Where is Antero's practise going

I have done Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga for eight years. In addition to that I have tried different kinds of meditations and pranayama. Nowadays I do every morning Ashtanga intermediate series and the first half of Advanced A series and the finishing sequence, all of which takes about 110 minutes. After that I do my meditation practise for 45 minutes. My second meditation session is 30 minutes in the train when I return home from work.

See
www.ashtangayoga.info/practice/asana-seq...eries-nadi-shodhana/
www.ashtangayoga.info/practice/asana-seq...series-sthira-bhaga/

For one year my meditation practise has consisted of AYP style Spinal breathing, Sambhavi Mudra, Deep Meditation with mantra and Samyama. AYP style is energy based system which cultivates 'Exstatic Conductivity' and 'Inner Silence' using bandhas, mudras and meditation techniques.

Spinal Breathing: www.aypsite.com/41.html
Sambhavi Mudra: www.aypsite.com/56.html
Deep Meditation: www.aypsite.com/13.html
Samyama: www.aypsite.com/150.html

Had I known of Vipassana and 3 Gears one year ago, I would have definitely started practising it immediately in addition to my asana practise. Now I am clearly starting to get some benefit from AYP and I am unable to decide what to do. I would really appreciate your help and comments on this.

(continued)

When I do Spinal Breathing and move my attention along the spine, I usually start to get pleasurable sensations. I slip into mediation easily and it is usually quite enjoyable. Sometimes the waves of pleasure are more intense and I can't help but laugh aloud. Feeling of calm and peace continues after meditation and Samyama practise into daily life. Every now and then I get tingling sensations during the day and I feel the energy moving in waves. All of this is very subtle with no big rushes or theatrical effects. I have always been a person who wants to be in control, so Samyama practise of letting sutras into silence have really helped me in learning to 'let go'.

How does Vipassana practise relate to my hatha yoga and meditation practises? Are these two systems compatible? Is it advisable to do powerful asana practise before Vipassana? Perhaps I should discontinue AYP practises and start doing Vipassana instead in order to benefit from the insights and wisdom of Kenneth and this community.

Antero

Hey man welcome to the board. Kenneth should have a answer for your question. I know August Leo (A member here) was doing a lot of Energy Work (Chi based I think)... I am going to assume it can't really hurt to try it out. You sound like a real serious practitioner if you feel like you will benefit from this practice give it a go...

Again welcome, I have no experience with yoga so don't take anything I say too seriously

I love the title of your thread!

I wonder, myself, where is Antero's practice going? I also wonder, where is Antero's practice at all?

: )

Antero,

Bhante Rahula (student of Bhante G) openly teaches yoga and vipassana together. Vipassana is different from, but not incompatible with energy practices. I do both together and believe in part because of this, I haven't experienced a lot of the rougher side effects of practice. You can do vipassana and yoga at the same time!

The only question is how much time do you have? If you end up piling too many practices on each other, you might not master any of them.

...

Thank you all for your comments! I value especially your views AugustLeo since you have first hand experience from both systems.

What are temporary bliss states? Where are those states on Kenneth's map of 20 Major Stata of Mind?

According to Yogani rising Kundalini purifies the nervous system and is (quoting Yogani) 'experienced as an increasingly steady state of peace, happiness and bliss.' In the end of the development (another quote) 'our attention comes to reside naturally in the omnipresent, undulating blissful silence in all things, we become that ever-present harmony.'

Yogani seems to view the Enlightenment as a never ending gradual learning process where it is not possible draw a line and say if someone is enlightened or not. Only that a person is today perhaps a bit more enlightened than a week or month ago. Do you think AugustLeo that what Yogani describes as an enlightenment is actually not the real thing?

How much time should I be willing to commit to Vipassana practise daily if I wanted to see some results? Is it advisable to do powerful asana practise with 3 Gears method? I am unwilling to drop my Ashtanga practise, since it has been the backbone of my Sadhana for 8 years now. I think I must be quite insensitive to mediation practises; because it has taken me this long of hard hath yoga work to get even some modest results. If I dropped AYP practises, I could have 70-80 minutes daily for Vipassana.

Please do not think that I am sceptical about the Vipassana method, quite the contrary. I think this the most convincing method I have ever come across. It is only that after jumping between different meditation practises over the years, I do not take changing the method lightly.

Antero

Antero,

Temporary bliss states are just that: a temporary state of bliss, that often seduces the yogi to think that he/she is making progress. Temporary bliss states are always eventually counterbalanced by temporary piss states. To paraphrase Stephen Wolinsky: You can't have the bliss without the piss.

I'll defer to Kenneth with respect to Enlightenment. You can view his definition on the Home page here: kennethfolkdharma.wetpaint.com/ .

I recommend that you contact Kenneth directly via PM and pose your questions to him.

Michael

AugustLeo, could you please be more specific? How did you come to this conclusion in your own practise? Are you talking about AYP method in particular and not energetic practises in general? From reading your practise note I got the impression that you got pretty good results with energetic work.

Antero.

...

"Antero,

Please direct your questions to Kenneth. I got pretty good results after 46 years of practice. Were I able to do it over, today, I would choose Kenneth's 3ST over any other practice.

Please contact Kenneth with any further questions. I won't reply again.

Michael"

Hi AugustLeo,

By the sounds of it, you have a wealth of knowledge and good advice to impart here at the KFD site. Why would you not want to impart with some of it?

Well, to use a baseball manager analogy, if you keep tabbing A.J. Burnett to start game 1 of the World Series, and he keeps saying to hand the ball over to CC Sabathia, the ace of your staff....maybe you ought to give the start to CC. ; )