Silent Mind Free Online Meditation Program

Silent Mind Meditation Program: Index

Silent Mind Meditation Program: Authors Note Silent Mind Meditation Program Introduction: Chapter 1 Silent Mind Meditation Program Overview: Chapter 2 SM Meditation Program Daily Yoga & Meditation Practice: Chapter 3 SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Meditation: Chapter 4 SM Meditation Program: Confidence: Chapter 5 SM Meditation Program: Honesty: Chapter 6 SM Meditation Program: Basic Meditations: Chapter 7 SM Meditation Program Daily Yoga & Meditation Practice: Chapter 8 SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Energy (Kundalini): Chapter 9 SM Meditation Program: Passion: Chapter 10 SM Meditation Program: Urgency: Chapter 11 Silent Mind Meditation: The SM Meditations: Chapter 12 SM Meditation Program: Daily Yoga & Meditation Practice for Phase 3: Chapter 13 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Yoga for Awareness: Chapter 14 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Sensitivity: Chapter 15 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Non-attachment: Chapter 16 SM Meditation Program: The Silent Mind Meditations for Phase 3: Chapter 17 SM Meditation Program: Practical Hints & Tips: Chapter 18 SM Meditation Program: 10 Side Benefits of SM: Chapter 19 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Summary: Chapter 20 SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Meditation Set: Appendix 1 SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Energy (Kundalini): Appendix 2 SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Awareness: Appendix 3

Silent Mind Meditation Program: Authors Note The art of Meditation is to bring the mind to a state of stillness such that thoughts no longer interfere with pure Reality and that which lies beyond time, space and self can be Realized. The Silent Mind (SM) Meditation Program is designed to help create this silence within by teaching the practitioner the powerful Silent Mind Meditation system. SM is based on the power of the individual to develop acute perception into the workings of their own mind in order to perceive the Truth of What Is. It integrates Yoga, Pranayam (breathing exercises) and Bandhas (subtle body locks to channel energy) to build the environment to support the Silent Mind Meditations that are the core focus of the program. It is designed as a course book where the program spans 12 weeks. The early weeks teach basic meditations and specific Yoga Sets to prepare the body and mind for the potent Silent Mind Meditations that come later in the course. Thus, it is very useful to the novice as well as the advanced practitioner. Overall, it is simply a very effective approach for transcending the ordinary, reactive mind. The version currently on the website is quite condensed and concentrated so it might need some careful reading. One last thing, dont give up! The perceptual requirements of Silent Mind Meditation are a human capability that you may not have worked to develop until now. Stick with the practice, dont leave this wonderful planet without having reached your full human potential and fulfilling the highest goal of human life Merging with Absolute Reality.

Silent Mind (SM) Meditation Program Mastering the Art of Meditation Knocking on Heavens Door Chapter 1 Silent Mind Mediation Program Introduction Welcome to the Silent Mind (SM) Meditation Program. The ultimate goal of SM Meditation is to still the mind of thoughts. For those new to meditation there are many reasons for doing this, the core of which is so that we can encounter pure Reality for what it is without any interference or corruption from the movement and projection of thoughts. This merits some expansion and investigation, as the depth of this understanding will serve as a strong motivating factor in helping us with our program. If it was the case that the current internal state of our mind/body system lent itself to spontaneous joy, deep compassion and profound wisdom there would be no need for any Meditation program, but the reality is that that is not the case. We are, at best, in some degree of discontent. This state is the consequence of the constant inward struggle to achieve, where the achievements themselves only produce fleeting happiness. Furthermore, the relentless struggle both creates and emphasizes an egocentric reality, which absorbs our awareness, creates the illusion of a separate existence and keeps us ignorant of the true nature of things- which is that we are an indivisible part of a oneness that is blissful and eternal. Seeing this Truth brings with it the realization that we are already fulfilled and complete and ends the cycle of struggle and misery. SM Meditation is designed to make this happen. To free awareness from the abstract reality of endless egocentric thoughts and merge it with the infinite reality of the whole. Unfortunately, no matter what you have been told or read, this is not a trivial task. The mind is subtle and thoughts are elusive and swift. Adding to the difficulty is that the habit of thinking and struggling runs deep and strong and will not be easily extinguished. Fortunately though, as humans, we have the potential to master the necessary art and summon the needed energy to enable us to still the mind and break free of this wearisome and unfruitful pattern. SM Meditation will guide you in doing this. The program will work to increase your energy and help you to develop the art of acute observation, which results in freeing awareness from the entrapments of the ordinary, self-indulgent mind. The 12-week program that follows, will work on your many dimensions and attributes to make this possible. SM Meditation builds to progressively more advanced stages and challenges, which in turn require a strong foundation to work off of. Thus it is recommended that you participate in the entire program sequentially and systematically as designed. Even if you are an advanced practitioner it is still advised that you go through the early stages as many of the concepts and practices may be new to you and not having mastered them could hinder your progress later. You have my very best wishes in this journey of yours.

Chapter 2 Silent Mind Mediation Program Overview

There are 2 main branches to the SM program. One branch is focused on developing the necessary attributes and conditions of optimal vitality required to participate in the SM meditations. This branch will work on the 3 dimensions of your being, physical, emotional and psychological. Purifying and balancing your systems and increasing your energy. The second is the meditations themselves. These are the core of the practice and herein will lie the opportunities for transcending the ordinary mind. Both branches work in parallel and look to build progressively to more advanced stages. The table below [Table 1] provides an overview of the program and gives an overall picture as to what the strategy is Weeks: 1-4 Physical: Yoga for Meditation Emotional: Confidence Psychological: Honesty Meditations: Breath, Sound, Body, Third Eye Weeks: 5-8 Physical: Yoga for Energy Emotional: Passion Psychological: Urgency Meditations: Basic Meditations + SM Meditations Weeks: 9-12 Physical: Yoga for Awareness Emotional: Sensitivity Psychological: Non-attachment Meditations: Silent Mind Meditations Table 1 Each week consists of exercises and meditations that are targeting the following 2 goals; refining of your energy and helping you master the power of attention in order to break free of the conditioning of egocentric effort. Overall, there are 3 phases to the program, with each phase consisting of 4 weeks. In each phase particular attributes of your being (Physical, Emotional, Psychological) are focused upon and certain meditations are practiced. The attributes targeted are the essential components for laying the foundation for a successful practice. The meditations in turn look to build up the mind so that it can then exploit the more powerful SM meditations, which begin from the sixth week onwards (middle of Phase 2). The time required is 1 hour per day, although later in the program you may well wish to spend more. The most important part of this practice is to do it. This is best accomplished if a set time is put aside every day, preferably in the early morning, to complete the required work as best as you can regardless of mood. The rest of the chapters will delve into the particulars of the 3 phases of the program. The 3 sections that follow, one for each phase, consist of 5 chapters each. The first chapter being a table detailing the daily practice that must be done over that phase followed by 4 chapters, which explore each of the dimensions and the meditations for that phase in depth.

Phase 1 Chapter 3 SM Meditation Program Daily Yoga & Meditation Practice You are now ready to begin the program. It is worth reiterating the advice, that of paramount importance is to dive into the actual work that this program prescribes and to be consistent and regular with your daily practice. The program itself is designed to build your character and resolve, thus the more you do the daily work the easier it gets to establish consistency. This also means that the first 4 weeks are very critical as they are the time when you are most vulnerable to your weaknesses. Keeping this in mind, make a firm resolution and start. The table below [Table 2] is a summary of Phase 1. The details are presented in the chapters on the respective topics that follow. In weeks 1 through 4 you will be doing the Yoga for Meditation set. This will take 40 minutes to do, after which you will do the basic meditation for that week for 20 minutes. It is best not to have eaten a heavy meal for at least 1-2 hours before doing your daily practice and to wear loose comfortable clothing for both the Yoga and meditation sessions. Also, dont overdo the exercises, especially if you find any of them causing you pain or excessive discomfort. Use common sense and walk the middle path, not being lazy and at the same time not being a fanatic and risking injury. The importance of confidence and honesty will be central themes for the emotional and psychological dimensions respectively for this phase. Physical (40 minutes) Yoga for Meditation Emotional Confidence Psychological Honesty Basic Meditation (20 minutes) Breath Body Sound 3rd Eye

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Table 2

Chapter 4 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Yoga for Meditation The goal of the physical work that you will do during weeks 1-4 is to help make the body transparent invisible. For many of us the body is used to being the center of attention, the master or better said, it is used to being the spoilt child. During your meditation sessions you are going to hold physically still and the body is going to be mighty upset about being treated this way. Its not that the body minds being still, its that it does not want to lose its rank as commander-in-chief and be forced to do things your way. It has been used to getting its way, having every itch scratched and now that is no longer going to be the case. Expect a fight! To help in achieving this surrendering of the body it is wise to help it regain some of the flexibility and suppleness that it inherently has. Thus, the first Yoga phase will focus on specific stretching exercises and postures that will ease the difficulty of sitting still and help manage the resistance that the body is going to put up. In addition, the postures and exercises are going to help strengthen and purify the body and mind at many levels. These benefits, along with cautions and modifications, are provided alongside each exercise illustrated and described in [Appendix 1: Yoga for Meditation Set]. This set takes about 40 minutes to complete and should be practiced daily for phase 1. The type of breathing that accompanies each exercise is also stated and these various breaths are described in the section below (Breath Work: Basic Pranayam). Although developing your flexibility is going to go a long way in helping you to sit still, the body will nevertheless conjure up various minor physical disturbances to try to regain its rank as boss. The best antidote to this is simply to ignore the disturbance while in mediation. As you refuse firmly to submit to these demands the body will settle down and relinquish its desire for control. So the combination of the Yoga for Meditation practice along with the meditation work in phase 1 will help prevent the body from becoming an obstacle on your journey towards the Mastery of Mediation. Breath Work: Basic Pranayam Your first action when being born into life was to take a breath and now when you are about to begin the journey to be born into Reality, again breath is the place to start. Breathing plays a key role in SM meditations for two specific reasons. First, it is the source of vital energy or Prana for the entire being and second the movement of the mind and emotions is closely tied to our breathing patterns. Thus breathing impacts the vitality of our Physical systems, our moods and finally intimately affects the velocity of our thoughts. Specific breathing techniques that you will learn and practice will help in particular aspects of the SM program. The science of breath manipulation is called Pranayam and for phase 1 you will be introduced to some basic pranic exercises. When it comes to Pranayam it is best not to overdo it. This holds especially true for exercises that require suspension of breath for any significant period of time. During the first 4 weeks you will primarily practice 3 types of breathing, Long Deep Breathing (LDB), Breath of Fire (BOF) and Silk Thread Breath (STB), none of which require suspension. It is important to adhere to this caution and not jump ahead if you are new to Pranayam. From a Yogic perspective Prana is the nuclear energy of atoms and it is important to approach this energy with respect and caution.

Below are the 3 breaths you will be using extensively during phase 1. These are also described in Appendix 1 in the Yoga for Meditation set. Long Deep Breathing (LDB): Description: Breathing is done by taking full deep breaths through the nose. The key to LDB is to fill the lungs entirely on the inhalation and then exhale completely. The diaphragm is kept relaxed and the stomach expands out on the inhalation and back in on the exhalation. The chest also rises and falls during LDB. Benefits: LDB is excellent for expanding ones lung capacity and bringing in maximum amount of oxygen to the system. Cautions: If you feel dizzy, return to normal breathing, but in general LDB should not pose much difficulty for you. Breath of Fire (BOF): Description: Breathing is done rapidly through the nose with equal emphasis on the inhalation and exhalation- like very fast sniffing. Keep the abdomen relaxed and allow it to pulse automatically with the breath. Remember that the breath is not taken in very deep and the pace is fast, about 3 cycles per second. Benefits: Breath of Fire is the breath to do when you want to increase your energy and quickly oxygenate your blood. It generates heat in the body, helps detoxify your system and syncronizes your entire system under one rhythm. Cautions: If you feel dizzy, slow down the force and/or speed at which you are doing the breathing. Or you can substitute Long Deep Breathing for BOF until you feel ready to switch to BOF again. Silk Thread Breath (STB): Description: This breath is the one that correlates to the mind that is in meditation. It is a very smooth, light, deep breath that, like a silk thread, is almost unnoticeable. It is very quiet and silent and there may be a prolonged gap between the inhalation and exhalation. Later in the SM program you fill find that this gap corresponds directly to the state of mind that is silencing itself of thought. Benefits: As mentioned above, the movement of the mind is closely tied to the breath and the deep, silent nature of this breath influences the mind to also slow down and move inward. Cautions: There are no significant cautions to mention except to not prolong the gap between the inhalation and exhalation. Let it emerge naturally and dont force the space artificially.

Chapter 5 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Confidence The chapters on the Emotional and Psychological characteristics essential for establishing a successful practice are geared to developing both, your understanding and your spirit. These attributes, unlike the physical work and meditations, are aspects that you can work on throughout the day and not just during the time set aside for formal practice. In other words, during each phase concentrate on developing the emotional and psychological traits outlined for that phase. The 3 emotional traits that SM emphasizes are Confidence, Passion and Sensitivity. Of these 3 the place to begin is Confidence. When it comes to the pursuit of the Truth, outside entities can only guide, inspire and/or stimulate us, the actual work is completely individual. Thus, it is of paramount importance to have confidence in yourself, so you can walk the necessary path. You have to believe that you will be able to find your way out of the world of abstraction and encounter what lies beyond. Right understanding, right effort and right attitude will go a long way in building this self-belief. Right Understanding: Recognize your direct, one to one relationship with the Universe. Society has interjected itself so completely into our minds and heart that we have lost our sovereignty over our lives. In reality there is a fundamental connection between just you and life and there is nothing whatsoever in between. Get rid of all you have borrowed from outside sources and try to see life with your own eyes. The impact of this understanding gives one a sense of aloneness, not loneliness, and brings with it a sense of power and freedom essential to sustaining your spirit. One technique for bringing forth this insight is described below. As unusual as it may seem, one of the most effective way to bring about this revelation is contemplating your impending death. The finality and individual nature of this event can make one acutely aware of the direct relationship one has with life. You have been born into this universe, that is the only license you need in order to live your life according to your terms. Reflecting on death brings home this point. Being able to stand alone gives you immense strength. Right Effort: Another important factor in contributing to your overall confidence is going to be the physical work that you participate in. Often during SM meditation sessions we will be entering unknown areas of life or encountering new phenomenon. Such experiences can be a little unnerving mentally as well as physically. In either case, the more physically capable we feel of handling whatever life may throw at us, the more we will be willing to explore, experiment and go further. The physical work will also improve our level of energy and vitality, both of which will give us more confidence. Right Attitudes: Having a good sense of humor and a happy frame of mind is also going to play an important role in keeping your confidence up. One thing to make clear on the onset, is that although the rewards of SM are profound, they are not easily attained. In particular SM meditations are hard work and there are no guarantees, and because we want quick rewards and are greedy for results, we are often disappointed and can get easily discouraged. So it helps to

be a happy person, one with a playful nature and a sense of humor, who can withstand the difficulties encountered on this journey without losing their spirit. The importance of having a sense of humor cannot be overstated, as you will soon realize that it is better to laugh at the antics of your mind than to take it to task or become demoralized. One final attitude worth cultivating which will be helpful in preventing you from getting down on yourself is to realize that results are not in your hands, the effort you put in is. This will become deeply clear as we journey into the SM meditations and start to realize the limitations of will. So remind yourself, if you start to get frustrated or feel incapable, that it is an emphasis on achievements that is lending itself to this frustration and that rewards are not under your control. One final note with regard to confidence, is that not only do you need self-confidence you will also need to have confidence in the Universe. Finally, to let go and jump out the ordinary egocentric mind, will require faith that the Universe is there to catch you. So have courage that the powers that made you will not let you down when you need them most.

Chatper 6 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Honesty In the previous chapter regarding confidence we have also asked you to develop and demonstrate courage. This courage is needed to face yourself as you really, currently are. SM meditation is a journey back to your natural self but to get there you have to pass through all the false personas that you have embellished. To do this demands absolute and complete sincerity and such sincerity demands courage, as you may not like what you start to uncover as you press on. There are 3 primary benefits of complete honesty. These are as follows 1. Honesty is going to play a pivotal role in helping you establish your practice by making you face the weaknesses that inevitably end up disrupting your progress. The admittance of these weaknesses is essential if you are going to overcome them. Deep honesty will not allow you to make false excuses for not doing the needed work and this same honesty will give you the opportunity to challenge the weaknesses and overcome them. 2. Honesty is going to free up all the energy that is wasted in trying to keep up false faces. All the endless, inward dialogue that takes place in trying to keep up an image. What you are going to say, how you are going to behave, how you are going to be looked upon, etc, etc, is no longer needed as you are simply going to say what is true, and be who you are. In other words, you will not waste time and effort in determining what is the image you wish to portray and what it is that others think of it. Instead, just be yourself. Be sincere and true and let the energy instead be used to keep an eye on your mind to ensure that you do not revert back to your old tricks of being false and pretentious. 3. The requirement of honesty is paramount when you start participating in the SM meditations. The mind, you will learn, in very cunning and elusive. It will easily deceive you and in order to catch it in the act you will have to be brutally honest and sharp. The need for honesty and sincerity cannot be over-emphasized. In the early stages it is recommended, to break the habit of unconscious lying and self-deception, even white lies and diplomacy ought to be abandoned and complete forthrightness be embraced.

Chapter 7 SM Meditation Program: Basic Meditations

Meditation is the core of the Silent Mind program. In this chapter you will learn the 4 basic meditations that will work as the launching pad for the advanced SM meditations to come later. The 4 basic meditations are Breath, Sound, Body and Third Eye. Although you will practice each one during the first 4 weeks, you need just one to work as the base meditation for you going forward. Therefore, an important objective of Phase 1, from the standpoint of meditation, is to determine which one suits you best. In addition, the basic meditations are going to help you accomplish the following goals which are vital to your practice 1. Mastery over your body and the ability to sit still. 2. Power to focus your mind and keep it exactly where you would like it to be. Building your concentration 3. Slowing down the thought process, quieting the mind and helping turn your awareness inward. 4. Cleansing the subconscious of unhealthy, suppressed emotional debris. 5. Refining awareness. For all the meditations that you will do, one the following 3 postures is suitable. It is preferable if you can sit in Sukh asan (Cross-legged), if this is not possible then you can sit on a chair and finally if that too is not possible you should use Shav asan (Corpse Pose) for the meditations. Remember, with SM meditations it is far more important what position your mind is in, rather than the position of your body, so dont be discouraged if for any physical reasons you need to use the chair or lie on your back or dont have a perfect sitting posture. The three posture s are described below, followed by the basic meditations. Sukh Asan: Description: You sit forming a 3-point base on the floor with your butt and both knees. Your legs can be in any one of the following 3 configurations while sitting on the floor. First, simply with your legs crossed, which is the easiest but difficult to hold for long periods. Second, lower legs resting on the floor parallel to each other in Burmese Sitting style which is a very balanced and steady posture. You can use a cushion in either of these two postures to raise you hips and take pressure off your knees. Third, in Full Lotus posture, where the foot of each leg rests on the upper thigh or calf of the opposite leg. Full Lotus is the steadiest but requires considerable flexibility to get into, so be very cautious if you plan on trying this posture. Your spine should be erect and stretched upwards towards the sky, this will cause a slight inward curve in your lower back. Your head is pulled back slightly so the chin is ever so subtly drawn in and back such that the back of the neck is aligned with the spine (like a soldier in attention). The eyes are closed and the hands are held in the Cosmic Mudra and rest gently on your lap. The Cosmic Mudra is held with your hands forming a cup with your dominant hand below your secondary hand. Just the fingers of the hands are overlapping and the thumb tips of both hands are meeting such that the space between the thumbs and index fingers forms an oval. Benefits: Sukh asan gives you a very steady base and is ideal for sitting still over long periods of time. Taking this posture makes the mind alert, calm and ready to turn inwards. Keeping the spine elongated and straight helps in the delivery of prana

(oxygen) to the brain and prevents the diaphragm from being crushed. This free movement of the diaphragm is essential for allowing the breath of become smooth and deep, thus relaxing and quieting the entire organism. Cautions: In the beginning you will find it difficult to hold this posture for prolonged periods of time. Your back may hurt and so might your knees or other joints. This is not reason enough to use the modified postures below. If you can manage it, Sukh asan is ideal for conducting the SM meditations so persist. The Yoga for Mediation set will prove to be very handy in improving your flexibility and helping you overcome these difficulties so make sure you do that regularly as indicated. The reasons to switch to the modified postures are if you feel you are about to hurt yourself, specially, your knees, or if you have a pre-existing physical condition, like a bad back, etc. If you do have to use one of the other postures dont be discouraged. They have all been used successfully before, and remember the real work to be done has to do with the mind and not the body. Using a Chair: Description: Use a chair that allows you to sit comfortably. Sit with your back straight and erect, but do not use the chairs back for support if possible. Using the chairs back for support will actually prove to be more difficult over a longer period of time than sitting without it. Head is pulled back slightly so the chin is ever so subtly drawn back and in such that back of the neck is aligned with the spine. The eyes are closed and the hands are held in the cosmic mudra [See Sukh asan above]. The feet are kept flat on the ground and are about shoulder width apart. It is best if the height of the chair lends itself to your knee joints making a 90-degree angle. Benefits: Very much like Sukh asan. Sitting this way makes you alert, provides essential nourishment to the brain and helps relax the breath. Cautions: Because the base is not as wide and solid as Sukh Asan, there is a greater chance of putting strain on the back and thus having it become sore during prolonged sitting. For this reason it is important to develop the strength and flexibility of your back. Also, it is fine to use a flattish cushion to sit on to prevent your butt from getting sore. Shav Asan: Description: Shav asan or corpse pose is exactly that, being a corpse. You lie flat on your back and have your arms straight out to the side with the palms facing slightly up. Again, the eyes are closed and breathing is relaxed. If your lower back feels strained you can use a cushion under your knees to relieve the pressure. Benefits: Shav asan provides total support to the entire body and is a posture that minimizes strain on the muscles. From an meditation point of view, if you are unable to take either of the other 2 postures, then Shav asan is the next best. Shav asan is one posture that most anyone should be able to do. Cautions: Dont fall asleep. This is the number one problem when using this posture. Since most practitioners do their SM sessions in the early morning sleep is already a challenge. Shav asan, due to being so comfortable, adds to this difficulty. Besides this there are not too many dangers with using Shav asan.

The 4 Basic Meditations: Each week one basic meditation is to be done, for 20 minutes per session as indicated in the Phase 1 Daily Yoga and Meditation Practice [Chapter 3: Table 2]. Cautions: These two cautions apply to all the meditations described below. First, all these meditations serve to settle down the conscious mind that is constantly busy and this silence allows what is lurking below the surface to rise up and come into your awareness. Often this can be suppressed emotions; including anger, hurt, loneliness, fears, etc and having to face them can be a challenging task. Keep in mind that leaving them unresolved and lurking in the sub-conscious can lead to them being expressed in many malignant ways, such as diseases and emotional problems, so as they rise to the surface simple watch them run their course and release them from your system. This cleansing is an integral part of the journey back to the your Natural Self. Second, as your meditation deepens, you will notice that your breathing has changed to STB (Silk Thread Breath) and often you will feel that your breathing might be suspended all together. Dont be alarmed if this suspension happens. It is expected. As the mind quiets down the breathing follows suit and visa-versa. Just continue your meditation and take a breath as required. Breath Meditation: For the first week, the meditation you will be practicing is Breath Meditation. It is perhaps the most widely used basic meditation and is the technique perfected by the Buddha. It the backbone of Zen Meditation (Zazen). It is the preferred base meditation for many practitioners. Description: Sit or lie in the posture you have chosen. Be completely still and bring your attention to your breathing. Without interfering with the breath just be as physically aware as possible of the inhalation, the exhalation and the gap in between. Attend carefully to the temperature, movement, depth, sensation, etc. To help keep your concentration on your breathing, count mentally your breaths. Count an inhalation as one, exhalation as two and so on till you reach 10. Then return to 1 and start over. If at any time you loose your awareness of the breath and wander into some mental storyline before getting to 10, just return to 1 and start again. Once you reach the stage where you can count to 10 repeatedly without losing awareness of your breath, switch the counting such that each inhalation and exhalation cycle is 1 and continue onto 10 as before. Once this is accomplished, you can drop the counting all together, and simply be aware of the breathing. Body Meditation: A closely related meditation to Breath Mediation is Body Meditation. It is often combined with breath meditation and if you prefer, can be used in that way as part of the SM program as well. In the description below the combined usage is also explained. Description: Sit or lie in the posture you have chosen and be completely still. Close your eyes and start to become intimately aware of any feelings or sensations you feel in the physical body. Try not to label or mentally describe the feeling, instead just let the feeling express itself and tell its story to you. Allow it to run its course without judgment, suppression or indulgence. As in Breath Mediation, pay close attention to the absolute physical nature of the feelings and sensations. Attend carefully to the heat, pain, discomfort, strain, etc. If you find yourself at rest without a feeling or sensation to be aware of, you can choose to be aware of this restful state or, if you prefer, you can switch to Breath Meditation until a new feeling or sensation arises. When it does arise bring all your attention to it and repeat the process of allowing it to journey or exist in you without any judgment or interference. Sound Meditation: This meditation takes advantage of ambient sounds in the environment and is an effective way of turning awareness inward.

Description: Sit or lie in the posture you have chosen and be completely still. Close your eyes and start to become aware of ambient sounds as far away from you as possible. Spend a few minutes attending to these sounds and then move your attention to sounds closer and closer to you. As per the earlier meditations, try to refrain from getting mentally involved with the sound and instead just try to attend to its physical nature. Listen carefully to its pitch, tone, amplitude, duration, etc. If the sound is constant, just listen to it carefully, if it is transient, hear it rise and then dissolve. Continue to slowly move your attention to sounds closer and closer to you. Finally, bring your attention all the way to the sound of your breath or to some other sound very close to you. 3rd Eye Meditation: This meditation is based on the Tantric system and specifically exploits the 6th energy vortex of the bodys subtle energy system (Chakra and Kundalini system). Here we wont explore Tantra in depth as that is quite an extensive topic but we will speak on this meditation from the context of SM. Essentially, the 6th energy vortex is located in the forehead area just above and between the eyebrows and is also called the 3rd eye (Ajna Chakra). Often in practicing SM you will start to feel some pressure in this area and that pressure can be a point of focus for developing your mind and concentration. The 6th energy center is the seat of insight and wisdom, according to Tantra, and SM meditations, as you will learn, are about the blossoming of insight. In Tantra, bringing attention to a particular vortex helps develop that center and since we are interested in developing our power of insight, focusing on the 3rd eye goes hand in hand with our SM goals. Description: Sit or lie in the posture you have chosen and be completely still. Close your eyes and look upwards into the center of the forehead region, between the eyebrows and bring your complete attention there. Continue as best you can to hold your attention here and if indeed you start to feel any sensation there remain attentive to it. In the event you dont have any sensations, do not be discouraged just continue to look up into the 3rd eye and hold your focus there.

Phase 2 Chapter 8 Phase 2: Daily Yoga & Meditation Practice You have now begun to build a foundation. Phase 1 should have started to get your body accustomed to sitting (or being still in another posture) and begun to give you some level of awareness into the workings of your mind. From phase 1 you should now select the basic meditation that you find most suited you. It does not matter which one you use; they are all effective. It is also important to listen to your intuition at this stage, if for any reason you feel that you are not quite ready to progress to the next phase and are still establishing your daily routine, there is no harm in continuing the phase 1 daily practice for more time before jumping ahead. Each individual is going to take their own unique path so its important to listen carefully to your inner voice and start to become your own teacher and guide. In phase 2 you will start to incorporate the SM specific core meditations into your daily sessions and you will be practicing the Yoga for Energy set. Since silent and still meditation may still be new to you, the time requirement for the meditation portion is not excessive. You will be sitting in meditation for a total of 30 minutes instead of the 20 minutes from Phase 1. For the first 2 weeks you will be doing your chosen basic meditation for the entire 30 minutes and then for the final 2 weeks you will do 10 minutes of the basic meditation followed by 20 minutes of a core Silent Mind meditation. It is important to note that this duration may not be sufficient for SM meditations but it will help get you ready by introducing you to the process and requirements of SM meditations. The Yoga for Energy set is designed to build up your systems so that when you enter Phase 3 your energy will be vitalized. The following table [Table 3] details the Phase 2 practice. The absolute need for passion and urgency will also be the focus of this phase for the emotional and psychological dimensions respectively. More about that in the following chapters. Physical (30 mins) Yoga for Energy Emotional Passion Psychological Urgency Meditation (30 mins) Your Basic Meditation Your Basic Meditation Fact of Struggle Pursuit of the Ideal

Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8

Table 3

Chapter 9 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Yoga for Energy (Kundalini) As you begin to participate in the Silent Mind meditations of phase 2 it is going to become self-evident the need for tremendous energy. This energy is going to be absolutely necessary in order to watch and instantly comprehend the actuality of the subtle mind in motion. The yoga work that you will do during this phase is designed precisely to help increase and harness this vital energy. As mentioned earlier, remember to pace yourself and not overdo it, use common sense and work around your injuries. Try not to eat at least 1 to 2 hours before doing your daily session and wear loose comfortable clothing. The Yoga for Energy set takes 30 minutes to complete and is described in Appendix 2 [Appendix 2: Yoga for Energy Set]. This set is to be done daily for the next 4 weeks prior to your 30 minute meditation practice. The following Pranayam is used in the Yoga for Energy set [Appendix 2]. Breath Work: Left Nostril Breathing The following Pranayam, uses the science of breathing through selective nostrils. It is designed to increase your creative and meditative energies and should be practiced for 5 minutes at the start of the Yoga for Energy set. Description: Sit in Sukh Asan or lie in Shav Asan. Curl your index and middle fingers of your right hand down into your palm and point your pinkie, ring finger and thumb upwards. Your thumb will be used to block your right nostril while your ring finger and pinkie will be used to block your left nostril. You will breathe in from your left nostril in 4 parts and exhale in 1 part through your right. So it will take you 4 sniffs to inhale completely through the left nostril and only 1 breath to exhale all the air out through the right nostril. It is important to fill you lungs to full capacity by the fourth inhalation and empty them completely during exhalation. You will continue for 5 minutes. Benefits: Breathing through the left nostril activates the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for your artistic, creative and intuitive qualities. It is a breath pattern to calm your mind and prepare for meditation. Breaking up the inhalation portion of the breath into 4 parts allows you to utilize your full lung capacity. It helps deepen your breathing, bringing in more oxygen and expanding your respiratory system. Cautions: If you start to feel dizzy switch to LDB or normal breathing and return to the given pranayam when you feel ready.

Chapter 10 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Passion The rewards of SM meditation are compassion, joy and wisdom; and just like any other priceless treasures that life has to offer they too cannot be attained overnight. For this reason you will have to have tremendous tenacity and it is only abiding passion for the Truth that is going to give birth to the necessary resolve to travel this road. If you feel a calling for the spiritual, for the Truth, for the sublime, then you can consider yourself very lucky. It is important to be true to this calling and cultivate this interest. Although the SM meditation program is designed for twelve weeks, the art of observation is a life-long practice. This art will open the doors to what lies beyond the ordinary mind and although the practice is not complicated, it is hard work that needs patience and intensity. Due to this requirement of persistence and no guarantee of quick results, it is often the case that one begins the work with great zeal and energy, but soon abandons the practice and returns to the endless distractions of mediocre living when no early rewards are received. During phase 2, focus on deepening and understanding your passion. The following suggestions help keep the fire of passion going. 1. As mentioned earlier, inspiration can come from outside, so it is helpful to surround yourself with sources of inspiration. These can be anything from books, music, pictures of saints, etc. The inspiration does not have to be specifically related to meditation, it can be anything that motivates you to do your best and urges you to achieve your highest potential. 2. A life-style activity that can prove to be very effective in helping you maintain a strong practice is to find a group of like-minded people to meditate with. Such a group will help combat the bane of moods, which are often the culprit in disrupting the consistency of a practice. Having a group or partner means you will have to do the session even if you are not feeling up to it. Furthermore, being in the company of those also interested in the Truth, will help test and deepen your understanding via discussions and dialogue. 3. A proven source of inspiration from time in memorial is the beauty of nature. So try to integrate into your life time spent with nature. You will find that the more connected you are to the earth the more connected you are to the source of all things. 4. The one benefit of enlightenment experiences are that they are incredibly inspiring. So if you are lucky enough to have them come your way, use them to boost your level of commitment. 5. Try to be careful about the commitments you make in life. The earlier you realize this the better chance you will have of preventing life from overwhelming you. So before you get yourself into severe financial debt or over commit to other aspects of life think about the impact it will have on your practice. Time and leisure are needed to participate in this journey, so try not to over fill your life with the mundane. 6. Finally, you just have to keep going. Like the Buddha said, "There are only 2 mistakes you can make in life. The first is not to take the first step and the second is having taken the first step to not go all the way". Keep doing your best, nothing else matters. Dont concern yourself with achievements, gains, progress, etc - just keep plugging away. Ultimately, you need to move fluidly with the present thats all. The moment is

already there for you, its just that you are not there for it. So, there is nowhere to go, nothing to achieve, its just about seeing and being with the Reality that you are already an integral part of. Give your life to it and see what happens.

Chapter 11 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Urgency Abiding passion is going to give your practice the longevity it needs, while urgency is going to give it the intensity it requires to meet the challenge of the thinking mind. Urgency will serve two main purposes. 1. Having urgency means you realize the value of every single day and the tragedy of wasting it. Life is very precious and the opportunity to penetrate the veil of ignorance is without comparison. Living a compromised life, in which one is satiated by the fleeting pleasures of the ego, is not to have lived at all. Every day has got to be lived with full vigor and vitality, with the sum total of your energies applied. As the famous Zen saying points out, "Let me respectfully remind you life and death are of supreme importance. Life quickly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken. Do not squander your life." Enough said. 2. When participating in Silent Mind core meditations you have to be burning with urgency, for it is this demand that is going to give you the energy needed to inspect the subtle and swift thinking process. You will also notice that this intensity is also going to spontaneously slow down the thinking process making it available for inspection. If this intensity is missing, it is likely that moment to moment awareness of the state of your mind is also missing. Thoughts are very seductive and you will be fighting hard to stay clear of being caught up in their offerings, and for this separation to be introduced, urgency will be required. To realize the urgency, contemplate your inevitable death. Of all the techniques to give you a sense of urgency, this is number 1. You only have so much time on this lovely planet so spend it wisely. Your situation as described by J. Krishnamurti is that "Your house is on fire!". The sense of urgency you would have if that was the case, is the urgency you need to have in your practice. It is not time to dilly dally, pontificate, argue theories, it is time to get out of the burning house. Get out NOW!

Chapter 12 Silent Mind Meditation: The SM Meditations Here are some new Videos explaining the Silent Mind Meditation Technique that I recently created. This is a 2 part series and both videos are available below. As outlined in Chapter 8 (SM Meditation Program: Phase 2: Daily Yoga and Meditation Practice) for the first 2 weeks you will do the basic meditation that you have chosen for 30 minutes. Once you begin the third week of Phase 2 it is time to start your SM meditations. SM meditations are done in the same posture as you have chosen for your basic meditations. For weeks 3 and 4 of phase 2 you should do your basic mediation for the first 10 minutes of the meditation session and then for the final 20 minutes you should practice the SM meditation designated for that week. No break should be taken between the basic meditation and the SM meditation. The basic meditation will serve to settle the mind down making it easier to observe. The SM meditation will take you the rest of the way. It is now time to explore exactly what SM meditation is and how to do it. From the program you have participated in so far you must have started to gather some ideas about the nature and purpose of SM meditations. SM meditations use the power of acute awareness and intelligence generated by a vitalized, intense system to directly perceive the mind and by virtue of this perception bring the thinking process to halt itself. This will be clearer as we break down and investigate the process behind SM. Following are the 7 steps of SM practice. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. You You You You You You You have a single, absolute fact. personalize the fact. form a single intent to perceive this fact. apply all your energy and passion in pursuit of this intent. crystallize. negate the fact. let go.

Let us now explore each of these aspects in detail. 1. You have a single absolute fact. SM meditation is based on generating the required energy and channeling it into swift attention and instant comprehension so that the fact of what is going on within starts to be directly perceived. One of the more interesting aspects of the condition we are in is that it can be stated in many irrefutable ways. In the first step of the process you choose one particular way of factually describing your internal condition. This description is the single absolute fact. This fact is what you will be pursuing to realize, not intellectually, but actually during an SM session. The fact must have the following constitution 1. It must be an absolute constant truth in the sphere of our minds and its relationship to Reality. 2. The more appealing it is to you the better it will work. 3. It must be intellectually understood. As stated above the fact is a truth related to the workings of your mind and thinking processes as it currently is. In other words, it is not an impersonal fact, like the mass of the

moon or the elemental makeup of water. It is a fact that describes the constant internal state of your mind, such as, Desire is the phenomenon that drives you to struggle. In other words, the fact is in action, available for your viewing, from moment to moment. It is a remarkable thing when you start to see how repetitive and simplistic your mind really is at a fundamental level where these facts are constantly in operation. The second aspect of the fact is much more subjective. Essentially, you want to use whatever description touches a nerve and carries a punch. A description that is inspiring and has an affect on you will be more effective. The deeper and greater the affect the better. As you try the various SM meditations, each based on a particular description of the condition of your mind, you will start to get a better feel for this aspect. Some meditations will be simply easier for you to grasp and work with at particular times. The third aspect is that we must understand the fact fully at the intellectual level. This understanding will be of great help to you when you are trying to apply yourself to see the actuality of the fact in action. This understanding can be ascertained and enhanced through study, discussion and self-dialogue. The SM meditations provided later in the program are explained clearly and fully to give you this understanding. 2. You personalize the fact. The second step of SM is to personalize the fact. So, for the above fact, Desire is the phenomenon that drives you to struggle, you would form the quest; Let me see desire driving me to struggle. This will then become the reality that you will seek to actualize. 3. You form one single intent to perceive this fact. The third step of SM practice is to have a single passionate intent, which is to see this fact in action. You must have absolutely no other intention in mind except this one. Your mind forms just one desire, one wave, which is to perceive this fact. Be firm in this resolve for the mind is going to throw up many tantalizing subjects and you must repeatedly return to the pursuit of your intent. One of the main goals of the basic meditations was to help you develop this ability to focus and stay on the topic of your choosing and in this case the topic has to be the single minded purpose of seeing yourself subjected to the fact. 4. You apply all your energy and passion in pursuit of this intent. This is where the work really begins. So far you have selected the fact, personalized it and set your single-minded intent. This is the step where you are going to apply yourself with as much passion and energy you can muster to see the fact in action. What is most important here is that we are not talking about understanding the fact intellectually, what we are saying is that you must encounter and realize the fact through direct perception. This is the key to SM and everything hinges on it so let us explore it greater detail. Normally we understand things intellectually using our logical and analytical mind, but now we are going to comprehend via direct perception. We are going to constantly, moment to moment, watch our thinking process and see clearly the actual fact in operation. In other words, instead of simply understanding conceptually that Desires drive you to struggle, the very process of Desire driving you to struggle, is going to be completely grasped and instantly comprehended as it occurs from moment to moment. The beast of desire can be

and is going to be encountered. The verbal and intellectual understanding will occur in parallel to the realization of the actual phenomenon, instead of just existing as a mental construct. At first, since you may not have applied yourself in this way, you may continue to remain at the intellectual level, but, as you persist keenly and arduously applying the full capacity of your energies, the thinking process will spontaneously start to slow down and you will begin the catch glimpses of the fact. Once this begins you must remain deadly focused and push forward so that the next step of the process can occur. 5. You Crystallize. Crystallization brings with it a great joy. It is the witnessing of the fact in action from moment to moment without missing a beat. Your energies are now fully integrated and the fact along with its entire story is being understood effortlessly. The power of swift attention and acute intelligence are now at work and all movements of the mind are being comprehended. During this stage the mind is an open book. Not only is the fact clearly visible but so is the truth behind any other thought that occurs as well. This is insight now flowing. 6. You negate the fact. This step is very closely linked to crystallization and there is usually some back and forth between these two stages in a SM session. The negation of the fact arises naturally because it becomes clear from seeing the mind in action that its current state breeds suffering. The facts that underlie the movement of the mind all bind us to time and ego, and all have their roots in the desire/fear combination. They perpetuate in us a sense of incompleteness and dissatisfaction and keep us bound to the fruitless pursuit of selfsecurity. Seeing the fact in action clearly brings this entire picture to light and leads to the natural, sane and spontaneous negation of this pattern. In other words you clearly see the state desire driving you to struggle, and all that it entails (greed, suffering, hope, fear, pettiness etc) and you just reject it. As it occurs again, for if the mind moves the fact is in operation again, you see it again and reject it. This leads to the last stage. 7. You let go. As you dive into SM meditation the subtle truth that will become ever so painfully clear is that you are the source of your suffering. The mind upon inspecting itself will realize that it is the creator of the very activity that is causing all the grief. For example, when one, seeing greed being the source of all the struggling tries to end it, one is just perpetuating greed by hoping to attain a state free of greed. When one sees oneself struggling constantly and decides to try to stop that, one has in fact undertaken a new struggle. Startlingly, this perpetuation of the current state is all that the mind is capable of doing and SM meditation brings the mind to this realization. This then means that the mind will have to stop its mischief and that requires for it to cease, for you to let go of it. When you arrive here you will know what to do, and it will just be a matter of courage at this point. Have faith, be brave and Jump. SM Meditation I: Fact of Struggle The first SM meditation that we will introduce is one of the most powerful and potent. It is the following fact, One is constantly struggling. This is the way our mind is at all timesengaged in a struggle. Thus the fact meets the first criteria of being in constant operation in the sphere of self-consciousness. Although the impact of this knowledge on you is

unknown (second criteria), in general this fact is quite poignant and usually has a strong impact. Finally, the third criteria requires that you understand the fact intellectually so lets explore it in some detail. By struggle we are referring to any internal effort that you are placing yourself under. It is meant in the broadest definition of the word and includes any attempt your mind is making to achieve. As you turn your attention to your thinking process you will see that you are constantly setting a goal for yourself and are busy trying to achieve that goal. The question that arises is Can we ever free ourselves from this pattern of eternal striving? Of course, one must see clearly that trying to free oneself is just another struggle. So negation of the fact is not to try and chase its opposite. To pursue a state of "non-struggle" is still a continuation of struggle. So what is meant by negation instead is to just drop it, finish it, reject it immediately. To summarize then, you have your intention set to see your mind in constant struggle and upon seeing this clearly drop it every time it is noticed. The mind must realize that anything at all it tries to do is just useless - only creating more struggle. Remember the key to SM is that the concept is not the actual. What you need to do is to see the actual, the fact, and not just its interpretation by the mind. The very seeing of struggle is the ending of struggle. SM Meditation II: Pursuit of the Ideal The keen mind will start to see that any one piece describes the whole puzzle and that if you can understand one piece completely you will understand the whole puzzle and consequentially all the pieces. The second SM meditation is just another way of describing the current constant state of the mind; it is the fact that One is always in pursuit of the ideal. Another way to putting this, which lends itself to be easily seen during meditation is, One is always subject to shoulds. I should be watching my mind, I should not be greedy, etc. and, as always, to say that you should not be under the control of shoulds is just another "should". The ideal is the authority that prevents you from ever just being in the present - as you are. It creates the gap, the conflict, between what is and what should be and then trying to bridge this gap becomes the rest of your life. It results in the endless effort of your mind to arrive somewhere, to become something. This authority arises from two sources. One is the authority of an outside entity which then dictates what one ought to aspire to how one ought to live ones life. Two, there is the authority granted to conclusions drawn from past experiences. Authority decrees, do this, do that, be like this, be like that, implying that as things are, as you are, is unacceptable. The problem is that in trying to change, to become the ideal you dont change at all. In other words, in trying not be greedy you remain greedy and in trying not be selfish you are obsessed with yourself, in trying not to be violent you are in conflict. The ideals are just fictitious. There is no such thing as non-greed, unselfishness, non-violent etc. There is just the perpetuation of greed, conflict etc. SM meditation demands that you see that any attempt to change is to pursue the direction established by another "should", and so has to be dropped. The only truth is the way things are, exactly at this very moment. Whether it is the conclusions of past experiences or the voices of others that are telling you how things should be, your job is to see the painful condition of always chasing the ideal and reject it.

Chapter 13 SM Meditation Program: Daily Yoga & Mediation Practice for Phase 3 You are now into the final four weeks (Phase 3) of the Silent Mind Meditation program. By now, your body should have become accustomed to being kept still and you should have started to see an increase in your level of energy and powers of concentration. In addition you should have started to challenge the ordinary, dualistic, mental reality with the SM meditations of phase 2. The program, for the last 2 months, has been building your confidence, along with, hopefully, awakening in you a relentless demand for the Truth. In phase 3 you will start to focus more on the SM mediations. Here four more powerful SM meditations will be introduced, each to be practiced for 1 week after doing the Yoga for Awareness set. The qualities that will be discussed and which you will work to enhance are sensitivity and non-attachment. The importance of these 2 qualities cannot be overstated. The table below [Table 4] summarizes the work to be done in this phase. Keep it up. Physical (20 mins) Yoga for Awareness Emotional Sensitivity Psychological Non-attachment Meditation (40 mins) Concept Time Hope Asleep

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Table 4

Chapter 14 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Yoga for Awareness Body Work: Yoga for Awareness Having developed your body to be more supple and energetic it is now time to exploit the ancient science of Raja Yoga to raise your level of awareness using it. Awareness is the light that is going to illuminate the inner walls and reveal the false in the false. It is the key to the success of the Silent Mind meditations. The set you will do in phase 3 is the Yoga for Awareness set described in Appendix 3 (Yoga for Awareness Set). This Raja Yoga set is based on the Chakra and Kundalini system of the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali and works directly on the energy centers of the subtle body (more information on the Chakra system is available in the Kundalini Yoga Section or Articles Page). It uses body locks (bandhas) and breath control (pranayam) to work its magic. All the guidelines from the previous Yoga sets apply to this set as well. This set takes about 15 minutes to complete and should be done after the advanced Pranayam described in the breath work section below. Thus, the total time spent on the Pranayam and Yoga set will be 20 minutes and this will be followed by 40 minutes of meditation. Breath Work: Advanced Pranayam The following Pranayam set utilizes retention of breath and as pointed out earlier any such forced retention must be approached cautiously. The following exercise should be done for 5 minutes prior to doing the Yoga for Awareness set. Description: The exercise is quite simple, but very potent. Sit (preferable) or lie in the position you have chosen, then keeping relaxed inhale while counting up to 4 slowly, hold your breath for a count of 16 and exhale to the count of 8. The count is slow and steady, about 1 second per count, done mentally of course. Benefits: This pranayam helps dissolve blockages in the subtle body systems, increase the strength of your nervous system and raise your energy to higher vibrational frequencies. This refined energy then works to activate and balance your higher energetic centers which are responsible for awareness, insight and connectivity to the beyond. Cautions: If you at all feel uncomfortable holding your breath for the count of 16 cut all the counts to half. Inhale to the count of 2, hold for a count of 8 and exhale to a count of 4. If this too feels uncomfortable, practice STB (Silk Thread Breathing described in Chapter 4: Yoga for Meditation ) instead for 5 minutes. Do not practice this pranayam if you have high blood pressure, instead do STB.

Chapter 15 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Sensitivity

If the entire Silent Mind program had to be described in one word, the word that would apply would be sensitivity. Sensitivity of the senses, sensitivity to the movement of the mind and emotions, and sensitivity to others. Sensitivity to the present. Devoid of sensitivity life is nothing more that a series of mechanical reactions to input that is barely encountered. There is no meeting of any depth between life and the being. Life is superficially touched and a superficial reaction is generated. Sensitivity demands that life be beheld. It be met fully and allowed to penetrate such that the response arises not just from the mechanical mind but instead from the totality of ones being. This requires not meeting the present with the baggage of the past, but being alive to every moment and giving it its due respect and attention. Being excessively cerebral has made us a prisoner of our mental realities exclusively and we have lost our heart. We no longer feel the world around us and no longer feel the wonder and beauty of life. We are out of touch with nature. We are unaffected by the changing seasons, the endless skies and the starlit nights. We are pre-occupied with the moronic chattering of our internal dialogue and have become dull and robotic. The antidote to this is to become aware that this indeed is your present state. That awareness is in itself intelligence and will bring about the needed transformation. That awareness is sensitivity. The inspection of the mind and its processes inevitably brings one to the realization that ones mind is actually the mind shared by all us humans. Fundamentally, the inspection of your mind is the same as inspecting anyone elses mind. The minds are functioning basically in the same way, both are only capable of moving within the known and perpetuating desire. What does that mean? It means that we are all dealing with the same challenges. All our problems are human problems and the distinctions that are drawn between man and man are in fact superficial. The problems are that of suffering, fear, hope, desire, loneliness, frustration, greed, jealousy, etc. The impact of this realization is compassion. The impact of this realization is thoughtfulness and sensitivity. For the next four weeks try to watch and be aware of your behavior and the behavior or others. Try to develop moment to moment sensitivity of your physical, emotional and mental dimensions. No one can do this for you, its up to you to awaken yourself from your deep sleep and sensitivity is the key.

Chapter 16 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Non-attachment With attachments lie the root of our imprisonment and problems. It is not just attachment to material objects and people that leads to suffering, it is the attachment to name, image, reputation, beliefs, ideas, etc. that further complicate the situation. As you engage in Silent Mind meditations what you will observe is that thoughts are very sticky. They easily capture your attention and draw you into their world. This stickiness of thoughts is because of our attachments. It is this component of a thought that makes it seductive. Without this component thoughts would be like clouds in the sky, easily separated from and easily witnessed from afar. The goal of SM is to dissolve these attachments and free oneself from being sucked into the web of thinking. There are several attitudes that greatly help in diminishing the strength of attachments and in this chapter we are going to discuss a few of them. For the next four weeks, experiment with them and see which ones work best for you. Keep in mind that these are just tools to help us weaken attachments, dont get caught up in their theoretical validity. From the great Tantric schools comes the decree, Whatever comes let it come, whatever goes let it go. This is essence of the Law of Karma. It is suggesting that whatsoever is happening is due to karmic debts which have accumulated over lifetimes. These debts are determined by our past actions. In some situations we are owed and we are getting what we are due, while in others we owe and are paying it off. In either case, the advice is not to take anything personally and just let life play itself out. Stay detached from all the comings and goings of your life and remain calm and undisturbed as it unfolds before you passively watching. Closely related to the above view is the concept of The Neutral Mind, arising from the related schools of Yoga. The Neutral Mind is also called the Yogic Mind and suggests against being caught up in the polarities of pleasure and pain, success and failure etc. It is this partiality that lends itself to attachments. Our constant desire for pleasure and fear of pain builds in us thoughts soaked in emotion, which is another subtle way of describing attachments. As above, the Neutral Mind, encourages the aspirant to maintain equanimity and composure when faced with the fluctuations of life, treating the polarities equally, favoring neither one nor the other. From the traditions of Zen Buddhism comes another helpful technique to combat attachments, the approach of Mindfulness. This approach asks the student to remain as much as possible in the present, aware of that which is occurring physically, emotionally and mentally. Awareness is the archenemy of attachments. Attachments are strengthened by the endless time that we spend thinking about them, chewing on them. By demanding that we are instead focused on the ordinary present, starves the attachments of the constant coddling they get, and they begin to wither away. As this process continues we start to come out of our mental reality and become more connected with life as it actually is. All three of the above time tested teachings are effective in cutting the bonds which bind you and cause suffering, but all are easier said then done. At the end of the day, you want to be like the deep ocean, where the storms of life only disturb the surface while you remain calm and peaceful deep within. It is well worth the effort.

Chapter 17 Silent Mind Meditations for Phase 3 In phase 3 after you do the Yoga for Awareness set, the rest of the time (40 minutes) will be spent entirely on practicing the Silent Mind Meditation for that week. In the event that you find yourself very distracted and the mind exceedingly restless, switch to the Basic Mediation of your choice until the mind settles down and then return to the SM mediation. The following are the 4 SM meditations for phase 3. Any of the four can be a catalyst in propelling you to what lies beyond the mind. Each should be practiced for 1 week sequentially. SM Meditation III: Concept Meditation: Thoughts are just concepts. This SM meditation is very effective for disengaging from your thinking mind and breaking its hold on your awareness. As we mentioned earlier, the concept is not the actual, or put another way, the word is not the thing. The word or thought is a conceptual representation of the actual, but for us the minds projections have become real and the real has become hidden. This meditation utilizes the fact that every thought is just a thought, it is just a concept not real and asks that you see this fact and drop it. Generally we are always drawn into the thought due to our attachments, but in this mediation seeing the thought as just a concept de-claws it of its power and ends its reign on us. Any attempt to do anything different is just another concept so dont buy into it and just drop that as well. You will know you are getting this when you start to realize the difference between being inside a thought versus being outside a thought. SM Meditation IV: Time Meditation: Thought requires Time to move. This meditation is a little more subtle than the ones you have been practicing so far. It is one that justifies the requirement that the fact should be intellectually understood (requirement #3). For this meditation we will focus on the future component embedded in our every thought from moment to moment. In every effort, every goal, every attempt there is the assumption of a future time in which the state sought after will come into existence. Without this assumption no effort or struggle could be born. The attempt to reproduce a previous state or achieve a new one implicitly requires the future to be a part of ones reality and the object of this SM meditation is to see that and disallow it. Without time, there is nowhere for you to travel to. The meditation will take you from the struggle of becoming into the ease of being. Remember the key to SM meditation is to see the fact. So here you must see the fact of time embedded in each effort, doing so and rejecting it will bring about an opportunity for the timeless to be. SM Meditation V: Hope Meditation: Hope is the constant state of our minds. We are always hoping. This is closely related to the previous SM meditation in which you were observing the fact of time. In this meditation, you have to see that you are always hoping, for whatever reason, to get somewhere. This hope gives rise to your efforts and your exertion of will in an attempt to fulfill. Remember the object of SM meditation is to start to see the reality of this and drop it from moment to moment. In the end even hope has to be abandoned if you are interested in the Truth. SM Mediation VI: Asleep Meditation: You are constantly asleep.

In this final SM meditation you will look to realize the fact that You are constantly asleep. As soon as a thought sucks you in, you are lost in the story line, asleep to reality. The only thing you can do is become aware that you are lost. The instant where you have attended to your inattention is when you are not lost. As the mind moves again, it will again try to seduce you into its reality and put you to sleep. Upon seeing that your attention has once again been compromised, you are in alertness. This is the crux of SM to be awake from moment to moment as best as you can.

Chapter 18 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Practical Hints and Tips: The following hints and tips are to help you with the Silent Mind Meditation Program. They will help you establish the practice required to master the art of meditation. Some are already mentioned in the program while others are new. 1. It is best to practice in the early morning at the same time daily. Once the day starts the chances of the session being disrupted by the hustle and bustle of everyday life increases dramatically. Also, consistency is going to be key and this is best established by setting a regular time for the practice. To add to this, the early morning hour (specially dawn) is indicated by yoga to be the most conducive time for spiritual activities. 2. Dont give up if thoughts keep slipping through your awareness and you find it hard to catch them. Keep plugging away, as best you can. Every bit of attention you apply works to change the physical nature of the brain, transforming the organ at a cellular level. Often you will find that even though the SM meditation session did not appear to reap rich rewards, spontaneously during the regular day the brain falls very quiet. As you practice over time you will see the direct correlation between this unearthly silence and the quality and sincerity of your SM sessions. 3. As your practice matures, you will find that sitting for at least 1 hour (as opposed to 40 minutes) is more helpful to effectively perform the more advanced Silent Mind Meditations. It will be well worth the time and effort. 4. A technique that is very handy in bringing the fact, the current condition of the mind to light immediately is the technique of asking the right question. This question is often, What is it that I am doing right now? The answer of course is the very fact you are attempting to realize. This method of right questioning should not be underestimated. It has often proven to be the key in cracking the shell of the ego. 5. For the physical work it cannot be stressed enough not to overdo it. Use common sense. Dont eat for at least 1-2 hours before the sets and wear comfortable clothing. You have been given a fantastic body, dont push it prematurely to the point where you risk injury. 6. Drink plenty of water at the end of the sessions, especially after tough physical Yoga sets as you will want to wash out toxins that are released during the workout. 7. If you find the sets difficult to do, increase the relaxation time between exercises and reduce the duration time for the exercises themselves. If you are finding the Yoga for Energy and/or Yoga for Awareness sets of phase 2 and 3 too difficult, you may want to substitute the Yoga for Meditation set for them, till you feel more ready for this advanced work. 8. Similar to the last recommendation, you may wish to spend more than just 4 weeks with the phase 1 basic meditations, if you feel your sitting and concentration are not strong enough to go forward. Let your inner voice guide you.

9. If you are not able to crystallize during SM and are just catching occasional glimpses of the fact that is ok. You just need to keep trying your best; the rest will take care of itself. See #2 above. 10. You may want to set some dos and donts for yourself to help you with your practice. These can be as broad as I will change to a healthy diet, to as specific as I will not watch TV after 9:00 pm. Find those aspects of your life that are holding you down and make a resolution to correct them. 11. Helpful hints for making Sukh Asan easier for longer SM meditations a. Use a firm cushion to raise your hips higher than your knees. This coupled with Burmese style can make sitting for very long periods more comfortable. A tradition Zofu used for Zazen (Zen meditation) or Smile Cushion (crescent moon shaped) is specifically designed for this and may be well worth the purchase. b. Dont wear anything that will bunch up behind the knees, this will cut off blood circulation and put your legs to sleep and/or make them numb. c. Dont wear anything that is tight around the waist either, this will interfere with your breathing. d. Once you take the posture dont fidget, just remain still and the body will fall into line. If you start fidgeting it will never end. 12. You can use music while doing the physical Yoga work but do not use music during the meditation sessions. Music can help with you mood, specially if you are practicing alone and need to get motivated. 13. Pick a place in your house where you are going to do your practice daily. The place should be kept neat and you may wish to decorate it so it is inspiring to you. If possible ensure that you will not be interrupted or distracted during your SM session here. Having such a place helps in many ways establish a consistent practice. Over time, you and others will notice this place having a very different feel to it. 14. Anything is possible so dont let the mind dissuade you and make excuses. Thoughts like, I am not smart enough, committed enough, strong enough, healthy enough etc. serve no purpose. Just start the program and put your best foot forward. Life will provide you with what is needed to progress. If you still feel that you are lacking something required to grow just sincerely ask the Universe for it. You will be surprised by her generosity. 15. There is no age requirement for starting the Silent Mind Meditation Program. You are never too old or too young to be your natural yourself. 16. After you complete the 12-week program you can choose to continue using any of the 6 SM meditations provided, or come up with your own as long as they meet the criteria laid out in Chapter 12: SM Meditation Program: The Silent Mind Meditations. 17. Often progress made in a meditation practice is compared to getting wet in a fog. In a fog you dont notice yourself getting wet but after some time you find yourself completely drenched. So, even if you feel you are not advancing stop concerning yourself with

results and keep going. On a similar note, others may quite often notice changes in you before you do. 18. The silence sometimes emerges deep within the mind and there can be the presence of thoughts at the surface. Try to stay established in that silence within. 19. Dont wait for some perfect time to begin SM. The perfect time is now.

Chapter 19 SM Meditation Program: 10 Benefits of SM Although the primary focus of the Silent Mind Meditation Program is to still your mind of thoughts and awaken you to the Truth of non-duality, there are many other side benefits along the way. Although there are some who practice meditation and yoga simply for these benefits, the recommendation is to go for the highest, and treat the benefits that come along the way as gravy. Below is a list of some of these additional rewards 1. Good Health & Stress Reduction: Doing the SM meditation program will almost certainly improve your health and physical wellbeing. It does this for a myriad of reasons. We will briefly touch upon a few here. Obviously the physical yoga and pranayam will help (and the benefits of each exercise have been explained in the sets) but the value of the mediations with regard to good health should not be underestimated. The meditations (especially the basic meditations) put the mind-body complex in a state of relaxed alertness which is ideal for self healing to take place. In this state, the bodys natural healing capability is vastly enhanced, thus being able to work its magic more effectively. Much of the spontaneous, miracle like healing that takes place in the unwell who turn to spirituality, can be attributed to this phenomenon. In addition, during meditation when the conscious mind is silenced, psychological wounds and other negative emotions that are kept locked up in the subconscious mind are allowed to rise and be released. This prevents these unresolved negative emotions from expressing themselves as disease and illness which is often the path they take if they remain suppressed. Finally SM, over time, reduces anxiety and stress by teaching you to live in the present and this state of peaceful, happy living is the biggest boon to good health. 2. Excellent Brain Function: SM meditation is a very effective and powerful tool for improving ones brain functions significantly. The demands of SM sharpen intelligence and awareness considerably, along with honing ones logical and analytical systems. Ones memory and retrieval pathways are also improved and overall one finds the mind clear and precise. The improvements are sometimes gained in a very short time and are often unmistakable. One way to gauge these changes is by observing the eloquence in your speech and clarity in your dialogues. 3. Balance: Although we have somewhat downplayed these "side benefits" of SM, it is hard to say that balance, one of the rarest qualities, is just gravy. Its just that in the context of the Truth, it is incomparable. We all have imbalances within us; we all have some degree of neurosis. SM automatically starts to correct these. As time passes you will find that you are not tripping over the same bad habits and personality flaws as you had been in the past. You will see clearly better psychological and emotional balance emerge over time. 4. Confidence:

One of the key components of SM is confidence and many aspects of the program work to increase it as well as the related attribute of willpower. Hopefully, when you come to the

point of having to jump out of the known, SM would have built in you the necessary courage and self-belief to do so. 5. Character:

Another quality that SM develops that is hard to downplay is character. Character means to live with integrity and dignity. To have the strength to bear the difficulties of life with a smile. To be able to follow through on ones word and do what one sets one mind to. To not have behavior betray belief. To be reliable and dependable. To be responsible for oneself and the needs of others. Hard to downplay all that. 6. Charisma:

This is one of the really nice side affects of the program. It is probably due to an overall affect of the changes that SM brings about. Like some of the other changes you will find in yourself, the emergence of a charismatic personality is unmistakable. Some of this charisma can be attributed to your being at ease with yourself and being self-sufficient and happy. Being thus relaxed and not needy you will be at the giving end of the spectrum, able to respond fully to the requirement of the moment and others. Other aspects of the program contributing to this magnetic personality is the pranayam and energy work that enhances the presence and force of your being. 7. Discover Your Purpose & Gifts: As you start to drop those aspects of you that are artificial and pretentious you will get a chance to see the real you. The parts that are not put on but are natural. This will give you insight into who you really are and what you really love in life. That is the secret of mastering the art of living and discovering your true talents, gifts and purpose. That which you love, you do for its own sake without the need for reward of accolades. Once this is discovered, life can be lived with passion, zeal and independence. 8. Improved Relationships: The attributes of sensitivity and non-attachment as discussed in phase 3 are the keys to why SM is so helpful in the complex world of relationships. Sensitivity is obviously a necessary component in having good relations. It promotes thoughtfulness, affection and forgiveness, but equally important and perhaps a little more subtle is the need for nonattachment. Non-attachment does not mean apathy, non-attachment means not being dependent on the other for personal fulfillment. Being dependent will lead to fear. The fear of loosing the pleasure or security that the other provides or of the pain the other can impart. This fear creates an underlying resentment that prohibits love from flowering. Not only is attachment to the other a seed for problems but also it is attachments in general that introduce conflict and suffering. Attachment to ones image, reputation, possessions etc. all lay the groundwork for fear and conflict in relationships. SM dissolves these attachments and allows for relationships to be based on love and adoration instead. 9. Transcendental States: Often "mystical" and "energy" (Kundalini) experiences occur during ones practice. These are undeniably interesting. They give one a glimpse into the deepest secrets of the universe, but what they are most valuable for, is their ability to inspire. In addition, the

profound nature of these experiences puts into perspective the meaninglessness of material pleasures and are useful in breaking our attachments to them. 10. Yogic & Psychic Powers: These psychic powers tend to arise later in ones practice and can at times be useful in helping others and oneself to make progress on the spiritual path. Such powers should not be misused obviously, and also importantly acquiring them should not become the focus of ones practice. Continue to go after that which is eternal and timeless, even awesome powers are nothing in comparison.

Chapter 20 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Summary The Silent Mind Meditation Program can be summarized by one phrase, Knocking on Heavens Door. The Knocking on Heavens Door is the seeing from moment to moment the Fact within in operation, and this is your responsibility. Beyond the knocking, everything you try to do just perpetuates the status quo. The doors of Heaven cannot be forced open they must open on their own. The mind must, seeing its own limitations, get out of the way, then that which is beyond can come into being. What you are being asked to do, you will realize, is not complex but it is arduous. It is difficult not only because the mind is elusive, subtle and quick, but also because you have to drop the attachments you have been tightly holding onto for a very long time. These ego-centric attachments have been keeping you occupied your whole life and unless they are purged, the rest of your life will also be spent catering to them. If the consequence of such a self-centered life was meaningful then there would be no need for SM or any other meditation practice. SM is only needed because spending your whole life seeking the fleeting pleasures gained through the fulfillment of these petty desires is a criminal waste of existence a real tragedy. So enough has been said, it is time to act, it is time to be a light onto yourself. Good luck and best wishes on your journey back to the Source.

Appendix 1 SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Meditation Set This set should take you 40 minutes to do. It is to be done daily for the first 4 weeks as part of the Phase 1 Yoga for Meditation physical work. 1. Long Deep Breathing (LDB): a. Description: Sit in Sukh Asan (choose the leg position of your choice as described in Chapter 7: SM Meditation Program Basic Meditations) with your hands grasping your knees and breathe by taking full deep breaths through the nose. The key to LDB is to fill the lungs entirely on the inhalation and then empty them completely on the exhalation. The diaphragm is kept relaxed and the stomach expands out on the inhalation and back in on the exhalation. b. c. Breath: LDB Duration: 5 minutes

d. Benefits: LDB is excellent for expanding ones lung capacity and bringing in maximum amount of oxygen in every breath. It promotes healing and helps build the nervous system. e. Notes: If you feel dizzy return to normal breathing, but in general LDB should not pose much difficulty for you. If 5 continuous minutes is too much intersperse with normal breathing as required. 2. Relax in Shav Asan: a. Description: Lie flat on your back in Shav Asan have your hands out to your sides with the palms facing slightly upward, the legs are shoulder width apart and everything should be relaxed. b. c. Breath: Normal Breathing Duration: 1 minute

d. Benefits: Shav Asan is the best posture for relaxing completely as it provides maximum support to the entire spine and back. Relaxation between exercises gives the body a chance to consolidate the gains that the exercise produces and rejuvenate the areas of the body that are the focus of the exercise. e. Notes: Dont fall asleep. Especially if you not used to waking up early and are trying to do the SM program in the morning. 3. Breath of Fire: a. Description: Sit up in Sukh Asan with your hands grasping your knees and begin breathing rapidly though the nose with equal emphasis on the inhalation and exhalationlike very fast sniffing. Keep the abdomen relaxed and allow it to pulse automatically with the breath. Remember that the breath is not taken in very deep and the pace is fast, about 3 cycles per second.

b. c.

Breath: Breath of Fire Duration: 5 minutes

d. Benefits: Breath of Fire is the breath to do when you want to increase your energy and quickly oxygenate your blood. It generates heat it the body, helps detoxify your system and brings your entire system under one rhythm. Notes: If you feel dizzy slow down the force and/or speed at which you are doing the breathing. Or you can substitute Long Deep Breathing for BOF until you feel ready to switch to BOF again. 4. Relax in Shav Asan: [Repeat #2 again for 1 minute] 5. Butterfly Stretch: a. Description: Sit with your back straight and the soles of your feet together. Interlace your fingers around your feet and using your elbows as levers push down on your inner thighs or calves so your knees approach the floor. b. c. Breath: BOF Duration: 2 minutes

d. Benefits: This posture stretches the inner thighs and groin. It transmutes sexual energy to higher frequencies to be used for other bodily functions. It is a fundamental stretch for any meditator and helps one to sit cross-legged with greater ease. e. Notes: Dont press down to the point of pain, just enough to feel a good stretch.

6. Hamstring Stretch: a. Description: Sit up with your legs extended away from of you. Lean forward from the waist (dont arch your back down) and keeping your knees straight try to hold as far down on your legs as possible. If you can hold your toes and pull them back towards you. If you cant hold your toes, arch your feet back towards you to impart a stretch on the calves. b. c. Breath: BOF Duration: 2 minutes

d. Benefits: This posture stretches the longest nerve in the body (sciatic nerve), which is important for longevity and overall health. It also stretches the entire back of the body and is a fundamental stretch that should be practiced daily. e. Notes: Dont bounce when doing this stretch. As you feel your muscles starting to relax accent the stretch further gently. 7. Knee to Chest:

a. Description: Lie on your back and bring your right knee to your chest. Wrap your arms around your knee and pull down towards your chest to accent the stretch. Repeat with the left knee. b. c. Breath: LDB Duration: 1 minute / sided.

Benefits: This helps loosen the hips and stretches the groin. e. Notes: This is a simple stretch but works on the all-important hip area which is often stiff and the culprit in many injuries. 8. Frog Stretch: a. Description: Continue to lie on your back and bring both legs up into the air with the soles of the feet pointing up towards the sky. Reach up with your arms and hold onto your feet and pull your knees down towards your armpits. The legs should be spread wide, creating a stretch in the groin area. You should be holding your feet from the inside such that the back of your hands are facing each other and your fingers are curled around the arches of your feet. b. c. d. Breath: LDB Duration: 2 minutes Benefits: Stretches the buttocks, groin and hips.

e. Notes: This is a very comfortable stretch. Just be sure that you are holding onto your feet the right way (inside out). 9. Bridge Pose: a. Description: This pose is also called modified wheel pose or tabletop pose. Bring yourself up on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet. You should be facing the sky. Press upwards with your hips such that your torso is parallel to the ground. Your fingers are pointing backwards (away from your feet). b. c. d. Breath: BOF Duration: 2 minutes Benefits: Strengthens the lower back, arms, shoulders and nervous system.

e. Notes: If you cant do 2 minutes at a stretch take a break and then come into the posture again. If you find this posture too difficult do the following modification. Interlace your fingers and bring your arms and hands under yourself. Now push up with your hips and raise them up while at the same time push down into the floor with your arms. Your feet are flat on the floor as before. Your chin should be tucked in towards your chest.

10. Relax in Shav Asan: [Repeat #2 again for 1 minute]. 11. Cobra: a. Description: Roll onto your stomach, let your feet rest flat on the floor, place your hand under your shoulders and lift your chest and head up arching your back as you rise. Your hips should stay on the ground. Look up. b. c. Breath: LDB Duration: 2 minutes

d. Benefits: Adds flexibility and strength to your lower back. Improves your digestive system. e. Notes: Go only as far up as is comfortable and take a break if 2 minutes is too much.

12. Knee Bounce: a. Description: Sit up with your legs extended in front of you. Bend your left leg and place your left ankle high up on your right thigh. Hold onto your left knee with both hands and bounce the knee gently up and down. Repeat with the other leg. b. Breath: BOF

c. Duration: 2 minutes / sided. Benefits: This exercise targets exactly what a meditator is looking for. Flexibility in the hips so that one can sit in Sukh Asan at ease. e. Notes: Let gravity do the work, on the way down dont push aggressively. Do not force the knee towards the floor. 13. Cradle Rock: a. Description: Staying in the same position cradle your left leg. To cradle the leg hold onto the left leg with your left arm from underneath (your left elbow will be on the inside of the knee joint and you will be holding your left foot from underneath) and with your right hand hold the left foot. Then rock your leg back and forth bringing the ankle towards your chin. Repeat with the other leg. b. c. Breath: BOF Duration: 2 minutes / side

d. Benefits: This exercise perfectly complements the previous one and together they are a meditators best friends. e. Notes: Be careful of your knees, do not strain, and only bring your leg up as high as is comfortable. 14. Split Stretch:

a. Description: Now extend both legs out wide in front of you and lean forward from the waist and grasp as low on the legs as you can. If you can grasp the toes and pull them back towards you, if you are not holding your toes arch them back towards you to force a stretch in the calves. b. c. Breath: LDB Duration: 2 minutes

d. Benefits: This posture is often used as an indicator for determining a persons flexibility; it stretches all the lower muscles of the legs as well as the groin area. e. Notes: Again be careful of your knees and groin, and dont overdo it.

15. Spinal Twist: a. Description: Sit up in Sukh Asan hold your shoulder with hands bringing your elbows out to the side and up to shoulder height and twist to the left and then to the right. You are twisting at the waist and your head goes with the direction of the twist. Twist at a moderate pace. b. c. d. e. Breath: Inhale when you turn left; exhale when you turn right. Duration: 2 minutes Benefits: This exercise loosens up your entire back and helps your digestive system. Notes: Breathe forcefully to get your energy going.

16. Relax in Shav Asan: a. Description: You are now ready for your Meditation Session. As you relax with every inhalation feel yourself being filled with health and awareness and with exhalation feel disease and ignorance leaving your body. b. c. d. Breath: Silk Thread Breath [STB: Described in Chapter 4: Yoga for Meditation] Duration: 3 minutes Benefits: Relaxes your mind and body and gets you ready for meditation.

e. Notes: As you begin your meditation you may notice that quite naturally your breathing will switch to STB.

Appendix 2 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Yoga for Energy (Kundalini) 1. Left Nostril Breathing [As described in Chapter 9: SM Meditation Program: Yoga for Energy] for 5 minutes 2. Yoga Jogging: a. Description: Have the tips of your thumb and middle finger meeting, the other fingers point straight up. Your arms are out to the side with the elbow bent at 90 degrees with your palms facing forward and jog in place. Try to bring your knees up high and keep your elbows at shoulder height. b. c. Breath: BOF Duration: 5 minutes

d. Benefits: BOF will enhance the benefits of this exercise many fold. The exercise will get your heart pumping and distribute nutrients to all parts of your body. It will also get the muscles warmed up which makes them less susceptible to injury. e. Notes: If you find it hard to maintain BOF switch to LDB as required. If you find it hard to jog the entire time, walk in place. 3. Butterfly Stretch [Appendix 1: Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #5] for 1 minute 4. Hamstring Stretch [Appendix1: Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #6] for 1 minute 5. Split Stretch [Appendix1 : Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #14] for 1 minute 6. Spinal Twist [Appendix 1: Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #15] for 1 minute 7. Relax in Shav Asan [Appendix 1: Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #2] for 1 minute 8. Single Leg Rotations: (Chkra Padasana) a. Description: Lie on your back in Shav Asan. Now raise your right leg up to about 45 degrees and keeping it straight rotate it in a big circle clockwise. Make the circle as big as you can without touching the floor. Do 10 rotations in 1 direction and then without resting rotate the same leg in the other direction (counter-clockwise). Repeat with the left leg. b. c. Breath: BOF Duration: Takes about 1 minute / leg

d. Benefits: This fundamental exercise starts to build you naval center which is the seat of your physical energy. Developing your naval center also builds your willpower and character. The exercise also works very effectively to loosen the hips.

e. Notes: To modify the exercise bend you knees or do fewer rotations at a stretch. You can also take more rest if needed. 9. Double Leg Rotations: a. Description: Staying in the same position, now lift both legs to 45 degrees and rotate them in a big circle clockwise 10 times. Then, without taking a break rotate them counterclockwise 10 times. b. c. d. e. Breath: BOF Duration: About 1 minute Benefits: Same as #8 above. Notes: Same as #8 above

10. Relax in Shav Asan [Appendix 1: Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #2] for 1 minute. 11. Ring the Bell: (Similar to Rajju Karshanasana) a. Description: Sit up in Sukh Asan and lean back slightly. Now reach up and pull down with alternating hands each time pretending you are pulling a bell rope to make it ring. As you reach up make a fist around the rope and pull down so your fist ends by your waist. When you reach up straighten you arm. Remember you are reaching up grasping pulling down with one hand, as one hand is coming down you should be reaching up with the other. b. c. Breath: BOF Duration: 5 minutes

d. Benefits: This exercise is absolutely an energy building exercise. It works on your shoulder and chest area and dissipates blockages in this region to facilitate the flow of energy. It also builds your respiratory and circulatory systems. e. Notes: Take a break as required but try to see if you impose your spirit on your mind, which is eager to give up on the first sign of discomfort. As your meridians and energy pathways open up this exercise will get easier. You just have to have the willpower to get through the initial points of resistance. This holds true for all the exercises that you will be practicing in the SM program as well. 12. Boat Pose: (Naukasana) a. Description: Have your arms straight out to the sides and your legs together and straight out as well with your toes pointing forward. Now bring your legs and torso up such that you are balancing on your sacrum. Keep your eyes focused on your toes, this will help you keep your balance.

b. c.

Breathing: BOF Duration: 2 minutes

d. Benefits: This posture improves your mental focus, naval center, digestive system and willpower. e. Notes: You can bend your knees and/or hold onto your upper thighs to modify the exercise. 13. Archers Pose: a. Description: Stand up like an archer about to release an arrow. Take a wide stand; have your left foot pointing straight and your left leg bent at the knee. Your right leg will be straight with your right foot angled inward. Your left arm will be straight out with your hand in a fist. Your right hand will be bent as if pulling back the strings of a bow. You will stare over your left fist at a fixed point. Your torso should be erect and 70% of your weight should be on your front leg. If you look down your left knee should obscure your foot. Do the reverse side after 1 minute. b. c. Breathing: LDB (Powerfully done) Duration: 1 minute / side

d. Benefits: This is a energy expanding exercise. It helps open up all your energy pathways. It will help you break through and overcome your obstacles. e. Note: When doing this exercise keep a strong and positive frame of mind. Feel like you are expanding and you will.
14.

Relax in Shav Asan [Appendix 1: Yoga for Meditation Set: Exercise #2] for 1 minute.

a. Description: As you relax, with every inhalation feel yourself being filled with energy and awareness and with exhalation feel lethargy and ignorance leaving your system. b. Breath: Silk Thread Breath [STB: Described in Chapter 4: SM Basic Meditations] c. Duration: 1 minute d. Benefits: Relaxes your mind and body and gets you ready for meditation. e. Notes: You are now ready to being your meditation practice for Phase 2.

Appendix 3 Silent Mind Meditation Program: Yoga for Awareness 1. Advanced Pranayam: Chapter 14: Breath Work: Advanced Pranayam: As described for 5 minutes 2. Energy Rising Yoga Set: (This set has an updated version you can find here: Kundalini Awakening Raja Yoga Set. Please use this new version as it is better designed to help you build up slowly). a. Description: This set is going to use all 3 yogic locks (Bandhas) to channel energy from the lower energy centers of the body upward towards the higher centers, specially to the brain region which is the seat of awareness. More details regarding the Kundalini and Chakra system is available in the Kundalini Yoga section. i. Sit in Sukh Asan. Inhale first then exhale. While holding your breath out squeeze and release root lock 16 times. Root lock (Mula bandh) is the pulling up and in of the 3 lower muscles; the anus, the perineum, and the naval. Squeeze and release root lock 16 times then inhale, exhale, hold breath out and repeat squeezing and releasing root lock 16 times. Continue cycle for 5 minutes. ii. Continue to sit in Sukh Asan. Now squeeze root lock and diaphragm lock (Uddiyana Bandh) together 16 times with the breath held out as before. Diaphragm lock is the pulling up and in of the abdominal muscles. Once done with 16 squeezes inhale, then exhale and repeat cycle for 5 minutes. iii. Continue to sit in Sukh Asan, now squeeze root lock, diaphragm lock and neck lock (Jalandhara Bandh) 16 times with the breath held out. Neck lock is pulling the neck back and the chin slightly down towards the chest. You should feel tension in the back of the neck. After 16 squeezes of all 3 locks together inhale, then exhale and repeat the cycle for 5 minutes. b. Breath: As described above. Inhale, then exhale and hold breath out while squeezing the appropriate lock(s), then release, inhale and repeat. c. Duration: 15 minutes total. 5 minutes per segment.

d. Benefit: This is a very powerful set. It activates all the primary energy vortexes (chakras) of the body, bringing balance and awareness to the system. The set awakens primal potential energy (Kundalini) stored at the base of the spine and draws it up to the brain. It builds the digestive system, the respiratory system, circulatory system and nervous system. e. Cautions: If you find this set difficult, reduce the number of squeezes to 8 per cycle. You can also reduce the intensity of the squeeze to a level that is comfortable and build up slowly.