Dark Night of the Soul

 

Dark Night of the Soul

Dark nights is something we talk in our sangha a lot. Our teachers and instructors speak about this in regular basis because one of the problems out there is that people are taught practices of various types but they are not told about how rough practice can be, i.e. the dark night phenomena, and so they get into trouble, scared, overwhelmed and so on. Rough periods in practice are actually a good sign and a sign that the practice works but when people don't know this and they don't know what to do and what not to do, they usually draw mistaken conclusions. They think that there is something wrong with them, with the practice, with the teacher and so on, some even quit practicing because they get so scared.

However, the real reason for dark nights is one's own subconscious mind and the core meaning of the practice is to illuminate the subconscious. What is under the lid is being purposefully shed light on and stirred with different practices so that this material can then be used as fuel for insight/vipashyana practice.

It should be understood that actually doing this is not a fun ride but... doing this correctly leads to freedom and happiness that does not depend on circumstances. This is the only way to know ourselves as fully aware and awakened beings, as buddhas, as christs... What practitioners should learn is their limits. This is very important. They should know what they are doing and how much they can do without getting overwhelmed.

In tantra, we use guru yoga to keep things balanced as the presence of the guru brings calm and clarity, and doesn't stir things. During dark nights, we have the instruction not to practice wrathful deities because if you do, they keep stirring up the subconscious and bringing more stuff to the surface. How much one can take and use for insight practice depends on the individual. Those who are ready and understand how the practice works can take big leaps very fast. Those who aren't that ready or don't have a clear view have hard time making sense of it all and practice feels like a burden. Regardless of which type of a practitioner one is, there should be instructions how to go about it.

As a general note that I have said over and over again, there are great differences between sutris and tantric methods. It seems to be the case that those who practice sutric forms end up with problems like insomnia, psychosis, digestive and typical dark night emotions like anxiety and depression much more often than those who practice tantra. Tantric retreats also have much more natural expression in the form of chanting, singing, dancing, talking and socialising than quietive systems where you are to keep your gaze low, not talk and socialise and just do a lot of silent sitting. I think that unless one is very advanced in practice and insight, you shouldn't do quiet retreats that contain a lot of silent sitting because this is not a normal situation.

Kim, 25.5.2021

Christine's Account of Stabilising the Natural State Without Tantra

Christine's Account

of Stabilising the Natural State 
Without Tantra

In May of 2019, I was contacted by Christine from Canada, who told me of her positive experiences with some core Pemako Buddhist-practices that she had learned through the internet. She was quite confident that she had in fact opened all of her 13 bhumis as taught in Open Heart Bhumi Model. She sent me a photo for bhumi analysis that I used to verify that her analysis was correct.

Christine's case is a historic one because she is the first person who got this far with Pemako Buddhist-practices without any tantric empowerments. She, no less than, stabilized natural state or knowing awareness (tib. rigpa) as her default mode of being. I have waited for a while to get a message like her's. All of our core practices have been openly available through the internet for a few years now, so anyone can and could use them for their benefit. Find more written accounts by practitioners from What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice.

-Kim Katami, 11.7.2019

Pemako Buddhist Sangha,
www.pemakobuddhism.com

Find Christine's first post here:

http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-first-person-who-opened-all-bhumis.html

Christine's Account

I am 48 years old, single and work as a lab tech in a hospital lab. About fifteen years ago, the stresses of the job, plus having to work with some "difficult" people led me to look into meditation as a way to cope, as well as to help get rid of the anxiety I have suffered with for most of my life. I took a one-day introductory class in meditation taught by a former Theravadan monk who introduced the class to basic mindfulness of the breath. From this experience I tried to develop a daily practice with limited success. Fortunately, the teacher gave us a list of local resources in our area to help us continue our practice, primarily there was insight meditation society that sponsored teachers from around North America to come teach at monthly weekend non-residential retreats. I started to attend these and had exposure to a variety of Theravadan Vipassana teachers. I learned a lot about Buddha’s teaching, and mindfulness practices at this time, but was still trying to establish a consistent meditation practice and was still struggling with the stress and anxiety in my life.

I also started to attend about two residential retreats (one to two weeks in length) per year. I found that these residential retreats really boosted my meditation practice. Yet, despite being able to sustain my concentration on the breath and experienced states of calm and tranquillity, as soon as I was off the cushion or returned home from a retreat I went back to normal, the stress and anxiety came back and even though I tried to maintain mindfulness in my daily activities once things got rough or I was triggered I went back to my reactive self.

My teachers did often talk about enlightenment as the ultimate goal of the practice, it wasn't clear how mindfulness led to that nor where the insight part of fit in. They also made it seem as though enlightenment was some far-off thing to happen in another life or if you became a monastic. I was still waiting to see a reduction in the suffering I experience, or have some hope of this ever happening.

Something changed in May of 2015, a day before the end of a two-week retreat, I was attending. In the middle of the night I experienced, which in hindsight I realized was crossing the Arising and Passing. This is a threshold moment in the Theravadan progress of the insight path which leads to the dukkha nanas (dark night) and potentially stream entry. I was fortunate that I had an interview with one of the assistant teachers the next day as I described my experience to her, she became very happy for me and said that this was a good thing and had something to do with the “progress of insight”. This was all she would say. Leaving the interview, I was rather confused and when I tried to continue the practice schedule my sits were plagued by restlessness and irritability. Before the retreat ended on the last day, I was able to get an interview with the primary teacher and as I described my experience again the teacher said she wouldn't confirm or deny whether anything significant had happened nor elaborate on the progress of insight the other teacher mentioned.

I left the retreat confused and frustrated, and I fell into a full-blown dark night, it was rough and I had no idea what was going on. I was highly irritable, had bouts of anxiety and depression, I was a mess. As I was going through this, I remember what the assistant teacher said about the “Progress of Insight”. This led me to an internet search where I came across Dharma Overground-discussion forum.

This site was a lifesaver for me, I was able to understand why I felt the way I did and suggested the best practice to do to find my way out of it by reaching stream entry. With this knowledge I practice with great determination and intensity and was able to reach stream entry by August 2015. I continued doing this practice, known as Mahasi Sayadaw noting and the following May in 2016 I reached what was called second path in the Theravadan map. Though I had noticed definitive changes in my sense of self, the way I perceived the world and was better able to deal with stressors, I knew I had more work to do.

I again continued with this practice with the aim of reaching third path, but over time I found that it wasn't really working for me anymore. The intense noting often left me tense, very irritable and more sensitive to external stimuli. I was constantly cycling in and out of the dark night, although it was never as bad as my initial experience with it, it never seemed to lead anywhere. This also created a lot of striving, efforting and comparing, which I felt was not conducive to good practice. I tried switching to a broader awareness but this often led to dullness, and sleepiness. I read several books on different practice techniques, some felt overly conceptual or analytical, or too hard for me to get into and none that I really enjoyed doing.

I was still frequenting the Dharma Overground-website and noticed a number of posts by Kim Katami about Pemako Buddhist-teachings. I checked out the website and read his first book "Awake! Handbook to Awakening." I was hesitant at first because it mentioned Guru Yoga and Dzogchen practices which I was unfamiliar with.

In October 2018, I had a week long self-retreat (with no teacher) coming up. Just the previous month, Kim Katami had released his second book, "What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice". Intrigued, I downloaded and read it, I liked what it had to say. I noticed the website had a link to a YouTube channel so I used some of those guided practices on my retreat.

I really enjoyed these practices and when I came home, I meditated daily using the guided mediations from the PemakoBuddhism.com-channel at YouTube. Primarily the “Introduction to Open Heart Yoga: Guided Practice” and the “Dynamic Concentration: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha”, as well as a number of other guided mediations to add some variety to my practice. I found that, compared to my previous mediation practices they were more relaxed, I didn’t suffer from dullness and sleepiness, and didn’t lead to irritability. I also felt like there was much less striving and efforting, it was though I could just listen to the guidances and the practice does itself.

I also like the idea that you can check for your own bhumi openings. At first, I wasn’t able to do this myself, but the more I did the practice the more I was able to notice subtle energies and tensions in my body. I believe I was able to detect the opening of the 5^th bhumi, and I was more certain about the 6^th. I noticed cycles between bhumis openings were there would be a build up of tension or pressure, then dark night and then I would often see a bright light and feeling of euphoria as the bhumi opens, with the subtle euphoria lasting a few days then it would repeat. I was detecting steady bhumi openings about 2-3 weeks apart. This increased my confidence in the practice, and as these openings occurred, I also noticed changes in myself. I was becoming more resilient to stress and less reactive to triggers. I became less concerned about what others thought about me (I have always been very self-conscious) and less prone to overthinking everything, as well as a general reduction in social anxiety and my general ‘day to day’ anxiety (yes, I had a lot of anxiety).

In May 2019, I had another week long self-retreat coming up and I had opened the 10^th bhumi a few weeks prior. Again, I had my mobile phone along with the PemakoBuddhism.com -YouTube-channel bookmarked, so I could listen to the guided practices. A few days into the retreat I woke up at night with some intense fear, a fear of losing my "self", a fear that I would disappear or die. I struggled against this fear telling myself that it will be okay. Then something shifted. I felt bliss and an incredible sense of peace, aliveness and clarity. The natural state seemed easily accessible as though it had become a default state. I eventually fell asleep, and when I awoke in the morning these experiences persisted. I checked my bhumis and it felt like I had opened my 11^th, the first mahasiddha bhumi. The 12^th and 13^th bhumi openings followed not long afterward and I was starting to get used to and appreciating my new baseline experience.

Now I have a more spacious awareness at all sense doors, and a feeling that there are no boundaries between my physical body and what is around me, like there is no separation between me and what I am observing. Before Pemako-practices I only had brief glimpses of this. Also prior to Pemako Buddhism, I used to be identified with my thoughts and emotions, be attached to views, and continued to have bouts of anxiety, but that has eased considerably. Along with access to the natural state there is a sense of stillness and bliss that I can easily tap into. I also found that at work, even though we are currently understaffed, I am much better able to handle the pressure which would normally make me feel overwhelmed. I think my coworkers are starting to notice this too.

Knowing that bhumi openings were not the end of the line, that I still needed to perfect them, I decided to learn Rainbow Body Yoga. I had the first empowerment in June 2019, and am really enjoying the new meditation techniques.

Update 8/2020: The shifts I experienced are stable, the natural state still feels readily available and the improvements to my mental health have persisted, such as the reduction in anxiety. I also feel that this is deepening as I continue to practice.

-Christine

That Was Emptiness!

That Was Emptiness!

There is little agreement between buddhist schools and lineages about what is what and the qualifications. Some have low standards, some high, some think they have high standards when in fact they have low standards. The point is that there is little consensus, so who can be considered an authority?

Anyway, buddhism is concerned with confusion and removing of it. That's all buddhism is meant to do and the way it is done, is through the emptiness principle. Emptiness or selflessness means that we come to perceive ourselves and all things in our mind, having no solidity, no entityness, no fixed existence. That's all. Everything else is just an elaboration of this core teaching. This very point removes all of our problems, because it removes all of our narrowminded selfing.

Stream entry is known by most schools of buddhism, although the names vary and the methods of getting there vary. For the sake of clarity and simplicity I'll call it awakening. What is awakening? What's the point of it?

We have basically two minds: 1. basic mind that is clear, pure, untainted and without confusion and 2. confused mind that is the construction of the self, in various forms. We are confused because we are stuck in the self-based mind, without knowing the basic mind and that the confused mind is actually also the basic mind. The purpose of vipashyana meditation, that is typical to buddhism, is to enable us to see that me, my thoughts, my emotions and my subtle body is actually the basic mind that is free and has no confilct. The purpose of buddhist meditation is to see and realise this simple fact. This realisation comes about through glimpses, awakening and integration. Awakening or stream entry is the first irreversible hit, or a blow, that causes the sharpest peak of our selfing to collapse, so that it won't reconstruct. This cannot be accomplished through calmning down meditation, although it is useful in the process.

An analogy of a glimpse, where a dog represents the basic mind that has no self. Imagine you are sitting in front of a small window, hoping to see the dog on the other side of it. If we haven't seen the dog, we don't know what to expect, even if we know other people's descriptions of it. Then, out of nowhere, the dog runs past the window. Swoosh! All we see is smudge run by. We are not completely sure how the dog looked because it went by so quickly but we saw it well enough to see that it had four legs, a tail, two ears and had the general appearance of a dog, just like the dog specialist said it would. This is a glimpse of the basic mind. It is something but it is not enough for us to see the dog well, so that we'd have certainty about the dog.

Awakening is different from glimpse. You sit behind the window again, hoping to see the dog, and then all of a sudden it comes, sits down, right behind the glass for a brief moment, during which you can see it perfectly for the first time ever, until it stands up and runs away again. Ah! That's it! That was the dog! Woohoo! Maybe you have such initial joy and wonder, many do. After the initial excitement passes, you realise that seeing the dog has somehow changed you. You no longer feel the same as before. Something is clearly different and its so much better now. You feel more you, freer, clearer, more natural, chest doesn't feel heavy and so on. It's all because you saw the dog, your true nature, without "you", the entity, in it. And because you did, it deconstructed your sense of self as an entity. That's why you feel different post-awakening. Now you gained unshakable certainty about the dog.

Whether we call this awakening, kensho, stream entry or anything else, is of no importance. The importance is on what it does to one's confusion and dissatisfaction, that, as I said above is the heart and soul of buddhism. What matters the most is how our confusion, or self, comes torn down, or seen through.

Now, some say that awakening is this or awakening is that, and are keen to deny if some single specific criterion is not checked. "You're still getting angry, huh? Well, that wasn't stream entry then". "You can't have your finger chopped off, without screaming on top of your lungs and becoming grudgeful against your abusers? Oh, you certainly didn't wake up!". As I said, there is little consensus but the way I see it, is like I explained above. What matters most is the selfless hole in the mind, that no longer has selfing in it, and that is also what is most meaningful for the person her- or himself. Whether one can read other peoples minds, walk on water, have light shining from one's heart, see past lives and so on, are just side dishes, somethign extra that you can do without. Emptiness is the main meal that fills the belly.

Al's Awakening Story

Al's Awakening Story

Read also:

Awakening by reading a book

Mark's Awakening

T's Awakening

Shane's Awakening

In order for me to explain how I came to use the Two-Part Formula (2pf) I need to explain a little of my journey with Buddhism and practice first. In 2012, aged 23 turning 24, I found myself feeling increasingly affected by anxiety and low moods. In a constant striving for something better and rarely being able to experience or live in the moment, I had quickly climbed to a management position at work (working in complex needs supported housing). I was still unsatisfied, I was stressed and life seemed to be gleaming little of the rewards and fulfilment that I had thought it should. I had been married for a year and my wife were planning for the future, and I was happy. Or at least I had all the pieces in place that I thought should have made me happy, but I still did not feel fulfilled. I felt like I was always chasing something that eluded me.

I had heard about Buddhism and had been mildly intrigued by it having had a political interest in Tibet and the Chinese occupation for some years since my teens. I started thinking more about what I knew about meditation and Buddhism and, despite being a rather staunch Atheist, wondered if this religion/philosophy might hold some answers for why I felt the way I did. I moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire in 2012 and started looking for Buddhist  groups to see what it was all about. I didn’t like the look of some groups that I had heard about, this all seemed too religious for me. Eventually I came across a group called DharmaMind which had a weekly meeting in Nailsworth.

I sat with this group weekly for the best part of around 18 months thereafter. I introduced my best friend to the group and attended a few of the monthly retreats that the group held in Birmingham. I also went for longer silent retreats at the Theravadan monastery, Amaravati. I became familiar with the teachings of Aloka David Smith and committed as fully as I could with the practice. I felt deep and significant changes in my life, learning from Aloka’s teachings and coming in to touch with my own Buddha Nature. Buddha Nature or awareness has always made sense to me, I liken it to those glimpses of peace and ease that I have felt when on walks in the woods; feeling in touch with other things and comfortable with myself. I have always thought that this could probably be explained scientifically, like through the body’s natural release of endorphins or similar. Or you could explain it more spiritually. I have come to think that it probably doesn’t matter, but that we can all relate to that feeling, regardless of the language we use. Buddhism, I feel, gives some really useful language and tools to understand these things. Meditation being one of those useful tools.

In June 2014 I became a father after 2 ½ years of trying to conceive and had been through some really difficult times. I tried to keep the practice going but my commitment took a knock with the speed and trials of family life. But also I think I was more contented with life and didn’t “need” my practice as much (unwisely this was probably just as it bearing fruits for me!). Inevitably my practice took a knock though and I had only a little contact with the DharmaMind group until Aloka died in July 2015. I sat on and off after this and found it even harder to find space and time after the birth of my daughter in November 2016.

Come to November 2017 and my wife and I had decided to completely up our lives, give up our jobs and move from Gloucestershire to Devon with the kids, to be closer to family. This brought many of its own challenges, as can be expected, and once again I found my own wellbeing taking a knock. I felt many of the old patterns of behaviour and reactions returning like I felt back in 2012. This time though I had a bits and pieces of a practice established and a knowledge of good teachings thanks to Aloka.

It just so happened that in January 2018 I saw a post on facebook announcing that the DharmaMind sangha would be merging with Open Heart and taking on Kim Katami as a teacher. As I looked at Open Heart teachings I began to feel very insecure and angry; it felt so different to what Aloka taught. I also had a feeling of being let down; I needed DharmaMind again and took it for granted that it would be there still exactly as I left it.

However, something about the ideas I read stuck. The main thing that really stood out was this insistence from DhamaMind Sangha members that they had had awakening experiences by following the 2pf as set out by Kim Katami. I couldn’t believe that it could be as simple as it seemed to be explained, but I also couldn’t not try it out for myself. Awakening I thought was something that could only be attained by someone like Aloka. So I started giving this 2pf a go.

Essentially, after trying 2pf for a few days and feeling quite profoundly different, I had to contact Kim and ask to know more about his teachings and 2pf as a practice towards awakening – and I had to apologise for some defensive language I had use responding to DharmaMind-Open Heart merger announcement! Humble pie was swallowed as I explained to Kim that basically “damn, I think you might be on to something here!”

Kim began guiding me through using the 2pf via email contact; his messages and instructions seeming to know exactly where to nudge, where to call out nonsense and when to motivate. Initially I began to notice slight differences in my day to day experience after using 2pf, a slight lightness to my interactions and one morning in particular the strong urge to want to laugh at just about everything I came in to contact with. Physically, I felt a very interesting sensation building with pressure between the eyes. This grew with intensity I felt profoundly the difference between the first mode – sitting in open awareness – to the second mode – of reinforcing the self. In the second mode the pressure between my eyes grew and grew and other physical sensations; heat beating fast, tingling energy running from the middle of the body up to the head. I had never felt anything like this before in meditation. In the last year or so in fact my meditation before this time had become so stagnant, and I was so tired from life with the kids, that more often than not I simply fell asleep during meditation.

After just under 3 weeks of using 2pf and after around 5 days of having contact with Kim directly for instruction I felt a real shift. My sitting meditation started to become very peaceful and light - albeit with this pressure between the eyes - and during my day, at work and at home, I felt more at ease, calmer. Then sitting one Saturday evening using 2pf it changed; the pressure between my eyes expanded to the most intense that it had felt and I felt what I can only describe as a “rushing” sensation in my whole mind and body; like I was squeezing through a tunnel into the present moment. And then I felt blissful. And then I felt very fearful . I knew something had happened, something had changed, but after reading other people’s accounts which seemed only to describe bliss and peace, the fear was quite unsettling.

I contacted Kim even as the fearful feeling ebbed away in the hour after. The fearful feeling lingered in the background the next morning as well. Although in addition to that, I felt a great calm also. Kim explained that he thought awakening had happened for me, but that in addition, I had also “struck a vein of fear”. Kim explained that this was not strange and simply was moving through “subject self” that the 2pf looks at and gone into “object self” . Connecting with this fearful emotion strongly was not new to me, but I had simply not expected it at that time.

As the next day wore on the fear subsided entirely, and what grew then and over the next few days to follow was a peace and calm and clarity that was both wonderful to behold, but also was really fairly mundane! It felt like an old friend that was back. Life was not different and my day to day was not different, but yet at the same time there was a base level to how the world looked and how I felt that was very different. This initial phase felt almost like I was carrying a little light around.

As the weeks have moved on this has definitely changed, and this “honeymoon phase” has definitely subsided. My life has also hit some turbulent times and has been very difficult, financially, emotionally, and with relationships, because of the changes to our lives that my wife and I have made moving our family. However, there is a stark difference to how these difficult times have played out for me. I have not felt swept up as I would have in the past, I have not felt that the negative experiences (which have been real and out of my control) have been so globalising. I feel that this new way of being – which is also not new! – has enabled me to remain grounded. I have also noticed the ability to look at other people far more kindly, even when they have been difficult. I have felt I have more readily been able to thank them for their lessons. I have also felt more open to and aware of my own habits and reactions and better able to “see” them, even if I’m not always able to stop them. I feel more confident than I ever have in my life and more at ease and in touch with myself than I have ever been.

- Al

Links

The Two-Part Formula: http://www.en.openheart.fi/113

Awake! -ebook, free: http://www.en.openheart.fi/114

How to Become Awakened-talks recorded in Dublin: Part 1 and Part 2.

Buddhist meditation and surrender

Buddhist meditation and surrender

Vipashyana, or investigative looking, is a form of buddhist meditation. Investigative meditation consists of various types of techniques. Also the target of investigation can vary from the usual elements appearing in the mind to subtle energies to awareness itself. The result of vipashyana practice is to see any appearing phenomena as impermanent and without self-entity.

Traditional vipashyana

This type of meditation is analytical, even calculative, by it's nature. This depends of the way it is applied. The idea is to look and observe one's mind, from the subject-self to many kinds of object-selves. Analytical looking, analytical investigation is reason or logic-based and has a mental flavour to it. It has everything to do with looking and seeing. Looking and seeing in turn are related to the physical area of the head, especially the eyes.

Here, I'd like to present an alternative way to apply vipashyana. This can be applied to any sort of mental, emotional or energetic phenomena. This can also be used in two-part formula that is used in Open Heart-method to produce awakening.

Instruction

When you affirm I-ness or when any type of self-based mental content arises, just surrender.

That's it. I'll explain this a bit.

Surrendering is more than relaxation although they are closely related. Relaxation can be done by the self, or me, but surrendering transcends the self. Transcending the self means entering selfless awareness. In this technique surrendering is done while experiencing self-based reaction. This is not about surrendering to buddhas or gurus but surrendering to fear, anger and pain, while not being identified with it. This is so because awareness or rigpa cannot identify with dualistic confusion. Surrendering cannot be done in an investigative manner from the head space. Surrendering is an all-encompassing experience. And this is the genious of using surrender in order to produce insight. Try and see what happens.

Surrender

A simple analogy of how surrendering feels like.

Imagine taking a shower with clothes on. Having clothes on in shower is something that is usually not done. At first it feels awkward and weird, as it feels foreign to release all self-based control, that can surely hide there with investigative looking, and surrender to pain and discomfort. However, as you are standing under the raining water, there is no point to fight it or resist it. Just release the effort together with all hopes and surrender fully to this new experience.

This is a simple technique but actually contains a lot. I think this is much better than the calculative ways of vipashyana. Just surrender to pain, wherever and however the dualistic delusion arises.

Thank you,

Kim Katami,

19.11.2016

Bhumi Study Series, Part 2: 6th bhumis with notes

Bhumi Study Series, Part 2

6th bhumis with notes

Bhumi Study Series presents information on many of the contemporary gurus, lamas and spiritual teachers, and their respective spiritual attainments, or bhumis. This study has been conducted by two founding teachers of the Open Heart-method, Kim Katami and Pauliina Katami on the basis of photographs available about the concerned persons. For more info on Open Heart, go to http://www.openheart.fi

Familiarizing yourself with the Open Heart bhumi-system is recommended, in order to understand what this series is about. Read "Stages of Spiritual attainment" and go through Kim Katami's video documentation on the topic to get a better picture of what bhumis are. Studying and understanding bhumis in this manner is a deep subject which requires meditation and analytical skills. One may or may not be able to discern the outcome of this study series without extensive practice experience. On the other hand, the differences are quite easily seen when studied attentively and when the information is offered in context as has been done here, where one may compare between teachers, right next to each other. The study has been divided into several categories. As the Open Heart-bhumi model is universal, it applies regardless of possible differences in methods used by distinctive traditions.

This Bhumi Study Series has been made public in order to bring awareness, lucidity and clarity to the present spiritual culture of the world by explaining and showing what many of our well known teachers have actually been able to attain. There is much confusion about this topic, so we wanted to clarify this matter from our part, for the benefit of all.  

May this study help and serve many in their understanding and study of the path of mind training.

Bhumi Study Series

Bhumi Study Series, Part 1: Before and after awakening, and 2nd-5th bhumisBhumi Study Series, Part 2: 6th bhumis with notes
Bhumi Study Series, Part 3: 7th bhumis
Bhumi Study Series, Part 4: 8th bhumis
Bhumi Study Series, Part 5: 9th bhumis  
Bhumi Study Series, Part 6: 10th bhumis
Bhumi Study Series, Part 7: 11th bhumis 
Bhumi Study Series, Part 8: 12th bhumis
Bhumi Study Series, Part 9: 13th bhumis  
Bhumi Study Series, Part 10: From Zero to Mahasiddha Bhumis
Extra: How to do Bhumi Mapping


Related posts:

• Awakened on their experiences
• Guidance to awakening @ Open Heart.fi
• Dalai Lama speaks on his awakening
• Heränneet kertovat kokemuksistaan (suomeksi)
• Heräämisohjaus @ Open Heart.fi (suomeksi)

6th bhumis with notes

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Note: "S", the person above, started regular Open Heart-practice, Tibetan Heart Yoga, in August of 2013. Before this she had practiced Hugging Saint Amma's IAM-meditation for a year. This was preceded by some reiki courses a decade earlier. Since 8/2013 until today 6/2016 she has practiced Tibetan Heart Yoga almost constantly, with some short breaks due to hard physical pains and aches. This has included all four levels of Tibetan Heart Yoga.

S awakened (1st bhumi) in February 2015 and proceeded through bhumis 1-6 during a time period of 1 year and 4 months. The total time frame for mind purification, including awakening, being 2 years and 10 months as mentioned above.

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Note: ”N”, the person above, started Tibetan Heart Yoga, exactly two years ago. He awakened with the two step formula (1st bhumi) 1½ years ago and since has been steadily progressing in his bhumis. Prior to this he had some hatha yoga experience but no regular training of any sort.

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

 

Bhumi 5/13:

 Bhumi 6/13:

Note: Karl, the person above, started regular Tibetan Heart Yoga Introduction practice, in January of 2016. Before this he had practiced meditative relaxation for some time and joined one 10-day vipassana retreat. Karl awakened (1st bhumi) in January 2016 and proceeded through bhumis 1-6 in a time period of 8 months. He reached 3rd bhumi by the time of his Tibetan Heart Yoga level 1 course and initiation in 6/2016. The total time frame for mind purification, including awakening, in his case was 8 months.

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Note: Tiia started Sundara Kriya Yoga daily practice on 09/2012. She hadn't practiced any other method before, only had done some hatha yoga and energy healing since 2009.  

Awakening (1st bhumi opening) took place on 04/2014. Kriya Yoga was switched to Tibetan Heart Yoga on 08/2014. 6th bhumi opened on 08/2016. 

Altogether it took 2 years 4 months to progress from 1st to 6th bhumi. 

She's practicing approx. 1,5 - 2 hours per day. She has three children and a daytime job. 

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

Bhumi 5/13:

Bhumi 6/13:

All people in this episode are Open Heart-practitioners.

   Thank you to all people who offered to use their pictures here!