Meditation vs kriya yoga

[Gesundheit]

6 minutes ago, Pernani said:

Don't you think that one can only reach to that conclusion in their direct experience after lots n lots of practice?

That would be a condition of your own creation, but it doesn't have to be like that.

It's not complicated. You just don't want happiness. If you really wanted it, you would find it. But you don't want it. You want to change yourself and your life because you don't love yourself or your life. It's like saying: I won't allow myself to feel happy unless x is achieved, and y exists in my life, and z is in my bank account. Sure, you can agree to all that, you can tie yourself up, you can handcuff yourself, but why would you? Why not allow yourself to feel happy about not having x, y, or z? Because you hate not having x, y, and z. And that is just because you hold judgements against not having x, y, and z. But why would you hold judgements in the first place? Why would you want to change? Because you think you're not enough. Why think you're not enough? Because others have (explicitly or implicitly) told you so, and you believed them. Why would you believe them? Because you don't value your own voice. Why not value your own voice? Because you don't love your own voice. Why not love your own voice? Because you think it's bad or ugly, and because you hate it. Why think that and hate it? Because you hold judgements against your own voice. Why hold judgements in the first place? Because....... Fill in the blanks and keep up with this inquiry until something cracks and you catch the insight.

8 minutes ago, Pernani said:

Otherwise I'd just end up wasting my time like I've already been for the majority of my life.

Of course, every moment spent in suffering is a waste of time imo. Why would anyone want to suffer? In exchange for what? Do you really believe that you have to make sacrifices in order to get things in life? To me that is a silly belief.

[The0Self]

3 hours ago, Juliano Zn said:

@The0Self Is it possible to progress in meditation or kriya if you live in a noisy environment? Getting into Jhanas or just be in the after effect poise of Kriya? Here where I live, every 5 minutes a dog start to bark or some other noise distracts me. I find that the only thing that helps is to kind of expand yourself and allow the noises to be part of you, but it is distraction anyways.

 

 

It can seem to matter in the beginning but really it doesn't need to matter. You might allow them to be in the periphery - fill the whole body with awareness kind of like filling up a balloon, so there's not a whole lot of room left over for distractions. Get there by gently but firmly returning to the breath whenever you gleefully notice that you're distracted.

Unless you can remain attentive to the breath sensations indefinitely, your main focus should be cultivating the readiness to emit appreciative joy upon noticing you're distracted - this positive feedback will cause your mind to associate "noticing you're distracted" with "good," and eventually you'll rarely ever get distracted (because as soon as distraction would arise, it instantly would turn into "noticing you're distracted," meaning there just is no distraction).

Edited November 4, 2020 by The0Self

[Juliano Zn]

@The0Self I've tried The Mind Illuminated method for over a year and was stuck at stage 4, and this: "Unless you can remain attentive to the breath sensations indefinitely, your main focus should be cultivating the readiness to emit appreciative joy upon noticing you're distracted" is what I was missing. Now I'm practicing Kriya, but I'll get back to TMI in the future. Thank you!

[The0Self]

@Juliano Zn You're welcome!

[Pernani]

8 hours ago, Gesundheit said:

That would be a condition of your own creation, but it doesn't have to be like that.

It's not complicated. You just don't want happiness. If you really wanted it, you would find it. But you don't want it. You want to change yourself and your life because you don't love yourself or your life. It's like saying: I won't allow myself to feel happy unless x is achieved, and y exists in my life, and z is in my bank account. Sure, you can agree to all that, you can tie yourself up, you can handcuff yourself, but why would you? Why not allow yourself to feel happy about not having x, y, or z? Because you hate not having x, y, and z. And that is just because you hold judgements against not having x, y, and z. But why would you hold judgements in the first place? Why would you want to change? Because you think you're not enough. Why think you're not enough? Because others have (explicitly or implicitly) told you so, and you believed them. Why would you believe them? Because you don't value your own voice. Why not value your own voice? Because you don't love your own voice. Why not love your own voice? Because you think it's bad or ugly, and because you hate it. Why think that and hate it? Because you hold judgements against your own voice. Why hold judgements in the first place? Because....... Fill in the blanks and keep up with this inquiry until something cracks and you catch the insight.

Of course, every moment spent in suffering is a waste of time imo. Why would anyone want to suffer? In exchange for what? Do you really believe that you have to make sacrifices in order to get things in life? To me that is a silly belief.

I totally get what you're getting at. Though I have to ask you, were you able to achieve this sort of happiness by letting go of everything and accepting it all?

[Gesundheit]

7 hours ago, Pernani said:

I totally get what you're getting at. Though I have to ask you, were you able to achieve this sort of happiness by letting go of everything and accepting it all?

Duh! Of course. But it's just the first step. There's an infinite depth to discover ahead of me. Getting in touch with your authentic self is the important thing. The rest does not really matter and will take care of itself.