3. Breath-related techniques🔗

Watching the breath continuously is a powerful and effective meditation. It has led more people to enlightenment than any other meditation. Watching the breath tremendously increases awareness. As awareness increases, inner awakening happens, and bliss follows.

Total Duration: 35 minutes

Sit in a completely relaxed position. Let your body be completely relaxed.

Step 1: Duration: 5 minutes Start observing your breath. Start witnessing your breath. Do not increase the length of your breathing. Just witness your normal inhaling and exhaling.

Step 2: Duration: 5 minutes Next, observe only the breath that goes in. Do not bother about the outgoing breath. Witness only the breath going in.

Step 3: Duration: 5 minutes Now witness only the outgoing breath, not bothering about the incoming breath. Witness with your full awareness only the outgoing breath.

Step 4: Duration: 5 minutes Now leave everything else and start witnessing only the gap between the incoming and outgoing breath. Be aware of your breath taking the turn. Be aware only of the gap between the incoming breath and outgoing breath.

Step 5: Duration: 5 minutes Now be aware of the incoming breath, the gap and the outgoing breath. Be aware of all three. Feel that your whole body is rejuvenated and alive. You are in a silence that is alive and energizing. You are vibrating with high energy.

Step 6: Duration: 5 minutes Now witness the gap between the incoming breath and outgoing breath. Be aware only of the gap. You may feel you are not breathing at all, witness that feeling also.

Step 7: Duration: 5 minutes Close your eyes and relax. Do not meditate. Just relax. Do not think actively of anything. Just let your mind settle down.

Relax and come out of the high-energy zone slowly. At the end of the five minutes, open your eyes very slowly.

3.2. Intelligence and energy in the neutral space between breaths Total Duration: 30 minutes Sit in a relaxed way. Close your eyes. Watch your breath – the incoming breath becoming the outgoing breath or the outgoing breath taking the turn into the incoming breath. Be aware of the neutral space where the breath takes the turn. This is the time when you are flooded with energy and intelligence, during the gap between inhaling and exhaling, and then again before inhaling.

Sometimes even a single desire can bring life to you. For example, you may be lying on the bed over the weekend, but you don’t feel like getting up. Suddenly you may remember some friend whom you wanted to see. This single thought can bring your whole body alive. You will jump out of bed and be ready to run. Whenever you are flooded with energy, be aware that it is happening only in this neutral zone.

In the same way, when something is taken away from you and you reconcile yourself to it, you are flooded with intelligence. If you lose something, immediately you are given some message, some understanding about life, and that becomes your intelligence. Be aware when you are flooded with intelligence.

In the neutral zone, you are flooded with energy and intelligence. If you can bring your awareness to these two zones, the whole day you will be constantly flooded with energy. When you watch both the gaps of your breath, when you are aware of both the gaps, you will be constantly flooded with energy and intelligence.

If you go a little deeper, you will understand one more important thing: every moment you have both thought and energy. The whole binary system of zero and one is based on only this duality of thought and energy, energy and thought, thought and energy, energy and thought - the two are directly related.

Actually, for a moment you will be flooded with iccha shakti, power of desire. The next moment you will be flooded with kriya shakti, power of action. One moment you will be flooded with energy, the next moment you will be flooded with intelligence. Constantly these two play the game. These are also the constituents of the whole cosmos - matter and energy.

Constantly in your inner space, matter and energy are dancing. If you can be aware of the gap, you will experience the eternal consciousness.

The power of desire and action are both dancing in your inner space. If you can be aware of the gap, you will achieve the gnana shakti or power of wisdom. The energy is constantly enjoying itself, expressing itself in your inner space. Just be a little aware of the gap and you will be flooded with the divine consciousness.

Total Duration: 30 minutes Sit straight, preferably on the ground. Close your eyes. Inhale and exhale as slowly as possible, as deeply as possible.

Step 1: Duration: 3 minutes Slowly, very slowly, put your attention only on the incoming breath. Be aware of the incoming breath.

Step 2: Duration: 3 minutes Now slowly, put your attention only on the outgoing breath.

Step 3: Duration: 3 minutes Now forget about the incoming breath and the outgoing breath. Slowly, very slowly, put your attention between the two breaths. Just be aware of the gap, the neutral space between the breaths. Keep your attention on the gap between breaths.

Step 4: Duration: 3 minutes Keep your attention between the two breaths. Relax in the neutral space. While you are in this space, in this consciousness, try to move either hand. While moving the hand, if you feel you have come out of that neutral space awareness, bring yourself back to the neutral space. Come back to the neutral space and move the hand again.

Step 5: Duration: 3 minutes Being in the same neutral space, without losing it, try to stand up. If you feel you are losing the neutral space, sit down. Come back to the neutral space again. Now, without losing the awareness of the gap, try to stand up.

Let your eyes remain closed. Once you stand up, continue to be aware of the gap between the breaths. Let your attention be between the two breaths, in that neutral space. Be where there is no mind.

Step 6: Duration: 3 minutes Keep your attention between the two breaths. Be aware of the neutral space. Without losing the awareness, try to move both hands very slowly. The important thing is to not lose the awareness of the gap.

Step 7: Duration: 3 minutes Relax. Be centered between the two breaths. Be completely at ease in the neutral space. Be aware of the gap. Without losing the awareness, slowly move your head. The important thing is to not lose the awareness. If you feel you have lost the awareness, bring it back and then move the head.

Step 8: Duration: 3 minutes Without losing the awareness, being totally centered between the two breaths, in the neutral space, try to move your feet. Be aware. Do not lose the neutral space. Be completely centered on the neutral space. If you feel you have lost the awareness, come back. Slow down. Center yourself in the neutral space. Let your attention be between the two breaths. Then, try to move your feet again.

Step 9: Duration: 3 minutes Without losing the awareness, slowly, very slowly, try to open your eyes. If you feel what you are seeing takes away your awareness, close your eyes and again center yourself in that awareness. Very slowly, be in that same awareness, in that same neutral space, and again try to open your eyes. If you feel you are losing your awareness, close your eyes and bring back the awareness. Center yourself in the awareness. Keep your attention between the two breaths. Keep your attention on the neutral space.

Step 10: Duration: 3 minutes Be in that same awareness and try to sit, wherever you are. If you feel you are losing the awareness, then wait, and center yourself in the awareness. Keep your attention between the two breaths and try again to sit without losing the awareness.

3.4. Awareness of the gap between breaths with deep devotion Total Duration: 21 minutes

This technique is to be done with a feeling of deep devotion. You may feel deep devotion to someone, you may feel deeply connected to someone in your life like god, master, parent, friend, teacher, a leader who inspired you, a person who contributed something memorable to your life. You can remember more than one person as well, even two or three people who mean a lot to you like your beautiful mother, your wonderful master, your favorite god or your beloved friend.

Close your eyes. Sit straight. Remember all the people who create a deep devotional feeling in you, who reside in your heart, to whom you feel deeply connected, who are inspirational sources for you, to whom you turn whenever you want to spiritually rejuvenate yourself.

Remember them or remember their contribution towards your life. Feel deeply connected to them with your whole being. Feel utmost devotion to that person or being. Allow your whole being to melt with devotion.

With this deep devotion, be aware of the gaps between the incoming breath and the outgoing breath. Between every incoming and outgoing breath, the Self shines through, the Truth reveals itself. That is why bringing awareness to these gaps is emphasized so much. The possibility of awakening to the Truth is tremendous when awareness is brought to these gaps.

3.5. Vipassana Vipassana means realizing the Truth step by step. There are three ways in which you can do vipassana:

Deep awareness of your body, your actions, your mind, your heart Duration: anytime, anywhere When you walk, when you move your hand, when you smile, do it all with awareness. Know perfectly well that it is you who is doing that action. Be alert. Not a single moment or movement should pass in an unconscious state. Not a single action should happen in your body without your awareness.

Just like your body, watch your heart and mind. Be aware of every emotion that rises in your heart. Be aware of every thought that passes in and out of your mind. Don’t have opinions, don’t evaluate anything. Just be a witness.

Watch your breathing Duration: anytime, anywhere Feel your belly rise and fall with every inhalation and exhalation. The navel, the source of your life energy, is in the region of the belly. So when you pay attention to the navel, you become aware of the flow of life energy in your body. As you become more aware of the belly, you will see that your heart and mind fall silent!

Watch the breath as it enters your body – at the nostrils

Duration: anytime, anywhere Be aware of the cool air in the nostrils. Feel the ease with which the breath enters and leaves the nostrils. Vipassana can be practiced both sitting and walking.

Sitting Total Duration: 60 minutes

Sit in a comfortable position, spine erect, facing straight ahead. Keep your eyes closed and breathe normally. Stay still without shifting positions.

Watch the rise and fall of the belly when breathing in and out. Don't concentrate on the breath, but calmly observe it. If you find other thoughts, feelings or physical sensations coming up, allow them. Witness them also momentarily and then return to watching the breath.

It is the process of watching that is important, not what you are watching. Witness everything.

Do this for 45 minutes and rest for 15 minutes.

Walking Total Duration: 30 minutes

Here your awareness is totally on your feet as they touch the ground.

You can walk in a circle or in a straight line of about fifteen steps, going back or forth. You can practice this meditation simply going from room to room in your house, or out in your garden.

The eyes should be lowered and focused on the ground, on the feet. Just as you watch the belly in sitting meditation, watch and be aware here of the contact of each foot with the ground. If other thoughts and sensations come up, allow them. Nothing is to be seen as a distraction. When you have finished witnessing the sensation or the thought, go back to watching your feet.

Do this for 20 minutes and rest for 10 minutes.

4. Powerful instant meditations 4.1 Acceptance Accept completely the inevitability of the present and future moments. You will experience deep restfulness that you can't even imagine.

Total Duration: 21 minutes

Sit straight in a very relaxed way. Close your eyes and continue sitting in this relaxed way without moving the body. Body movements will create thoughts. So if your body is stable without movement, it can take you to the deeper silence. Very consciously, with a strong decision, intensely, create an intention that you are accepting yourself just as you are this very moment, in the outer world and the inner world.

Tell yourself, ‘I have enough in the outer world - many wonderful possessions. I have enough in the inner world - many positive qualities. I am accepting myself completely. There is no need to develop myself in the outer world or the inner world. If I have ego, it is okay. If I have guilt, it is okay. If I have fear, it is okay. If I have greed, it is okay. Whatever others have told me about myself is also okay. I accept everything, right or wrong. I accept everything.’

Whatever objection your mind raises, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to accept this or that,’ at least accept totally that you are not able to accept whatever it might be. Accept that also!

Accept the present moment. Accept all the future moments. Whatever your mind imagines as the worst possible thing that can happen in your life, accept even that possibility for yourself. If it happens, you cannot avoid it anyway. It is inevitable. Understand the inevitability and accept it. The moment you can accept yourself completely, there will not be any further thought. The mind will be silent. Enjoy that silence!

This is a very powerful technique to strongly bring your awareness to the present moment. Duration: anytime, anywhere

Just Stop! was used widely by enlightened master George Gurdjieff.

Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop. Your cunningness is also one more impulse - one more impulse for your survival. You always think you will survive only if you are cunning and constantly on guard. Now suspend that cunningness. Be innocent and trusting.

Second step, whenever you have an impulse like hunger, anger, thirst or sneezing or any other urge to act, when it is about to happen or when you are about to act, just stop. Move to the space of ‘being’ from the space of ‘doing’.

Be free from the suffering of emotional memories

Duration: Not applicable Whenever you are stuck with some emotional memory, sit with it and meditate on it, consciously going into it. Whether it is fear or love or greed, go fully into it. Slowly, your inner space will be disconnected, purified from that emotional memory. As long as there is any energy or charge attached to that memory, continue to meditate on it. You will soon go beyond the memory and enter your inner space.

When you reclaim your inner space, you will be able to fall in love with the Whole, your heart will melt effortlessly. If you practice this a few times, you will see the Truth.

4.4. Change – the unchanging phenomenon Become aware that the unchanging consciousness is the ultimate reality.

Duration: anytime, anywhere

Understand the change that is happening and consume the change through the change. You will find the ultimate unchanging consciousness.

You are constantly changing eternal energy. Let you consume the constantly changing external world. Let the changing internal world swallow the changing external world. Let the chaos swallow the chaos. Let the chaos be covered by chaos. Let the chaos be filled by chaos. Become centered in the peaceful, deep, restful awareness.

Next, as a hen mothers her chicks, decide: I will mother this understanding of consuming change by change. Visualize constantly your internal changing mind, swallowing, grabbing the external changing world.

Whatever you do, trusting your internal world or your external world is going to involve trusting chaos. For example, you may think, ‘I need this beautiful, flowering plant in the corner of my house,’ and you set about organizing for that plant to be in the corner of your house. By the time you get the plant in position and start enjoying it, your whole state of mind would have changed. You may decide the plant belongs in a completely different spot! This is a very common experience.

Another example: say you decide to move. By the time you locate and buy the new house, suddenly you realize that you don’t want that house after all. Instead, you want to live in an apartment, or in the ashram!

Everything is constantly changing. Realize the internal changing reality and let it grab or swallow the external changing world. Then nothing will touch you.

Now you are trying to fix this or that. It is like trying to travel in two boats. You put one foot in one boat, another foot in another boat. You are trying to balance between these two boats. But this approach will never work. Just jump in and start flowing, start swimming with the current!

When you understand that both the internal and external are constantly changing, then consume this change through the change, and mother this understanding in your heart. You will see that the unchanging consciousness is the ultimate reality.

When you mother this understanding, you will experience tremendous strength. You will find that sincerity and intensity will be added to your life, to your being. When that sincerity and intensity gets added to you, it means you are living enlightenment!

Living enlightenment means living authentically. Living enlightenment means mothering authentic experiences, mothering authentic knowledge and authentic action.

4.5. Feel the aliveness inside and outside you

Experience an expanded consciousness Duration: 21 minutes

Close your eyes. Take a few moments to settle down, being very patient.

You are going to consciously practice awareness. First, start with the chair you are sitting on because it is the nearest object to you. Visualize you are alive inside the chair. Feel you are alive inside the chair you are sitting on in the same way you feel alive inside your own skin. However much you feel alive inside your skin, feel that alive inside the chair. The same life is radiating in the chair that is radiating inside your skin.

Feel the persons sitting around you, and feel alive inside each of them. Take a few moments to visualize with clear intention that you are alive in each and every person. Feel you are alive in everything - the walls, furniture, people, flowers, room, and even the floor.

4.6. Hollow bamboo This is a beautiful ‘emptiness meditation’. Empty out whatever is inside you, and be ready to receive the energy of the Divine. Become the Divine.

Duration: 21 minutes

Sit still in a calm, silent place. Just become aware of your body. Feel completely at ease with your body.

Now imagine that your body has become a hollow bamboo. Your whole body, your skin, your flesh, your bones, are all part of the bamboo. Inside this space, there is nothing but emptiness, hollowness, and silence.

Let your mind be passive. Don’t wait for any experience, just be.

Suddenly you will find energy pouring into you. When you make yourself hollow, when you no longer resist, the divine energy starts flowing into you. You become a flute for the music of the divine. If you are working with a master, become a hollow flute upon which the master can play.

At first you will be a hollow bamboo, then the bamboo itself disappears... and you become the divine! There is no more ‘you’.

4.7. Looking through the mirror at yourself Continuously energize and revitalize yourself

Duration: 10 minutes

Stand before a full-length mirror and look at yourself. Take a good look at yourself from the outside. You are the subject, and the reflection in the mirror is the object of your attention. You will feel your energy flowing towards the object. You are looking, and your reflection is being looked at.

Now imagine a reversal of roles. Imagine that your reflection is looking at you. This can be frightening at first. You are not used to thinking of your reflection in that way, as someone who can observe you.

Even if the feeling is strange and frightening, keep at it. In just a few moments, you will feel a great change. You will feel the energy flowing from your reflection towards you. You have now closed the circuit. By closing the energy circuit, you have ensured that the energy is not wasted, it is flowing back towards you. You are conserving your own energy for yourself.

Practice this technique for a few days, and you will feel a definite change. You will be more energetic, more centered, more at peace with yourself and with others.

You can practice this throughout the day, not just with the mirror and your reflection. Try it with anything or anyone you focus attention on. When you have passed your energy to something or someone, imagine it is returning the energy to you. You will feel the energy flowing back towards you, rejuvenating you, revitalizing you! You can even try this with the computer you work with all day!

4.8. Limb relaxation This is one of the fastest techniques for instant relaxation. Duration: as little as two minutes – longer if time allows

If a private space is available, practice this technique lying down. Otherwise, just make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Close your eyes. Take a big, deep breath. You are going to be holding your breath, so breathe in as deeply as possible.

Holding the breath inside you, start clenching or tensing your limbs one at a time. Start with your feet and ankles, then move upwards to your calves, your knees, then tense your bottom. As you move upwards, do not loosen the previously clenched part of the body.

Now move up to your waist, then to your stomach. Tense your stomach muscles as tightly as possible. Automatically, your groin muscles will also get tensed.

Next, move upwards to your chest and back. Tense all the vertebrae along your back. Tense your arms and hands, starting from your fingers and moving up to your biceps. Tense your shoulder blades, your neck and throat muscles. Especially hold the tension in your neck muscles. Move to your face. Your face has more muscles than you are aware of. Tense the muscles in your mouth, nostrils, eyes, eyebrows, forehead and cheeks. Squeeze your eyelids shut. Clench your teeth. Screw your whole face into a tight ball. Remember not to relax the rest of your body during this time.

Stay in this state of tension for as long as you can. When you can't hold your breath any more, expel it in one big gush, simultaneously relaxing your body utterly.

Stay in this state of physical and mental relaxation for a minute. This technique relaxes both the body and mind and refreshes you in just two minutes. If time allows, repeat the process three times.

4.9. I Am Be thrown back into yourself – and glimpse who you truly are! Duration: anytime, anywhere

This is a technique to be aware of your self at every moment, in every action. All you have to do is remember yourself, remember I am - when you are eating, drinking, walking, talking. Be aware that I am and discover within your self an ever-living current. All your entertainment is nothing but trying to forget yourself. Do not try to forget yourself. Trying to forget yourself will only add more and more difficulty to your life.

Whatever you know about yourself or whatever was taught to you about you, try to relax from it. Just remember I am.

Self-remembering is not thinking, it is simply awareness. If you think I am, you have missed the point. That is what we usually end up doing – repeating the words, I am, I am. The words are not the experience. Don't verbalize. Just feel, I am. You don't have to think about your body, your mind, your status or your position, no thinking is needed.

When you are walking, stop for a moment and be aware that you exist. When you touch something, just feel the sensation. When someone touches you, feel the touch, and feel the one who is being touched – that is you. Your consciousness will become sharper.

Carry this awareness with you everywhere. Be aware that you are experiencing the sun on your face, the wind in your hair. Be aware of the one who is experiencing. Just feel, I am. For a moment, you will be thrown back into yourself. You will catch a glimpse of deep silence, of reality.

This meditation is drawn from Zen. The Zen word 'zazen' means 'just sitting'. The most difficult thing is to just sit, doing nothing! Your mind will come up with all kinds of arguments, reasons, or excuses for not doing this technique.

It will try to convince you that it is a sheer waste of time. If you persist, the mind will become sleepy, it will daydream, it may even start hallucinating.

The whole purpose of this meditation is to let the mind play all the tricks it wants. One day the mind is simply going to get fed up with playing these tricks on you. The mind will eventually realize that it can no longer control you with its games. Then the mind will simply drop of its own accord.

For this meditation, you can sit anywhere you will not be disturbed. If there is too much movement, it might disturb or distract you. Find a comfortable posture in which you feel you can stay without moving for at least half an hour. Use a mat or cushion if required. When the body is unmoving, the mind also falls still.

Keep your spine straight. Use support if required, but try to do without it. Rest one palm inside the other, with the thumbs touching to form a circle.

Watching nature is a good choice. Even from indoors, you can watch the sky through the window. Or you could sit facing a plain, white wall. Or you could simply face a corner of the room.

Don't focus your attention on anything. Let your eyes be half-open and unfocused, with your attention diffused. Let your gaze rest softly in the distance. This will relax you. Let your breathing be relaxed and natural.

Remain alert and aware. Be receptive without allowing your attention to focus on any particular thing. Be present in the moment, moment to moment.

In the beginning it will be difficult to just sit, doing nothing. But in a few days you will start enjoying this tremendously. Layer by layer, you can actually begin to feel the mind drop. Finally, one day the moment will come when the mind drops altogether. You will glimpse the state of no-mind.

4.11. Awareness while eating, drinking... Increase your awareness

Duration: whenever eating or drinking

Normally we don’t chew and eat food, we just gulp it down our throats. We hardly taste the food.

Now whenever you eat, eat with awareness. Taste it completely. Become the taste. When you really feel the sweetness of the food, you can feel it not only in the mouth but also in your entire body.

While drinking water, feel the coolness of the water as it goes down your throat and into your stomach. Close your eyes and drink it slowly, enjoying every sip. Feel the coolness intensely, not only in the mouth but also in the entire body.

4.13. Say ‘yes’ Soften, melt, and surrender – to the higher intelligence Duration: anytime, anywhere

If you notice, almost all the time, you like to say ‘no’ – it gives a solid feeling to your personality, your ego. Saying ‘no’ makes you feel you are somebody. Saying ‘yes’ makes the ego feel inferior, subservient to someone.

Now try to exactly reverse this. Decide for the next twenty-four hours, you will start with saying ‘yes’ in every situation. Watch how the ‘no’ just jumps up at the slightest incentive. In any situation, your mind will feel like saying ‘no.’ Now watch the ‘no’ begin to rise, and drop it. Consciously say ‘yes.’

You will feel yourself soften and melt, and you will experience a new ease within you. Others will also feel that you are a much softer and more open person.

4.14. Watch your body and mind and relax Relax from any tension. Feel love for anything that you do. Duration: anytime, anywhere

Be aware of your day-to-day actions every minute. Be consciously relaxed whatever you may be doing. Consciously relax from any tension that you hold in any part of the body.

Accept yourself just as you are. Accept and welcome every moment for the gift of life it has brought you.

Whatever you are doing, do it with love and joy. Be total and authentic in whatever you do and feel. The very quality of your ‘being’ and ‘doing’ will change.

4.15. Are you there? Jump to the present! Duration: at bedtime or anytime, anywhere

Ask yourself, ‘Are you there?’

As soon as you consciously ask yourself this, the thinking will stop. Now, reply to your question, ‘yes.’ It will directly bring your awareness to the present!

You can try this particularly before going to sleep. Otherwise, anytime and any number of times is okay.

4.16. Beyond words

Learn to experience, beyond what words can describe. You will experience the real beauty of Existence. Then life becomes eternally joyful.

Duration: anytime, anywhere

Look at things without bringing in any words.

When you are looking at a flower, just look. Do not verbalize out loud or even silently, saying for instance, ‘Beautiful rose!’ Just see, being fully aware. That is really looking at the rose. Only then you can truly relate with the rose. Only then the rose reveals its reality to you.

Look at the moon in the night sky. Drink in the moon. Just watch, don’t think how beautiful it is, or that you know it is the moon or anything of that sort.

Sometimes you can look at your own self in the mirror. Look intensely at yourself in the mirror. Just watch, just witness. You will see how beautiful Existence and its creations really are, and how your words reduce everything to mundane matters.

When you feel you want to criticize some person, try this.

Before criticizing, discover a positive alternative for whatever criticism you wish to give the person. If you are not able to find a positive alternative, wait. It is useless to give a non-constructive feedback to someone. Get the positive alternative and then present the problem as well as the suggested solution to the person. Then your criticism will be useful and constructive.

4.18. External and internal wandering Witness the wandering and relax into the real you Duration: 21 minutes

Close your eyes. Sit in a very relaxed way.

There is no need to control the mind.

If your mind is going somewhere outside, dwelling on things other than you, it is called external wandering. Just remember you are there and your mind is wandering. The moment you remember you, you will remember your name, or some idea about you, that is internal wandering.

Watch the external and internal wandering. Any idea that comes about you, inside you, is also a wandering, an internal wandering. Witness these wanderings, relax even from them. If you are disturbed by thoughts, come back. Again remember the external wandering and internal wandering. Relax, and just be aware of the external wandering and the internal wandering.

Bringing awareness continuously to that which is not you, but which you are thinking is you, will bring a glimpse of the true you, which is the macrocosm, the whole cosmos.

4.19. Keep everything out Put all knowing aside and experience the ultimate freedom Duration: 10 minutes

Keep everything out of your inner space - whatever you heard, saw or read. Keep everything out, and see what happens to your inner space. If any thought appears, just know that it does not belong in your inner space. Either the thought came from someone else, or it is a byproduct of some other thought or thoughts that came inside your inner space earlier.

All teachings, ideas, concepts that you heard - keep everything in the outer space. Let your inner space be empty. If you try this method for a few moments, you will catch the knack of how to practice this technique.

At least once in a day, try to keep everything out for just ten minutes, you will see the tremendous peace and silence happening inside you.

Have the clear intention that you will keep outside your inner space, all the teachings, concepts and words put inside your head, including this teaching of keeping everything out! Allow no word, no teaching, no concepts, no lies, no truths, no purity or impurity. Let you be in that ultimate freedom, let you be relieved from the stress and the concepts put in your head. Rediscover the silence, the emptiness that is your true nature, which you lost somehow.

Bring the image of your enemies to mind. The moment you bring their image, you will experience hatred and so many words will come up – words, which you wanted to tell them but didn’t have a chance to, or perhaps you were never courageous enough to tell them. Sometimes, even when you have the chance, you have so many words you want to say, but you forget half of them in the heat of the moment.

So bring the image of your enemy now, and when these words and feelings swell up inside you, just breathe deeply, then settle down, and relax.

Continue to hold the image in your inner space, let the mind shout whatever it wants to shout. After a few minutes you will see, not only the number of words you want to shout comes down, but you will also start looking into your problems with more clarity.

Just holding in silence the image of the person for whom you have so much hatred in your inner space will bring down the enmity, the violence and the vengeance.

Suddenly, you will see there is no longer any violence inside you. Even when you see the person directly, that fear stroke or the fire will not happen. You are relaxed, you are able to handle things calmly. This is a silent catharsis to get over intense hatred or enmity towards any person.

For the rest of the day, whomever you see, whether it is your friend or enemy, try to maintain your body heat as it is. Try to keep the number of thoughts inside you as it is. Relax and do not become agitated, come back to your center. You will see so many new dimensions open in you, and you will be able to carry a deep silence throughout the day, the silence you experienced in the meditation.

4.21. Beyond bondage and freedom Just as you see the one sun reflected on the water as many suns, in the same way see the one real Source and be free from all types of bondage.

Duration: 11 minutes If you keep ten water pots outside in the sun, you will see the reflection of the sun as ten suns in the ten water pots. If you break every pot one by one, the number of suns will come down. Suddenly if you break the last pot, there is no reflection at all, only the sun. There is only one sun, but there are so many reflections in the water. In the same way, there is only one superonsciousness, one Source, having many reflections in all of us!

So many suns are seen in the water. But when you look for the source, you will see only one sun. There are innumerable reflections of that one source. Study any one reflection, and when you look to see from where it is being reflected, you will always find the source.

Each of you is also a reflection. Your body-mind is like a mirror, and the Divine is superconsciousness. That exact spot where the superconsciousness, the Source, touches your body-mind or the mirror, is what we call your individual consciousness. There may be so many individual consciousness, but if you trace the Source, you will reach the same superconsciousness. There are many suns reflected in the water, but the source is one.

The whole universe is the reflection of many body-minds and all the reflections have one Source.

When you understand that the whole universe is a reflection of all the body-minds, your effort or intention or need to do something will simply disappear!

If you understand that all the reflections have the same one Source, you can relax in the peace.

The moment you perceive anything, the moment you are able to think about it, it becomes past.

For example, in the beginning, when you are told to think of something that is beyond your thoughts, you may think of the entire solar system. But the moment you think about the entire solar system, you have already made that into one more thought! So now, drop that. Next, try to think beyond. You might think about the galaxy, beyond the solar system. When you are able to think of the galaxy, then drop that thought. Go beyond the galaxy. When you continuously expand your mind to go beyond, you will be in the present moment.

Understand, the moment you are able to grasp something and think about it, you have already made it into the past, into your property. Your mind can flourish there. So think further and further beyond what you can think. Even if you are thinking about what you can’t think about, drop that. The mind will always try to grasp everything and keep it in storage, so it can eat slowly and ruminate, just like a bull! So do not bring the things that you have already grasped back into the mind. Continuously drop them.

Whatever you think is the ultimate in your life, drop it, and expand your thinking to something bigger. Then again your mind will automatically grasp something else. But don’t allow your mind to hold that idea, drop it also. Continuously your mind will say, ‘If I am dropping every moment, then what will happen to me? Where will it end?’

Don’t bother about this ending. Your mind is just trying to grasp onto something by asking you this question. Your mind is asking you to prove the result before even starting the practice. Do not allow it. That is where you get cheated. Understand, you constantly keep dropping each boundary, each thought, and expanding, going beyond.

Meditate on the real master, or the real cosmos or the real god. You may think you have grasped the essence of god, but it can never be, because your mind can never grasp the real god! If your mind can grasp god, it means your mind is greater than god. So what you grasped is not god, it is just your idea of god. Drop the idea and try again. Grasp something bigger than that.

Continuously try to grasp the ultimate truth. Understand, when you throw a particular idea from your mind, not only do you throw that idea, you also pick up one part of the bone structure from your mind and throw it out. Every time you pick up some thoughts from your mind and throw them out, not only the thoughts are discarded, but one part of the bone structure of your mind is also thrown away. So after discarding and discarding, finally there will not be any bone structure left! Suddenly you will see your whole mind has been thrown out! You will experience the bliss of no-mind.

4.23. Withdraw your senses Experience your inner space Duration: 5 minutes a day or 1-2 minutes, five times a day

This is an anytime meditation. Initially you may not be able to do this meditation for five minutes at a time. You can reduce the time to one or two minutes, but try to do it five times per day. You can try once in the morning before breakfast, once before lunch, once before dinner, and also twice between meal times.

Wear loose clothing; let nothing touch your body.

Close your eyes and mouth tightly. Now close your ears with your hands. Stop all sensations coming in through the eyes, ears, mouth and sense of touch. Naturally, the thoughts that you already have inside will start coming up, such as what happened yesterday, what happened the day before, what needs to be done tomorrow. All these thoughts will start running through your mind. Do not bother about them. They will not have life for more than three kshanas, the time gap between one thought and the next. I repeat, they will have life only for a maximum of three kshanas.

Unless new information goes through your senses and the process happens, the processing system cannot continue for more than three kshanas. You may be thinking, ‘No, no, I can sit and visualize forever.’ No! In that case, you must be allowing input through the senses. You must block the sense organs, it is especially important to lock the tongue. Within three kshanas, three or four thoughts may come. The fifth thought cannot happen.

It is important to allow the breathing to be natural during this process. Just sit for a few moments. Suddenly you will see there is a space where there are no thoughts.

Even if you experience that thoughtless rest for two or three seconds, it will give you so much energy that you will feel you had eight to ten hours of sleep! It is a very strong and powerful method. Try this practice five times per day. Within five to six days, if not sooner, you will catch the glimpse.

Actually your inner space is not so difficult to contact. It is, after all, your inner space. It is just that we neither had the technique, nor the patience, nor the inspiration to try, that's all. That is why the moment you have the knowledge about the truth, half of the work is done. The remaining half is just relaxing and experiencing it.

There is a music that permeates Existence – an unstruck sound. There are many techniques that help you hear this sound. When you can hear this sound, you have heard the music of Existence!

5.1. Follow the source of the sound Merge with the very source of everything Total Duration: 20 minutes

Close your eyes. Just inhale and exhale as slowly as possible.

Step 1: Duration: 5 minutes Now start creating the sound, the vibration ‘oooommm’ intensely but not loudly. Create it from your navel center.

Step 2: Duration: 5 minutes Now continue to create the sound as before, but begin seeking the source. Continue to create the vibration but locate the source from where the vibrations are arising, from where the sound is coming. Go into the source, search for the source.

Step 3: Duration: 5 minutes Just enter the sound. Enter this source from where the sound is coming, from where it is arising. Then, slowly reduce the sound. Don't stop, but just reduce the sound, as you enter into the source from where the sound is coming. Become the sound.

Step 4: Duration: 5 minutes Now relax with your eyes closed. Don't create any sound, but go to the source from where the sound was coming. Enter into that source. Just be with the memory of that sound.

5.2. Music Listen to the unstruck sound and transform Duration: 21 minutes This technique needs a piece of soft music to be played. Close your eyes and sit in a very relaxed way. (Turn on the music)

Concentrate on the spot inside your head where you experience sound. Understand, sound may be created outside your head but you experience it only inside your head. The hearing happens only inside your head. Remember that spot, remember that space where you experience sound. Completely concentrate on that space, feel that spot where you listen, where you hear the sounds of the music that is playing.

Do not make any judgments about the music. Don’t think it is either good or bad. Don’t start thinking about all the music you have heard earlier. Don’t start comparing this music with some other music. Don’t start thinking about any other musicians you have heard until now.

Forget about all other senses. Forget about seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, just forget about everything else. Be filled with the space of listening. Feel the space where you experience sound inside your head.

Listen to this music, not from outside but from inside your head. Be in that space and feel the music. Do not allow any thinking.

Don’t go away from the music. Go into the music. Along with the notes there is a center sound, a rhythm, the backbone of the music. Try to feel that center, that backbone of the music, you will relax into the base rhythm of the music.

Just listen every moment to the composite central sound, the backbone, that central thread of the music. Go into it.

Feel the vibration of the sound inside your head. Again, no thinking is allowed. Don’t move away from the present moment. Be in the present moment, be in that music.

Play with this technique whenever you find time alone at home. Play some music and enter into that music, don’t start thinking. Give the music your total attention. Now, you understand the difference between listening to music as you normally do, and listening meditatively. Play with this technique as time allows for at least a month. It can cause a powerful transformation in you.

Enter into the thoughtless zone Duration: 21 minutes Close your eyes and just sit in a relaxed way.

Step 1: Duration: 11 minutes Concentrate on the navel center, manipuraka chakra (a vital energy center in the body, located in the navel area). Just take a few moments to place your awareness on the navel center. Forget all other parts of the body, remember only the navel center.

Now from your navel, start creating the deep vibration of Omkaara or ‘Om’ sound. Start the sound from your navel center, as deeply as possible. Don’t allow the mind to go anywhere else. Just be centered on the sound, go into the center of the sound. Step 2: Duration: 10 minutes

Stop. Just sit quietly for a few minutes with eyes closed. Try to hear the sound without creating the sound.

Relax and open your eyes.

Try this meditation for just ten days. You will see that you are able to sit without thoughts. You will be filled by the sound, by the vibration that you create, and your mind will not move outside the vibration.

5.4. Anahata Dhvani Feel the energy flowing in your body. Become completely energized. Duration: 21 minutes Close your eyes and use both your thumbs to close your ears. Close them completely so that you hear that uncreated sound inside you called the anahata dhvani. It is the unstruck sound of the cosmos that can only be heard by one who meditates.

Let your whole inner space be filled by the unheard sound. Once you feel your whole body is filled with that unheard sound, just contract your rectum and stop all the movements. Remain like this for as long as you can.

When your body relaxes, take your hands away and relax completely for a few moments. Until your body relaxes itself, don't give up! Try your best to hold on as long as possible.

If your body relaxes, take a few minutes break and start the process again by closing your eyes and ears, hearing the unstruck sound, contracting the rectum, and relaxing when appropriate.

Do not repeat this process more than five times. After every repetition, take at least thirty or forty seconds to relax. Let your eyes be closed even during the break. After you have finished the meditation, just sit for few moments with eyes closed, and experience the energy flow happening throughout the body. Relax into it.

Close your eyes and just sit. First, choose the word or words with which you are going to work. If you have a spiritual name (given by your master), that is best, or choose the god or the master with whom you feel deeply connected. If you have a Sanskrit spiritual name, this technique can be really powerful. Understand, Sanskrit is not just a language of communication, its phonetics also have a vibrational value. This means that the actual sounds of the words have a purifying effect on both the speaker and the listener. Your name is your unique mantra or chant. Chanting or just listening to the mantras revealed by enlightened masters will simply create the effect in you of what the mantra stands for, what your name stands for. Enter into the sound of the chosen name. Understand: do not repeat it out loud, just repeat it internally. The chanting should happen internally and you should just enter into that vibration. Your tongue should not move.

Create the sound of the name like a vibration, and keep repeating that sound, that name, internally. Be filled with that sound. Let your whole inner space be filled with that sound.

Repeat the sound intensely and at a high frequency. No other thought should rise in your mind.

You will see, suddenly you are in soundless space. You are in wordlessness.

Just play with this technique for one month, practice it every morning for ten minutes and again, in the evening for ten minutes. Even while you are driving, this can be done with open eyes. Try it while you are driving, walking, or sitting and spending a few minutes with yourself.

You will understand the power of this special mantra for you, just this one sound. Suddenly you will see new doors opening in your consciousness, and you will enter into the soundlessness that we call enlightenment.

5.6. Center of the sound storm Find the center of all sound within you, and transcend all sound Duration: 21 minutes

We always live in a storm of sound. Sounds are constantly moving towards us, crashing in upon us, engulfing us. But at the center of this sound storm, there is a silence we haven't heard. This meditation makes us aware of the silence in the center of this storm of sound.

Sit down somewhere, anywhere. The noisier the place, the better! Look for a place with continuous sound. It could be a natural sound, like the gushing of a river or a waterfall or the crashing of the waves on a beach or it could be a railway station, or a marketplace.

Sit silently. Feel the sounds coming at you from every direction as sound waves. With sounds flowing at you from all directions, feel yourself to be at the center of this storm of sound. You are at the center, and sounds are flowing towards you.

Feel clearly, at the center, where you are, that there is no sound! At the center is total silence. If there were sound at the center, you would not be able to hear the sounds outside. The sounds are entering you, penetrating you, but they stop at the center.

Inside you, there is a point where all sounds stop. It is from that point that every sound is being heard. Try to locate that center. When you locate it, suddenly, your awareness will turn inward from the outer world of sound. You will be at the center where there is silence, the point where no sound can enter. That point is your center.

Once you have heard that silence, you will never again be disturbed by any sound, you will never be touched by sound.

We always think that we are hearing sounds with our ears. With this technique, you discover that sounds are not heard in the ears or even in the head. The sound is always heard at the navel point, that is the center of sound.

You cannot try this technique with songs because the lyrics will have meaning for you, and you will focus on the meaning. So it needs to be just some noise.

5.7. From sound to feeling

Feel bliss through sound

Total Duration: 21 minutes Close your eyes. Sit in a relaxed way.

Step 1: Duration: 10 minutes First choose the sound with which you are going to work. It can be anything, so decide which sound gives you most excitement and joy. Create that sound out loud and enjoy the feeling created by it. In a mild way, you should be able to create that sound, listen and enjoy the feeling. Just continuously create that sound and enjoy the feeling. Be centered on that feeling.

Step 2: Duration: 11 minutes Now don't give any volume to the sound you are creating. Repeat it internally with just your tongue movement. Keep repeating the sound internally with just the tongue movement, and experience the feeling. Be centered more on the feeling than the sound itself. Be centered on the excitement created by that sound.