Guest guest Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 following message is forwarded by moderator.. remember when you send a message to <Ammachi-owner> rather than <Ammachi> it only comes to me personally (like an offlist message). --- ecjensen_us <ecjensen_us wrote: > Mon, 24 Apr 2006 13:25:22 -0000 > "ecjensen_us" <ecjensen_us > Ammachi-owner > Re: the importance of concentration -Prajna > > OM NAMAH SIVAYA > > i totally agree with all you wrote. i think this can > be a necessary > part of our path. incorporating sadhana in our > lives, as you say, > must strike a balance, but to me our path is a > pendulum that swings > between too much and too little. we usually truly > begin the path > realizing we have too little. then many swing to the > other extreme > of too much, a stage of not being grounded and in > bliss at the > expense of our worldly life. but to me this can be > very beneficial > in a couple of ways. One, hopefully i will be able > apply the > concentration and awareness gained thru the > spiritual practices to > other areas in my life, improving my productivity > and my efficiency. > and the Bliss or Love we develop can be applied to > our life's > relationships, with our partners and others. most of > all i think the > imbalance taught me that spiritual life and worldly > life compliment > one another. the imbalance can bring understanding > to our life > purpose and if integrated can help restore balance. > i see spiritual > life now more as completing not competing with my > life in the world. > > JAI MA > > > Ammachi, Prajna - Brianna > <prajnaji > wrote: > > > > I must also add to this topic. About a year and a > half ago I > started meditating for about four hours a day. It > was really > blissful, and as I went around in the world I was in > a perpetual > state of bliss. I thought I was really starting to > get somewhere > spiritually! Then my work started to suffer, because > I would just > sit at my desk and bliss out and not get anything > done. I made a lot > of mistakes due to my total lack of concentration > and awareness. I > got hit by a car, I lost my bike (at the time my > only mode of > transportation) because I just left it on the > subway, and my house > became really messy. I forgot to eat, and even > fainted several > times. But I was loving it anyway. All I cared about > were spiritual > practices. This might have been okay if I were > living in an ashram > under the close supervision of a satguru, but that > was not the case. > > > > That was when Anaghan (now my fiance) and I > started hanging out. > He really helped me to see that I was not > integrating the energy > gained in my long meditations, and as a result my > whole life was out > of balance. I hadn't really gotten anywhere with all > that > meditation, I just used it as an escape. It took > about six months > and a summer tour to get into a stable, integrated > practice. > > > > In the Gita, Krishna talks about how we have to > establish > ourselves in Being, and then go out and perform > action. It's really > important to go out and perfom healthy, dharmic > action in > conjunction with our meditation, because, yes, we > can become > imbalanced. In the Native American church, they call > it "Rainbowing > Out," and you can really see a lot of it around > Amma, in yoga > classes, at kirtans, in spiritual gatherings in > general. People just > walking around in bliss, totally "out of the body" > and not paying > attention. Conversly, look at how totally present > Amma is in all of > the actions she performs. She talks a lot about the > importance of > concentration and attentiveness in action. You don't > see her > floating around, she is VERY grounded, very present. > In fact, it > seems that she is 100% present to everything that is > happening > everywhere! > > > > As one who tends to get really out of the body > (I don't > mean "out of body experience," I mean not present), > I have to be > really disciplined about balancing sadhana and > action. I have to > exercise, eat well, sleep well, and take really good > care of my > environment in addition to my spiritual practices. > In fact, one of > my main practices at this time in my life is being > present and > giving my full attention to whatever I am doing. > > > > The great thing about I AM technique is that it > doesn't leave > room for rainbowing out, although it can be very > blissful. It brings > you into deep, focused concentration. It is trully > an integrated > technique, and is great for us householders. > > > > To blame Amma or I AM or satsang for our state > of imbalance is > quite off. These imbalances are due to our NOT > following Her > instructions for meditation, concentration, etc. How > can we ever > truly be of service to anyone if we are not able to > give our total > presence and attention to our actions? > > > > love, > > > > Prajna > > Tom <tomgull wrote: > > From my experiences and understanding: > > > > Trouble staying in one's body can be a result of > too much > meditating > > or too much contemplation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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