Pranayama, Dangers, Finding a Teacher
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@Cygnus said
"Yes, I've basically found myself in this position—all of the yogis out there teaching pranayama (i.e. Iyengar) may be safe and technically correct, but don't go nowhere near Liber E levels. "
Just to clarify my understanding and my point of view. What the Iyengar peeps are about is technically different than what the practices in Liber E and Ru have in mind. To be fair, they are good at what they do, but it is Hatha Yoga all the same, not Raja Yoga. Raja Yoga is pretty much the training Crowley undertook in India. Comparing Liber E to Iyengar Yoga is like comparing apples and oranges. They are both fruits that grow on trees, but that is where the similarity ends.
If you read Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekenanda you will find a perspective very much in alignment with the methods espoused by Crowley, and also I'm pretty sure, the AA as well.
Love and Will
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93
I'd like to chime in here on what I consider a grave misunderstanding about yoga as taught to westerners. It is popularfor a teacher or institution to develop some approach to Yoga that "synthesizes" or "integrates" the four paths of yoga.
While janana Yoga deals wiht knowledge, wisdom, introspection and contemplation, everybody has a mind and at some point will need to examine it, wherein quiet reflection naturally comes.
All people will experience emotions such as love and devotion at points along the journey, regardless of which yoga path they are on.
Nobody can live in a body and the world without performing actions. Even a renunciate living in a Himalayan cave has to do some form of actions, and thus, some degree of karma Yoga is essential.
Everybody will become still and quiete from attempting spiritual practice, and will naturally encounter and deal with attractions and aversion, and will meditate, thus touching on raja Yoga.
While it is definitely true that we each have predispositions towards one or another of the four paths of Yoga, we cannot really avoid or abandon the others.
The only goal of yoga is Yoga. Each path is a gateway to the other three paths.
Take note also of the wiki on "Kundalini Syndrome" many of the "symptoms" can be considered successes to the mystic "experiences of inner lights" "depersonalization" "spontaneous trance states" "perception of inner sounds" "experiencing oneself as larger than one's body" "experiences of paranormal consciousness"....sounds neat.Love is the Law
Love under Will -
@PainMeridian said
"Take note also of the wiki on "Kundalini Syndrome" many of the "symptoms" can be considered successes to the mystic "experiences of inner lights" "depersonalization" "spontaneous trance states" "perception of inner sounds" "experiencing oneself as larger than one's body" "experiences of paranormal consciousness"....sounds neat.
Love is the Law
Love under Will"
Good point on other things, and this too. For as long as it's done with balance: what I'd call kundalini psychosis is the worst thing I've experienced, and I've experienced bad things along my life. Experiences and depersonalization is all good, as long as it's done in balance, that is, ground work is good. -
That's very interesting. It's exactly my experience too.
By kundalini psychosis I mean an experience of opening and experiencing very severe pain, panic is a good name for it. I've had these kinds of experiences a few times, lasting for a few minutes.
I've taken (all too much) the role of a madman, because people consider me such.
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Yes, the same for me. Even though the pain is worse than anything else, I can just watch it, and I don't discriminate it as bad. But, thinking that I'm going insane or dying still isn't something I'd like to experience, on the other hand. But, if it is normal, then it's okay. I think that my instability has come from others' thought that I'm insane, though I'm just happy. I haven't been able to work in two years after I completed my civil service, because of fear of people. I fear that people can see me, that I'm completely naked.
I haven't experienced any of these hellish states in almost a year. As far as chakras, they all need adjustments. My 2nd chakra, if I haven't just worked out or done some spiritual practice, feels like there's a knife in there, I've inherited it from my mother. I've also, since about 17 years old, overenergized my heart, thinking that it's the place I have problems. Right now I think that I haven't been energizing myself overall enough.
I've let myself have more humane (bad) feelings for the past couple of years, which has helped me thinking for myself. But I think that I've overdone it too, so that I've become anxious. But you know what they say, well, I don't know what they say. I bet something wise.
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93
"Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world where psychotherapists could give their clients a ticket to go bungie jumping, or to jump out of a plane?"
I've seen this happen on reality tv shows. Cognitive behavioural therapy phase where the phobic is confronted with their fear in a controlled setting. One woman was deathly phobic of earthquakes so they rigged a truck with gear to simulate an earthquake and designed the interior of the box to match her living room. She came out of it very well and eventually discarded her phobia.
I believe it was in one of the Castaneda books where I read about the "One chance" to confront your fear and if you fail during the confrontation, thats it. period. You will have fear the rest of your life.
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@Dar said
"Yeah - fear of people, fear of dying... fear generally is a hellish state in which to live. It's starts in the root chakra (governing survival and instinct) and poisons the 2nd (the emotions) & 3rd (the lower mind with all it's animal attachments). Confronting and accepting one's own mortality is extremely difficult for everyone. "
I've been threatened of my life several times in my life, last time was a few months ago in my own house, where there came two kids with knuckledusters inside, they knew that my roommate was growing marijuana in there. First I laughed when they came in, but then I started faking being fearful so that they wouldn't harm me. The younger man even took a knife in his hand after a little while. I don't fear death, and the fear doesn't come from the root chakra, it comes from my overactive heart which is too sensitive. It's not usual fear, it's like panic, and it's completely unnatural to me."There are some fast and dirty ways to ramp up the vitality of the root chakra. Sex (obviously), but it's difficult for men to pull a bird (gods - that was sooooo un-pc, wasn't it! ;D ) when they are lacking vitality, and even wanking can feel like a lack luster exercise."
Yep, that's very true. Well, since child I've always charmed everyone (from residents to presidents), and still do, but since seventeen I've been such that I don't like to let anyone near me, there are many reasons for it. Masturbation balances my overactive heart and takes the pressure off the 2nd chakra. I've always enjoyed everything physically dangerous, well I've been on very many near death situations physically which don't have anything to do with other people's threats, just my usual sloppiness, like riding with a bike with millimeter accuracy on the edge of a cliff. If you knew my family, you'd understand what I mean.
But I can also do dangerous things socially, and it lessens my fear but only temporarily.Btw, I don't like to make too much an off topic, so if you want to answer, PM (I almost wrote OM) me.
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@Dar said
"Ok. It took me a while to get my head around that. Overactive heart chakra... overactive heart chakra... click oh - you're one of those people!
Endof thread diversion. Look after yourself man."
Overactive heart chakra, one of those... nah, it's not a natural thing for me, I've done it myself, but it's hard to close it or balance it.
