Durga Ma's Blog Spot

Blog 3 March 17, 2010 Radical Meditation and the Great Seal Maha Mudra — The Experience, the Seal, Aftereffects, and Radical Meditation The Experience A few days ago at about 2:30 in the afternoon I found myself beginning to slip into a trance. Unresistant, I surrendered my body, my feelings and my mind to the Divine and released any prana (life force) remaining under the control of the mind until I found myself deeply submerged and out of my body, taking someone on a tour of the cosmos. How long this lasted I cannot say, as time is meaningless in this situation. At the conclusion of this tour, I returned to my body to find that the prana had concentrated so deeply and completely that the body was in a state of suspended animation, and that to all appearances, it was as dead as a doornail — all vital signs suspended, the Great Seal engaged. This state is not uncommon to me, so I was not alarmed (my acupuncturist can attest to this). What was different about this particular event was that it lasted for several hours. Were it not for its having lasting as long as it did, describing it would sound like someone trying to describe the deep stage of normal sleep, which is fairly brief. But there were other differences besides the length of time. In the stage of deep sleep there are no dreams, no consciousness, and no memory of it afterwards (you are not conscious of anything to remember). In the experience I am attempting to convey, I was completely conscious and I remembered everything. This is impossible to describe, except to say that I was conscious of my body and my surroundings in this and in another distinctive dimension — simultaneously — throughout the entire event. Eventually, I became aware that much time must have passed. Though my eyes remained closed (I still couldn't move my body) I was able to see that the sun was mostly down. I had no idea how long I had been in this state, but eventually it lifted on its own very slowly, and at around 7:00 that evening I was able to move. But, as is often the case, something deep within had changed. The Seal The word mudra means "seal" in Sanskrit, to seal something in or out of the body for the purpose of either protection and safety (out) or advancement and transformation (in). In my own case, everything was withdrawn and sealed in. Maha means “great”, “great in size or amount, and considerably above the norm". The name Maha Mudra, “great seal”, is no accident. This mudra is the big kahuna of mudras. There are many mudras. Mudras are commonly thought of as special hand gestures, or even positions of the body, but the correct understanding of the ten principle mudras (which are not body or hand gestures) can only be comprehended through personal experience and validation from a living master; any exception would be exceedingly rare. Mystics, yogis and yoginis, do not appear to have much history of chronicling their experiences. This seems to be especially true of women. This writing is an exception, but I think it is important to know that things like this happen in advanced stages of meditation, and that it is completely safe if you understand how these things work and can get past fear and self-deception. This obviously requires previous meditation experience that has the capacity to bring you to this point. Aftereffects After this event, what little sense of time I still possess was altered for several days, my energy was greater, exhilarated and stronger, and I noticed that a particular physical symptom had disappeared. I don't recommend that people do this kind of meditation for the purpose of healing—you don't need to, it will probably do that anyway, and doing this meditation just for healing purposes can hold up the show. You do this meditation because you love and want only God/Truth (substitute your own word if you need to). Radical Meditation I sometimes think that people are reluctant to do this radical type of meditation that I do because, on some level, they already know that these things can happen and it scares them. Not being in control, which is not typical of most kinds of meditation, can be frightening. I experience it as a wonderful adventure. Still, I don't recommend that you try this type of meditation without a teacher to guide you who has been down this road, knows the way, and can help you on your journey. If you have an interest in learning more about this type of meditation, you should know that it is rare and difficult to find. But here you are. You've found it! If you want to learn more about it, here are some links for you to explore: LearnEasyMeditation.com/meditation/surrender-meditation PhoenixMetaphysicalInstitute.com/shaktipat_intensives.html On this page, scroll down below the weekend intensive dates and you'll find more information, and links to even more information, including a page with links to articles, many of which are directly related to this type of meditation. In a book entitled Living the Mysteries, Dr. Terry Preston has recorded some of my experiences during the earlier years of my spiritual journey. In this book you will read many more experiences and hopefully come to understand the magnitude of your own unlimited potential and get an idea of the possibilities that await you. Living the Mysteries is available by electronic download or in hard copy through Amazon at PhoenixMetaphysicalInstitute.com/books.html. Namaste, Durga Ma Blog 2 Dear Friends, As I sit here in my sunny room, doors and windows open, looking outside at the grass greening, the blooms beginning to open and a few clouds scudding across the sky, a nice breeze on my cheek, I find myself drifting back to an old desire. I guess no matter how good we may have it on any given day, there’s always another desire waiting in the wings. And I am very skilled at having both conditions present in the same moment, perhaps because they’re related. I am content, but there’s that other thing I want that would make even a day like this seem better (“seem” being the operative word). As a yoga practitioner, this would be an excellent opening for a discussion on how desires keep us bound in ignorance. But I’m not going to do that. You see, I am of the opinion that suppressed desires have a way of becoming the most powerfully domineering desires of all. The biggest problem with desires is that they have a way of upstaging everything else, and getting us to feed them. Everyone has desires, but having them doesn't mean we have to run ourselves ragged trying to satisfy them. Things that are suppressed are things that are hidden from us, and because they are hidden, they become very powerful. This includes thoughts and feelings, too, but hidden desires have a foot in both worlds — our minds and our feelings — and they drive us to try to force life, even though we may not realize it. Hidden desires relentlessly drive us to get them satisfied. They hide out behind other desires that we are conscious of. They dominate our lives. We adjust things to meet their demands. We turn into raving fast-laners or couch potatoes. Some of us wonder why we’re so stressed and/or depressed and what we’re doing wrong. Some of us blame someone else for our dissatisfaction, preferring to try to control the people and things around us to practicing a little self-honesty and looking inside. But inside is where the solution is. I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t have what you want. What I am addressing here, is the problem of unrequited desires and what we can do (or not do) about them. You know the ones I’m talking about: the ones you’ve tried everything possible to get to come to fruition and it’s just not happening no matter how hard you try, no matter how many affirmations you do, no matter how much you try to stay positive. Incidentally, it is at this point that you must watch out for an insidious type of suppression: “Oh well, I really didn’t want that anyway,” or “I know it’s coming my way; after all, look at that parking spot I just manifested!” And so on. These tactics just push the very thing you’ve been wanting, away from you. The key is self-honesty. Self-honesty is one of the most difficult things we can ever undertake to do (next to raising children). It can be down right humiliating, even scary. But if we want to make progress in our lives, we really must do this. Self-honesty has a way of creating profound shifts of a very rewarding nature. While you’re waiting on The Big Shift, here’s something else you can try: Enjoy the desire for itself. That’s what I was doing this morning before I started writing this to you. I was content, but when the desire I spoke of surfaced, I just enjoyed the desire itself. I didn’t try to do anything about it (though I was tempted) because I knew that trying to do something about it would ruin the contentment I already had. And after a while, I decided to share this with you. I’ll close now, and wish you happiness and the fulfillment of all your desires — automatically, without any effort on your part. With love and deepest respect, Namaste (I bow to the Divine One that You Really are), Durga Ma Blog 1 Dear Friends, I am writing this blog as a response to requests from friends, but only after a long period of reluctance. I have never been a letter writer, and writing a blog always seemed to border on being the same as writing a letter to people that I don’t even know. So I hesitated, and kept on hesitating. But then I got to thinking . . . I know every one of you. I may not know your name or your face, your personality or what you do in your life, but I do know YOU. And you know me, as well. So in Reality, we indeed do know each other. When I sat down, I didn’t have anything in mind to say, but as I write I realize that I have already begun to share a small piece of my personal philosophy with you by stating that I know you, even if we’ve never met. This is a conviction that is very close to my heart, so I will expand a little on this subject as I blog along. But first I should probably tell you something about who you’re listening to, something about myself and maybe a little history. I am called Durga Ma. I left my birth name behind decades ago in favor of a spiritual name. Durga is the feminine face of God in the aspect of 'remover of obstacles' and 'Ma' means what it says, Mother (it also means 'to measure,' but an explanation of that would just get me sidetracked). I have been a devotee of Truth for over 30 years. Most of that time I spent living as a hermit, and most of that time I lived in solitude. I meditated 18 hours a day (If you ever have any doubts that meditation is rewarding, remember . . . 18 hours! Who in their right mind would ever do such a thing if something truly amazing and fulfilling wasn’t happening?), and learned Sanskrit so that I could translate ancient mystical writings for myself. I wanted to see where what I learned from oral teachings, written teachings and my own experience tallied; when it did, I assumed I was on to something. My meditation was my lab. And I was on to something. Big time. I lived on very little, and had only pennies for gas and supplies. The forest was my tromping ground. In the earlier years, I beat my laundry on a rock, ate a lot of vegetables, and hoped for good weather. I dug my first garden with an abalone shell. Over those years, I lived in my car, a pup tent, graduated to a larger tent, then to a 6’x12’ trailer, from there to a vacant house, a larger trailer and then to a small hut, a bigger hut, and then to something more like a cabin. (Well, it’s progress!) Somewhere in there I went to India with my backpack and wandered around for 7 months. I was 45 when I returned. I left behind a four bedroom home in Marin County, California, for all this. You may be thinking, “Maybe she isn’t in her right mind!” But just the other day I saw an article in a magazine on living green in which the subject of this article was propounding that living in tiny spaces be considered for living “green.” So I am vindicated! I guess I know about living green. So was it worth it? Indeed it was. If I could do it all over again, I would. But at 67, my body may have something else to say about it. I will leave you for now, but not without what I promised earlier: to share a small piece of my personal philosophy with you, the experience of which is a part of the fruits of the life I have led. Here it is in a nutshell: All that is, is God, the Divine, or whatever your word is for That, manifest as the world and unmanifest as pure potential. Because the Divine is without limitation, the world is without limitation. Anything is possible. There is more than enough for everyone. Competition is irrelevant — you can have what you need or want without anything being taken away from anyone else. Because all that is is Divine, you are divine: You are without limitations. Your power is inherent. Through your power of conscious choice (free will) in alignment with the Divine, you can achieve anything. Anything you can imagine — prosperity, happiness, freedom and fulfillment — you can achieve. So now you can see why I can say with conviction, that we already know each other — because, even though we are each unique as individuals, we are all the same in what it is that we really are. Our commonality in this regard connects us with each other and makes us one family. So, I believe we know each other. With love and deepest respect, namaste (I bow to the Divine One that You Really are), Durga Ma