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Originally posted by JonJon
1. Following an intensification of yoga practices, I find myself spending a lot of the day experiencing what can only be described as a natural high. It feels a like a weed/ecstasy experience without the negative feelings that come from the knowledge that you are mistreating your body. Music sounds particularly vivid. This feels like too much fun to be part of an enlightenment experience. Does this last?
It ebbs and flows. The best periods are when the ecstasy dries up a bit; at those points you'll find you'll be able to move forward in your practices more easily. When the ecstasy is fully there, the perfume cloud may distract you off your mantra even more than your buzzing mind and thoughts ever did. And that's ok, too, because the whole practice revolves around coming back to mantra NO MATTER WHAT. There's a carrot and a stick. The stick will try to beat you off mantra (I'm tired, i'm hungry, what's the use) and now you've met the carrot which can entice you off mantra (with bliss).
You are not any of it. You are endless calm, untouched by thoughts or perfume. Keep returning to mantra, and follow Yogani's advice to not chase after experiences. they happen, we enjoy them (and, yep, they're far better than drugs), but they're nothing but perfume. You needn't reject or ignore this extraneous stuff; just always favor mantra and never ever stop practicing!
All openings of any sort feed you a little cookie, like a circus animal. A little bit of bliss (or more than a little bit). You're not a seal or a puppy. Soberly accept the energetic cookie as an indication that things are on the right track.
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Originally posted by JonJon
2. How many people who have been diagnosed as manic depressive do you suppose are just experiencing some kind of kundalini effects? It's become very trendy to be manic depressive recently, and all sorts of people who have an occasional mood swing have decided that they are manic depressives, and undiscovered geniuses to boot, but amongst some people with the diagnosis, it seems likely that some are dealing with a kundalini awakening alone or in conjunction with their illness.
There are certainly many people with awakened kundalini who are branded crazy (often they brand themselves), 'cuz this stuff is so far off the paradigm (there's no way for your average Westerner to experience this within standard models). And some probably really are crazy...have gone into really negative space due to fear, lack of preparation, guidance, etc. The critical diff is that crazy people (including true manic depressives) are never peaceful or happy. As Yogani says, watch carefully your worldly encounters. Notice how smooth you are. And use that to gauge your self pacing.
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Originally posted by JonJon
3. Reincarnation seems to me to be an entirely plausible theory - certainly compared to the Pearly Gates of heaven. The one thing I don't understand is how with a rapidly expanding world population there the souls are coming from to incarnate the increasing number of bodies on this earth. Any thoughts?
Even if we answered all the questions that exist in the world and in the spirit, we'd still feel unfulfilled. I'm less interested in understanding stuff, and more interested in becoming more like the reed, battered ceaselessly by the wind, but feeling no turmoil because it does not draw distinction....does not know wind as a thing separate from itself.
