The following is an email I received from a friend, Shree Iyer, discussing the various posts on this blog. It was so interesting and helpful that I have got Shree’s permission to reproduce it here. Thanks Shree!
“I was reading about your blog on meditation with great interest. I used to meditate quite regularly before I had my son. But I struggled a lot with keeping my mind quiet. I would accomplish 10 seconds of silence only to start drifting off into my usual mental chatter. Funnily it would primarily revolve around people I disliked strongly!
I tried some Kundalini yoga exercises which I learnt from a book. I found them more interesting. Of course I have never done these long enough to reap any real benefits.
Some 9 years back I practised visualisation consistently over a long period and did see some real results. I visualised living in a beautiful house(I hated the flat I was sharing) every single day and ended up living as a paying guest in a grand mansion!
You mentioned about Ken Wilber surviving an illness because of Vipassana. I don't think I would have that level of perseverance. But I have always found solace (and some miracles) in simple prayers and reading holy scriptures. Just as Christians sing choirs, Hindus do similar kind of singing called bhajans. There have been many great Hindu saints who have spent their lives singing the name of the Lord which was their way of meditating on the Divine (Not sure if you have heard the ISKCON devotees singing on Oxford Street). Some of them chant the Lord's name a thousand and odd times (Again ISKCON devotees do that, they carry a bag with beads) or write the Lord's name on paper.
As I mentioned last time I enjoyed your blog 'sense of being stared at'. I was very intrigued by your experience. I had a similar experience 7 years ago, although I don't know if I should call it trans- rational- (i'm not good at Physics!) I was in UK at that time and my mum in India had been diagnosed with cancer and was to undergo surgery. She had not mentioned this to me. Just a couple of days before her surgery I had an unusual dream where I was at a social gathering with my dad and my mum was missing. I generally don't give much importance to dreams. But that dream really upset me and I cried incessantly. I for no reason felt she was going to die. It's only later did I find out that she was diagnosed with 4th stage oral cancer and she died 6 months later.
In one of your blogs you had mentioned about observing the breath to check for the nostril you were breathing through dominantly. I read about that somewhere. If you breathed strongly through the right nostril then you get out of bed putting you right foot down first. The same was to be followed when getting out of the door. I religiously followed the practice for maybe 2 weeks before forgetting about it completely. Going back to your point about paying full attention to your body, I read a book written by my spiritual guru wherein she talks about consecrating every task that you do to the Divine. She meant not just major projects but even simple tasks like brushing your teeth. I haven't tried consecrating my brushing but I did try it with getting my son to brush. (My son hates brushing and will scream and put up a fight as though he's having a tooth extraction every morning) And the few times when I did consecrate my efforts in getting him to brush, the whole process did seem less onerous.
I also liked your blogs psychic phenomena and hungry ghosts. I had read a book by Bruce Goldberg about spirits and the other world. I was quite fascinated. It’s really great that you have had the chance to experience it first hand.
In your other blog you had mentioned about Providence and about who it works for. In my personal experience I feel that it's all about Karma. Because I see some really insensitive, materialistic people who never get touched by even an iota of grief. And I've seen good hearted, well-meaning people go through immense calamities.
I tried some Kundalini yoga exercises which I learnt from a book. I found them more interesting. Of course I have never done these long enough to reap any real benefits.
Some 9 years back I practised visualisation consistently over a long period and did see some real results. I visualised living in a beautiful house(I hated the flat I was sharing) every single day and ended up living as a paying guest in a grand mansion!
You mentioned about Ken Wilber surviving an illness because of Vipassana. I don't think I would have that level of perseverance. But I have always found solace (and some miracles) in simple prayers and reading holy scriptures. Just as Christians sing choirs, Hindus do similar kind of singing called bhajans. There have been many great Hindu saints who have spent their lives singing the name of the Lord which was their way of meditating on the Divine (Not sure if you have heard the ISKCON devotees singing on Oxford Street). Some of them chant the Lord's name a thousand and odd times (Again ISKCON devotees do that, they carry a bag with beads) or write the Lord's name on paper.
As I mentioned last time I enjoyed your blog 'sense of being stared at'. I was very intrigued by your experience. I had a similar experience 7 years ago, although I don't know if I should call it trans- rational- (i'm not good at Physics!) I was in UK at that time and my mum in India had been diagnosed with cancer and was to undergo surgery. She had not mentioned this to me. Just a couple of days before her surgery I had an unusual dream where I was at a social gathering with my dad and my mum was missing. I generally don't give much importance to dreams. But that dream really upset me and I cried incessantly. I for no reason felt she was going to die. It's only later did I find out that she was diagnosed with 4th stage oral cancer and she died 6 months later.
In one of your blogs you had mentioned about observing the breath to check for the nostril you were breathing through dominantly. I read about that somewhere. If you breathed strongly through the right nostril then you get out of bed putting you right foot down first. The same was to be followed when getting out of the door. I religiously followed the practice for maybe 2 weeks before forgetting about it completely. Going back to your point about paying full attention to your body, I read a book written by my spiritual guru wherein she talks about consecrating every task that you do to the Divine. She meant not just major projects but even simple tasks like brushing your teeth. I haven't tried consecrating my brushing but I did try it with getting my son to brush. (My son hates brushing and will scream and put up a fight as though he's having a tooth extraction every morning) And the few times when I did consecrate my efforts in getting him to brush, the whole process did seem less onerous.
I also liked your blogs psychic phenomena and hungry ghosts. I had read a book by Bruce Goldberg about spirits and the other world. I was quite fascinated. It’s really great that you have had the chance to experience it first hand.
In your other blog you had mentioned about Providence and about who it works for. In my personal experience I feel that it's all about Karma. Because I see some really insensitive, materialistic people who never get touched by even an iota of grief. And I've seen good hearted, well-meaning people go through immense calamities.
I'm sorry, this has turned out to be a rather long discussion! I tend to get overly enthusiastic when it comes to topics on spirituality and occultism.”
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