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| Hi everyone,
First of all i should introduce myself as I've recently joined this group. I'm a 24 year old student, and I'm a beginner in meditation. I don't have a guru, and I've never learnt meditation except from books and webpages(and unfortunately i dont have access to teachers ). Anyway, I have been meditating for about 8 months on my own, and I'd like to share some experiences that I had( and invite comments/explanations). Even though they are mere 'distractions', in my opinion, for a beginner these experiences play a crucial role in increasing the meditator's inspiration, perseverance and enthusiasm.
After about 4 months of meditation, one day, when i was in the shower, I saw four dots(like the vertices of a square) of blurry light, with my eyes closed. Then these four dots became three(forming a triangle), the three then became 2, and finally the two merged to become one small dot. This blob of light then became a little bigger and became sharper and sharper until I could 'see' it crystal clear. It was like a flame of a candle, and it seemed for about a second or two that that candle is the only thing there is. After that I got scared(I'd never had or expected such an experience) and opened my eyes.
After this I've had similar experiences a lot of times, ironically most of the time when I'm _not_ meditating.(Except once when I was sitting in a temple in Vrindavan, India).
I'm extremely intrigued with this experience. Various questions arise in my mind.What is it? how do I see a light when there is no light source? Is it a hallucination? What do the different dots of light symbolise?
Another experience that I have been having since recently are flashes of light while meditating, when it feels like someone opened a bottle of soda inside me and something is rushing upwards, culminating in a flash of light. Similar questions arise with such experiences as well.
I'd be very grateful for replies.
Thanks in advance.
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| Hi Neobrahman,
Welcome to the forum.
You don't mention what form of meditation you are practising, though what you have experienced is quite common and has to do with the stimulation of the pineal gland and it's chakra equivalent, the third eye.
Science has now proved that although it has no direct connection with the surface of the body, the pineal gland has indirect light sensing capabilities through both connection with the optic nerve and through sensitivity to ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun.
It is also consciously possible to recreate this 'inner light' (THOUGH I DO NOT RECOMMEND TRYING IT) by placing two fingers over each closed eye and slowly and progressively pushing the eyeballs back inside the head. At first you will see bright flashes and spots of moving colour which gradually change into various geometric patterns.
Many schools of Shabda Yoga which focus on the inner sound or light use the above technique as part of their initiation proceedure.
Jonathon
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| Hi Jonathan, thanks for your reply. In the beginning for about 5 months I practiced a form of 'Insight Meditation', in which one has to feel the parts of the body and then gradually settle into a peaceful state by concentrating on the breath. This was suggested to me by Swami Abhidhyananda Avadhut(Anatole Ruslanov).
These days, however, I just try to sit in meditation and concentrate on the breath, and having been inspired by the book 'Autobiography of a Yogi' to start meditating in the first place, I chant the name of Babaji in my mind. Thats what I do in meditation.
Although your reply was quite comprehensible, I still have some doubts.
1.For example, why is the pineal gland(the agnya chakra) the only one stimulated by my meditation? Although I've been feeling my pulses in the top of my head, my throat, heart and sometimes the base of my spine(probably corresponding to the chakras), why is only the pineal gland manifesting itself as light?
2. I thought that the Kundalini rising from the base of the spine starts activating the chakras from the bottom up, rather than being selective?
3.Also, does this mean that I'm progressing in my meditation? Is my agnya chakra being activated or this is just the ordinary result of sitting in meditation regularly?
I'm sorry for bombarding so many questions and being so over-curious, but again, I'll be ever-so-grateful for your advise and comments.
Thanks and Regards. |
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| Hi Neobrahman,
Sorry, when I read your first post I missed the last paragraph, so my answer was refering to the first part of your post. The point that I was making was that your experience was probably physiological rather than spiritual.
In answer to your other questions, when we speak of the chakras we are of course refering to the subtle body, though each chakra does have a corresponding counterpart in the physical body. You are correct when you write that the Kundalini usually rises from the base of the spine working upwards, though if you meditate on a specific chakra (i.e the heart chakra) you are also able to open them that way.
Does this mean that you're progressing in your meditation? Is your agnya chakra being activated or is this just the ordinary result of sitting in meditation regularly? Who knows?
This is why it's important to study with a teacher who can observe both you and your practise over time.
Hopefully Neel and Bipinjoshi will also answer you as they are far more knowledgable than me. In the meantime, if you are influenced by Yogananda, I recommend looking at www.ananda.org and investing in their lessons.
Jonathon
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| Hi Jonathon,
Unfortunately I'm in a place where there are no such centers for learning yoga/meditation. So as much as I would like to learn from someone who has already experienced some higher truths, I don't have any options.
Anyway, thanks again for your replies. I'll look at the ananda site.
Regards. |
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| Hi Neobrahman,
In that case I also recommend this two resources:
1. Bipin Joshi is a forum member and regular poster. He has recently published a very good book on this subject:
http://www.yogavision.in/books/default.aspx
and also runs a very informative website with includes many interesting articles:
http://www.yogavision.in/
2. kulkarnn (Neel Kulkarni) is also a forum member and a regular poster and has excellent cds which teach meditation and Yoga philosophy:
http://www.authenticyoga.org
Jonathon
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| Thanks again, Jonathon. |
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| You're welcome.
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| That is THE MIDDLE WAY, the only one path to the enlightenment for everyone. No matter what religious you are or none of any, what ever your age, sex, graduation, etc. When you just stop thinking at one point in the center of your body, (you sometimes don't know the awareness at the center of your body), and relax. You will see it. It was the Crystall ball you see!!!. It's light is very gently bright like a sun even if you close your eyes and sit in the dark room you see the bright light. You feel very very happy more and more depending on how much your mind stands still at the center of your body.. DO NOT Scare of it!!! nothing dangerous.
There are a lot of people who experience the same thing when trying Dhammakaya meditation.
please see this site for more testimonials about The Middle Way (Dhammakaya) meditation technique.
http://www.meditationthai.org/docs/en/meditation_testimonials.html
www.meditationthai.org
if you want to join the middle way meditation retreat.. here is online registration page
http://www.meditationthai.org/application.php
and here is the centers of dhammakaya meditation around the world.
http://www.dhammakaya.or.th/centremain.php
Edited by TheMiddleWay 2007-08-11 3:59 AM
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| Hi Middle Way,
Thank you for your comments. However I have something to say to that. Unfortunately this light brings no extraordinary sense of happiness, it just is. So maybe this is a bit different from the light that you describe or that which is experienced by Dhammakaya practitioners.
Regards. |
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| sounds pretty cool, trust in yourself that you can learn from your own experiences |
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| Thanks a lot for your encouragement tubeseeker!  |
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| your welcome, enjoy the ride
who knows, maybe even one day you will get to see things the "gurus" dont 
Edited by tubeseeker 2007-08-15 12:50 AM
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| Dont know about that man...you know it is infinitely more difficult to keep doing the worldly affairs that you want to do in this world and practice spirituality than leaving the world and becoming a hermit. I'm still mortal. I'm still human. I suffer from anxiety, stress, pain, anger, suffering. Not having any teacher means that I have the risk of losing my way. Probably I am.
Edited by Neobrahman 2007-08-19 11:03 AM
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| be not afraid neo
if a man finds god in the forest and another man finds God among the midst of chaos. then the man who found God in the forest goes into the city and the man who found God in the city goes into the forest, whom do you think has the better chance of keeping their connection with God
A woman finds God through a teacher and another Woman finds God on her own. One day the teacher leaves, in this instance who is at risk of loosing their way?
teachers will pass in and out of your life Neo, storms will come and go. WHen you see a hurricane coming and know you cannnot outrun it, find a way to stand in the middle. the eye of the storm, from there you can observe without being destroyed. The storm serves a purpose, a storm cannot be fought or you will just loose energy.
take care neobrahman
continuing the journey,
seeker
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| Thanx again seeker...I'll try to be stronger, patient and persevere on my path. Thanks again. |
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Strange encounters with Light
