Paramhansa Yogananda talked about "Condensation"
- By concentration you can condense each experience and garner whatever wisdom is to be learned from it.
- By condensation of individual experiences you can compress all your experiences, and the wisdom they contain, into a shorter length of time and thus gain much more than if you go through life haphazardly.
Is there a step by step process to achieve this "Condensation" other than the meditation practices (Kriya, Hong-Sau, Om) provided ?
—Vivian, India
Thank you Vivian. This is a very thoughtful question.
Yogananda spoke of Kriya and these meditation techniques as “the airplane route to God.” As a young man he practiced a wide variety of techniques and felt that Kriya Yoga (all the techniques) was the best in that it would greatly accelerate spiritual evolution. He said the ONE KRIYA is equal to one year of natural living, qualifying natural living as healthy, right living. So this is a priceless gift that we have been given. Meditation overall so concentrates our focus and expands our awareness that our ability to be clear, choose rightly, and act from a place of inner freedom is greatly enhanced. In this way we can operate in greater wisdom and, as you say, glean the most from our experiences in life.
Having said this, Yogananda also made the suggestion of daily journaling our experiences. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy, detailed process. Highlighting key observations, insights, lessons, is the idea. It can help us to observe patterns and habits and trends of thought. Being aware in this way can help us to institute changes in our behavior and attitudes.
Here follows a wonderful exercise which Yogananda gives in his book, “Metaphysical Meditations.”
“With undying concentration and devotion, pour your consciousness through the spiritual eye, into Infinitude. Release your soul from the confines of the body into the ocean of Spirit.”
I hope that this is helpful for you.
Many blessings, Maria
