time my odometer hits an even 10 miles, my eyes automatically look at it. If I randomly look at a clock or timer, microwave, etc., it will read either 4:20 or 5:24 (both of which have significance for me)... Has anyone else experienced that?

[david_obsidian]

cosmic troll said:
And something really weird... which happens daily, is that certain numbers really stand out and I see them everywhere. For example, every time my odometer hits an even 10 miles, my eyes automatically look at it. If I randomly look at a clock or timer, microwave, etc., it will read either 4:20 or 5:24 (both of which have significance for me)... Has anyone else experienced that?

Honestly Cosmic,  I'd expect that this is just an anomaly in your nervous system,  some sort of selective-awareness thing going on.

Have you experienced things like this before you started meditating?  Any patterns in license-plates,  street/building numbers and so on?

[Anthem]

Hi Yogani,

I have reread all the lessons in the AYP index on "the witness" but was wondering if you could define or elaborate on the "the flat witness" outlined in your quote above? Is it similar to living in the here and now 24/7 (or most of the time) and not constantly taking any mental thought trips?

Hi David, how about you, have you noticed an evolution in your practices since you started AYP? What changes have you noticed inside and outside of practices since you started AYP?

[cosmic_troll]

Hey David,

Thanks for the response. That's an interesting idea you have... Before I started meditating, this was extremely rare. Maybe less than once a year, to my recollection.

I don't know if I agree with you, simply because the number on my vehicle registration tag for this year also contains 524. That's something very physically real, with a low probability of getting that combination.

I suppose I could be blocking out all other combinations, though.... I like to think it's synchronicity, but who knows

[david_obsidian]

Welcome,  Cosmic.  Troll on!  

Anthem,  I'm a special case because I had nearly all the (major) practices of AYP already.  

Advanced kechari and amaroli (which I did not have) have been major boons.  The effect of kechari has been,  among other things,  to produce a partial heart-opening.

There is also a very gradual evolution towards 'witness'.  But I am an odd case perhaps because I think I have somehow by-passed undone work at 'lower chakra' levels,  and became very top-heavy.  A little like Ken Wilber said he did.  That lower chakra work will find its way to me,  I am sure,  whether I like it or not!  

[yogani99]

quote:I have reread all the lessons in the AYP index on "the witness" but was wondering if you could define or elaborate on the "the flat witness" outlined in your quote above? Is it similar to living in the here and now 24/7 (or most of the time) and not constantly taking any mental thought trips?

Hi Anthem:

The first emergence of the witness (I used "flat" to emphasize inner stillness) is a duality situation. That is, all the thinking and activity goes on pretty much as usual. The difference is we find that we are effortlessly observing it all. Inner silence is there, and we actually first notice it by the contrast with activity occurring inside and outside us. In time, we develop some skill in operating from stillness and then it moves out into thinking, feeling and the events happening around us in the world. Samyama is a means for promoting this development -- manifesting ourselves from stillness and moving outward. But even so, the activity inside and around us is still going on -- it is only that our relationship with it is changing. We become it on the deepest level of our being, which is not the same as egoic identification. Duality gradually dissolves, and we experience "stillness in action," which is the rise of the unity experience. Our choices in action are changed by this, because our perception is becoming non-dual -- unifying -- which is the essence of divine love operating in the world. All of this corresponds with the neurobiological transformation going on within us via practices.

Interestingly, this evolutionary process resolves the dual versus non-dual nature of existence argument once and for all. Ultimately, it is about the condition of the human nervous system and our perception through it. The perception is the reality (so both arguments are valid), and with practices the perception changes gradually from dual to non-dual.

As for being in "the now" and not taking any thought trips, with the emergence of the witness the thought trips will still be happening, and we will be watching them play on the screen of our silent awareness, so technically we are not taking the trip (and yes, that is in "the now" early on). Later on, the thought trips will become illuminated by the divine channeling through us, and we will be That. The thought trips do not stop. However, their essence does change to divine quality and purpose, and that is the difference.

The guru is in you.      

[Anthem]

Thanks for this great reply Yogani, it is very illuminating.

 

quote:Interestingly, this evolutionary process resolves the dual versus non-dual nature of existence argument once and for all. Ultimately, it is about the condition of the human nervous system and our perception through it. The perception is the reality (so both arguments are valid), and with practices the perception changes gradually from dual to non-dual.

This quote gets me wondering how some people (maybe very rare?) like Eckhart Tolle and claims from some other famous yogis/ monks etc. to have had an all at once awakening. Particularly in the case of Tolle, who did not appear, from his description, to have had a clear or optimally functioning nervous system? To me a gradual unfolding of the nervous system and a gradual improving of behavior and perceptions makes seense to me and fits nicely within the AYP philosophy but do you have any ideas or theories on how to explain someone like Tolle?

[yogani99]

Hi Anthem:

One explanation is that those who apparently become suddenly enlightened were born close to it. This implies a lot of spiritual work in previous lives, if one subscribes to the reincarnation theory. And, if not, well then, who knows how they arrived in the near enlightened condition? They are here, and that is a good thing.

You know, folks like Tolle are still evolving too, as teachers working to offer something practical to others. Sages who are not doing that are not of much help to the rest of us, or ultimately to themselves. There is no free lunch until everyone is on board.

All aboard!

The guru is in you.

[Anthem]

Thanks for that post Yogani.

I'm going to throw in a completely unfounded theory on these types of sudden awakenings that seem to happen in extreme circumstances just for the heck of it and maybe others will join in.

Perhaps in some cases there is a near-death type of phenomena where the spirit or soul (whatever one prefers) withdraws from the body and there is a complete release of all physical tension, knots and blockages (this happens when people or animals die). The consciousness has total acceptance and surrender to what Is and then the re-entry of the consciousness/ soul/ spirit into the unfettered nervous system yields total awareness and understanding of their true nature(unless they block it up again!).

That's my deep thought for the day!

A

[tantien]

Hi A:

Or maybe Tolle is a philosopher charlatan. I'm not saying he is, just maybe.I read the Power Of Now and it just didn't click for me.

We are one

Guy

[Lavazza]

"You know, folks like Tolle are still evolving too, as teachers working to offer something practical to others. Sages who are not doing that are not of much help to the rest of us, or ultimately to themselves. There is no free lunch until everyone is on board."

At a work shop with a pranayama master one student expressed the same opinion, but the master answered that sages are helping other people even when they are living isolated and not teaching but only practising.