Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively to an object and to maintain this direction without being distracted.

Urdhvaikapada vrishchikasana is a good training element to prepare for mastering the vrishchikasana itself - the scorpion pose. High-quality and deep study of this asana helps to strengthen the muscles of the arms, back and chest, which is good foundation for tuning any handstands. The beneficial effect of urdhvaikapada vrishchikasana is also to optimize the functioning of the organs of the chest, abdomen, thyroid gland. Due to the opening of the chest and deflection in the lower back, all parts of the spine are being worked out

Sri Swami Satchidananda (Sri Gurudev) was born in 1914 in the south of India. He studied with the greatest Indian saints and sages Sri Ramana Maharishi, Sri Aurobindo and his own mentor, the world famous Sri Swami Sivananda Maharaja from Rishikesh. In his travels around the world, Sri Gurudev advocates harmony between people of different philosophies, of all faiths, religions, races and nationalities. Sri Gurudev himself does not belong to any one faith, group or country. Adhering to the principle: "There is one truth, but many ways," he goes where he is asked to serve.

We wanted to look at human life from the point of view of physics - to consider the forces that affect a man and a woman and move them in one direction or another. We have divided life into seven-year stages.

Meditation "Who am I?" inspired by Ramana Maharshi helps us to start moving towards freedom, away from the prison of restrictions and barricades created by ourselves to hide from the fear of chaos and the volatility of the world around us.

Action plan

Read the explanations for meditation, then go on to describe the meditation technique.

Description

Second Meditation "Who Am I?" Inspired by Ramana Maharshi

Meditation "Who am I?" - theory

We are human and endowed with self-awareness. We remember our past, the history of our race. We are knowledgeable about our religion, nation, society and family. We remember the bygone moments and think about those moments in the future that have not yet come. We can know nothing exactly about our future, except for one inevitable event - our death. We are unequivocally confident that a certain day will come and we will no longer be on this planet. We will no longer be able to see, feel and enjoy it. The fact that death can happen to you at any moment plunges us into the greatest horror. This fear pushes us, makes us seek protection or consolation in people and in many material things. We become attached to these people and things. Wealth, power, culture, family, ideas, philosophy, religion and then becomes our shelter from our fear. They all become part of our mind, or self, or ego. All of them give us some relief from the fear of death, but our attachments to such things, living and inanimate, disconnect us from our awareness and our awareness of the inner vast and boundless biological universe. We find ourselves trapped in small circles, boundaries, constraints.

And when the waves of life break these boundaries, carrying away the objects of our attachments, we are overwhelmed with fear and a sense of insecurity. Life is a stream of continuous change that bursts into our safe space and breaks down carefully erected barricades. This movement of life, which is inevitable and inevitable, brings us grief over our losses and encourages us to build even tougher and stronger barricades, more protected barriers, makes us introduce new internal prisons in order to find a sense of individual safety and security.

If we remained completely ignorant prisoners within the boundaries of these walls, then no problem would arise. We could continue to live happily within our own boundaries.

But this is not a choice.

“Something” is hidden “somewhere” within us, it is our main part and does not allow us to continue to remain ignorant prisoners. This "something somewhere" sends us signals about the need for liberation, and we begin our path to freedom. That is, we begin to move precisely towards that freedom that previously terrified us, since this freedom breaks our little shelters, ideas, defenses.

It destroys all these things that we used to feel safe and comfortable. We live in a world of confrontation and conflict. We understand that we are connected in some way. We also feel that if we sever the paths that bind us, we will come face to face with the unknown. Facing the unknown makes us vulnerable, which is unpleasant for us, so our identification with all our limitations, prisons, things and people - companions of our own ignorance, continues to exist.

Breaking this self-created prison is important and necessary because without this freedom we are not able to live in truth and light. Breaking the chain of identification with people, places, things, events and memories is the path to the divine and sacred.

Meditation method "Who am I?" allows you to break the wall of ignorance and identification with a million things, living and non-living. This meditation technique is the path to freedom. In this meditation technique, we gradually dis-identify with people, places, memories, emotions and many other things, until we find ourselves at a point where we have no one to identify with anyone or anything, and did not want to be attached. At this point, only awareness remains without any addition.

The universe is aware, but this awareness is torn to shreds by its contents. It is impossible to deprive the universe of its content, but when we fix ourselves entirely on the content, we forget about awareness. Universal awareness is the basis and essence of content. We live inside the illusion of partial truth because we have mistakenly confused content as the source of truth in our lives.

The truth is that when we perceive the content, but at the same time we feel the source of this content, which is pure awareness. When boundaries and prisons are broken, then our little ego or self, aware of the contents of the universe, will flow into an incommensurably larger space of awareness. This combination of small awareness and great awareness brings a sense of freedom and joy.

This method of meditation not only allows us to dis-identify with things, but also allows us to determine which things, places, people we are most attached to.

How to apply the technique of creativity

"Who am I?" - meditation technique

Meditation is guided by the teacher, the teacher asks the question aloud, and the answer must be made “inwardly,” in a space of silence in which the students meditate.

If there is no teacher leading the meditation process, then the answers and questions are pronounced by the meditator himself.

QUESTIONS
given by the teacher or meditator

Who am I? Am I:
my house, my apartment
my wealth, my car
my children, my parents
my wife, my husband
my friends / relatives

Am I:
my job, my responsibilities
my village, city, metropolis
my homeland, my country
by my skin color, my race, my religion

Am I:
my body, my pain
my disease
my thoughts
my philosophies
my achievements
my worries
my depression

Am I:
my emotions
my aspirations and desires
my sadness and my joy
my fear, my hopes
my jealousy, my fault
my hate, my envy
my anger
my love?

Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?

Continue to remain in a state of calm awareness and presence in the present, no matter what is happening inside.

Technique Description:

1. Sit back. It is not necessary to sit in a yogic pose, although if you are used to meditating in a formal pose, this will help you quickly get ready for the practice. (For some people, the feeling of their meditation cushion or "native" rug under the buttocks instantly sets them up for concentration, better than any breathing or sound techniques!).

2. If there is confusion in your mind, you can practice Anuloma-Viloma pranayama for 3-5 minutes (alternate breathing: inhale through the left nostril, exit through the right, inhale through the right - exhale through the left, etc.).

3. Start the basic technique: just ask yourself mentally: "Who am I?" Disregard all the "guesses" that arise as insignificant! “I am Ivan Ivanovich”, “I am a basketball player”, “I want to eat” are equally irrelevant “answers”. Try to get more than 30 "options" and continue without counting or debating about it. Try to play denial: you prepared in advance to deny any options that your mind suggests.

4. If any thought seems to be correct and the mind is trying to gain a foothold in it (“I am the universal consciousness”, I am “Witness of my thoughts!”), Just try to trace it to the source - from where such a feeling arises in the body. Thought will dissolve in fear into nothingness. We always do this when “worthy” thoughts appear.

5. As a result, the mind will relax a little, and a state will come when peace generally reigns in the head, and only occasionally separate, not attractive thoughts "float" in it, which can be easily dissolved. This is an opportune moment to go even deeper, tell yourself: “I am none of the above! I am not my memories. I am not the sensations of my body, I and the body are not the same, I am subtler. I am a spirit, a soul, I am a witness of my emotions, actions, I am a spectator, an observer. " Try to feel into this new state. Like a candle, the question "Who am I" "burns out" to "I". All that remains is the feeling of one's own presence. A warning. In the course of this technique, consciousness can suddenly "fall out" into an even deeper state of a-karma ("no memories"). For a few seconds, you can "forget" who you are, at the everyday level of everyday life! This is not dangerous (since it is physically impossible to induce real amnesia for oneself) and is completely in the order of things. Just breathe deeply, do not panic: in half a minute your memory will return and everything will be as it was! Although not quite - you have already cognized a subtle state favorable for the mind, complete rest of the mind. Another point: as a result of this meditation, your Kundalini may spontaneously begin to rise; it feels like a burning, “scraping” heat going up the back. In this case, one must relax and observe the sensations in the same state of the "witness"; if you feel dizzy, bend forward and lie down in Balasana (child's pose) or Yoga mudrasana (yoga pose).

6. When in your life happens stressful situation, drama, or you are forced to tensely wait for something (standing in a traffic jam, in a queue for a passport), or you are simply in a very bad mood - practice this technique. With a set of "flight watches" you will be able to enter the state of "no-mind" in a matter of seconds. This is the path to the state of Samadhi - the highest goal of meditation, the best that yoga can give. And in ordinary life this technique is an inexhaustible source of tranquility. Colleagues at work will be amazed that in a critical situation you are "calm like an elephant" and are able to act quickly, clearly, and frighteningly effectively. This is the quality of the Raja (leader), the power of the mind that yogis attain. (However, remember to observe the principle of Ahimsa - nonviolence: you cannot direct this meditation to the detriment of others).

Practice the meditation "Who am I?" best of all at the same time, every day (morning or evening, when there is free time). At the initial stage, 5-10 minutes is enough. If you get a taste, the time "itself" will increase! You can practice in transport and even (don't tell the boss!) At work in a minute of inactivity: this is a kind of "smoke break" for the brain. Meditation masters can sit in a state of No-mind for 2-3 hours and not even notice the passage of time. During prolonged meditation, the legs can swell and "swell" several times, ignore these processes (they do not pose any harm to health). During the practice, the mind rests in a way that has not happened in any of the luxury vacation; even a noted drunkard cannot "calm" his mind to a position that a yogi can easily enter! The Who I am meditation effectively relieves the mind of stress and allows you to find the source of peace within yourself.

If you honestly look into your soul, you may find (this is just my idea, not yours) that all attachments and dependencies occur from your attachment and dependence on yourself... This awareness will help you change yourself the way you want.

To change yourself, try (taste) meditation with the following points:

· I am not my body.

· I am not my thoughts.

· I am not the one who meditates.

· I am not what came to me now….

Find yourself.

The phrase "I am not my body" will allow you to separate from the body. Maybe you will feel like a spirit that is just here.

The phrase "I am not my thoughts" will stop the flow of chaos. Perhaps you will feel an unusual freedom.

The phrase "I am not the one who meditates" introduces a complete disorder in the order of things :-). And you will go beyond reality. It's easier to find yourself there.

The question "Who am I?" will send you, as a spirit, in search of yourself, in order to find yourself at some point.

The phrase "I am not what came to me now" will separate you and the ideas that have come. After all, you are not ideas, are you? This means that you can find yourself.

So you can travel endlessly. What does it do? Try it yourself.

You see, Traveling into yourself (Sufi practices) is a pure experience of realizing how your system of perception makes its own adjustments to your own knowledge of the world. These are unusual Sufi practices. Therefore, if I now describe my experience, it will be a faint semblance of what it was ... No, not "in fact." In fact, there was nothing. This is all Maya. "Glitch", in other words. In general, Travel, and you will try everything "on your own skin" the Sufi practices.

One request. Write down your understandings, observations, wishes, remarks, additions in “Your The Diary»Here www.journal.rezyltat.ru. Yes, and just interesting to read it. Friends write well.

And a little about life in Travels both in yourself and around the world. In my opinion, such a life is like quantum meditation. Everything happens "suddenly". This teaches you to be free from attachments to things, because you don't carry a lot of them with you. To people, because the acquaintance today ends tomorrow forever. To thoughts, because a new place gives rise to other thoughts. To habits, because old habits don't work in a new place. For comfort, because comfort is different everywhere. To places, because you don't live anywhere permanently. This, however, also applies to life in general, we are not here all the time. Do you remember this? This is quantum meditation.

Do you remember that you are in this world only for a while?

And most importantly, in some way life on travel helps to deal with attachments to oneself, which brings relaxation. When I look at people of a different culture (and in fact even in Russia there is a huge difference between residents, for example, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Novgorod and Vladivostok), I understand that we are all different, and if so, how can I be the same? It gives relaxation. I can be different. What could be better?

This technique is best done during moments of relaxation, in a relaxed mood. When you bring this method to automatism, you can apply it directly in a stressful situation or at the time of grief. The result of this meditation will be amazing. Of course, this result will work, provided that the method is already mastered.

Technique:

1. Make yourself comfortable. It is not necessary to take a pose taken in yoga, although if you are used to meditating in this position, then this pose will help you quickly tune in to practice.
   
2. If there is confusion in your mind, you can practice alternating breathing for 3-5 minutes: inhale through the left nostril, exit through the right, inhale through the right, exhale through the left, etc.
   
3. Start the basic technique: just ask yourself mentally: "Who am I?" Disregard any "guesswork" that comes up as irrelevant! “I am Ivan Ivanovich”, “I am a teacher”, “I want to eat” - these are not the answers that should come to you after your mind gives out what lies on the surface. Try to get more than 30 "options", and keep typing without counting or debating about it. Try to play denial: you prepared in advance to deny any options that your mind suggests.
   
4. If any thought seems to be correct and the mind is trying to gain a foothold in it (“I am the universal consciousness”, I am “Witness of my thoughts!”), Just try to trace it to the source - from where such a feeling arises in the body. Thought will dissolve in fear into nothingness. We always do this when “worthy” thoughts appear.
   
5. As a result, the mind will relax a little, and a state will come when in the head, basically, peace reigns, and only occasionally separate, unattractive thoughts "float" in it, which can be easily dissolved. This is an opportune moment to go even deeper, tell yourself: “I am none of the above! I am not my memories. I am not the sensations of my body, I and the body are not the same, I am subtler. I am a spirit, a soul, I am a witness of my emotions, actions, I am a spectator, an observer. " Try to feel into this new state. Like a candle, the question "Who am I" "burns out" to "I". All that remains is the feeling of one's own presence.
   A warning:In the course of this technique, consciousness can suddenly "fall out" into an even deeper state of a-karma ("no memories"). For a few seconds, you can "forget" who you are, at the everyday level of everyday life! This is not dangerous (since it is physically impossible to induce real amnesia for oneself) and is completely in the order of things. Just breathe deeply, do not panic: in half a minute your memory will return and everything will be as it was! Although not quite - you have already cognized a subtle state favorable for the mind, complete rest of the mind. Another point: as a result of this meditation, your Kundalini may spontaneously begin to rise; it feels like a burning, “scraping” heat going up the back. In this case, one must relax and observe the sensations in the same state of the "witness"; if you feel dizzy, bend forward and lie down in a child's pose or in a yoga pose.
   
6. When you have a stressful situation in your life, a drama, or you have to tensely wait for something (standing in a traffic jam, in a queue for a passport), or you just have a very bad mood - practice this technique. Over time, you will be able to enter a state of "no-mind" in a matter of seconds. This is the path to the state of Samadhi - the highest goal of meditation, the best that yoga can give. And for ordinary people in ordinary life, this technique is an inexhaustible source of peace. People around you will be amazed that in a critical situation you are "calm like an elephant" and are capable of acting quickly, clearly, frighteningly effectively. This is the quality of the leader, the strength of the mind, which yogis achieve (the state of Raja).

However, remember to observe non-violence (the principle of Ahimsa): you cannot direct this meditation to the detriment of others.

Practice the meditation "Who am I?" best of all at the same time, every day (morning or evening, when there is free time). At the initial stage, 5-10 minutes is enough. If you get a taste, the time "itself" will increase! You can practice in transport and even at work in a minute of inactivity: this is a kind of "smoke break" for the brain.

Meditation masters can sit in a state of No-mind for 2-3 hours and not even notice the passage of time. During prolonged meditation, the legs may swell and "swell" several times, ignore these processes (they do not pose any harm to health).

During the practice, the mind rests in a way that has never happened in any of the most luxurious rests. The Who I am meditation effectively relieves the mind of stress and allows you to find the source of peace within yourself.