Esoteric

Glad I can help. No, it is a different author called Ennio Nimis. One of the authors on Leo's list recommends this author in his book and speaks highly of him and he is also friends with the other author on Leo's list. He has many many years of experience, is not dogmatic (imo), and just wants to release the knowledge he has accumilated over the years. He also answers mails if you have questions regarding your practice.

It has all the same techniques basically. Though the big Kriya book on Leo's list probably has more, but most of them you don't need, imo. Don't get fooled because it free. It is very high quality. I recommend you read all 4 parts if you are serious about this. View it as a book that contains a variety of techniques. Try and experiment with a bunch of them for awhile and keep the ones you like and keeps you doing the practices. Don't be in a hurry. Though definitely always stimulate the root chakra first and obviously always do Kriya Pranayama. You will understand as you read the book.

In my post above I link to a book that is free by Ennio Nimis. It has all the info to get a good practice going. It is, imo, one of the best books on Kriya Yoga available. Some of the books on Leo's list are available on kindle. You don't have to disturb people while doing it.

Ennio Nimis has a free book on Kriya which is great. In the third pdf there is a great technique that you can follow. Not complicated. Since you will have no supervision it is also good because you will start with completely natural breath. So you won't stress your nervous system by mistake, which I believe a lot of newbies do by breathing incorrectly. http://www.kriyayogainfo.net/Eng_Downloads1.html

This is something you have to decide for yourself. But don't place all your bets on that it will heal your trauma. Gabor Mate was recently on Brand podcast. Was very interesting. He talks a lot about trauma. He also mentions Ayahuasca. Might be worth checking into for healing trauma. Or psychedelics in general. It won't automatically fix your issues, you will actually have to do some serious emotional work and have courage to face what is coming up.

Also, you probably wouldn't ask strangers on a forum whether you should end your life or not if you were truly enlightened. Why would care about our opinions? Sounds like you need some professional help.

@LeoIsMe69 Wouldn't it also be pointless to blow your brains out? What if you reincarnated as a blind paralyzed midget that will spend the whole incarnation being victim of sex trafficing to people that get off on blind paralyzed midgets? All because you blew your brains out and needed further lessons.

Here is the thread. It has all the info you need if you want to get started.

Look into the mega-thread here on Kriya Yoga. Daniel Odier is a good author who has books on various different tantric techniques. Christopher Wallis is a scholar and practitioner of Tantric Shaivism. I'd recommend to check out their work to get a good overlook.

There is no such thing as "a better technique". What works and resonates with you might be completely useless for someone else and vice versa. Experiment with a lot of techniques and see what works for you. Tantra Yoga has a huge toolkit of techniques for this very reason. Because if you keep experimenting with a variety of techniques you will eventually find one that sticks with you. And then you can make modifications that suites you even better. Have fun with it and be creative.

@Tarzan Hey, read the threads started by @ardacigin for some good pointers regarding concentration. For you who has just started out, the book The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa might be right up your alley as it will give you instructions on how to optimally raise your concentration in the beginning. I started with Vipassana 10 day retreat aswell. If you resonate with the technique and feel like you want to do it, stick with it. It is a good technique, imo. Focus on concentration in the beginning as well. Like the anapana practice you were taught.

Thanks, very interesting stuff! I will dive deeper into the book.

Thanks! I have done a fair bit of scanning due to my Goenka retreats so that will probably be my go to technique. I am early in the book so I guess more will make sense when I go deeper in it. But it raises the question, why divide your attention like that? Isn't the goal to reach one-pointed concentration, so why divide it using more than one technique? To keep the mind busier? Also what do you mean with introspective and extrospective awareness?

@abrakamowse Cool, thanks

So I have a vacation coming up in 2 and a half weeks. I am in the planning stages of doing a dark room retreat in my bathroom. I will cover the door glitchtes to make sure no light will penetrate. There is ventilation in the bathroom. I will not fast, just have dry fruit and nuts with me in. I was thinking 5-6 days. From a source I heard in the beginning you will just get accustomed to the darkness, you might sleep a lot in the beginning as a defense mechanism but after around 3 days you won't be able to. Then the mind will face the dark and eventually it will calm and that's when you start your practices. I am gonna to put on an alarm(s) outside for when to know when to get out. So any advice would be helpful. Has anyone been on one or done one themselves? What should I be wary of? I expect this to be hard.

Yeah. Regarding responsibility, I feel a lot of people fall into the trap of saying "fuck responsibilty and morals". It is an ego mechanism. It's basically lazy people who don't want to take any responsibility in life and don't want to do hard introspective work. So they hide behind the nihilistic approach, not aware they are just deluding themselves.

This is common in Kriya Yoga aswell. Kechari Mudra. Though you don't need to cut the frenum, there are techniques that will stretch and loosen up the "string". I keep re-falling in love with India on a daily basis. What a place, huh?

@abrakamowse How have I missed this site? This is a great resource

Mistake post

@abrakamowse The Mind Illuminated

@ardacigin Hey. I've started reading Culadasa's book. Very good so far. One of those books you wished you read at the beginning of your path. I am going HARD on concentration right now. I also mix in Leo's concentration video. So I came up with the idea of using a vibration wrist clock. So you can set the timer for how many minutes you can focus and increase when you have mastered your set time. So you can use it out in public and work (and at home where there are no distractions of course) and when it's done it just vibrates on your arm without drawing attention. I recommend this for people. It makes it a lot of fun. I see great improvements already and you get used to being centered even in chaotic environments.

@Leo Gura Yeah I noticed that as well. I was seriously so tired from nuts and fruits by the 3rd day that I had to go to the grocery store and buy some real food. You live and learn. If I am going to try solo darkroom again I will do some serious planning way in advance.

@mkrksms Lol, it didn't go as planned at all. I was moving out of this apartment at July 31st. So I had the intention of using the whole apartment instead of just the bathroom. So me and my brother cleaned the whole place as you do when moving out. I left just a matress and a pillow in the place that. Bought dried fruits and nuts and made 6 bags for each day. 22-28th of July was my plan. After my brother left I went and bought ducktape and black garbage bags. But they didn't stick to the walls around the windows! It was like slippery surface, if you know what I mean. It was poor planning. So I did a regular solo retreat in those days. And it was for the best. I had the worst headache the 23th due to quitting caffeine. I had no idea I had built up such an addiction. So I really wasn't ready for a dark room retreat. I should be way more prepared. Was for the best. I will probably go to Germany at some point and do it under professional settings with people helping you. Haven't found any here. You thinking about doing one?

Yup ^^ It is like a different substance almost. Once you get over a certain amount (this varies for people, I start to go non-dual at 75mg. I've seen some people that can't seem to break through at all) it drastically changes in intensity and character.