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Re: Theos-World re "yoga practices" and "just being"

Mar 12, 2004 07:33 PM
by leonmaurer


Mauri, 
There is no best way of yoga practice -- which goes far beyond the simple 
stopping of discursive thinking. But, there may be a best way to restrain or 
hinder that kind of thinking itself in the initial stages of yoga practice -- as 
I pointed out. 

As for "just being" (whatever that means)... I see no purpose in such 
aimlessness with respect to the practice of meditation -- which purpose is to clear 
the mind of foolish, uncontrolled, or speculative thoughts and ideas that have 
no purpose, and get on with concentrated meditative thought directed toward 
contemplating and understanding the true nature of one's being... And, thereby, 
besides attaining certain siddhi powers, self healing and the like, 
achieving enlightenment, and ending one's ignorance as the cause of one's suffering. 

Of course, having a good method of meditation and an experienced guide to 
point out the errors is very helpful. For English speaking students without a 
live teacher, I recommend Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms, as transliterated and 
commented on by W. Q. Judge. Although, if you need a bit of physical healing, try 
adding a bit of Vipassana. (Although I have no good English books to recommend 
for that -- unless you can find one of the tracts by Swami Suresh Chander.)

But, if you want to keep on "just being" and continue scratching your head, 
who am I to disabuse you of your folly. </:-)> 

Best regards and good luck,

LHM 

In a message dated 03/11/04 10:59:18 AM, mhart@idirect.ca writes:

>Leon wrote: <<The idea being that if 
>the mind can hold only one thought at a
>time, the best way to stop the 
>modifications of the miond or 
>uncontrolled discursive thinking, is to 
>concentrate and hold a single thought or 
>idea in the mind. That is the basis of 
>meditation in any yoga practice. >>
>
>There may be yoga practices along those 
>lines, but if such yoga practices are 
>seen as "best way," seems to me that 
>such ways might amount to building 
>bridges by which one might by-pass or 
>find excuses for by-passing even notions 
>about, or efforts toward, "just being." 
> I've been under the impression that 
>HPB, for one, might have seen "just 
>being" as a form of "meditation" that 
>might be, in some cases, "more to the 
>point," say, than meditation by way of 
>"holding a single thought." On the 
>other hand, whatever seems to "make 
>sense" ...
>
>Speculatively,
>Mauri



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