Mirror of Confusion

Although I would consider myself as an autodidact I wanna take the chance and go to India for 6 moths to one year to deepen my spiritual dedication. I heard the calling so to speak. Rishikesh could be a good starting point because I consider doing a yoga teacher training for one month - besides that everything is open - from north to south and west to east. My special interests are Hatha, Kundalini and Kriya Yoga, Osho meditations, meditation in general, detox, ayurveda - I'm open to learn new teachings in general. Bonus would be: Non commercial, small groups, a guru with strong presence Has anyone been to some ashrams/schools/spiritual places and would recommend it? E.g. Auroville, Osho center in Pune (commercial), Isha foundation (commercial) So if anyone has been to India for a "spiritual journey" or even lives in India it would be great to get some advice. Like everything from yoga schools in Rishikesh (there are so many), meditation centers, hard to find places/gurus all over India.

@astrokeen Thanks for the tip with Amma's ashram. I will think about it. I also heard it is a common phenomenon that there is a seperation between Indians and non-Indians. Some of the natives even have to stay outside of some ashrams. Do you have more information about Yoga schools in Rishikesh and which ones to avoid? Or any attribute on which to focus on when choosing a school?

@LiakosN

@Joseph Maynor How long did you practice Kriya? Some people say that the effects may first appear after some moths of consistent practice.

Happiness from Africa

@YogiLogan The preparatory exercises help me to get in the "surrender mode". I don't want it to be to mechanical. Thanks for the advise though!

Great Solace :-). Do you guys recommend any books or Videos to get into fasting? I heard it's smart to start with intermittent fasting because it's not that rough. Do you agree?

Of course they can. Depends on the amount, set, setting and your previous expereiences. And your ability to surrender to death.

I just got the confirmation to attain in a 10 day Vipassana in September. Super excited :-) Was it hard for you? Did you consider to break it up? My meditation routine is like 20 to 40 mins a day. Is it a good idea to increase the amount of time to be better prepared? Do you have any other practical tips that you whish you knew before?

Here a short but very informative documentary about breatherianism. It seems there are some more people on this planet who live this way.

Don't listen to any guru but the Juice Weasel!

Wow this guy seems amazing. He seems like an alien to me. How can it be possible not to eat and to drink? Does he ever get sick? A friend of mine told me a story that he met a girl who did't consume food aswell while participating an Ayahuasca retreat . I don't remember if she didn't cosume liquid too. My friend told me she was speaking with him and told him that she can see that he is not grounded. I guess these people get superpowers after not cosuming for a long time. Are there any publications from science about this topic? Everything speaks against scientific research. It's almost like a bad joke when you tell somebody that you live from air and love :-D

What about intuition? Isn't is wise to listen to the body? So when you feel hungry you should eat, when you feel thirsty you should drink and when you want some sweets theres probably nothing wrong with them, no? Or is it all the ego trying to fill the holes as if something is lacking? I never did OMAD - perhaps I will try it for a while and report back ;-)

What do you think about my routine? I'm just beginning. 5 min stretching 6 x Nadi Sodhana Pranayama to get into the mode 1-2 min witness Kriya Bow (SantataGamana) witness 20 x Talabya Kriya (Gamana) witness 3 x Maha Mudra witness 12 x Kriya Pranayama (Gamana) 5-10 min Being All in all about 40 minutes.

All of Gamanas books are good. Also have a look at Leo's booklist. There is a new Yoga section.

IMO it gives you a better direction for your practice. Unless you want to lear 100+ Mudras, Asanas etc. that bring you rather weak results. But yeah, in Gamanas books there are some practices for advanced Yogis. He explains how you can prepare yourself to do them.

@ChimpBrain Actually it's not that bad. I'm living in a city in East Germany where the majority of the people is blue to orange. Sometimes you can see Neonazis here, but not too often.

Lol my city is fuckin' beige!

It's good to have one handbook where all techniques are explained in detail. In addition I recommend SantataGamana's books for the short and easy explanations. The mind loves complex stuff, so it's sometimes better to have it all in a clear and focussed form without any distractions.

Just poted this in another thread, but again:

One more candidate: