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Mike Dubbeld

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Jan 27, 2003, 10:18:29 PM1/27/03
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In 1974 I found a very nice little book called OM A Guide to Meditation
and Inner Tranquility. I still think highly of this book by Frank J.
MacHovec. I thought I would share a few pages of it. One very peculiar
thing about it is his discussion on pratyahara. Pratyahara has nothing
to do with as he uses it in the book. Since I will be typing it exactly
as it appears - replace the word pratyahara with 'sensory awareness'
wherever it appears. My comments are in brackets [ ].

THE YOGA METHOD

'Pratyahara is sensory awareness. It means developing your senses,
sharpening them. It means tuning in or focussing in on only one sensory
aspect of a thing to the exclusion of all else, sensing it for what it
is and not for what we think it is or want it to be. It is letting the
object exist of and by itself and to experience it for its own sake.
Pratyahara is unlearning, unconditioning, overcoming your own fixed idea
of what you see, hear or touch. It is looking at an object and "letting
it be," receiving its signals in an open and receptive attitude.

You can develop pratyahara by having a tea ceremony just before your
meditation. It should be a timy cup of fragant tea. Jasmine or oolong is
very good. No sugar. But hot, and only one tiny cup. Place it on your
altar. Close your eyes and concentrate on its aroma. If you can't smell
it, lean closer. Hold the cup in the fingers of both hands. Close your
eyes. Think on the cup's warmth. Place the cup to your lips but before
you drink smell the aroma again and think on it, sense it thoroughly.
Taste just a timy sip. "Go with" the taste. How delicate. Enjoy the
pleasure of the immediate moment. Sense the warmth on your tongue. When
you sip again, sense how its warmth travels down your throat,even into
your stomach. Focus the taste on your tongue, how the flavor is centered
there.

You are surrounded in your home with hundreds of opportunities to
develop pratyahara. There are sounds: clocks, washers, dryers, furnaces,
creaky floors, lawn mowers, dishwashers, garbage disposals, running
water, closing doors, to name a few. There are "people sounds" all
around you. Listen not only to what they say but how they say it, their
tone of voice, the speed at which they talk, the pauses, what they do
while talking. And "nature sounds" such as birds, rustling leaves,
brooks, rain, wind. Listen. Really listen.

Develop your sense of sight by "seeing as if for the first time." If a
sunrise, sunset, or blue sky with clouds, is not available to you, look
a some of your clothing, the colors of your walls, carpets, furniture.
Have you really see them before? Visit an art gallery or museum. What a
feast of images and colors.

Touch things more. Feel different textures, tree bark, glass, cement,
leather, woll, metal, skin, hair. There is magic in touch. Johnson and
Masters have a sequential program for married couples to teach how to
sense each other. Humanistic psychologists recommend a paired exercise
whwer one partner closes his eyes and the other partner leads him around
the room, having him touch things and try to guess what they are. Most
people who try it learn a great deal about trust, the feel of familiar
things and how wonderful it is to be able to see.

And what of taste ? We wolf our food. You can develop your sense of
taste by trying foods seasoned differently. Here again, the Hindus for
centuries have been preparing curries and churtneys. Enjoy your food.
Savor it. Make it a kind of ceremony. Linger on the taste awhile longer.
Slow down. "Turn on" to the taste.

There is a whole world of sensory awareness. Is it really possible to be
bored surrounded by such excitement every day? The everyday world is
full of sensory explosions we can experience simply by being receptive
to them, simply by neing an interested spectator. Achieving pratyahara
is becoming a finely tuned receiver, studying and enjoying everything
that enters the senses, What the Buddhists call "windows of the mind."

Practicing pratyahara means overcoming distractions. After all, if you
tune into total sensory input, you'll have trouble sorting them out,
ther are so many signals received. It would be relatively easy to be
confused by "sensory overload." But then, youv've been meditating long
enough to take care of that. Tune out all but one thought or object.
Become a gardener of the soul, turning over the soft, rich rich soil
with an imaginary spade, gently, easily. Focus on the spadeful, not the
whole garden. We sense fully only what we select. We thoroughly sensee
only specific features of the object.

Begin to sharpen your sense every day, on the job, at home, on vacation.
You can do this even at meetings, in waiting rooms, driving to and from
work. Do you ever really look a traffic light right in the eyes? Sense
the red. Polish the senses. See, hear, smell, taste, touch! There is a
whole new world out there, waiting for you to explore it. It is truely a
great adventure, for all who have eyes to see, ears to hear, fingers to
touch. Pratyahara is to have a third eye, a third ear and a third hand.

[This leads to what I have phrased 'heaven on earth.' The meek shall
inherit the earth! Also, when we go on vacation we break out of our
subconscious habit mind and look at things again as if for the first
time - because it IS the first time.
Even when we return from vacation, the subconscious being re-programmed
in this way provides a benefit. Sharpening the senses causes the mind to
become radically tranquil and peaceful also. Instead of losing patience
standing in line in the store or in traffic - practice this sensory
awareness on all that you see - the biggest building, the brightest red,
the biggest tree, Blueist house, etc]

Dharana is knowing, fully knowing. Dharana is one-pointed concentration.
It is undistracted, intense involvement with something, putting it in
extrememly fine focus, being totally occupied with it. It differes from
pratyahara in that dharana uses all the senses and embraces a whole
object or idea. It doesn't sort out the senses and embraces a whole
object or idea. It isn't merely sensing the colors of a sunset. It seeks
to "know" the sunset, the totality of it, the identity of it. Pratyahara
means seeing, touching, feeling, smelling, perhaps tasting, a rose (in
the Middle East roses are used for flavoring). It is appreciating the
rose for specific attributes in terms of the senses. But dharana
concentrates on the rose, all of it. It focuses on total "roseness."

You can practice dharana using your meditation candle. Gaze upon it as
you did in earlier meditation. Observe the flame, its reflection on the
wax at the top, how the light is diffused just below the surface. See
the waxy texture of the candle itself, how it fites into the holder.
Close your eyes and envision the candle. Hold the candle in your mind's
eye. Bring it to life in your mind. Make it real in your imagination.
Know the candle, really know it.

The ancients used flowers or fruits to develop dharana. It's interesting
to notethat the world's artists do much the same hing trying to bring to
life flowers and fruits in still-life painting. Yop can do the same with
the oils and canvas of your mind. An apple, an orange, banana, or pear
will do nicely. Concentrate on it. Touch it, study it closely. Use your
sharpened senses. Then close your eyes and duplicate the fruit in your
mind as clearly as if your eyes were open and you were looking at it.
Make it eaually real with or without your eyes being focussed on it. As
a close to this part of your meditation, further your pratyahara by
experiencing the fruit -- eat it. But slowly, savoring it.

A glass of water can be your dharana model. Through your senses you can
know the shape and feel of the glass and the water within it. There is
the seemingly perfect circle of the glass rim, the verticle lines of the
sides, the reflection of light from your candle. But you must graduate
from sensing to knowing. Concentrate on the total sensory input of the
glass so that you duplicate the glass in your mind. It is there just as
vividly as the glass you see when you open your eyes. It is equally
real. It is "knowing" the glass.

A freshly sharpened pencil is another good model for dharana. Feel the
eraser, the metal cap which nolds it, the smooth enamelled sides, the
rough texture of the wood near the point, the sharp point itself. Does
the bare wooden section have an odor? The eraser? Study it, its parts,
the whole pencil. Know it in part and as a whole. Concentrate on it.
Eyes closed, picture it. Make it real. Know it.

Seeing, even appreciating a sunrise or sunset for its own sake is
pratyahara. Being "into" it, getting with it, knowing it is dharana. As
your skills improve, it will won't seem like concentration. Its more
like absorption. Total absorption. You can achieve dharana in nature by
knowing mountains, deserts, rivers, oceans, trees, flowers, soil, the
moon, stars, sky, clouds, and so on. And if indoors, paintings and
pictures can provide the means. You will know you have achieved dharana
when the thought so permeates your mind that nothing else comes through,
and it is so vivid that it is the same whether your eyes are open,
seeing the object, or closed and imagining it.

Dhyana is at-oneness, total absorption, becoming. It is transcendental
consciousness, contemplation so deep that it is impossible to separate
the "you" from the "it," the object being concentrated upon. It begins
as dharana, firm, strong, one-pointed concentration to the total
exclusion of everything but the one thought or image allowed to come
through. This involves both the intellect, conscious concentration, and
the senses, sensing what is there for its own sake. It is factual and it
is felt. It is thought about and experienced. It thus involves total
perception and judgment, the mind and the senses. But doing this is but
the beginning stage of dhyana.

Gradually, the intellect fades. It is no longer needed. The mind's eye
sees the object without thinking. The mental image exists by and of
itself, focussed immovably on target. As the imtellect fades so also the
object and, a feeling of well-being, of freedom, of rapture, flows.
Everything flows together. Some experience a floating feeling at this
stage. If this happens, do not be frightened by it. Go with the feeling
for it is part of the dhyanic process. It is a good sign. Relax with it;
let it come. Don't resist it, "do not push the river." Finally, dhyana
peaks in a feeling most experienced meditators describe as
"selflessness." The intellect is a strong supporter of ego. Only the
perceived, felt object exists and you are one with it, transcending
everything, even you.

Dhyana is a mystic leap from the you to "it," the object of
contemplation. There is no knower, only the known. And the knower and
the known are one. You are the object; the object is you. You are
absorbed totally in it. It is as if you and it are together in a single
bubble of consciousness, aware and vibrating with identity.

Dhyana is achieved naturally, easily, by following the practices thus
far described. All that has happened to you up to this point has
prepared you for this higher meditative state, and the one to follow. If
you have difficulty achieving dhyana, total absorption, being one with
the object, go back and repeat all the exercises. It may be that you
have omitted something, missed something. Emphasize the visualization of
the white lotus blossom. Include OM in your meditation. Relax. Don't
strain, don't overdo. Let if flow. It will come. Make your spirit a
receptacle. Let the hidden spring which is in each of us flow.

Samadhi is cosmic consciousness, Mystic Unity. It is achieved suddenly,
with a flash of insight. It has been described like falling off an
imaginary log. It is intuitive, not intellectual. We left the intellect
behind some time ago. Samadhi can occur anywhere along the meditative
path, spontaneously. It is caught. Not taught.

Savitarka is the beginning of samadhi. It is a feeling of "at-oneness,"
of deep and natural belonging. In this state, there are no names, no
identity, just belonging, acceptance, part of something great and
powerful. It is a feeling as if something great is about to happen,
something good, something positive.

Gradually, you "plug in" to the total universe, to the All, the One.
There is no time anymore, no place, no cause or effect, no concept of
space except boundless infinity. It's the biggest idea you've ever had;
powerful, unifying, uplifting, expansive. The ancients called it
nirvitarka, the peak of the meditative experience, the zenith.

In samadhi you are completely swallowed up in the process. You are
plugged into something truely great, to Creation itself. It is more
psychial than psychological. It is far too deep for words to describe
it. Those who have achieved it describe it thus: "I belong to no one. No
one belongs to me. I am free. Part of something great. I am with oceans,
continents, mountains, rivers, rocks, drops of water, atoms. One in all,
all in one. One. All I am one; all is one. One with the object, one with
self, one with Self, one with nothing, one with everything. There is no
more me, no more it. There is no knower, no known, no seer, no seen, no
subject, no object, no good, no evil. There is only Oneness, Unitiy, and
I am there, everywhere, nowhere.'

[Above is what is really meant by the Buddhist Vacuum - unknown to most
so-called Buddhists]

[It is highly likely this little book is out of print/I have not seen it
since 1974 and I have been to extensive bookstores that have yoga stuff.
But you never know a web search may find something used even. I see The
Peter Pauper Press as the publisher. The whole book is 64 small pages
(half notebook size and about 8 inches high)]

[One of my favorite activities is to go down to 'The Mall' in Washington
DC which is a huge grass field lined with benches with museums
(Smithsonian) on each side. On one end is the Lincoln Memorial and at
the far end - about 2 miles is the Captiol Building. People play soccer
and frisbee all day every day there inbetween schedualed events.
As well as jogging and bicycle riding. I take my bike there from
Arlington National Cemetary (250,000 military graves - also where I
worked for 5 years as Security Night Manager partime). I plop down on a
bench for several hours with my bike and water and popcorn from the
vendors selling it. I practice sensory awareness deliberately on
everything going on. Sometimes the Hari Krishna's chant all day long
there. It is amazing how tranquil and peaceful the mind becomes from
simply sitting in one spot for so long. And when it is time to go, I
find it hard also. Get a lot of nice sunshine also. But I practice
sensory awareness driving to work, and anytime I move from one place to
another. Some days I look for the blueist blue (Mondays along with
water/glass/reflections) Other days I study trees. At the end of a long
day of sensory awareness I sometimes do 'Recall Meditation'. I try to
recall backward (is easier) everything I did that day. It takes you far
doing this. It also is very effective at developing ESP when combined
with becoming consciously conscious activities. It results in what I
call 'Heaven on earth' which is a condition of super tranquility of the
mind. Children are naturally studying everything because they do not
know yet what to 'watch out for' and proceed to dream of the things we
do as adults. They live closer to the Eternity of the Moment and are far
more observant than us. This sensory awareness greatly helps with
concentration and meditaion and has great practical benefit instead of
getting irritated by waiting in line at a store I will study the sales
posters say. The floor - what color. What kind of ceiling? How many
isles are there? The time goes by much faster that way. Same with being
stuck in traffic - something very very common in the Washington area.]

Mike Dubbeld


Kartik Vashishta

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Jan 27, 2003, 11:40:36 PM1/27/03
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Mike,

Thank you very much for this article. May God bless you

Kartik

"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:b14t0f$jeo$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...


> In 1974 I found a very nice little book called OM A Guide to Meditation
> and Inner Tranquility. I still think highly of this book by Frank J.
> MacHovec. I thought I would share a few pages of it. One very peculiar
> thing about it is his discussion on pratyahara. Pratyahara has nothing
> to do with as he uses it in the book. Since I will be typing it exactly
> as it appears - replace the word pratyahara with 'sensory awareness'
> wherever it appears. My comments are in brackets [ ].
>

<removed>

Vidya (know-how)

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Jan 28, 2003, 2:06:57 AM1/28/03
to

"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:b14t0f$jeo$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> 'Pratyahara is sensory awareness. It means developing your senses,
> sharpening them.

Actually means completely the opposite.

Progress on this journey is made through pratya'ha'ra yoga. As all spiritual
aspirants are aware, the goal of pratya'ha'ra, dha'ran'a', and dhya'na is
the attainment of sama'dhi.* Pratya'ha'ra is the conscious endeavour to
withdraw the mind from mundane qualities and attractions -- easier said than
done! Pratya'ha'ra has four stages: yatama'na, vya'tireka, ekendriya and
vashiika'ra. Yatama'na is a conscious effort to transcend the negative
influence of the propensities. Suppose you see one of your colleagues taking
a bribe, and think, "Had I not been a spiritual aspirant I could have also
earned some extra money in this way." This shows that your propensity of
greed is not fully controlled, but as you are keen to control it, you have
adopted the spiritual way of life. For this conscious effort on your part,
you are yatama'na.

* Pratya'ha'ra, dha'ran'a', dhya'na and sama'dhi are the last four limbs of
as't'a'm'ga [eight-limbed] yoga..


In vya'tireka, the second stage, some propensities may be controlled at one
time, but uncontrolled at another time. Or a person may control physical
desire, but suffer from an increase in anger; or may become free from greed
for money but will develop a strong desire for name and fame. After
delivering an eloquent lecture he or she will say, "All the credit goes to
God. It is only by His grace that I could deliver such a lecture," but in
his or her heart will think, "What an excellent speech I gave today." This
is called vya'tireka.

In the ekendriya stage, the propensities are brought under control, no
doubt, but not permanently. In order to exhaust the reactive momenta of past
actions the propensities sometimes strongly assert themselves, causing one
to repent as a result. (Ask yourself whether or not you have experienced
this sort of mental torture.) Hence this stage does not represent complete
pratya'ha'ra either, because the pa'shas and ripus [fetters and enemies of
the mind] are not totally controlled.

The pa'shas and ripus assert themselves through the medium of the mind and
the sensory or motor organs. If even one organ remains uncontrolled, it
should be concluded that there is still a worm in the flower of the mind;
and a worm-eaten flower cannot be offered to the Lord. Only when all the
organs are fully controlled can it be said that the mind is under the
complete control of the a'tman [unit consciousness]. This is real
pratya'ha'ra, or vashiika'ra siddhi.

Vashiika'ra siddhi is only attained by devotees. Even Shankaracharya [the
great protagonist of jina'na] admitted, Moks'aka'rana samagrya'm' bhaktireva
gariyasii -- "Of all the ways to attain salvation the way of bhakti or
devotion is the greatest."

If knowledge is likened to the elder brother of a family, devotion is his
younger sister, happily holding her brother's hand as she walks beside him.

Similarly, pratya'ha'ra yoga -- here the actual English term is
"withdrawal" -- should always be associated with dha'ran'a'.

Ppratya'ha'ra has very much importance, because in the primordial phase of
sa'dhana', one will have to withdraw one's mind from the physicalities of
the universe.

Vidya (know-how)

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Jan 28, 2003, 2:09:23 AM1/28/03
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"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:b14t0f$jeo$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> 'Pratyahara is sensory awareness.

Please study your Sanskrit more carefully. A basic analysis of the word
reveal the assertion above is completly incorrect.

Pratya'ha'ra is derived: prati - a' - hr + ghain. The word a'ha'ra literally
means "assimilating" or "taking something within". As a yogic practice,
pratya'ha'ra means "withdrawal of the mind from external objectivity and
goading the withdrawn mind toward Supreme Consciousness".

Mike Dubbeld

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Jan 28, 2003, 7:16:29 PM1/28/03
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"Vidya (know-how)" <ze...@sum.game> wrote in message
news:l_pZ9.597$c7....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

>
> "Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
> news:b14t0f$jeo$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> > 'Pratyahara is sensory awareness. It means developing your senses,
> > sharpening them.
>
> Actually means completely the opposite.

Don't blame me for YOUR MISTAKES Avidya -
What did I say about pratyahar above that you saw fit to cut out -

Pratyahara has nothing
to do with as he uses it in the book. Since I will be typing it exactly
as it appears - replace the word pratyahara with 'sensory awareness'
wherever it appears. My comments are in brackets [ ].

>


> Progress on this journey is made through pratya'ha'ra yoga. As all
spiritual
> aspirants are aware, the goal of pratya'ha'ra, dha'ran'a', and dhya'na
is
> the attainment of sama'dhi.* Pratya'ha'ra is the conscious endeavour

Sorry, you do not know what pratyahara is. This comes as no surprise. My
guess is that most yoga teachers have no clue what pratyahara is.
Pratyahara is not strived for. It arrives as a result of pranayama. All
you are doing is parroting confused authors on the subject that they
also have no clue what it is. Sivananda and
Rajarshi Muni know what it is same with Vishnu.
Properly understood pratyahara is unmani avastha and is rarely attained
by
anyone because it requires a certain degree of success in pranayama
after the
nadis have been purified. Nor is pratyahara totally necessary.

From a previous post---

Pratyahara as is NOT understood by anyone that does not do pranayama -
arises from successful pranayama where the mind - of its own accord -
abandons the senses and is content without them. Someone that does not
practice pranayama never will know what pratyahara is. Most teachers
mistakenly teach pratyahara as 'something.' But it is not anything you
strive for. It is the result of successful pranayama with purified
nadis. I am telling you this so you don't waste a lot of time wondering
about it. Pratyahara is mistakenly identified by some as distinct from
unmani avastha. see below.
The rewards of pranayama and concentration are indescribable.

Unmani state-steadiness of mind - how Vivekananda refers to it. Like a
stone falling down from a mountain. What I call pratyahara as per
Sivananda. p374 Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga EDY Feuerstein

When the breath flows through Sushumna, the mind becomes steady. This
steadiness of the mind is termed "Unmani Avastha", the highest state of
Yoga. If you sit for meditation when Sushumna is operating, you will
have wonderful meditation. When the Nadis are full of impurities, the
breath cannot pass into the middle Nadi. So one should practice
Pranayama for the purification of Nadis. Sivananda Kundalini Yoga p36

'At this time a strong psychic impulse is generated and the mind
becomes introverted and incapable of running outward after sense
objects. This withdrawal of the mind from sense-objects is known as
pratyahara, which cuts off the external world.' See Awakening the Life
Force 173

Incapable - as in not something strived for by the mind but something
done to the mind.

From the purposeful withdrawal of awareness from the mind and the senses
comes awareness turning inward on itself to discover its own essence.
This leads to God-Realization. As long as awareness is allowed to flow
freely through the mind through thoughts and senses it is externalized.
While in the conscious mind we are fearful. We must always guess what is
going to happen next. Successful concentration and meditation make you
fearless. We are enslaved to nature when we allow our awareness to be
dictated to operation based on external events. The 'slings and arrows
of outrageous misfortune.' Yoga is the attempt to free oneself from
nature/the universe. Liberation in yoga is Nirvana is nothing other.
Freedom from the universe means controlling the universe by controlling
the mind. Freedom from the universe means an end to birth and death and
suffering.

Mike Dubbeld


Vidya (know-how)

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Jan 29, 2003, 2:35:01 AM1/29/03
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"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:b176nh$98c$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...

know what pratyahara is. This comes as no surprise. My
> guess is that most yoga teachers have no clue what pratyahara is.

The root words of the complete word pratyahara tell you exactly what
pratyahara means. Study the Sanskrit. Each root word and suffixes,
prefixes have precise meaning. It thereby means that turning to the
meanings of the components of words is linguistic proof of the essence of
the word. If you do not follow that methodology in Sanskrit words, then
you are merely making things up and being entirely unscientific. Most
Westerners have no real idea of Sanskrit real essence and so new age fadists
just make things up to suit themselves.. It is unscientific and untenable to
do so.

> Pratyahara is not strived for. It arrives as a result of pranayama.

You do not need to do pranayama to do pratyahara.

Pra'n'a'ya'ma is defined as: Tasmin sati shva'sa prashva'sayoh gativicchedah
pra'n'a'ya'ma. That is, "Pra'n'a'ya'ma is the process of breath control
along with the imposition of the ideation of Supreme Consciousness." It
helps the mind in concentration and meditation.

As stated, pratya'ha'ra is derived: prati - a' - hr + ghain. The word


a'ha'ra literally means "assimilating" or "taking something within". As a

yogic practice, pratya'ha'ra means "withdrawal of the mind from external


objectivity and goading the withdrawn mind toward Supreme Consciousness".

What is the spirit of pra'n'a'ya'ma? It is defined as Pra'na'n yamayati
es'ah pra'n'a'ya'mah. That is, the word pra'n'a'ya'ma literally means
"controlling the pra'n'a'h [vital energy]". The psycho-philosophy behind the
practice of pra'n'a'ya'ma is that the spiritual aspirant tries to let the
pra'n'endriya [ten vital-energy currents] remain in a state of pause so that
the paused unit mind will merge into the ocean of consciousness. There are
two main types of pra'n'a'ya'ma: hat'ha yaogika pra'n'a'ya'ma and
Yudhis't'hira pra'n'a'ya'ma. When pra'n'a'ya'ma is done without fixing the
mind on a particular point of concentration, and without imbibing Cosmic
ideation, it is called hat'ha yaogika pra'n'a'ya'ma. But when pra'n'a'ya'ma
is performed with the mind fixed at a particular point along with Cosmic
ideation, it is called Yudhis't'hira pra'n'a'ya'ma.

Study the Sanskrit and it will become clear.

> Properly understood pratyahara is unmani avastha and is rarely attained
> by
> anyone because it requires a certain degree of success in pranayama
> after the
> nadis have been purified. Nor is pratyahara totally necessary.

Pratyahara is necessary to properly perform meditation. Otherwise the mind
will not withdraw and be inclined towards the external and be goaded by the
senses, rather than being capable of reaching subtler strata. Practice it
and you will see. Mere book reading and analysis will achieve nothing.


Mike Dubbeld

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Jan 29, 2003, 4:39:50 AM1/29/03
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"Vidya (know-how)" <ze...@sum.game> wrote in message
news:FuLZ9.2544$Tu2....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

>
> "Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
> news:b176nh$98c$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> know what pratyahara is. This comes as no surprise. My
> > guess is that most yoga teachers have no clue what pratyahara is.
>
> The root words of the complete word pratyahara tell you exactly what
> pratyahara means.

Basically I have no interest in what the root words say at all. I said
already
that I do not agree with nearly any definitions of pratyahara in
existence.
Only 3 people on the planet besides myself know what pratyahara is as
far
as I know. Those - again being Sivananda, Vishnudevananda and Rajarshi
Muni. Other peoples funny speculations on the matter are humerous at
best
and do not interest me. More interesting is your Sanskrit. Scholars are
wrong
as much as they are right so don't misunderstand me. Lots of things have
nothing what so ever to do with intellectual understanding and any and
all
attempts to understand them are basically doomed from square one. But
anyone that takes the time to learn Sanskrit definitely is not someone
of
interest to me. I am learning Sanskrit but do you happen to know what
happened
to the Argentinan Group/Gabrial???? I can not seem to get a single one
of
his pages. He has (had) hundreds of them. This is very disturbing as
this group
could not even be remotely matched for content. They gave away more than
most people sell. I basically copied every single page they had so I
don't have
to look very often.

Do you have any Sanskrit recommedations. I have Vyas
Houston Introductory course so far and Michael Coulsons book as well as
some
Indian books by Antoine and Learn Sanskrit in 30 Days.

I have a ton of Woodruff's Tantra books as well as Kashmir Shaivism
(Jaideva Singh/
Silburn/Laksmanjoo/Hughes/Dyczkowski.) Theres lots of books that need to
be
transliterated. Do you have interest in this? I am particularly
interested in Abhinava
Gupta (scary spelling these things without looking :) Also are you aware
of the
excavations on the dried up Sarasvati River going on?

Mike Dubbeld

Vidya (know-how)

unread,
Jan 29, 2003, 8:11:38 AM1/29/03
to

"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:b187nf$c2a$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...

> > The root words of the complete word pratyahara tell you exactly what
> > pratyahara means.
>
> Basically I have no interest in what the root words say at all. I said
> already
> that I do not agree with nearly any definitions of pratyahara in
> existence.
> Only 3 people on the planet besides myself know what pratyahara is as
> far
> as I know. Those - again being Sivananda, Vishnudevananda and Rajarshi
> Muni.

Have they checked the Sanskrit. You don't care, is like saying I'll ignore
science and linguistics and make up may own nonsense. You might as well
ignore all the influences of Latin in the English and other languages and
pretend this never existed. That is the height of silliness and unscholarly.


Vidya (know-how)

unread,
Jan 29, 2003, 3:25:53 PM1/29/03
to

Mike Dubbeld

unread,
Jan 30, 2003, 1:02:26 AM1/30/03
to

"Vidya (know-how)" <ze...@sum.game> wrote in message
news:eqQZ9.3678$Tu2....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

>
> "Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
> news:b187nf$c2a$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> > > The root words of the complete word pratyahara tell you exactly
what
> > > pratyahara means.
> >
> > Basically I have no interest in what the root words say at all. I
said
> > already
> > that I do not agree with nearly any definitions of pratyahara in
> > existence.
> > Only 3 people on the planet besides myself know what pratyahara is
as
> > far
> > as I know. Those - again being Sivananda, Vishnudevananda and
Rajarshi
> > Muni.
>
> Have they checked the Sanskrit.

It is a simple matter to know your knowledge is from books. If you do
not
recognize those names you need to educate yourself as Sanskrit will
will do you little good. Said another way, your telling me the above
people
should 'check the Sanskrit' tells me more than you can possibly imagine.

You don't care, is like saying I'll ignore
> science and linguistics

Glad to see you now finally understand me. Making sport of science is
always refreshing.

and make up may own nonsense. You might as well
> ignore all the influences of Latin in the English and other languages
and
> pretend this never existed. That is the height of silliness and
unscholarly.

Thanks. If I did need a scholarly interpretation for something I would
have asked for this. If and when I do need one, it will be from a
reliable
source who knows who the above people are. Seeing how you have ignored
my questions and your politics stink, I don't think we have anything
else to
talk about.

Mike Dubbeld
>
>


J.D. Campbell

unread,
Jan 30, 2003, 12:51:22 AM1/30/03
to
namaste or qwack qwack,

Karma is not sin Dubbeld..... karma and is only observed in samadhi and
appears as flickers /vittris.....samskaras or collections of repeated
vittri's and this is generally called karma/s.

Most karma far over 99% is body function eatting sexing breathing moving
what a complete body does. The bio-chemical nuerological results
impressed in an orb of soul called the sparkly ocean of milk......it is
not a rolodex but simular to the mother of pearl inside a seashell
except it floats on a billowy bed of clouds called chitta or stuff of
mind not the minds screen.

Sin is something of the intellect product of symbolic idoltry and the
bliss sheath being stimulated in duality by the intuition as it
differentiates between right and wrong or a clean verse guilty
consciousness (awake state). A religious word sincere or less than
sincere........its retained in the memory of the individual and the
memory of the individual isnt work a darn in samadhi more in the non
samadhi state or ordinary states of man being on the wrong side of the
ahamkara the memory the events of the person are hence external the body
the karmas internal. The physical brain physiological aspects regards
unique areas retain memory and pull it from external sources so memory
is not retained in the body. The body becomes as a radio set pulling in
memory. Where karmas are gross impressions.....

Memories pull karma fixs to a point . The tongue making the movements of
speach impress's karmas not the speach thats found external the body
with memory.........mortal your are crunchy and taste good with
ketchup.............JD

J.D. Campbell

unread,
Jan 30, 2003, 4:08:33 AM1/30/03
to
Hum one is not the other the physical body missing neither exist as
"they were" and memory very fragile as with intellect. (sin/karma)

The body spine is like a pole antenna the gentalia the batteries the
head the radio set the heart the transformer the "memory outside" to be
recieved by the body the head the radio tuner. The memory not found in
the body either physical or soul,

This is why if you ask any scientist they will claim nobody knows how
the memory works we cant find it yet just centers pieces. There is not
enough room in the body to store the memory...again basic raja yoga.

Memory is not karmas .....karmas are near 100% bio process's were sin is
near 100% memmory ....karma can be changed memmory never changes
....people always get glimpses say i knew you were going to say that do
that etc i knew this or that from memory. memory isnt very private and
they like you to respect memory but yours isnt your owen.

JD

Plastic Coated Paint

unread,
Jan 30, 2003, 5:41:52 AM1/30/03
to
Memory is a mental propensity

J.D. Campbell" <CAMPB...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:28047-3E3...@storefull-2198.public.lawson.webtv.net...

cosm

unread,
Jan 31, 2003, 4:25:05 AM1/31/03
to

Mike Dubbeld wrote in message ...


Mike, guess who you sound like -- who you always sounded like?
George Hammond. Good to see that your ego's still alive and kickin' with all
this talk of war and how the U.S don't bomb civilians and stuff. God has an
evil, egoistic side too -- it's called satan. Looks like your in touch with
ure inner satan.

>>
>>
>
>


hari har singh

unread,
Feb 1, 2003, 6:23:26 AM2/1/03
to

"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:b187nf$c2a$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...

[...]

> Only 3 people on the planet besides myself know what pratyahara is as
> far as I know.

Reminds me of the guy who called himself "the only spiritual Master of the
western hemisphere" (and truely believed himself) and who was spending some
years in this NG. Does anybody recall who'm I'm talking about? He's not
anymore here in alt.yoga. Does anybody knows what he is doing now? I recall,
wasn't his name Mr. Michael Martin?

Why do you need to proove to be something so extremely special and unique?
Are you affraid otherwise you wouldn't be loved / respected if you don't
show some spiritual special extra super features that make u better than and
superior to the rest of the group / humanity? There is nothing like a
"superiority-complex" - usually this is called "inferiority-complex" and is
a neurotic carackterstructure called "narcism".


--
Sat Nam - Hari Har Singh

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