Thank you for answering our questions during this difficult period for you, and please accept my continued best wishes and prayers.
I'd like to ask about an experience I had a couple weeks ago while practicing the meditation technique Evelyn Underhill describes in her book Practical Mysticism.
After several months of working to focus the attention, I started being able to clear away 'big' thoughts and then 'small' thoughts until I was able to simply look at myself, as Underhill describes. I suddenly felt my entire body tingling, a sense of being cold and hot at the same time, almost wanting to go into tears, a slight sense of sexual arousal (but which wasn't really the same thing as that), and a kind of strange widening or clearing that is hard to describe. This lasted for about five minutes or so and I could feel myself wanting to shut it down because it felt quite strong.
That night it was hard to sleep, and I had tachycardia, palpitations, and an irregular pulse, which was a little alarming.
I was able to get into the same state right away during meditation the next day, but because I'm worried about these cardio symptoms, I've been intentionally lessening my meditation practices. These experiences ebbed off after a day or two and haven't occurred since.
I have doctor's appointment this week to ask about the tachycardia and the irregular heartbeat (neither of which are noticeable anymore).
The experience didn't have the character of afterwards permanently affecting my consciousness in the way some of William James' examples describe, or causing a change in personality. Indeed, in the days afterward there was ego inflation, which I kept an eye on.
I went searching through past Magic Mondays, and found a question from someone else who seemed to have a similar experience. That commenter talked about feeling like being filled by lightning, which was a great way to put what I had experienced. Here's the thread in question: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/179202.html?thread=29076994#cmt29076994
You replied that it could have been a low-level kundalini awakening. I remember your past comments that kundalini awakenings can be dangerous, but I don't practice kundalini yoga, so I don't know if what I experienced was something different? It may be that what I experienced was what was intended to happen as part of Underhill's technique, but I'm nervous about the potential dangers.
If my doctor finds no cardiovascular issues, is it a matter of following your advice in the comment above, and continuing to meditate without grasping for that type of experience?
I've also been doing the Inner Grail working from the DMH about once or twice a week for about a year and a half now, in case that is relevant.
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Thank you for answering our questions during this difficult period for you, and please accept my continued best wishes and prayers.
I'd like to ask about an experience I had a couple weeks ago while practicing the meditation technique Evelyn Underhill describes in her book Practical Mysticism.
After several months of working to focus the attention, I started being able to clear away 'big' thoughts and then 'small' thoughts until I was able to simply look at myself, as Underhill describes. I suddenly felt my entire body tingling, a sense of being cold and hot at the same time, almost wanting to go into tears, a slight sense of sexual arousal (but which wasn't really the same thing as that), and a kind of strange widening or clearing that is hard to describe. This lasted for about five minutes or so and I could feel myself wanting to shut it down because it felt quite strong.
That night it was hard to sleep, and I had tachycardia, palpitations, and an irregular pulse, which was a little alarming.
I was able to get into the same state right away during meditation the next day, but because I'm worried about these cardio symptoms, I've been intentionally lessening my meditation practices. These experiences ebbed off after a day or two and haven't occurred since.
I have doctor's appointment this week to ask about the tachycardia and the irregular heartbeat (neither of which are noticeable anymore).
The experience didn't have the character of afterwards permanently affecting my consciousness in the way some of William James' examples describe, or causing a change in personality. Indeed, in the days afterward there was ego inflation, which I kept an eye on.
I went searching through past Magic Mondays, and found a question from someone else who seemed to have a similar experience. That commenter talked about feeling like being filled by lightning, which was a great way to put what I had experienced. Here's the thread in question: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/179202.html?thread=29076994#cmt29076994
You replied that it could have been a low-level kundalini awakening. I remember your past comments that kundalini awakenings can be dangerous, but I don't practice kundalini yoga, so I don't know if what I experienced was something different? It may be that what I experienced was what was intended to happen as part of Underhill's technique, but I'm nervous about the potential dangers.
If my doctor finds no cardiovascular issues, is it a matter of following your advice in the comment above, and continuing to meditate without grasping for that type of experience?
I've also been doing the Inner Grail working from the DMH about once or twice a week for about a year and a half now, in case that is relevant.
Thanks in advance for any advice!