Spiritual Portal

 :D

i got to thinking of mccoy when i read and reread lesson 94: Does Evil Exist?

"Through the good force we see the solution of problems, but that evil force keeps on creating new misunderstandings." PY

In lesson 94 Paramahansa Yogananda explains what evil is!! It is a break through in our understanding! God saw that there was no one to enjoy him but Himself. Since everything is part of God, the only way God could create a sense of individuality was to cast over all the illusion of separateness, which is called Maya and thus began the force of evil that is personified in Satan. PY further explains the reasoning of the archangel Satan and his function in creation.
"People will be so interested in the exciting changes of Maya that they will forget they are immortal Sons of God and that they can return to him." ~ Satan
He felt that if creation should seize to exist then he would also. So he perpetuates the storm of delusion so he can have a separate existence.

mccoy I thought of u while reading this lesson because u have mentioned Satan so many times over the years. We don't use the word so much in our culture and many people  do not even believe in such a creature. I tend to think of this force as something we let get to us that robs our peace. It can be a person or situation or both. But here PY is talking about maya and this illusion of separateness that God himself cast over us so it was possible to enjoy himself.

Then to make it even more real he gave this archangel the ability to have a choice between evil and good and this creature called satan is working against everything in the the world that is the force that is drawing us back to God. It is somewhat like a ferry tale. I cant really imagine meeting such an evil force.

Although i really believe some people i have met in my life are fullfilling Satans purpose by causing misunderstandings in relationships and trying to destroy and divide people. In this way i can see Satan at work.

Guess we wouldn't know how good is good without evil.

Lesson 93

In Lesson 93 Paramahansa Yogananda explains the technique of relaxing at will. He says that "the first signs of cosmic consciousness are: The fixed gaze, the consciously stilled heart, and breathlessness. If one cannot demonstrate these he has not attained Cosmic Consciousness."

"The ego attempts to satisfy through material channels the soul's constant insatiable longing for GOD. Far from accomplishing its objective, it increases man's misery. The soul's hunger can never be appeased by indulgence in the senses. When man realizes this and masters his ego, that is when he achieves self-control, his life becomes glorified by the awareness of divine bliss while still in the flesh."

i find it interesting that PY is saying mastering the ego and self-control are synonymous.

"By means of maya, the cosmic delusive force, God is holding the searchlights of your senses so that you are attracted to matter."

This is a complex God we are talking about who gives us maya and enlightenment at the same time depending on what we choose. Were we in this decision making process when we ended up here?

I believe we weren't !

i believe most of us here have seen enough evil. That is why we are here. We are trying to find a way out so we do not have to be faced by any more evil. Good and evil: two sides to the same coin. How to get beyond both?

There seems to be so very few that have attained breathlessness, I mean I have not heard or met anyone yet.  :-\

Neither I did. Just read about 'ordinary' people like Sri Daya Mata and bro. Achalananda and a few selected ones....

I want u to know that i am not claiming cosmic consciousness....  far from it.

But i did enter this breathless state once. i believe it may have been a 'gift' from the guru since it happened at a srf convocation years ago. i still remember it as if it was yesterday.

i was practicing hong sau when suddenly i started feeling this blissful feeling of tranquility surrounding me. But i will tell u exactly what happened after that. My mind thought '  I am not breathing. ' Immediately that thought that 'I' am not breathing started my breath going again. It is a very subtle phenomena.... this ego that wants to identify with everything. Even the thought of 'I' am not breathing. Once 'I' entered the picture the soul bliss was blown away by an ego gust of wind.

To me; what is important at this time is that we r conscious of the breath and aware that it is slowing down. The spaces increasing between breaths. This is without forcing or straining to lengthen the time between breaths. We notice the space between breaths.

I actually meant that since PY says things like that, and, there doesn't seem to be very many around who have done what he says, it's a tad discouraging.

It's like saying, we could be like the matrix movie and fly away like superman if we put our minds to it, but I don't know anyone like that. And the irony is, if someone could do that, they wouldn't tell you. What a paradox.

This is my response SI. I could say the same thing about great musicians, military leaders or psychics. It does not mean they r not there. I have met all the people i have listed plus spiritual people that have extremely unusual powers and gifts. But these people were not in my back yard or even my home town. I had to travel and spend time and money to find them. These people did not have to tell me. They were living proof in their specific abilities.

Steve, do you have a recall of the lenght of breathlessness?

The most fascinating thing about meditation is that when u really experience such sublime states there is a sense of timelessness. So if the mind were to cognize time as the mind 'grasped' the idea of no breath the function of 'thinking' envelops the bliss of 'experiencing'.  So if i was experiencing timelessness asking the question how long is somewhat contradictory to the phenomena of 'timelessness'. This leads to another question. Can the mind understand and effectively express what the soul experiences in material measurements? Maybe so but i am not able to since this experience was at those precious 'moments' which are 'timeless'. Didn't Yogananda have to find out how much time elapsed after some of his experiences?

It would have had to b long enough to recognize there was no need for breathing. These r not such common experience for me that i have found a way to verify them in quantifying terms. Perhaps this would satisfy the scientist in us all!

Steve, I sure can imagine the timelessness of that state and the difficulties in recalling the time elapsed. Unfortunately we are thrown those experiences very rarely, the techniques are supposed to make them happen at will, but that's the theory alas, real life is pretty different!

Hmm, well I guess I can live with the mystery of where I may go to find someone like PY mentions, still they must be genuine and non-demonic, something that might be hard to intuitively know since that kind of power might probably also have the power to trick the mind.

Illusions... Illusions... Oh Lord save me from all these illusions surrounding my little life. I swam on some high emotional waves but those waves do come down. Oh how i know.

And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion

"Some people fall asleep during meditation, but that is no better then being dead. You don't want that. You must be wide awake. If you have a spell of sleepiness, shake it off; tense the body all over and sleep will disappear. Fresh air helps to keep one awake too." Paramahansa Yogananda

This is why I meditate outside a lot..Even in the winter. It helps be alert.

When sleepiness is strong, it is very hard to vanquish it.

A few days ago, I woke up very early to have the long Xmas meditation. I do that every year, 7 hours net total when I'm on my own.
This time I chose to fight sleepiness the hard way: I had an espresso just before meditation. I sacrificed maybe a slower heartbeat and lower breath rate to the altar of wakefulness. The coffee didn't make me that restless after all and I only had a single bout of sleepeness.

Yes. I asked a monk about using caffiene to stay awake while I was working long hours. He said that you may have to do this but to continue using the energization exercises as well.

I meditate at least a couple of hours each day. The long meditations for 6 or more hours have stopped since leaving Southern California. But I am not so certain they helped me because they were more an act of will. I do enjoy 3 hour meditations with other meditators and miss them since I now live in the country. I can more easily get long periods of meditation in when it is warmer weather here. But it is nice to jump in a nearby lake swim and then get out and energize and meditate longer.

 Lately I have meditated outdoors when it has been near 0 in temperature and a wind chill even colder.  Much lower then freezing. I have used a handwarmer to avoid frostbite. This will keep you awake! LOL Nevertheless I still get several hours of meditation in per day. There is a time for everything and in many ways I feel my daily meditations have improved.

I am happy to hear you developed the discipline to meditate so long alone. We are very fortunate to have so many meditation techniques and spiritual practices given by our gurus!

It is best to get proper rest if at all possible. I have found short cat naps helpful... if there is time. Then I can wake refreshed and stay awake during meditation. It is better to have a short meditation awake then a long one nodding off regularly. For me I have found there is no better condition then proper sleep. This has been a hard lesson I have learned for years of trying to meditate exhausted. All it did was led to bad meditation practices of being in no man's land between sleep and wakefulness: a passive state and blankness of the mind.

Yes, I learned that pretty soon, my first year of meditation practice, very eager, I used to get up and meditate at 4 am, but really what I was doing was sleeping in a cross-legged postures, sleeps or hallucinations since I found I could mantain the sitting posture. Sheer will power is not always the winning strategy.

Man’s attachment to matter keeps the soul confined to the bodily prison and prevents it from finding freedom with God in the realm of a eternal bliss. The ego attempts to satisfy through material channels the souls constant, insatiable longing for god. Far from accomplishing his objective, it increases man’s misery. The souls hunger can never be appeased by indulgence of the senses. When man realizes this and masters his ego, that is when he achieves self control, his life becomes glorified by the awareness of divine bliss while he is still in the flesh. Then instead of being the slave of material desires and appetites, man’s attention is transferred to the heart of Omnipresence, resting there forever with the hidden joy in everything.

Thank you Steve. Sometimes I wake up and notice my mind is more restless than other mornings, even my dreams, which I used to be so fond of, have made me cautious. As I work to detach from the urge to gratify sense pleasures I am not always successful. Even in meditation, I have not yet moved past thoughts or entered the spine. Despite my sometimes clairvoyant vision, I have not seen the spiritual eye in meditation. I am OK with this, my friend reminds me there's much karma to work through and I think there's no rush, but I hope like he does that we remain ever-thirsty in our pursuit for God. Remember that this world is change, but change can not exist without Substance and though time and nature dance around us we too are Immortal.