(no subject)
This is an excerpt from an article written by Swami Sivananda, called, 'Visions of Lights in Meditation.' I'm only posting what's relevant to last night's experience:
"Various kinds of lights manifest during meditation owing to concentration. In the beginning, a bright, white light, the size of a pin's point will appear in the forehead in Trikuti which corresponds tentatively to the Ajna Chakra of the astral body. When the eyes are closed, you will notice different colored lights such as white, yellow, red, smoky, blue, green, mixed color, flashes like lightning, like fire, burning charcoal, fire-flies, the moon, the sun and stars. These lights appear in the mental space, Chidakasha. These are all Tanmatric lights.
Each Tanmatra has its own specific color. Prithvi (earth) Tanmatra has a yellow light; Apas (water) Tanmatra has a white light; Agni (fire) Tanmatra has a red light; Vayu (air) Tanmatra has a smoky light; and Akasha (ether) Tanmatra has a blue light. Yellow and white lights are very commonly seen. Red and blue lights are rarely noticeable. Frequently there is a combination of white and yellow lights. In the beginning, small balls of white light float about before your eyes. When you first observe this, be assured that the mind is be coming more steady and that you are progressing in concentration.
After some months the size of the light will increase and you will see a full blaze of white light, bigger than the sun. In the beginning these lights are not steady. They come and disappear immediately. They flash out from above the forehead and from the sides. They cause peculiar sensations of extreme joy and happiness and there is an intense desire for a vision of these lights. When you have steady and systematic practice for two or three hours of meditation at a stretch, these lights appear more frequently and remain steadily for a long time."
The last paragraph perfectly describes my vision this morning. The progress this fellow describes is also compatible with the progress I have experienced over the last couple of years:
in 2007, the white light appeared to me as a tiny point of light, precisely as he describes, and, almost exactly two years later, occurs to me with greater constancy, as a solid field.
To someone who doesn't meditate, the Swami's words may seem dogmatic, to a degree. However, as a practitioner myself, I can corrobourate these statements, having experienced very similarly myself.
The essence of Dharmic teaching is practice, that which grants the Dharmic system its breath-taking distinction. The path is followed, practically; ultimately, it is realized. The experiences of ancient gurus intersect those of present-day practitioners.
For one who merely intellectualizes Buddhism, of course the yield is dogma. Words alone are no suitable conductour; only perpetuatours of dogma. For one who practices - meditates - the return is quite different.
Until one has experienced emptiness, for instance, it's only a silly idea, easily equated with any superficially - that is, conceptually - similar tenet of generally nihilistic philosophy.
What more can I say?
"Various kinds of lights manifest during meditation owing to concentration. In the beginning, a bright, white light, the size of a pin's point will appear in the forehead in Trikuti which corresponds tentatively to the Ajna Chakra of the astral body. When the eyes are closed, you will notice different colored lights such as white, yellow, red, smoky, blue, green, mixed color, flashes like lightning, like fire, burning charcoal, fire-flies, the moon, the sun and stars. These lights appear in the mental space, Chidakasha. These are all Tanmatric lights.
Each Tanmatra has its own specific color. Prithvi (earth) Tanmatra has a yellow light; Apas (water) Tanmatra has a white light; Agni (fire) Tanmatra has a red light; Vayu (air) Tanmatra has a smoky light; and Akasha (ether) Tanmatra has a blue light. Yellow and white lights are very commonly seen. Red and blue lights are rarely noticeable. Frequently there is a combination of white and yellow lights. In the beginning, small balls of white light float about before your eyes. When you first observe this, be assured that the mind is be coming more steady and that you are progressing in concentration.
After some months the size of the light will increase and you will see a full blaze of white light, bigger than the sun. In the beginning these lights are not steady. They come and disappear immediately. They flash out from above the forehead and from the sides. They cause peculiar sensations of extreme joy and happiness and there is an intense desire for a vision of these lights. When you have steady and systematic practice for two or three hours of meditation at a stretch, these lights appear more frequently and remain steadily for a long time."
The last paragraph perfectly describes my vision this morning. The progress this fellow describes is also compatible with the progress I have experienced over the last couple of years:
in 2007, the white light appeared to me as a tiny point of light, precisely as he describes, and, almost exactly two years later, occurs to me with greater constancy, as a solid field.
To someone who doesn't meditate, the Swami's words may seem dogmatic, to a degree. However, as a practitioner myself, I can corrobourate these statements, having experienced very similarly myself.
The essence of Dharmic teaching is practice, that which grants the Dharmic system its breath-taking distinction. The path is followed, practically; ultimately, it is realized. The experiences of ancient gurus intersect those of present-day practitioners.
For one who merely intellectualizes Buddhism, of course the yield is dogma. Words alone are no suitable conductour; only perpetuatours of dogma. For one who practices - meditates - the return is quite different.
Until one has experienced emptiness, for instance, it's only a silly idea, easily equated with any superficially - that is, conceptually - similar tenet of generally nihilistic philosophy.
What more can I say?