Originally posted by Asher
i remembered to try this while in a lucid last night. it was quite interesting. it took a few attempts to find the right balance between 'ssss' and 'shhhhhhh", but once i did something strange certainly happened.
it felt as the backside of my head (from the base of my skull to the top) "disintegrated" into a 'warm fuzz'. which lasted for the prolongation of the breath. obviously there is no need to breathe in the traditional sense in a dream, but i couldn't quite convince myself of that, and thus could only maintain it for 7 seconds or so before i 'ran out of breath".
obviously, this could only be the power of suggestion, but it was compelling enough for me to plan further experiments.
as well, at one point later on in this dream i was skimming along the powerlines above the road which leads to my house. i began to rise against my will, and when i looked down the visuals started to fade. so, as this ends lucids 95% of the time for me, i decided to close my eyes and intone AUM.
the dream persisted as i floated in a black void, chanting the sacred syllable 6 or 7 times. it was peaceful.
leo, i am interested in further experimenting with mantras in the dreamstate. i am particularly desiring to permanently open my third eye, so if you have any suggestions i'd certainly give them a go i have been attempting to do so in the waking state, but seem to be thwarted despite my best efforts. it feels like trying to light kindling with a burnt out match...
Oh... here are a few cut and pastes concerning Kundalini Meditation:
Self Service Shaktipat
It is a wonderful convenience in many contemporary Yogic Systems that the Power of Spiritual Initiation can be passed as easily as by the touch of an authentic Guru. Otherwise, we can envision years of doing the kind of breath retention exercises that are calculated to have most effect in direct proportion to the amount of brain damage they inflict. Samadhi being passed by the Touch of a Master definitely passes Critical Scrutiny better than any method of attainment which could well be described as ‘holding one’s breath until one gets lightheaded and passes out’.
So, Shaktipat is a very good thing. But we are left considering the availability of Gurus. Many people have the perception that such Shaktipat Gurus are a rare commodity, and then, even when they are found, may be either too expensive to retain, or may impose a too forbidding a regiment of conditions in their implicit contract for Services. For instance, one of the best Shaktipat Gurus I had ever met was old Kirpal Singh of the Surat Shabd Organization, but he wanted actual vows of sexual celibacy in return for his Initiation, and that was way back during the height of the Sexual Revolution. Well, it would have been difficult to give away Bags of Money on those conditions. I and many others waited for more accommodating Gurus.
But are the Gurus entirely necessary? While still believing that nothing is more Spiritually conducive than being protégé to an Authentic Guru, I must admit that for someone seeking their Spiritual Beginnings, a Guru is not entirely indispensable. One may make due without. And in this regard, I have found that Shaktipat may be more available than is generally supposed. Years ago I read in a translation of a passage from the Upanisads that “In the presence of a God or Saint, the Third Eye will open”. Well, the very evening that I read that, I saw a Poster advertising a Lecture to be given by an itinerant shaktipat-style Guru. One can guess what happened. I felt my Third Eye open in his presence. It was not an overwhelmingly dazzling feeling. Indeed, if I had not been prepared by my Reading to anticipate such a feeling, I suppose it would have been subtle enough to evade notice or slight enough to dismiss as a painless headache. But since I was watching for something of that nature, I felt it. Seeing this as a validation of this Guru’s credentials, I enlisted for his Initiations. And the Shaktipat given officially was not much stronger than what had been felt merely by being in his presence. What this should mean to the keen observer is that Shaktipat can be gleaned from the Spiritual Atmosphere without necessarily all the trimmings and ceremonies that the Gurus would have you suppose must come directly from their hand.
But, one might still suspect that “Gods and Saints” are very rare entities. But not at all. Since my Third Eye has become open and sensitive to such things, I find that any number of people are walking around with Chakras open and radiating enough in order to resonate with the Chakras of those within their vicinity. Ordinarily it passes without notice – a pressure sensation in the forehead, or in the case of an open Heart or Throat Chakra, a pressure sensation in those corresponding locations.
So, how can a person take advantage of these Atmospheric Shaktipats? Well, simply by being aware. If one is uninitiated but would like to be as one who is Initiated – with open Chakras and control over one’s Energies, Kundalini and Qi – then one need only visit venues and activities where one might suppose one could meet under the same roof with some moderately spiritual people. In Sanskrit I think it is called Satsang – the beneficial effect of being in Spiritual Company. If one notices that slight feeling in the Chakras, then the Technique for Auto Initiation is to focus on that Sensation and to hold onto it. Ordinarily, such feelings are ignored and allowed to pass. But if caught by awareness and focused upon, they can be as effectively enduring as any Initiation given at a Weekend Retreat for the price equivalent to that of a downpayment on a car.
A long time ago I became an initiate of Kundalini Yoga, so I can give you a few tips on opening up your Agna (third eye) Chakra.
Once I read in a dusty old Treatise translated from the original Sanskrit that "in the presence of a God or Saint, the Third Eye will open". I remember it because it has proven true again and again and again. The trick, though, is to understand as to what it is referring. The reason I remember so well was that the evening after I read that passage I met this itinerant Guru and felt a pressure sensation in my forehead. That was all it was -- a Pressure Sensation. No Lights. No overwhelming Bliss or Ananda. Just a feeling of pressure. Later on when I received the official Initiation, the pressure was not significantly different. And then the Practice of the Yoga was to simply concentrate or meditate on that Pressure Sensation so that it would be fixed and permanent, in the sense that it could always be summoned there at will.
Do you need to find an Official Guru? It certainly could not hurt, and could probably help. but my feeling is that there are a lot more "God and Saints" than anybody suspects. There are people walking around with very Open Chakras who are radiating Spiritual Energy, and if you are open, when you are in their presence, your Third Eye will open up by itself. YOU WILL FEEL A PRESSURE SENSATION IN YOUR FOREHEAD. And if you are not paying attention for it, then you are likely to disregard or perhaps not even notice it, as though it were the mildest of headaches.
Sometimes even reading a particularly cogent passage from a Spiritual Book, or in thinking of especially powerful Saints or Gurus from the past, the third eye will open, that is, there will be that feeling of Pressure.
So, simply go about your ordinary business, but remind yourself several times daily to keep some attention on what goes on in your forehead -- up slightly between the brows. And if you ever feel a slight pressure sensation, then lock onto it immediately -- rub your finger into it; make a buzzy noise with your mouth and modulate its tone until it resonates into that Sensation Point. For the first day, try not to let it totally go away -- remind yourself to keep the sensation open. Rub it with your finger and use that buzz tone to vibrate it. If you can keep it there for just a solid day, and bring it back after a good nights sleep, then you got it. Then, meditate on it for about 10 or 15 minutes morning and night. After about a week you may begin to feel some heaviness in your head, or even a headache. Great! Now you will want to bring it down. Get a nice glass of cold water and drink it, and feel that the Sensation is attached to in and that it drops down, all the way to your lowest vertebrae -- your little triangular tailbone. Reach back there and rub that little tail bone and feel the Sensation there. And keep it there for a couple of weeks. Learn to keep the energy down. That is your Safety Practice. Before the Energy gets to strong to handle you must learn to be able to pull it down at will. So don't keep the Energy up because you think you might be missing something. You have your entire life to raise up the Energy. For a couple of weeks you need to work on the certainty of being able to lower the Energy.
If you do not feel any sensation in your head -- in and around your brain, then my advice here might be a bit incomprehensible. but if you do feel some sensation in your head, this is what you should do: If your Energy Sensation is up in your forehead, then use your will to guide it back along the top of your pallet to the back of your pallet to the Swivel Point at the top of your spine. That point is easy to locate -- you just swivel your head around, and, well, the swivel point is the swivel point. Put the energy sensation there. Point your tongue up to that point. Now, it will feel as though the energy sensation is about the size of a golf ball or a bit smaller. What you will now try to do is bring the energy down lower and smaller, as though penetrating the layers of an onion. Smaller smaller smaller -- it will take awhile. The energy will seem as though it is stuck at a particular size, then suddenly shrink down a bit more. Still you want it to center on that Swivel Point. Eventually it will be about the size of a pea and you will feel it oscillating back and forth like a pendulum. This is really the Key to Kundalini. Once you find that Spot, you can move the Energy anywhere in the body -- up to the Crown Chakra, or down to the heart, or in fact anywhere. But you want to move it down to the heart. That oscillating you feel is the top of the Heart Chakra anyway, so all you would have to do is let the energy just sink down into the Heart. That should give you a bit of stability.
There is also a trick you could use, and I've only found one other person who could do it. It is to flex a muscle in your head in order to start a roaring noise. The muscle is back there at the top of the pallet close to that swivel point, and the roaring noise is great at collecting Energy. It think it may be a reflex like rolling ones tongue or wiggling one's ears and not everybody can do it. It really is a muscle and not a mental phenomena, because it gets fatigued and one can only hold the flex for 7 or 10 seconds (though I’ve heard people say they can do it longer).
Do you know any Mantras? Or you can try an easy Power Meditation -- simply count up from 1 to 24 for each of your spinal column bones, moving your concentration up the spine as you count. Your Kundalini Energy, your Chi, will follow up during the count. Now, such power meditations are a hundred times more impressive during a Dream than while awake, making them always an interesting experience when you can remember to do them while dreaming.
There is another trick that I developed because I could never really find out what the Buddhist One Finger exercise was, but in experimenting around I found that by twiddling the thumbs -- twirling the thumbs -- right thumb counterclockwise and left thumb clockwise, for just a minute or so, when you stop, the subtle Kundalini Energy centers in the spine and rises up. I think that the Thumb Nadis are in the Central Channel and that by exercising the Central Nadi Channel at the thumbs, it is exercised everywhere else as well. But the energy only stops after you STOP the exercise, so don't twirl your thumbs for a couple of hours... that would be to miss the point.
Oh, yeah, regarding all of these Kundalini Exercises... if you feel it at all, then you've done enough for the evening. If you get lightness of head or a headache, then take it back down and let it recide in the tailbone for a few weeks, and keep it there. There's a good visualization for taking the Energy down -- get a glass of cold water and take a few gulps, and visualize the energy following the swallows all the way down to the tailbone. Even if you do not get a headache, its a good idea to learn how to pull the Energy Down... its sort of "safety-net" practice when working with the Kundalini. And keep this in mind if you have any mysterious fevers in the near future -- the energy can manifest as heat, which means that you favored the right side of your spine. Take it down and move it over to the left and that will bring your fever down almost instantaneously.
You should be able to get to the point where you can more or less summon the energy sensation. You are allowed to cheat and point your fingers into the Third Eye Chakra. In fact any pointed object can only help. I once studied Pyramid Power and discovered that there is nothing special about pyramids except that they come to a point. The pointier the better, the steeper the better. Cones work even better but the stupid egyptians could not carve a curve. But for you uses a ballpoint pen would be a perfect Magic Wand.
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