CarsonZi

Personally I find that it is easiest to maintain a steady twice daily (one hour before breakfast one hour before dinner) practice if I don't try to "achieve" anything with the process of meditaton. If you take Yogani's advice and meditate everyday like you brush your teeth (meaning you just do it without thinking much about it or ascribing any expectations to it), practices soon become habitual and no big deal. I think there are a lot of different reasons that people meditate and I think Intention has a lot to do with how regular your practices will be. If you meditate with the intention (expectation) of achieving peace, liberation, stillness, etc etc, then a consistant meditation practice will become more and more difficult to maintain because of the disappointment associated with the days when meditation doesn't seem to be doing much. Just doing meditation and expecting nothing from it is the most effective way to recieve the full benefits of a daily practice set. For me personally, I meditate because of the effects I experience OUTSIDE of meditation not the experiences I have DURING meditation. With a twice daily set of practices I find that in daily life I am much more peaceful, able to surrender to What Is, loving, intuitive, compassionate, and emotionally stable. If I push myself too hard in meditation (or don't meditate) I find I will be more aggravated, irritable, emotionally unstable etc etc during my daily life. I also find that having a twice daily practice set makes it much easier to engage in "mindfullness" meditation during daily activity. The "stillness" from my meditations seems to leak over into my daily life and it is much easier to stay concious of patterns of thought and reactions. It is also important not to "beat yourself up" when you do happen to miss a planned session. Everything happens for a reason, and if in reality you don't meditate like you had planned, then it didn't happen and that's the way it should be. Loving What IS right? It's important that we all cut ourselves some slack. We are "here" (at taobums and persuing our individual spiritual journeys) after all and that is more then much of humanity can say of themselves right? Love, Carson

Namaste Sykkelpump and All, Samyama is basically a "passive" form of prayer. The idea is to briefly touch the idea/feeling asociated with one of the 9 sutras (love, radiance, unity, health, strength, abundance, wisdom, inner sensuality, & akasha {lightness of air}) and then release it into stillness. It is an act of surrender to God/What Is. Basically like saying, "I have my ideas of what "Love" (for example, works the same with each sutra) is, what it means to me, etc etc, but right now I am going to release all that and let go of what I feel Love is and just give it up to God. It is an active form of surrender and a passive form of prayer. Can't comment much on the White Skeleton meditation as it seems you need to purchase a book to learn it, (AYP is free....shouldn't everything spiritual be so? wink wink) but perhaps it is similar to "cosmic samyama" or "Yoga Nidra" which is a version of AYP samayama? Love, Carson

The book "DMT, The Spirit Molecule" By Rick(?) Strassman gives some very interesting perspectives on NDE's as well as alien abductions and "peak" religious experiences. Anyone else out there read this book? Love, Carson

Namaste Friends, My name is Carson, and I live in Calgary Alberta Canada. I currently practice AYP (Advanced Yoga Practices) and engage in Karma Yoga by working at a homeless and rehab shelter where I also teach AYP classes. Don't have much to say, just wanted to have a browse around. Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday. Love, Carson

Namaste Phore, "has anyone had any experience with the practice of samyama" I have a pretty solid base in samyama although there are weeks when I have to cut it from my practice set as it can push me over the "overload" edge. What exactly would you like to know? The lesson for samyama is here:http://www.aypsite.org/150.html Love, Carson

Thanks Stigweard, Not too too long ago I would say "I like my tea with mimosa hostilis and banisteriopsis caapi " but now I just like it with Chai, haha . Thanks for the welcome. Love, Carson

Would you rather be right or would you rather be free? Byron Katie (I think) Seek nothing but to cease seeking... Unknown Carson