Time management

[Newoldsoul]

We all live busy lives in varying degrees. I'm up at either 4:00 a.m. Or 4:00 p.m. O get ready to be at work by seven. Twelve hour shift rotating nights and days. My days off i still wake up early and have plenty to do but i try to set aside time for myself each day to meditate 'properly' and work on my aping. At least a half hour a day. That being said is there a standard or recommended time frame one should devote to such excercises? I feel as if my experiences would be much more than they are if i could work in more time. Recently read the account of Gopi Krishna. He was at it 3 hrs every day for 17 years before he had his full blown kundalini, whatever else it's called explosion! Not that I'm anywhere near ready for that kind of experience lol but for you guys here what's your routines or rituals and so forth? Just asking out of curiosity mainly

[Bluefirephoenix]

  First Gopi Krishna's experience is going to be different than yours. The Indian culture has beliefs and characteristics which shaped his experience. Read  this thread. You can see the experience transcends culture but appears differently according to that culture. http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_chat/ecstasy_of_saint_teresa_or_how_i_came_to_experience_primal_union_with_creation-t45140.0.html;topicseen 

I used to work the same shift rotation. You have alternating 4 days and 5 days off correct? 2 days and 2 backshift. The 2 day shifts were a loss but the first backshift day I would work early then take a nap. The second backshift day I would take a nap then work, then return to my normal schedule of am and pm work. If you have the beans to do it when you get up if you get up a half hour earlier that is enough. Usually the second day I was too tired to do anything but eat and sleep.  My sessions never exceeded an hour but my meditation was very focused. Experiencing unity with God which is what Krishna's account was about is a beautiful and worthwhile goal for the spiritual work. If your meditation is focused on seeking that union and looking within you to find it, then you will.  Your focus inward needs to be steady with a still and open mind and heart. It's difficult to maintain that state for much longer than an hour.  I was not disabled for a year after the unity happened. I was off my feet for a couple days and back to work within a week.
That work schedule is probably the best for doing psychic development. It allows a considerable space of free time to work with.

[Newoldsoul]

In the end though it is the same experience only colored or interpreted differently through cultural conditioning and belief systems right? I work a 2-3-2 schedule. Two weeks nights two weeks days. Alternating wknds. My off days are far more effective as I have more time on hand sometimes and i'm generally in a better mood lol. My colsest experience of this sort was not quite as physical in nature and was fairly spontaneous. I was lying in bed and had been mentally praying throughout the whole day and then laid down and probably ten minutes in i was completely overwhelmed by shaking and rocking and vibrations and sounds of roaring and thunder and then the light engulfed me completely...idk how to put it into words to do it any sort of justice but it was incredible. I knew whatever was happening my body was being transformed somehow and every cell and fiber in me was being assessed and repurposed. I got the sense afterwards that what happened was i was at the threshold of truly experiencing God to the fullest extent, like i had been shown a pinhead's worth of power and bliss and that that was my goald and all the proof I needed to know. I could feel the tears being sucked out of my eyes and i was reborn in that moment. God had graced me with his presence one on one and it was a warning as much as it was a reassurance and direction. Yes i want to go back and experience more but i know that it is ill advised as i am not prepared for a more in depth personal encounter just yet. Anyway i was able to move immediately after it left me and ever since my focus is on God when i meditate. I just hope for now he allows me to take baby steps and not bite off more than i can chew until i'm surely ready.

[Xanth]

In the end though it is the same experience only colored or interpreted differently through cultural conditioning and belief systems right?

Nope.  That "coloured" and "interpreted differently" is only the icing on the cake in regards to why it's not even remotely "the same". 

This is something that people need to understand... you CAN NOT have someone else's experience.

Your experience is yours.  It can never be the same or even "close" to what someone else experiences.

Experience is as individual and unique as your fingerprint.

This is why asking others what technique or method to project works for them is a completely useless question.

[Bluefirephoenix]

What Xanth just said needs to be taken seriously. Reading other people's experiences can be beneficial only IF you understand that. I think that the tendency is to want to follow someones path because it's easier and hopefully more consistent. It's a known.. The fact is when your doing this your going into the abyss. It is possible to do this but the experience may not be as deep or satisfying as going into it blind and open. Hinduism and Yoga obviously have had some success with the " following the guru" thing or the institutions would not be so well established or long lasting. But the formula may not be the best thing for you. ...My husband encouraged me to take instruction directly from spirits. His advice plus his credibility in esoteric things is the best advice I've received or can give as far as earthly advice is concerned. The very best thing is to ask God ... however you view that being to help you find him. Rather than separating your work out consider intigrating it into your search. What truth is to be found there? Can you see God in the other people there. How are we all connected? Working continues what you do in the quiet of your home. It allows expression of the love and joy you find when you find God. It may provide confirmation that things really are changing and that your changing.