Hello David and others posters

After reading a few recent posts I thought I should touch base and get your opinion. I will spare you the re-hash of my earlier experiences with stress release but if necessary you can review my thread of “ THANKS NSR” dating back to around November.

Quick update: I have faithfully done two sessions a day since July 24, 2007 missing less than about ten along the way. I believe that (my opinion) most of my stresses and sleep deficit have been released/ addressed but now I find I am experiencing the following.

I experience huge gaps in lost conciseness, sometimes lasting as long as an hour. I would cut my session time down if there were a pattern but this occurs at random times in the session starting as early as two minutes and as late as the 14 minute mark. I don’t THINK this is sleep because with sleep I am usually aware it is coming on (get a little groggy) but in this case one moment I hear the syllable and the next thing I know I am coming out of a deep, deep unconsciousness. So far I haven’t cared that this happens, it is rather enjoyable but with the change in seasons I don’t feel like spending more time than necessary meditating. As for side effects I have experienced a slight dull headache on occasion but have increased my rest time coming out which seems to have solved that problem. The only other symptom I am experiencing is that I can become rather docile afterwards...so much for challenging the bliss.

Do you think this could be a personal reaction with the mantra? I know the mantra of two 30+ year TMer’s, would changing to theirs be of any benefit? I should also mention the fact that this occurs in both my morning and evening sessions, every session, the morning lapses are just a little shorter. All in all I would rate what is happening in my life as a result of NSR as very positive and only regret not finding it sooner.

Thanks for all you do in answering mine and others questions

Have a marvelous weekend,

Kevin - SLC

PS. Do you think I would benefit from a phone consultation where all questions could be addressed as they come up?

KevinSLC,

First off, it is good that you have been so regular in your practice. Your experiences show some advanced signs. The basic advice will be to continue what you are doing.

"I believe that (my opinion) most of my stresses and sleep deficit have been released/ addressed..."

Sometimes people don't believe that their experiences will change over time, but they always do as the pattern of remaining stresses changes.

"I experience huge gaps in lost conciseness, sometimes lasting as long as an hour."

This is completely natural, and shows that you are now releasing very deep-rooted stresses indeed.

What happens is that as we pick up the syllable, the mind begins to enjoy subtler states of the syllable. The mind and body enter a unique physiological state of restful alertness that we call Transcendental Consciousness (Dr. Coppola and I have submitted a new paper to several psychology journals on the relationship of restful alertness with Self-Actualization).

As the body and mind acquire this state of consciousness, the nervous system begins to dissolve stresses. As the stresses dissolve, we have various sorts of experiences associated with those stresses. One kind of stress release experience is an apparent loss of awareness, the "gaps" you have described. It isn't that the mind has stopped functioning during these gaps, but that certain kinds of stresses prevent the nervous system from maintaining normal alertness, normal awareness, at those times. Hence our apparent loss of consciousness.

The style of stress release that happens during the gaps is very profound. It is the dissolving of the illusion of the subconscious mind. When these stresses are gone, alertness will remain no matter how deep our consciousness becomes. Instead of being unconscious, the entire range of the mind will become accessible to our awareness. Another way to say this is that we will maintain awakeness or awareness even when the mind is filled with the wholeness of inner silence and joy. This gives us tremendous mental energy to use as we please in our daily activities.

All that is needed is patience and continued practice. The result will be marvelous, and nothing short of fulfillment in life.

"it is rather enjoyable but with the change in seasons I don’t feel like spending more time than necessary meditating."

Yes, it is enjoyable to experience inner peace, and is also enjoyable to get rid of the blocks, to dissolve the stresses. However, I don't follow your reasoning concerning the change of seasons in relation to spending time meditating. Perhaps you can clarify this for me.

"As for side effects I have experienced a slight dull headache on occasion but have increased my rest time coming out which seems to have solved that problem."

Yes, that is the usual solution to such headaches. We need that transition between the depth of silence during meditation and dynamic activity afterward.

"The only other symptom I am experiencing is that I can become rather docile afterwards...so much for challenging the bliss."

No, the docility has little to do with challenging the bliss. Docility is a temporary symptom of stress release. It will go away with time. "Challenging the bliss" refers to diving into daily activity rather than sitting around feeling happy but accomplishing nothing. Challenging the bliss is a choice we make, docility is a temporary symptom. Let me know if this is confusing and I will explain it more deeply.

"Do you think this could be a personal reaction with the mantra?"

No. Everything you are experiencing is well-understood as resulting from stress release, which is the desired result of effective meditation. Nothing you have reported indicates that the mantra is incorrect in any way.

"All in all I would rate what is happening in my life as a result of NSR as very positive and only regret not finding it sooner."

That is very good.

"Do you think I would benefit from a phone consultation where all questions could be addressed as they come up?"

Yes, that is exactly why I offer them. Sometimes a private consultation is much more useful than a public one, and a phone consultation can be better than a text-based consultation. It depends on the individual.

David Spector
NSR Meditation/USA

Hello David,

Thanks for the quick reply. My comment on the change of seasons is simply this. I have been locked up in a house all winter and my preference would be to meditate then get out and do some gardening or go for a bike ride. This also applies to my comment on challenging the bliss...get moving after my session as opposed to sitting around docile.

I visit this forum on a regular basis and have found good information in others posts but I do think I will put together my list of questions and do a personal consutation.

One more question. How does one know when they are ready for the advanced course?

Kevin

KevinAnonymous#1,

I think I understand the feeling of wanting to get on with life and not spend a great deal of time sitting in meditation.

However, consider an architect who doesn't want to waste time building basements and sub-basements. Their skyscraper will fall when the first windstorm hits it.

Or consider the archer who doesn't want to spend the time pulling back the bow all the way. Their arrows will not be propelled forward with maximum strength.

These examples make it clear that adequate preparation is the key for success.

If we experience huge "gaps in consciousness" that last up to an hour, it might seem more useful for our life to search for a way to cut down on this 'lost time'. However, this would be as incorrect as the architect who doesn't want to build downward or the archer who does not want to pull the bow in the opposite direction from the target. When our body and mind are telling us that we must stop, rest, and allow the stresses to release, it is best to pay attention. Failure to pay attention to what our mind and body are telling us will result in much slower progress, or even in the creation of problems in life.

It does sound like you have a number of questions that could best be answered by a personal consultation. Sometimes it is like that, with many questions coming all at once. Other times, there are no questions, just quick progress. That is the nature of life on the road to fulfillment.

It is difficult to say what criteria are important for determining when a person is ready for an NSR Advanced Technique, because this is such an individual matter. This may also be a good topic for a personal consultation. In general, you are ready when you have been having comfortable meditations with no problems for at least one year, benefits in daily life, but a feeling that you could be progressing faster in some way. Yes, I know that is vague, but I did say it was an individual matter...

David Spector
NSR Meditation/USA