Night Birds

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• 1. Purification of thoughts and emotions
  Practice purifications
• Yamas
• Non-violence
• Truthfulness
• Non-stealing
• Abstinence from sexual indulgence
• Non-possessiveness
• Niyamas
• Purity
• Contentment
• Practices for perfection of body, mind and senses
• Study for knowledge of the self
• Surrender to ultimate reality
• Brahma-viharas
• Friendliness towards the happy
• Compassion for the unhappy
• Delight in virtuous

..Cont/d
Swami Rama presented this tradition in its
scientific format
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• 1. Purification of thoughts and emotions
  Practice purifications
• Antidotes to disturbing thoughts
  Prati-paksha-bhavana
• Ward off thoughts opposed to yama, niyama and
  brahma-viharas
• Conquest of Vikshepas Disturbances
• Sickness
• Mental laziness
• Doubt
• Lack of enthusiasm
• Sloth
• Craving for sense pleasure
• False perception
• Despair
• Unsteadiness in the concentration
• and
• Accompaniments
• Grief
• Despondency
• Trembling of body

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• 2. Mindfulness Practice smrty-upa-sthana
• A deep self observation, in all states of body,
  breath and the mind
• 3. Breath Awareness 1st step in the Practice
  of Meditation
• Diaphragmatic breathing
• Slow
• Smooth
• Without jerks
• Without break in between breaths
• Breath awareness branches of to
• Nadi-shodhana
• Pratyahara
• Kundalini breathing
• Sa-garbha pranayama

The first meditative tradition
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• 4. Japa Understanding of sound vibrations
• Nine major stages of mantra practice
• With the awareness of the breath flow
• While performing daily tasks
• Listening to ones mantra in the mind / anhata
  chakra
• With sumeru breathing
• Merging the mantra into the dot of the bija of a
  given chakra, then observing it emerge from there
  again
• Merging the mantra into the minds chamber of
  silence and then observing it emerge again from
  the silence
• Merging the mantra into the interior sound in the
  Cave of the bees, bhramara guha, again
  experiencing its re-emergence
• Using the mantra in the mental worship in the
  interior temples, manasa-puja
• Contemplating the meaning of mantra and unifying
  that with
• Manana
• Internal dialogue
• Using the mantra as bhakti experience

Most comprehensive, integral and all-inclusive
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• 5. Shavasana Enter ones own subtle body.
• May be used to
• Replace sleep
• Heal oneself
• learn, discover, plan and solve
• Master the art of dying
• Enter Samadhi
• 6. Dharana Concentrations, Pra-vrttis
• Various methods of concentration
• On various focal points in physical body
• At the chakra points
• In the tattvas
• As listed in Vijnana-bhairava (100 ways) and
  Malini-vijayottara-tantra (1300 ways). Even if
  not practised know the ins and outs

Given birth to major meditative traditions of the
world
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• 7. Dhyana Meditation proper
• Begins at the level of manomaya kosha. Enter
  kosha through
• Refining art of japa
• Subtler steps in breath awareness
• Concentrations
• Initiations
• Guru may pull the disciples mind to a higher
  degree
• 8. A qualified Preceptor
• Fulfill following requirements
• Knowledge of major yoga text
• Have practiced and initiated into major paths of
  yoga
• Be able to see the association between the
  Himalayan tradition and other paths
• Be able to study the personality type of a
  student to designate
• Complementary path (bhakti, jnana etc)
• Mantra or chakra concentration
• Progressive appropriate practices
• Have certain degree of transmission power

Does not require adherence to belief system
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• 9. Transmission
• Tradition has been passed on experientially in an
  unbroken chain of master disciple relationships
• Transfer shakti to those being taught
• Create common mind-field
• Induce meditative state by mere presence and
  voice

Unbroken lineage
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May you receive the grace of the Himalayan Lineage