Silence meditation: Silence Meditation is designed transcend from the past-based, ever changing, dynamic Outer Present or outer self to inner self which is pure, silent and static in nature. This spiritual dimension is our original nature. When we feel like we are getting too preoccupied with Outer Present phenomena and feel the need to re-set our body and mind, recharge and re-align ourselves with the Inner Present we can practice Silence Meditation. In this meditation we can witness activity and rest, outer chaos and inner peace, movement and stillness, Peripheral noise and inner silence. Attaining balance between these natural rhythmic cycles will help us strike a balance between the Periphery [ outer Present] and our Centre [inner Present] and attain spiritual well- being.
Basically we need to identify different popup at outer present – body popup [ discomforts], mind popup [positive/negative thoughts] , emotional popup [ anxiety, depression], ecosystem popup [ mosquitoes around, traffic sound] and appreciate and celebrate the inner present where there is no sound or popup.
Silence Meditation is designed transcend from the past-based, ever changing, dynamic Outer Present or outer self to inner self which is pure, silent and static in nature. This spiritual dimension is our original nature. When we feel like we are getting too preoccupied with Outer Present phenomena and feel the need to re-set our body and mind, recharge and re-align ourselves with the Inner Present we can practice Silence Meditation. In this meditation we can witness activity and rest, outer chaos and inner peace, movement and stillness, Peripheral noise and inner silence. Attaining balance between these natural rhythmic cycles will help us strike a balance between the Periphery [ outer Present] and our Centre [inner Present] and attain spiritual well- being. The Outer Present phenomenon that tends to distract us and prevent us from playing our roles effectively are in the form of three types of noises:
- Eco Noise which implies noises from extraneous sources in our immediate environment which we perceive as stimuli. They can either be positive such as birds pleasantly chirping, a melodious song playing in the background or negative such as traffic sounds, sounds of gunshots, a natural calamity etc.
- Psychological Noise which implies the noise of your own thoughts which in turn can evoke emotional reactions. The average human mind is bombarded with 60,000 message units in a second so you can imagine how loud our minds are. For example: You may be sitting in India but apart from your daily worries your mind is also thinking about the gunshot or wildfire in the US that you read about this morning. These psychological noises are important as positive ones trigger the release of good chemicals while negative psychological noises trigger the release of unwanted chemicals that alter body biochemistry unfavorably.
- Physical Noise which implies uncomfortable sensations that convey your own body’s discomfort or state of disease such as headache, creaking of a bone, pain in a certain body part etc.
The purpose of Silence Meditation is to transcend from Peripheral Noise to Inner Silence. The spiritual centre or the silence is always within but because of the activities in the Outer Present such as thinking, reviewing, planning, imagining , seeing , listening , touching, tasting, hugging etc we tend to get caught up with only Peripheral Noise. Pop ups from body ,mind/ emotions or ecosystem dominates then deeper breathing will help to overcome.
Once we reach the Inner Present [ center], this pure, silent part of you brings about a balance in your body chemistry in the Outer Present. The Inner Silence grounds you and gives you serenity and clarity of mind in the Outer Present.
Pre requisites: Switch off all noisy gadgets like laptop, television, mobile phone etc. While it’s a challenge to subdue physical and mental noises, we can enhance our concentration by switching off external devices that create noises in our immediate atmosphere. The existence is comprised of two parts:
- The finite part which we experience as the Periphery of the existence in the form of body and mind ( a miniscule part of the Outer Present) and ecosystem ( a larger part of the Periphery in the form of stars, trees, cities, mountains, animals etc.)
- The infinite part called as the Inner Present or Centre of self which is beyond time and space and is our natural state when we arrived on this planet.
Process: Be in a comfortable position. Sit upright with a straight back. Keep your eyes closed.
- Pay attention to each and every breath of your normal breathing pattern. Follow your inhalation and exhalation patterns.
- Transcend from left brain that is churning with thoughts to the right brain by closing your eyes.
- Being in the Present helps us give attention and harmonise both the Periphery and the Center. The Periphery serves as a hurdle one must overcome in order to reach the Center. The best way to overcome this hurdle is to watch every aspect of the Periphery as a movie which is of 3 types:
- Movie of the Body or physical noise
- Movie of the mind or our thoughts or emotions
- External Movie or eco noise such as traffic, animal noises, humans shouting etc.
Watch the movie of the body, the movie of the mind and the eco movie, while grounding yourself in the Center. You may experience automatic transcendence from Peripheral Noise to Inner Silence.
Benefits: Silence Meditation offers the following benefits:
- Promotes better sleep, Helps you feel more refreshed than a nap.
- Helps you connect with your original or ground state. This is essential to realign the body and mind in the Periphery and attain balance.
- Altered biochemistry automatically gets corrected with Silence Meditation as healing properties are associated with the silent state.
- Shown to increase attention span and even promote the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus region associated with learning activities and emotional awareness.
- Boosts immunity
- Lowers blood pressure
- Alleviates stress by reducing circulatory levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.
- Enhances creative abilities in the Periphery
- Enables one to become self-aware and make sense of disorganized thoughts and gives one the strength to confront uncomfortable emotions.