Life-Giving Powers of Vishoka Meditation

Embark on a transformative 40-day journey to deepen your Vishoka Meditation Level 2 practice. Engage in weekly live sessions featuring profound insights and guided practices by Panditji and Ishan.

Delve into the essence of Vishoka Meditation, unlocking the hidden powers within your body and senses as taught by Sage Vasishtha and refined through Yoga Sutra wisdom.

Conclude this enlightening journey with a 4-night in-person retreat in Honesdale, blending lectures, practicums, and personal practice in the serene surroundings of the Sri Vidya Shrine and Adi Pitham. Join us, whether in person or online, for a unique exploration of advanced meditation practices.

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Part 1

Vishoka Meditation Level Two 40-Day Practice

May 28 to July 2, 2024 — Online

Assimilating and refining the practices of Vishoka Meditation Level 2 through sadhana, svadhyaya and satsanga is the key to progressing from Level 1 to Level 2. In this 40-day practice, we will systematically work through all the practices we received in VM Level 2, and reflect on the key underpinnings of the practice.

Every Tuesday for 6 weeks, we’ll have a live 90-minute lecture and Q&A session with Panditji and/or Ishan, covering a key topic or practice focus area related to Vishoka Meditation Level 2, as well as a guided practice. You’ll receive a weekly practice and self-reflection assignment which you’ll do from home.

Key Topics:

Week 1: Guru Chakra and the Revelation of Pranava
Week 2: Prapancha Vyapti: Immersing Ourselves In Pranava Awareness
Week 3: Pranava Anusandhana: Allowing Prayatna Shaithilya To Concentrate And Stabilize Pranava Awareness
Week 4: Pranava-centric Meditation on the Lotus of the Heart
Week 5: Maha-Hrida Anusandhana and the Rise of Mantric Awareness
Week 6: Vishoka-centric Mantra Meditation & the Meaning of Ishta Mantra

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Part 2

Vishoka Meditation Level Two Retreat: Life-Giving Powers

July 12 to July 16, 2024 — In-person and Online

Vishoka Meditation Level 2 is a distillation of the practices and experiences presented in the Vibhuti Pada of the Yoga Sutra. The Vibhuti Pada is the repository of siddhis, the extraordinary powers hidden in our body, mind, and senses, and in the natural world. In the Life-Giving Powers of Vishoka Meditation, learn the Vishoka-centric techniques to discover the extraordinary powers buried in your subtle body, beginning with the one that is unique to the manipura chakra.

This program is based on the direct teachings of Sage Vasishtha to his beloved student, Rama, and the experientially super-rich dialogue between Shakti and Shiva. These teachings are extracted from the scriptures Yoga Vasishtha and Svacchanda Tantra. Both sources are further refined by the wisdom of the Yoga Sutra, and transmitted to you through the conduit of Vishoka Meditation.

Offered as an immersive 4-night in-person retreat in Honesdale, Part 2 of this program is a rare opportunity to study and experience the advanced practices of Vishoka Meditation with Panditji in person. This experiential retreat combines lecture sessions with practicums, group practice, and personal practice in the Sri Vidya Shrine and Adi Pitham. This retreat will also be available live online for those who are unable to attend in-person.

Key Topics:

Session 1: Discovering the Well-Kept Secret of Vishoka Level 2
Session 2: Two Sources of Suffering—Vyadhi (Physical Derangement), and Adhi (Mental Derangement)
Session 3: Science and Mysticism Surrounding Vishoka Meditation
Session 4: Suprashanta Pranayama — Building Upon the Practice of Vishoka Meditation Level 2 (Lecture and Practicum)
Session 5: Questions, Answers, Discussion, and a Plan for Our Ongoing Sadhana

Part 2 Session Details

Session 1: Discovering the Well-Kept Secret of Vishoka Level 2

• Major sites in Vishoka Meditation and their access and exit points
• Discovering the hidden terrain of Vishoka —Vashistha’s instructions to Rama
• Relationship between chitta samvit and pranic pulsation and the pulsation of mind
• Importance of stilling the pranic pulsation and its role in eliminating vasanas
• Relationship between Ishvara and pranava, and how a list of non-meditative techniques relate to meditation on Ishvara/pranava.

Session 2: Two Sources of Suffering—Vyadhi (Physical Derangement), and Adhi (Mental Derangement)

• Relationship between physical and mental derangement
• The example of mental derangement and aggravation leading to ailments in our bodies
• Patanjali and Vyasa on how subtly forces of illness are conceived in the mind and are eventually delivered to the body
• Two categories of vyadhi, physical ailment: samanya, general/secondary/ordinary; pradhana, primary/original/developed over multiple lifetimes.
• Vishoka-centric cure for vyadhi and adhi
• Meditating at the transitional spot in the space marked by the doorways of the sun and moon: the key point of Vishoka-centric healing

Session 3: Science and Mysticism Surrounding Vishoka Meditation

• The secret of dvadashanta, the space 12 finger widths above the crown.
• Nishkala, absolutely still state of prana shakti, and four major bands of pranic pulsation/pranic streams arising from it.
• Synergistic and mutually supportive functions of four major bands of the pranic stream flowing back and forth between the upper and lower dvadashanta.
• Cause and effect of imbalanced functions of the four major bands of the pranic stream flowing back and forth between the upper and lower dvadashanta.
• Known facts of respiratory CPG (Central Pattern Generator) and its location in the brain.
• A yogi’s curiosity — why, unlike the rest of the brain, the region corresponding to the respiratory CPG is not protected by the blood brain barrier.
• Suprashanta pranayama — the cornerstone of the higher practices of Vishoka Meditation and the siddhis described in the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra.

Session 4: Suprashanta Pranayama — Building Upon the Practice of Vishoka Meditation Level 2 (Lecture and Practicum)

• The goal of suprashanta pranayama: complete absorption in chidatma, pure consciousness.
• Where is chidatma: the state where neither has apana set nor prana risen, or, the state where neither has apana risen nor prana set, and the state which is the cause of endless chains of causes and yet is without a cause.
• Foundation for suprashanta pranayama: nishkampa kumbhaka, unshaking or motionless kumbhaka.
• Way to mastering nishkampa kumbhaka: ayatna siddha kumbhaka, effortless rise of kumbhaka.
• Application of nishkampa kumbhaka to initiate the practice of suprashanta pranayama
• Key to applying nishkampa kumbhaka: internal rechaka, internal puraka, and dissolution of both into each other leading to the effortless and spontaneous rise of nishkampa kumbhaka.
• Suprashanta pranayama, its application on the manipura chakra, the methodology, and its result.
• The application of suprashanta pranayama in the context of Vishoka Meditation as described in Svacchanda Tantra chapters 4 and 7, and Yoga Sutra chapter 3.

Session 5: Questions, Answers, Discussion, and a Plan for Our Ongoing Sadhana

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Prerequisite:

Vishoka Meditation Level Two: Meditation on the Lotus of the Heart (Summer 2023)

Recommended:

Mystical Powers of the Yoga Sutra (Vibhuti Pada)

Required Reading:

Awakening Power in the Yoga Sutra (Vibhuti Pada)