1 Capítulo Hong So

Ananda Meditation Teacher Training

FORMACIÓN PARA ENSEÑANTES DE MEDITACIÓN

HONG SO

Concentration is the power to focus the mind on any desired line of thought.

Meditation is concentration used only to know God.
Meditar es usar la concentración para conocer a Dios

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Inspiration

·                    How to Know a True Spiritual Teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda………                 4

·                    The Importance of Meditation, Swami Kriyananda……………………...               7

Chapter Two: Why Meditate? The Benefits …………………………….                                   10

Chapter Three: What is Meditation? …………………………………….                        13

Chapter Four: The Three States of Consciousness

·                    Introduction ……………………………………………………………….                       17

·                    Subconsciousness ………………………………………………………...             24

·                    Normal Consciousness ……………………………………………………                        25

·                    Supercosciousness

v    Introduction ...................................................................................             30

v    Eight Attributes of Superconsciousness         ……………………….         34

v    Inner Guidance ..........................................................................                  38

v    Breathlessness ……………………………………………………              41

v    Self Analysis and the Significance of Dreams…………………..               45

v    Samadhi ………………………………………………………….              49

v    The astral body: spine and chakras ………………………..…….               53

Chapter Five: Concentration

·                    Meditation and Concentration, Raja Yoga ……………………………….                         55

·                    How to Develop Concentration, Money Magnetism……………………...             58

·                    The Art of Meditation and  Concentration, Praecepta 16 ……………..…                        59

·                    Further Facts on Concentration , Praecepta  21………………………….             60

·                    A Key to Concentrazione, Swami Kriyananda……………………………                       65

·                    Story about Concentration: Monkey Consciousness ..................................            66

Chapter Six: Preparation

·                    Relaxation ………………………………………………………………....            68

·                    Posture ............……………………………................................................            71

·                    Position of the Eyes .....................................................................................           74

·                    Breathing exercises ………………………………………………………..            77

·                    Opening the Heart …………………………………………………………           78

·                    General Advice ……………………………………………………............           82

Chapter Seven: The Breath ..........................................................................                          86

Chapter Eight: The Mantra HONG-SAU

·                    The meaning of Hong Sau and it’s mantric value …………………………             92

·                    Hong- Sau / So-Ham ……………………………………………………….            94

Chapter Nine: The Technique

·                    Hong-sau …………………………………………………………………..           95

·                    Watching the breath ……………………………………………………….           101

·                    The pauses …………………………………………………………….......                        104

·                    After Hong Sau …………………………………………………………….          106

·                    How long to practice ………………………………………………...........                        107     

·                    After meditation ………………………………………………………......                       113

·                    Routine .......................................................................................................             115

Chapter Ten: Guided Meditations

·                    Expansion of Light ………………………………………………………...          121

·                    Example of a guided meditation at Ananda Assisi ……………………….           123

Chapter Eleven: Outlines ..............................................................................                         127

Requirements for becoming an Ananda Raja Yoga Instructor……….                                   132

Chapter One: Inspiration

CAPÍTULO UNO: INSPIRACIÓN

How To Know a True Spiritual Teacher
Como reconocer a un verdadero enseñante espiritual

By Paramhansa Yogananda

            (Matt. 10:2-8 )Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,

“Los nombres de los doce apóstoles son éstos: primero Simón, llamado Pedro, y su hermano Andrés; Santiago, el de Zebedeo, y su hermano Juan; Felipe y Bartolomé; Tomás y Mateo, el publicano, Santiago, el de Alfeo, y Tadeo; Simón, el cananeo, y Judas Iscariote, el que luego lo entregó.

A estos doce los envió Jesús, con estas instrucciones:

“Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”

No vayáis a tierra de gentiles ni entréis en ciudad de samaritanos; id más bien a las ovejas perdidas de la casa de Israel. Id y predicad que el reino de los cielos está cerca. Curad enfermos, resucitad muertos, limpiad leprosos, arrojad demonios, gratis lo recibisteis, dadlo gratis.”

(Mateo 10: 2-8)

Do not follow the way of most Gentiles nor enter into any city of the Samaritans, but rather go to the shepherdless, truth-seeking, innocent souls who constitute true Israel.  And as ye go, preach, telling all that the blissful kingdom of God is within every soul, and thus within reach of everyone.   Heal the spiritually sick as well as the physically sick such as lepers   Raise the spiritually dead and also raise those who should be brought back to life even though they are physically dead, after you have judged their good and bad karmas. Cast out Satan and his satellites from obsessed souls   You have received truth through your free will and by my free will, give this truth freely to those who spontaneously, without persuasion or compulsion, are willing to receive it.

No sigas la vida de muchos gentiles y no entres en ninguna ciudad de samaritanos, por el contrario, ve hacia las almas perdidas e inocentes que buscan la verdad, que son la verdadera Israel. Y mientras vas, predica y habla de toda la beatitud del reino de Dios que está dentro de cada alma y que busca, por consiguiente, alcanzarlo todo. Cura estando la enfermedad en el espíritu o en el cuerpo, como en el leproso. Despierta aquel que ha muerto a la espiritualidad y aquel que debe ser devuelto a la vida, aunque su cuerpo esté muerto, después de haber considerado su buen o mal karma. Echar a Satán y sus secuaces de las almas de los endemoniados. Tu has recibido la verdad por medio del libre arbitrio y de mi libre arbitrio; da este conocimiento libremente a quienes espontáneamente, sin solicitud ni obligación, estén dispuestos a recibirla. Enseña a todos que estamos dispuestos.

Teach Those Who Are Ready
Enseña donde estén listos

In the above words of Jesus we have a hint as to where churches should be built and to whom the teachings of Christ should be given. Many people think of building churches in aristocratic neighborhoods. It is all right to build churches there if the aristocrats are spiritually interested, but if they are not, it is better to build churches wherever people repent and feel they are lost sheep who have forsaken the fold of God-consciousness.

De estas palabras de Jesús podemos saber donde debe fundarse la Iglesia y a quienes debe darse las enseñanzas de Cristo. Muchos fundan la Iglesia en lugares aristocráticos. Es justo fundarla en estos lugares si los aristócratas están interesados en la espiritualidad, pero si no lo son, es mejor fundar la Iglesia donde la gente está arrepentida y se siente una oveja perdida que ha olvidado el redil de la consciencia de Dios.

Every spiritual teacher before preaching to others must first learn to contact God and live a fife of discipline under the tutelage of a great divine teacher. Any accredited disciple of a great teacher is a person who is fit to teach.  In the West, one who is a teacher by virtue of his personality or book knowledge often starts his career by first desiring to build a church and a denomination of his own. This involves and entangles the teacher in financial difficulties and obliges him to collect money for his church as best he can.  Money and desire for many followers have kept the churches and temples in spiritual stagnation.

Todo enseñante espiritual, antes de predicar a los demás, debe primeramente aprender a ponerse en contacto con Dios y a vivir una vida de disciplina bajo la tutela de un gran Maestro divino. Cualquier discípulo de un gran Maestro así acreditado es una persona adecuada para enseñar. En occidente, uno que es enseñante en virtud de su propia personalidad o del conocimiento adquirido a través de los libros, a menudo inicia su carrera con el deseo de fundar una Iglesia y una propia organización. Esto conlleva y empeña al enseñante en dificultades financieras y lo obliga a obtener dinero para su causa como mejor puede. El dinero y el deseo de tener muchos seguidores han tenido iglesias y templos en un estado de general estancamiento espiritual.

“Second Coming of Christ”
Segunda Venida de Cristo

All churches should be structures without sectarian names if possible and should open their doors to truth-seekers of all races, giving them discipline in the art of God-contact.  The purpose of a shop is to sell things, but the purpose of a church is to give God-contact.  And if it claims to give that, it must do so or cease to exist as a spiritual force.  Every spiritual teacher who has studied under another great teacher should pass his life more in meditation than in reading books, and should transmit his spirituality to real seekers, whom he meets through the will of God and proper moral publicity, by regularly meditating with them whenever he can, in small groups, in quiet places or secluded centrally located places in a city.  If all the churches get together and follow the above method, they will bring about a real revival of Christ Consciousness in the heart of true seekers.  When true seekers and worthy ministers will deeply meditate together, then in the expanded cup of their consciousness the Christ Consciousness that was in Jesus will manifest in them and thus bring about the Second Coming of Christ.

A ser posible, todas la iglesias deberían estar estructuradas, sin un nombre que indique una secta y con las puertas abiertas a los buscadores de la verdad de todas las razas, impartiendo el arte de ponerse en contacto con Dios. El objeto de un negocio es vender, pero el objeto de una iglesia es poner en contacto con Dios. Y si proclama que hace esto, debe hacerlo o cesar de existir como una fuerza espiritual. Cada enseñante espiritual que había estado bajo la enseñanza de otro gran enseñante, deberá pasar su vida mas meditando que leyendo libros y deberá transmitir su espiritualidad a los buscadores sinceros que encuentra gracias a la voluntad de Dios y a su disponibilidad espiritual; o sea, meditando con los demás cuando sea posible, en pequeños grupos, en un sitio tranquilo o en lugar apartado. Si todas las iglesias se reunieran y siguieran este método harían que la Consciencia de Cristo se despertara y reviviera en el corazón de los verdaderos buscadores. Cuando el verdadero buscador y el verdadero ministro mediten juntos, entonces en la expansión de su conciencia unificada, la Consciencia de Cristo, que estaba en Jesús, se manifestará en ellos realizando la segunda venida de Cristo.

Then if the devoted disciples of a self-evolved, spiritually educated teacher build him a church, it is commendable. But the spiritual teacher must be careful not to take the responsibility of material organization, which would lead him to cater to or flatter others for gain, ultimately using up all his time and preventing him from keeping his greatest engagement with God in meditation.

Además, si el discípulo devoto de un enseñante evolucionado y espiritualmente educado funda una iglesia para él, es cosa meritoria. Todavía el enseñante espiritual debe estar bien atento a no tomar la responsabilidad de la organización material que lo podría llevar a tener que proveer las necesidades económicas o a inclinarse para pedir ayuda financiera , utilizando todo su tiempo y teniéndolo alejado de su principal empeño con Dios en la meditación.

How to Distinguish between Metaphysical Racketeers and True Teachers

Como distinguir el místico metafísico del verdadero enseñante

In the West many metaphysical racketeers elect themselves as great teachers by giving publicity to falsehoods about their contact with invisible masters and saints In India the people have a very clever way of distinguishing between holy-mouthed charlatans and real divine spiritual teachers. Really intelligent truth-seekers in India as a matter of unannounced law seek those teachers who live the spiritual life and who are definitely known to have practiced self-mastery under a great living master. If the truth seekers of the West follow the above discriminating method, they will avoid being disillusioned by the antics of self-elected masters.

False prophets always have one purpose, to make money either by charging for instruction or books or by exploiting the imagination of credulous truth-seeking people by false stories of invisible saints and miraculous happenings   Asking a fee or a free-will offering for rendering spiritual service through books or lessons is justifiable if the money is used for propagating the spiritual cause and for the teacher’s maintenance, as he gives all his life to the spreading of the divine work However, asking a fee or free-will offering is condemnable if it is used to satisfy the ambition for financial gain and luxurious habits of an unscrupulous pseudo-prophet.

That is why Jesus commanded his disciples, “Do not go to the self-satisfied Gentiles or Samaritans, but rather go to those of Israel who are repenting for having strayed away from the fold of God-consciousness.  And as you go, vibrate into them your God-realization and show them that the kingdom of heaven or the state of astral vibration and wisdom lies within their reach, just behind the human consciousness or the state of wakefulness, subconsciousness and superconsciousness as realized in deep meditation.  As you heal the soul of material consciousness by establishing the kingdom of heaven or God-consciousness there, so also free the truth-seeking people from their bodily ailments of leprosy, death, and obsession.

“Heal All Sufferers from Spiritual, Mental, Moral, or Physical Diseases”

“Heal the really repentant God-seeking people of Israel not only from physical sickness but mental, moral, and spiritual sickness.  Raise the spiritually dead people into the consciousness of God and by transmitting your God-power release them from devils and obsessions of cosmic delusion and Satanic ignorance and evil disembodied souls, by your own free accord, through your uninfluenced spontaneously spiritual free will.  Bring to life the good departed souls who have more good than evil karma or who have equal good and bad karma, because such acts are now sanctioned by the Heavenly Father to assure mankind that all things are possible with God’s true devotees and followers of the path of goodness.  The worthy souls you resurrect will do much good on earth.

“You have received the God-consciousness transmitted through my own free will and God’s divine compassion into your self-disciplined meditating lives.  In the way you have grasped God-consciousness, teach the same way to the people.  You used your divine ardor, reason, and free will to meditate and spiritually advance, and so you awakened the spontaneous desire in God and me to transmit our divine consciousness into you.  Likewise teach people to rouse their free will and to meditate and thereby receive the God-consciousness freely available to them.”

Spiritual Democracy

One should clearly realize that to charge money for spiritual lessons or religious books from a number of people and to use that money for the maintenance of the minister and the spread of the teaching is not sin on the part of the church or religious organization but is actually a much better form of spiritual democracy than making the church maintenance dependent on one enslaving proud rich man. Also, maintaining a church by free will offerings received at services and religious meetings and from the money gotten from book sales is spiritually legitimate Charging for spirit lessons or receiving free-will offerings is only sin when collected money is used for satisfying the private ambition of an unscrupulous so-called spiritual teacher.

Spontaneity Needed

It must be borne in mind also that ultimate truth is not so simple that it can be received by church members who are satisfied to listen to dogmatic or merely moral sermons.  Every church member, instead of being coaxed into the church, must spontaneously go there and meditate and learn the technique of God-contact from a divine God-known saint. In India, the great masters live in quiet hermitages where they teach the truth to selected students by frequent meditation with them and by occasional interpretation of scriptural wisdom.  Too much advertising, coaxing and “cateringism” have obliterated the will of the church members to seek truth freely or of their own accord and to receive it through the free will of God stimulated by the devotee’s spiritual ardor and deep meditation.

Therefore Jesus told his disciples, “Through your free will and spiritual ardor you have awakened the free will of God to give you freely God-consciousness, likewise, you must teach people how by their own free will and spiritual ardor they can awaken the free will of God to grant them Self-Realization given through your own freewill.”

Truth cannot be received just by listening to lectures but must come by the above law of spiritual ardor, spiritual labor of the devotee, and the divine compassion of God as the Lord of the all-desired and much sought-after spiritual harvest of Self-realization.

--From The Second Coming of Christ, Inner Life magazine, December 1938

The Importance of Meditation                                                                   an article by Swami Kriyananda

            In his famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie stated that the best way to be thought a fascinating conversationalist is to listen attentively, and with interest This principle applies also, though of course not in quite the same way, to the practice of prayer.

            Most people when they pray talk to God rather than with Him. They don’t take the time to listen, in deep inner silence, for His answer Prayer, however, to be most deeply meaningful, needs to be a two-way communication, a giving and receiving — like conversation And while it would be absurd to think in terms of “fascinating” God with our part of the conversation, there are proven ways of making our prayers more effective Listening is one of them.

            How many people ever think of prayer in this way? Usually, they think of it as begging for special favors, as though prayer were a petition submitted before the awful majesty of an imperial throne. Many, no doubt, question whether the Lord will even single them out for special attention from among the multitudes appealing to Him daily Perhaps they fear they might be judged presumptuous if they tried to interest Him beyond the actual subject of their petition. Whatever the case, most people talk a lot, like inadequate conversationalists, but seldom think of listening in return.

            The difference between the one-way street of normal prayer and actually conversing with God is simply the degree of involvement — on both sides Of course, there can be no question of trying to “fascinate” Him with our conversation. The Lord has all creation to engage His attention, besides the perfection of love and bliss in which He eternally dwells One petty life in the great scheme of things cannot particularize His interest to the point of making Him fascinated with it! When we approach Him, however, with deep love, dedication, and trust, we appeal to that cosmic, but at the same time deeply personal, love which He feels for every one of his human children

            Prayer must come from the heart. That is what I mean by conversation.  As there is a world of difference between talking at someone and talking with him, so there is a universe of difference between petitioning God and including Him in the needs we feel.

            We need to involve Him in our lives, in our love for Him. How can we hope to do that, if we merely pray to him? That’s like talking at somebody.

            Leaving aside the question of fascination, conversationally, how are we most likely to involve anyone in anything that interests us? It isn’t much different from listening for answers to a question. We involve them best when we include their reality in our own. To awaken concern in them for our needs, we must show an interest in their needs. To get them to participate in our lives, we must participate in their lives. To get them to show love for us, we must love them, first.

            All this involvement on our part is, in its own way, a kind of listening. We need, in the same way, to listen to God. The kind of prayer that most often wins a response is one in which the person praying converses with God: calls to Him, while at the same time listening for His silent response in the soul.

            And that is, essentially, what is meant by the practice of meditation Meditation is the act of listening for, and hopefully, in time, listening to, God’s whispered response in the soul.

            Why not try that, next time you pray to God? Instead of merely offering up a petition for His consideration, try involving Him in your needs.

            Meditation is more than a practice conducted at specific times of the day It is a habit of mind, a way of life Try sharing your thoughts and feelings with God all day long. Listen for His guidance, His approval — yes, even His silent laughter within! When you share your life with Him, your meditations also will be much deeper.

            When people exclude the practice of meditation from daily prayer, it usually means they aren’t really convinced there is anyone “up there,” listening to them. All too easily, their prayers become a process of simply talking to themselves.

            Well, one may ask, does God really listen anyway? You’ll never know, if you don’t give Him a chance to reply! Just as in any conversation, the degree of listening, and the response it awakens, is in direct proportion to the degree of one’s own involvement in what he is saying Why else is it that the prayers of saints have been, often, so much more effective than those of worldly people? God is no respecter of persons. His response is according to the depth of sincerity in the person praying.

            In conversation, people tend to think of listening as something one does after he has said his piece. Personally, however, I’ve found that there is much better communication if one “listens” — that is to say, is sensitive to the other person’s reactions — even during the act of speaking to him. When lecturing, also, even though I don’t expect people to start up a conversation with me from the audience, I’ve found it helps, while lecturing, to “tune into” their needs, to respond to their unspoken reactions, to feel as though I were speaking to each one of them individually.

            On the subject of lecturing, I’ve found it helps also to “listen” even before I begin speaking. By that I mean that I meditate and try to tune into what the people in this particular audience need to hear from me.

            In the same way, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi), who brought teachings and techniques from India to the West, used to say that prayer is most effective when it is offered after some contact with God has been achieved in deep meditation.

            Western society generally identifies meditation with the thinking process. We are told to meditate “on” a particular subject. Vaguely, we suppose this means to think in circles around it, hoping for a deeper understanding of it. Only comparatively recently has the teaching come to the West that silence itself is the wellspring from which true understanding arises.  In other words, true, and especially spiritual, understanding is not the product of thinking one’s way to it, but of direct inner perception.  As Yogananda wrote in his autobiography, “A truth cannot be created, but only perceived.”

            Meditation, in this deeper sense, begins with the practice of stilling one’s thoughts and emotions.

            Yogananda told the story of a man who was told, as a means of developing spiritual power, to be very careful not to think of monkeys.  Of course, the next time he sat to meditate, the first thing he thought about was monkeys! The more he tried not to think of them, the more he probed his memory for every variety of monkey he’d ever read or heard about Monkeys gradually became an obsession.  At last, he returned to his teacher and cried, “Take back this teaching of yours! All it has done is give me monkey-consciousness, not God-consciousness!”

            At this, the teacher laughed genially and explained, “I only wanted to help you realize how difficult it is to develop spiritual powers, without first learning to control your own mind.” He then went on to explain to his student the positive aspects of meditation.

            So then, the first lesson is: Don’t live in “monkey consciousness”! Instead of trying not to let thoughts and emotions enter your mind, dwell on positive opposite practices that will exert a calming influence on your mind.

            The breath is one such influence, when it is used rightly. Not only does the breath reflect one’s mental states: It also greatly affects them.

            Take the breath as a reflection of thought and feeling. When a person is agitated, his breathing automatically speeds up. When he falls asleep, his breathing rhythm changes: two counts of exhalation, to one of inhalation. When he is deeply concentrated, he tends to hold his breath. When he is calm, his breathing becomes calm also.

            The reverse also is true. By breathing agitatedly, one tends to create an agitated mental or emotional state. A photographer, when taking a photo demanding sensitivity and concentration, learns to hold his breath before clicking the camera shutter.

            By calm, deep breathing, similarly, the mind and emotions grow calm also, releasing us from any turmoil that may have been seething within us. This is why the advice is so often given to people who are angry or upset, “First, take a deep breath, and count to ten.”

            A good practice when sitting to meditate is to do a few deep breathing exercise. The yoga teachings offer a number of such exercises, some of which I explain in my book, The Art and Science of Raja Yoga. Less sophisticated than many of these, but quite effective, is this:

            Sit upright, and breathe deeply through the nostrils counting 1-12 Hold the breath 1-12. Then exhale, again to a count of 1-12 In this particular exercise, don’t hold the breath out, but begin again immediately with another inhalation. Repeat this exercise six to twelve times

            Your posture during meditation is important.  We’ve all seen photographs in advertisements of people “meditating” according to the Western notion of relaxation: a person reclining comfortably on a “hazy Boy” chair, his feet up, his head tilted back on the headrest, his entire posture suggestive of a mood of abandonment. The yogis of India would smile at this passive attempt at relaxation. The fact is, while relaxation is essential to deep meditation, passivity is one of the pitfalls to true relaxation.

            There are two directions the mind can take once it relaxes its grip on conscious thought processes. One is to sink toward subconsciousness. This is the direction taken when one’s relaxation is passive The other direction is to rise toward superconsciousness. Deep meditation is possible only in the intensely positive state of superconsciousness, or soul-awareness.

            To attain this state of consciousness, it is important to sit upright with a straight spine. Traditionally, one does so sitting on the floor with the legs crossed, preferably in one of the yoga positions such as the half or full lotus pose, or siddhasana (the “perfect pose”), but Yogananda said that it is quite all right to sit on a straight-backed chair, with the feet flat on the floor.

            Sit away from the back of the chair. Place your hands palms upward at the junction of the thighs and abdomen. Hold the shoulders back to help keep the spine straight. Hold the chin parallel to the ground.

            Before the deep breathing exercise, relax the body.  First, inhale, tense the whole body till it vibrates; then throw the breath out, and with it all tension. Repeat this process two or three times.

            After the deep breathing, concentrate on relaxing more and more deeply — not physically only, but mentally and emotionally. Feel space in the body.

            Look upward, concentrating your attention at the central point between the two eyebrows, the seat of spiritual vision. Offer up all thoughts and feelings in deep concentration at this point. Call mentally to God, “Reveal Thyself! Reveal Thyself!”

            Gradually, you will feel His peace stealing over you, like a weightless waterfall.