SP with mantra

[Still]

Hi,

I have been away from sitting practice for a few years due to having kids but was very into self inquiry which i did intensely, and recently I was drawn back into sitting practice again. I was taught many years ago to do SP with a mantra and have gone back to doing this. I have a lot of bliss feeling in the body and after SP I tend to sit in the bliss during meditation rather than focus on the mantra.  Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this variation?  What difference does mantra while doing SP have, and is sitting in the bliss during meditation ok?  

Much love,

Still

[Shanti]

Hi Still,
Glad to have you back![]

In AYP, we don't recommend mixing mantra with spinal breathing and if by "is sitting in the bliss during meditation ok?" you mean just sitting in silence, no mantra, that too is not deep meditation the AYP way.

Maybe this lesson will help.

http://www.aypsite.com/plus/43.html
Meditation and pranayama are distinctly different practices with distinctly different purposes. Meditation instills in us the silence of pure bliss consciousness. Pranayama loosens the subtle nerves and stimulates the flow of prana in particular ways. This provides pure bliss consciousness the opportunity to flow dynamically in the nervous system. This is experienced first as the ever-increasing expansion of ecstasy, and later as the rise of universal, blissful self-awareness. Pranayama is on the edge of meditation, but it is not meditation. Meditation is on the edge of pranayama, but it is not pranayama. You might say that they both come from opposite sides to the edge of the subtle boundary that exists between pure bliss consciousness and prana everywhere in us. By doing pranayama and meditation in succession we are dissolving the boundary from both sides. It is a double whammy. This is the great benefit of doing both practices.

Pranayama in its various forms has tremendous value, and we will make extensive use of it. It is one of the master keys to opening the human nervous system to divine experience. But, pranayama is not a replacement for meditation. Only through meditation can the nervous system be permeated with pure bliss consciousness. Pranayama and other techniques we will discuss aid greatly in providing the ground for pure bliss consciousness to come up, and they are means for its expansion outward, but they are not the primary cause of its coming up. Meditation is. For this reason, pranayama is not recommended as a stand-alone practice without meditation.

Meditation can be practiced as a stand-alone. It is a complete practice that will lead to a full flowering of pure bliss consciousness in a person over an extended period of time. This is why meditation was said to be enough for those who are not inclined to pursue other advanced yoga practices to speed up the journey. Meditation is the best single practice one can do.

On the other hand, practicing pranayama alone without meditation can leave the practitioner vulnerable in some ways. Imagine you plow a field, turning the rich soil over and over. It is exposed, fertile, and ready for the seed to be planted. What will you plant there? If you meditate deeply with an effective method, you will plant the field full with the seed of pure bliss consciousness, and it will germinate and grow strong, filling the field with joy. But what if you don't meditate, and you don't plant anything in particular in your fertile pranayama field? What will grow there? Something will. But what? Whatever happens to be around. Some desires, some thoughts, some emotions, whatever happens to be blowing over the field. To tell you the truth, a lot of weeds can grow there, because there is no crop of pure bliss consciousness filling up that field. This is why pranayama, practiced as a stand-alone over months and years, can lead to less instead of more. In some people this type of imbalanced practice can lead to increasing rigidness, egotism, anxiety, anger, and just plain bad luck. Meditate every day after you do pranayama and you will experience the opposite of these things in great profusion – flexibility, compassion, peace, joy, and lots of good luck. That's how it works.

[Shanti]

PS: here is Yogani's lesson on using the so-ham mantra with spinal breathing.

http://www.aypsite.com/plus/59.html

[Still]

Thanks Shanti,

Do you think it is OK to continue on with the spinal pranayama with mantra I have already been taught and practiced followed by the AYP meditation with mantra? The effects have been good for me but I would like to do the ayp meditation too....

[Shanti]

Hi Still,
If you are comfortable with so-ham in spinal breathing, sure go ahead with that. But start with just 10 min deep meditation and see how that goes. We don't want you overloading on the mantra since you will be doubling up on mantra.
If 10 min for a week or more feels comfortable, increase it to 15 and then 20 (no more than 20 min),
Let us know how it goes.

[AYPforum]

Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement