Christi
United Kingdom
3682 Posts
Posted - Nov 21 2019 : 04:55:36 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christi's Homepage Edit Topic Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Message Delete Topic
Hi guys,
I did a short interview last week for an online spiritual blog/ website. Part of the interview is about my early days using Buddhist practices and then part about the AYP practices.
Here it is.
Christi
Parsifal
Poland
6 Posts
Posted - Nov 21 2019 : 06:35:53 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Very nice interview, thank you Christi . I think that such interviews are very inspiring for people with short experience in AYP practices - I am one of those people.
Christi
United Kingdom
3682 Posts
Posted - Nov 21 2019 : 5:23:11 PM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christi's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Dogboy
USA
1711 Posts
Posted - Nov 23 2019 : 12:14:26 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Clear and simple, and bookmarked!
Hope to meet you some day
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1207 Posts
Posted - Nov 26 2019 : 12:28:06 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
quote:
After 5-days of practice in a cave monastery in the North East of the country, I entered a state of samadhi which lasted for 3-days. During those three days I was unaware of where I was, of who I was, or of what I was doing and was only aware of bliss and light. Gradually after those three days, I returned to a contracted state of being, but was able to remember the bliss and beauty of the awakened state.
I have heard/read many accounts of masters reporting on going into Samadhi like that. You were in a cave amongst people who know. But in some cases, I keep wondering why they were not shaken awake or immediately taken to the hospital if someone just checks out like that.
Sey
Christi
United Kingdom
3682 Posts
Posted - Nov 26 2019 : 06:30:05 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christi's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Sey,
When I entered samadhi, I was actually in a car being driven away from the retreat. I had spent 5-days in the cave monastery meditating, and had decided to leave because I felt that what I was trying to achieve was simply too difficult. When I was aware of who I was again, and where I was, I was in a monastery in Bangkok. So, I had been able to travel for three days, from the North-East of Thailand to Bangkok.
I have only two memories during those three days. One was of standing on a street, with it being difficult to see the street because the light was so bright. Another was of climbing onto a bus in Chaing mai.
When I came down fom the state of samadhi, my clothes were not dirty, so I know I must have slept in a building of some kind during the night times.
In Bangkok, I remember meeting a Western man, who was talking with a friend about a wall coming down. He seemed to think it was quite serious, so I asked him which wall had come down. He said: "The Berlin wall". Then he said: "It happened a week ago. Where have you been, in a cave?". I didn't reply.
Coming down was very disorienting and took quite a while to stabilize. Days or even weeks.
When people enter this state, they can be sitting in meditation, but they can also be functioning apparently normally in the world. When someone is sitting in meditation, it is often referred to as "nirvikalpa samadhi", but when they are functioning in the world, it is often referred to as "sahaja samadhi". At that time though, I had not heard of samadhi.
Christi
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1207 Posts
Posted - Nov 26 2019 : 11:51:44 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Wow. Wow.
The other day, I was stepping out the door onto my verandah with a cup of tea in my hand. I happened to glance at a still pool of rain water at the corner of the verandah. And I was gone. I realized that when I came back to myself seconds? minutes? later.
I had not realized one could go be going on about one's business and not remember/know a thing. So when masters like Sadhguru and Ekhart are talking on YouTube, they are or could actually be in that state? I always thought one came out of Samadhi as soon as you start the thinking process required to interact in this world. So I was kind of imagining someone "passed out" (gone) somewhere when in Nirvikalpa samadhi. Not able to function.
Sey
P.S. Interestingly, I was in Berlin when the wall came down. I did my Uni days in East Germany.
Edited by - SeySorciere on Nov 26 2019 11:55:09 PM
Christi
United Kingdom
3682 Posts
Posted - Nov 27 2019 : 06:28:26 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christi's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Sey,
There are many different grades of samadhi. There are grades of samadhi where we can function in the world, and grades of samadhi where we cannot. In some states of nirvikalpa samadhi, we cannot operate in the world. It is very useful to experience these states of samadhi in terms of the process of enlightenment, because we are able to see directly the true nature of the Self, and the true nature of the world, free from the obscuring veils of the mind. This is not the highest stage of samadhi though. In the highest stage of samadhi we are still able to function in the world, whilst in samadhi.
So, yes, experienced teachers are able to teach in samadhi. And interestingly, that is something that can often also be felt by others in the room. Because samadhi transcends the mind, it also transcends individual perspective. So, if one person in a room is in samadhi, many can experience it.
The mysteries of samadhi!
Yogani talks about the different grades of samadhi in this lesson:
Lesson 248 - Culture, Samadhi and SnowChristi
Stille
Germany
52 Posts
Posted - Nov 27 2019 : 08:48:10 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Thank you so much for sharing, Christi
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1207 Posts
Posted - Nov 28 2019 : 12:08:36 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Thank you, Christi. I enjoyed that.
Sey
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1207 Posts
Posted - Nov 29 2019 : 12:12:24 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Dear Christi,
Another question if you don't mind. The thought of having no memory of daily activities is tripping me up
Can you confirm that when in sahaja samadhi, one does not retain memory of one's doings? Or was it so for just that particular case for you?
On a different note. I enjoy listening to Buddhist chants often. My favorites being the Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru... and Om Mani Padme Hum. Both are sung by different artists in different ways and then there is the - I am guessing - original way the monks chant it with no music but rhythm. Does it matter which way it is chanted /sung? Are they just as effective with music?
Even as I ask this question, I realise the chants will immediately take me to clearness (the vajra one to clearness; Om mani padme hum lights up my third eye and radiates in inner space), so I guess it works either way.
Sey
Christi
United Kingdom
3682 Posts
Posted - Nov 29 2019 : 6:12:17 PM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christi's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Sey,
Usually when we enter samadhi spontaneously, we are aware of our surroundings and are able to remember everything that happens. But, there are times when we are taken up to higher planes and are aware of what is happening there and able to remember it, but we may have no recollection of what was happening on the Earth plane during that time. And there are other times when we are taken up beyond even the heavenly realms.
As I mentioned, there are many grades of samadhi!
The time in Thailand when I entered sahaja samadhi for three days, was the only time that I have spent so long in samadhi being unable to remember what happened afterwards. It was the third time that I entered samadhi. The first was when I was three years old and the second time when I was around 12 or 13. The first time I was able to remember what happened, but the second time I didn't.
It sounds as if you have found the answer to your question about chanting.
Christi
