The making of a Sarvodaya Sannyasin

Thoughtless awareness – “observe the origin of thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound” technique.

Theory: There is a gap between any two consecutive thoughts/images/desires/fantasy/sound (“mental talk” or imagination of conversation creates a sound in mind. Sound can be present due to other kind of thoughts also.). This gap is thoughtless awareness. When the mind is relaxed and calm, the gap is of order of few seconds and when the mind is tense or excited, the gap is of order of a fraction of second. This means, one thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound is present in mind and then there is gap of few seconds or a fraction of second and after that gap of thoughtless awareness, another thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound comes to the mind.

This implies that all thoughts/images/desires/fantasy/sound in mind arise from the state of thoughtless awareness. Thus, if we focus our attention on origin of present thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound in mind, we will experience thoughtless awareness

Note: All questions and answers must be done in one’s mother tongue, although for the sake of communication, they are given here in English.
Technique:

1. Sit in Sidhasana or any other sitting posture or even on a chair and make the spine and head erect in a relaxed manner.
2. Place the palms on the knees and close the eyes.
3. The breathing should be natural throughout the entire practice. No attempt should be made to regulate either inhalation or exhalation during the practice.
4. Pay attention to the thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound in the mind keenly and say to yourself few times (2-5 times are enough), “This thought/fantasy/’mental talk’/desire is fully acceptable to me.”
5. Then, ask either of the questions: i) What is the origin of this thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound or, ii) From where is this thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound originating, and focus all your attention in seeking the origin of “present thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound” in the mind. If it is done correctly, it results into the state of thoughtless awareness. Repeat this step till the present thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound gets removed from the mind and thoughtless awareness is experienced.
6. Be in this state of thoughtless awareness as long as no thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound disturbs this state. If any thoughts disturb this state, repeat step 4 again.

Note 1. In step 5, one can focus attention in seeking the origin of “present thought/image/desire/fantasy/sound” in the mind directly and wordlessly also without using any question. Do step 5 using questions or without questions depending upon what suits you more.

Benefits:

1. This is one of the most powerful and fastest technique for experience of thoughtless awareness.
2. Note: please practise 3-5 minutes of Abdominal exhalation (also known as Kapalbhati pranayama in yoga) just before practising any thoughtless awareness technique in sitting position. This increases the quality of thoughtless awareness practice to the extent which one can’t even imagine without trying it first. Never miss it.
3. This can be and must be practised even with open eyes to keep the mind free from thoughts during free time like bath/meals/travels etc and thus, to enjoy peace and relaxation of thoughtless awareness whole day. The practice of this technique during free-time apart from in sitting position for 30 min, is indispensable to gain maximum possible amount of peace and relaxation whole day.
4. Note: please practise this technique for 30 minutes (more is always welcome) in sitting position for satisfactory result. Less than that will be too little practice and will not give satisfactory result.