Learning to meditate is a gradual process. Each week, this course has tweeted new techniques and facilitated new insights. The techniques either address particular problems that may arise when you meditate, or provide progressively more advanced methods which deepen your experience. It is recommended that you start by going back to week one's techniques and begin your weekly course at that time. The earlier exercises are not mere preliminaries. They are central methods in their own right to which you will return repeatedly - no matter how advanced your practice becomes.
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Thoughts & Clouds
Initially, in meditation, it seemed that the stream of thoughts was continuous. With increasing experience, thought-addiction diminishes and you begin to notice moments of ‘gap’ between thoughts. When you cease to pursue thoughts – rather than forming a continuous train, they start to appear individually as figures against a background of empty space. During the next few weeks, we will transfer attention from observing thoughts to observing the space within which they arise.
This space is initially only visible as brief moments of ‘gap’ or silence. With continuing practice, gaps lengthen. The nature of the space becomes increasingly visible. It becomes evident that this creative space—from which thoughts arise—is always present. Even when thoughts appear continuously you will be aware of the space within which they occur.
With practice, you find yourself in increasing periods of non-thought or empty space. If you maintain alertness, you are not non-existent or unconscious in that space – but simply stripped bare of referential coordinates. There is no past or future history – or geography of circumstance. You find that without thought, you are still fully present – but you are no one in particular. Even: no thing in particular – you simply are – here, now, without definition. You may experience this as liberating and exhilarating – or as vaguely vertiginous, slightly alarming, or peculiarly familiar and natural. There is a profound intimacy in this nakedness, in which you discover the nature of reality – when all the details of life story disappear.
Awareness is like the sky. Thoughts are like clouds. At times – dark thunderheads roil the sky. At times – high, white, calm clouds drift across the sky. At times – the empty sky is brilliantly blue. Whatever appears in the sky – its nature is unchanged. Above the clouds, there is always vastness – and clouds do not appear other than in the sky.
Mind is like the ocean. Whether the surface is turbulent with massive waves – or glassy and reflects the empty sky – beneath there are thousands of fathoms of still water.
If you explore the main Aro web site you will see many pictures of skies and oceans. These analogies for meditation are the reason.
Posture: Fine Points
The term ‘posture’ is misleading if it suggests an ideal model to which you should conform. If you are still, comfortable, relaxed, and alert – your posture is ideal. When you are not, these recommendations may help.
To be perfectly motionless is neither possible nor desirable. Attempting it leads to rigidity, discomfort, and tension. ‘Still’ means that you are not deliberately doing anything with your body. If you leave it alone, it remains in regular slight motion of its own accord. Breathing entails motion. Your body continually automatically re-balances itself to compensate.
Your head is a heavy weight that sits at the top of your spine. Earlier I explained that the spine needs to be balanced in the pelvis. You might think of the experience of balancing a pencil on your fingertip. As long as it is nearly vertical, you need to make only tiny motions to keep it that way. If it starts to fall over, you need a large corrective motion. Now imagine attaching a large, asymmetrical weight to the top end of the pencil. Balancing is much more difficult. So the large, asymmetrical weight of your head plays a big rôle in your spinal balance.
To find the right head position, tuck the chin back slightly toward your neck and down slightly toward your chest. This allows the muscles of the back of the neck to relax. If you touch the back of your neck, you should feel that the curve there has largely flattened out. You should feel the top back of your head reaching upward.
Allowing your head to droop too far forward interferes with alertness and tends to put you to sleep. Pulling the head too far back promotes restless thought. If you find you have too little or too much energy, check your head position.
Relax your face. Emotions cause facial tension: for example, worry tightens the brows. Less well known is that tension in particular parts of the face also causes the corresponding emotions. Deliberately unfurrowing your brow releases worry. When you are despondent, smiling actually can make you happier.
Relax your jaw. Relax your tongue. Let it rest lightly against the gum of your upper jaw. Your teeth should be slightly parted. Your lips can be lightly touching or slightly opened.
The direction of your gaze, and how much light enters, affects mental activity. Generally, angle your gaze downward in the direction of the tip of your nose. Open your eyes just enough that some light enters but your eyelashes prevent you from seeing anything clearly. If you have too little energy, raise your gaze or open your eyes a little more. If you have too much, lower your gaze or close your eyes further.
Subtle differences in posture may have significant effects on your mental and emotional state. Observing these over a period of weeks, months, and years – you gradually learn which postural changes to make in order to affect your mind and heart as you wish.
If you have difficulty attaining stillness, comfort, relaxation, and alertness – advice from an expert can help. A meditation teacher can work with you to diagnose problems and find a way of sitting that works for you. Even if your posture works well for you, a teacher may offer subtle, helpful insights into the mind-body connection.
Physical Antidotes
You can adjust your energy level up or down by sharp head motions. (Please do not employ these antidotes if you have any problem with your head, neck, or back.)
Drowsiness, vagueness, or depression may be overcome by fully relaxing the muscles at the back of the neck, so your chin falls to your chest – and then suddenly jerking your head all the way back. Repeat this exercise three times with a brief pause between.
Similarly, excess energy may be overcome by fully relaxing the muscles at the front of your neck, so your head falls loosely backward – and then suddenly jerking your head all the way forward. Again, repeat thrice.
Use discretion: too sharp a jerk might hurt your neck, and an insufficiently decisive movement may have little effect.
When your mouth is unpleasantly dry, close it. If it fills with saliva, open it partially. Breathing through your mouth will dry it.
This Week’s Meditation Technique
Continue the practice of following the breath from last week.
Transfer your attention from observing thoughts to observing the space within which thoughts arise.
Return to counting only when you repeatedly find yourself lost in long trains of thought.
Aim for twenty minutes a day.
A question to ponder
What do you lose when you are lost in thought?
Preview
Next week’s main topic is motivation: where it originates, why it is important, and what to do when it is lacking.
Recommended Resources
This course is based on the book Roaring Silence, written by Aro Lamas. Roaring Silence covers the same material in greater depth. For example, it expands considerably on the analogies of sky and ocean. Beyond that, its main topic is the implications of meditation for life. This email course, focussed on technique, barely discusses that critical subject. Our web page for the book has a summary and links to Amazon.
One place to find help with posture—and other aspects of meditation—is the Aro contacts page. There are experienced Aro teachers in more than 25 locations world-wide.
See our meditation resources page for a range of learning methods.
The Aro Members programme provides personal guidance from an experienced meditation mentor.
Support our charitable work—bringing the benefits of meditation to others—by becoming a Friend of Aro.
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