Curious to know

[emjay]

@Rik

In your meditation does 'god' actually do anything - does it exhibit any sort of agency - or is it just a single object or point of focus/awareness like a light or whatever? Does Yoga meditation have similar aims as Buddhist meditation (apart from the god bit)... to lose 'attachment' to pretty much everything including the sense of self?

Yoga is all about reducing the distance that separate you from God.
As a drop of water that after so much trouble finally end up in the ocean she become the ocean.
There is no more distinction.
Now the drop of water is the ocean as the individual by merging in the ocean of consciousness
become God.
This is what yoga is all about.

Talking about Buddhism you got to be carefull.
Only a fraction of Buddhism follow what Buddha was teaching.
All the rest is religion which is worthless.  

Yeah, I know... I'm not interested in the religious/superstitious side of Buddhism at all, just what the Buddha actually said (allegedly obviously but still agreed upon... as I understand it... by all the different types of modern Buddhism)... the practical teachings on meditation and mindfulness etc. But whether he, or someone else, or even no single person said it doesn't matter because the whole point was that the proof was in the pudding... that it was not about 'faith' but seeing and understanding for yourself by observing your own mind. In other words if the message is good, learn from it, if not don't. Simple as that.

As to Yoga I see where you're coming from and it's a nice idea and probably something similar influences the idea of reincarnation in buddhism... a kind of shared stream of consciousness. But I don't agree with it... I don't believe in reincarnation or karma or anything past the death of the brain in this life. So what I see is mind-states in this life and nothing more... pretty cool mind-states and helpful psychologically but mind-states all the same... no matter how 'transcendent' they may seem. But that's just me.