Chapter 19 CHAPTER 18 TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES

1. Anapana-Sati Yoga A flower that has never known the sun is not the same as a flower that has seen the sun, they cannot be the same.A flower that has never known the sunrise will never know the rising of its inner sun, it is dead, it is only a possibility, it never knows its own soul.But a flower that knows the rising of the sun also sees the rising of something within it, which knows its own mind.Now the flower is no longer just a flower, it knows a deep, exciting innerness. How can we create this inside of us?Buddha invented a method to create an inner sun of awareness, and it is one of the most powerful methods.It's not just for creating it.That method not only creates this inner awareness, but at the same time it allows awareness to penetrate every cell of the body, the entire being of a person.The method used by the Buddha is known as Anapana-Sati Yoga, which is the yoga of awareness of exhalation and inhalation.

We are all breathing, but it is unconscious breathing.The breath is prana, the breath is the vital energy -- life force, life, even though it is unconscious, you are not aware of it.And if you have to breathe with awareness, then you will die because after a while you forget about it.You can't remember anything consistently. Breathing is a link between our voluntary and involuntary systems.We can control our breathing to a certain extent, we may even stop our breathing for a while, but we cannot stop it completely.It goes on without us, it doesn't depend on us.Even if you've been unconscious for months, you continue to breathe, it's an unconscious process.

The Buddha used the breath as a tool to do two things at once: one, to create consciousness, and two, to allow that consciousness to penetrate all the cells of the body.He said, "Breathe consciously." That doesn't mean doing yogic breathing, it's just taking the breath as an object of awareness without changing it. There is no need to change your breathing.Let it be as it is, naturally, don't change it.But when you inhale, inhale consciously and let your mind move with the breath that comes in.And when you exhale, let your awareness come out with it. Move with the breath, let your attention be with the breath, flow with it.Don't forget even one breath.According to records, the Buddha once said: If you can be aware of your breath, even if it is only for an hour, you are already enlightened.But a breath shouldn't be missed either.

An hour is enough.It may seem like it was such a short period of time, but it wasn't.When you try to become aware, an hour may seem like a thousand years, because normally you are not aware of the breath for more than five or six seconds.Only a very alert person can be aware for that long.Most of us miss every second.When the breath comes in, you may start to be aware, but before it goes in, you are already somewhere else.Suddenly you remember the breath that is going out.It's out and you're somewhere else. To be aware of the breath means not allowing any thoughts, because thoughts distract you.Buddha never said "stop thinking", he said "breathe consciously".Thoughts stop automatically because you can't breathe consciously while thinking.When a thought enters your mind, your attention leaves your breath.Just having a thought makes you unconscious of the breathing process.

The Buddha used this technique, and it is a simple method, but an extremely important method.He would say to his bhikkhus, his monks, "Do whatever you are doing, but don't forget one simple thing: remember the breath coming in and out, move with it, follow it." ① Bhikkhu: A Buddhist term.Refers to those who abandon secular life and join the Sangha to beg for food and sit in meditation. ——Editor's note The more you try to do it, the more you try to do it, the more conscious you become.It is laborious, it is difficult, but once you can do it, you become a different person, another being in another world.

It also works in another way.When you breathe in and out consciously, gradually you come to your center, because your breath touches that center of your being.Every moment the breath is inhaled, it touches the center of your being. From a physiological point of view, you think that breathing is just for the purification of the blood, you think it is just a bodily function.But if you start to be aware of your breath, gradually, you will go a little deeper than physiology.Then one day you will start feeling your center, which is near your navel. You can feel this center only if you are constantly moving with the breath, because the closer you are to your center, the harder it is for you to be aware.You can start when you inhale.When the breath is entering your nose, you become aware of it.The more it moves inward, the more difficult it becomes to be aware.A thought will come, or a certain sound, or a certain thing will happen, and you will run away.

If you can go into that center, for a very short moment, the breath stops, there is a gap.The breath goes in, the breath comes out, and there is a slight gap between the two.That void is your center. Only after a long period of training in awareness of the breath, when you are finally able to be with the breath, to be aware of the breath, will you be aware of the gap when there is no breathing activity, the breath is neither inhaled nor in. The gap when you exhale.In this intangible gap between breaths, you are at your center.Therefore, the Buddha used awareness of the breath as a means to approach the center.

When you exhale, be aware of it too.There is also a gap there.There are two gaps: one after the inhalation and before the exhalation, and the other after the exhalation and before the inhalation.This second gap is more difficult to perceive. Between the inhale and exhale is your center.But there is another center, the center of the universe.You can call it "God".The space just before the inhalation after the exhalation is the center of the universe.These two centers are not two different things.First you will be aware of your inner center, then you will be aware of the outer center.Eventually, you will know that the two centers are one, and then "outer" and "inner" lose their meaning.

Buddha said, "Moving consciously with the breath, you create a center of awareness within you." Once this center is created, awareness begins to enter every cell of your body, because every cell needs oxygen , every cell needs to breathe. Now scientists say even the Earth is breathing.When the whole universe breathes in, it expands; when the whole universe breathes out, it contracts.According to the ancient Indian mythology classic Puranas (Puranas), creation is an inhalation of Brahma, while destruction, Praraya, and the end of the world are exhalation.An inhalation is a creation.

In a very small way, in an atomic way, the same thing is happening inside you.When your awareness becomes one with the breath, then the breath brings your awareness into every cell of your being, and your whole body becomes the universe.At this point, you really don't have a physical body at all, you're just awareness. ①Puranas: A kind of Hindu scriptures, which are popular works with complex contents, including myths, legends and lineage sources.Also translated as "Purana". ——Editor's note 2. A 21-day experiment in tranquility and seclusion It helps to practice mindful breathing for 21 days in total seclusion and stillness, and then, a lot happens.

During the 21-day experiment period, Dynamic Meditation was performed once a day, while continuous awareness of the breath was performed 24 hours a day.Don't read, don't write, and don't think, because all these actions belong to the mental body and they have nothing to do with the etheric body. You can go for a walk, and that will help, because walking is part of the ethereal body.All physical activity is related to the ethereal body.The physical body does these things, but it does it for the ethereal body.Everything that has to do with the ethereal body should be done, everything that has to do with the other body has to be done, you can also take a bath once or twice a day, it's with the astral body. When you go for a walk, then just walk, don't do anything else, just be concerned with your walk.When you walk, keep your eyes half closed.Half-closed eyes cannot see beyond the road, and the road itself is so monotonous that it gives you nothing new to think about. You have to stay in a monotonous world, only in one room, looking at the same floor.It has to be so monotonous that you can't think about it.Thinking needs stimulation, and thinking needs new sensations.If your sensory systems are continuously paralyzed, then there is nothing left to think about but you. During the first week, you may feel less need for sleep.Leave it alone.Because you're not thinking, because you're not doing a lot of the things you normally do, you rarely need to sleep.And if you are constantly aware of your breath, then a lot of energy will be accumulated in you and you will become very alive, so you will not feel sleepy.So, if drowsiness comes, that's fine; if it doesn't, that's fine too.It won't hurt if you don't sleep. There are many reasons why awareness of the breath creates more energy in you.First, when you watch the breath, then the breath becomes rhythmic, it follows its own rhythm.A harmony will be created and the whole existence will become musical.This rhythmicity, this rhythm conserves energy. Usually our breathing has no rhythm, it is messy.This causes unnecessary leakage of energy.And rhythm, harmony creates a reservoir of energy.Because you are constantly aware, the awareness of the breath itself consumes only a small amount of energy, you are not doing anything, it is an inaction, you are just aware. Once you start doing something, even thinking, doing comes in, now energy will be wasted.If you move your body, doing comes in and energy will be wasted. Continuous awareness for 24 hours means that very little energy is wasted, so energy is conserved.You become a reservoir of energy.These energies will be used in kundalini. Usually too much energy is wasted in a day, so there is not enough energy to raise the kundalini.It doesn't take a lot of energy to go down, but a great accumulation of energy is needed to make energy go up.Only then will the upward door open, otherwise not.So those who have little energy left have only sex as an outlet for their energy. We usually think of a sexual person as a very organic person, but that's not the case.A very vital person is not sexual because when the energy is overflowing it moves upwards.Sexual activity requires energy, but only a small amount.When there is very little energy, it cannot move up, so it moves down, and moving towards the sex center is the only possibility. Energy needs to be in constant flow.It cannot be frozen, it must flow.If it can't flow up, then it will flow down, with no choice.But if it can flow upward, the downward channel will eventually close itself.It is not that you stop the energy from being released through the sex center, but it stops by itself because the energy is flowing upwards. If you can observe your breath continuously, all doing stops, then the energy will be conserved.But there is another point that needs to be mentioned, and that is: that observation, awareness, alertness also helps the life force to become more alive within you.It's as if someone is watching you.If someone is looking at you, you will become more alive and laziness will disappear. That's why leaders feel energized.The crowd is always there watching, and this watching animates them.As soon as the masses forget them—and soon they are, then they are dead.The joy of being a leader, of being a public figure, a personality that the masses watch, comes from the feeling of aliveness that people watch.The vitality does not come from watching itself, but because, with so many people watching you, you become more aware of yourself.And this alertness becomes vitality. So when you become aware of your breath, when you start watching yourself, then the inner source of vitality is touched.So if sleepiness is gone, don't worry about it, it's natural. If there are commotions in your mind -- if something comes to your mind that you never thought of before: images, stories, etc., don't worry, just look at them.There is so much to be released in the unconscious that it must come to the conscious mind before it is thrown away.If you suppress these things, they become unconscious again.On the other hand, if you care too much about them, you waste energy unnecessarily.So just continue to watch your breath, and on the periphery, in the background, also continue to watch every single thing that happens. Just be indifferent to these things, don't care at all, just keep watching your breath.You will be watching your breath, but on the periphery, things will happen.There will be thoughts, there will be commotion, but only on the periphery, not in the centre.In the center, you are just watching your breath. Many things will come to you: absurd things, illogical, unimaginable, unthinkable, grotesque, nightmarish.You have to keep watching your breath.Let these things come and go, and just be indifferent to them.It is as if you are going for a walk, and the street is full of people, they pass by, but you are indifferent to them, you don't care about them.Then these images and visions will cease, and at the end of the first week a new stillness will come to you.Once the unconscious is no longer burdened, there will be no inner noise.Stillness will come to you, a deep inner stillness. You may have experienced times of depression, and if a deeply rooted feeling of depression is repressed into the unconscious, it will come and overwhelm you.It will not be a thought, it will be an emotion.Not only thoughts come, but emotions come.Sometimes you feel happy, sometimes you feel depressed or bored, but be as indifferent to them as you are to thoughts.Let them come and go, they will go, so don't care about them.Emotions are also things that are repressed in the unconscious.During the 21-day experiment, they're released, and you experience something you've never experienced before—something new, something unknown. Every individual experiences something different.There are many possibilities, but no matter what happens, don't be afraid.There is no need to be afraid.Even if you feel that you are dying, no matter how strong that feeling is, no matter how sure you are about it, accept it.Thoughts, feelings, emotions can be intense and real, but just accept them.If you feel that death is coming, then welcome it -- and go on watching your breath. It is difficult to be indifferent to feelings, but if you can be indifferent to your thoughts and emotions, then it will happen, you may feel as if death is coming, in a moment you will die, there is no other possibility.You cannot do anything about it, so accept it, welcome it, and once you welcome it you become indifferent to it.If you fight it, you mess up everything. You may feel as if death is approaching, or you may feel that you are sick.You are not sick.The feeling of being sick or dying is just a part of your unconscious that is being released.There are many illnesses that a moment ago were not aware of will be felt.Be indifferent to any feeling and keep doing what you are doing: keep watching your breath.The breath has to be watched, no matter what you are thinking, no matter what you are feeling, no matter what is going on. After a week, you will start to have some psychological experiences.The body may become very large or small, sometimes it disappears, and you become bodyless.Do not be afraid.There will be moments when you cannot find where your body is; there will be moments when you will see your body lying or sitting not far from you.Don't you be afraid either. You may feel an electric shock.Every time a new energy center is penetrated, there are shocking vibrations and tremors.The whole body will be in turmoil and commotion, do not resist, cooperate with these reactions.If you resist, you will be fighting yourself.Shock, shivering, electric shock sensations, heat, cold, anything you feel in your energy center, you have to work with it.You yourself invited it, so don't resist it.If you resist it, your energies will be in conflict, so work with any psychological experience you may have. Sometimes you may not feel that you are breathing, it is not that the breath has stopped, it is that it has become so natural, so peaceful, so rhythmic that it cannot be felt.We only feel unsound.When you have a headache you feel you have a head, but when there is no headache you don't feel your head.The head is there, but you cannot feel it.In the same way, when our breathing is discordant and unnatural, then we feel it, but when it becomes natural, we don't feel it.It is not felt, but it is there. As you continue to watch the breath, your breath will become more and more refined.But awareness also becomes more refined, because you continue to watch this subtle breath.When there is no breath, you will be aware of this "no breath", you will be aware of this harmony.Then awareness penetrates deeper.The finer the breath, the more aware you have to become in order to be aware of it. Continue to be aware.If you feel that you are not breathing, then be aware of your "not breathing".Don't try to breathe, just be aware that "there is no breath." This will be a very blissful moment. The finer the awareness, the more it enters the ethereal body.When you watch your breath, there is first an awareness of your physical breath.You are aware of your physical body and the workings of your breath.When the breath becomes refined and harmonious, then you become aware of your astral body.So you may feel that there is no breath now, but the breath is still there.It may not be as much as it used to be, because you don't need as much now, but it's still there. You may have noticed that if you are angry, you need more oxygen at that time, and you don't need as much oxygen when you are not angry.If you are in the heat of sexual desire, then you need to breathe more.So the number of breaths will go up and down as you need them.If you are completely silent, then a little air is enough, just enough to live. Just be aware of this situation.You were aware of the breath before, now become aware of the non-feeling of the breath.Whatever happens, be aware of it.Awareness has to be there.If nothing is felt, then you must be aware of your lack of feeling.Nothing is felt, but awareness has to be there. Don't go to bed right now because this is the moment you've been longing for in the past.If you go to sleep, then all your work has been wasted.Now be aware of what is happening.There is no breath, be aware of it.In a state of total stillness, the breath is almost non-existent.Just a little bit, and only then more will come to you.The more the number decreases, the more the harmony rises, so you don't feel it. If you continue to watch your breath and remain indifferent to everything that is happening, then the third week will be a week of complete nothingness.It will be as if everything has died, as if everything has passed into non-existence, only emptiness exists. Don't stop the experiment until the 21 days are up, after the first week you may want to stop it.Your mind may say, "This is meaningless, leave it." Don't listen to it.Tell yourself flatly that there is nowhere else to go in 21 days. After 3 weeks you may not want to leave.If your mind is so blissful that you don't want to disturb it, if only emptiness, bliss is there, if you are just a vacuum, then you can extend the experiment for two or three days or more than four days.But don't interrupt it before the 21 days are up. Anything you want to write down has to be done after your seclusion is over, not before.After it's over, if you want to jot it down, sit down for a day or two and write everything down.But during these 21 days, nothing should be written down.Don't even try to remember anything.All that has happened will be there, and because the mind is not trying to remember it will be clearer. If you try to remember something, you may forget it; but if you don't try to remember it, you cannot forget it.Then it will come to you completely, and if it does not come, it means it is useless, so let it go. Every useless thing follows you.You try to remember a lot of useless things, but you don't understand that they are useless.The mind works automatically, and all that is worth remembering is always remembered.So don't try to remember anything, it's not necessary.You will remember anything that happened to you.When the experiment is over, anything worth remembering will be with you. So, do your best to start doing it. 3. Gaze in the mirror The unconscious isn't really unconscious, it's just less conscious.So the difference between conscious and unconscious is just a difference of degree, they are not polar opposites, they are related, connected. Because of our false logic system, we divide everything into opposite poles.Logic says: either yes or no; either light or darkness.Wherever logic goes, there is no intermediate.But life is neither white nor black, but a broad gray. So when I say "consciousness" and "unconsciousness," I don't mean that the two are opposed to each other.For Freud, consciousness is consciousness, and the unconscious is the unconscious—it is the difference between black and white, it is the difference between right and wrong, life and death.But when I say "unconscious," I mean "less conscious," and when I say "conscious," I mean "less unconscious."They mate with each other. How can we encounter the unconscious?For Freud, this was impossible.If you asked Freud how to meet the unconscious, he would say, "This is the word of the unconscious. You cannot touch it, and if you touch it, it is conscious, because meeting is a conscious phenomenon." "But you ask me how to meet the unconscious, and I say, "There is a way to get to it." For me, the first thing to notice is this: Unconscious just means "less conscious."So, if you grow into more consciousness, you can touch it. Second, there are no fixed boundaries between consciousness and unconsciousness, they change every moment.Like the pupil of your eye, if there is a lot of light, the pupil shrinks; if there is less light, the pupil dilates.It is constantly in balance with the light from outside.And your consciousness is likewise constantly changing.Indeed, the phenomenon of consciousness is very apt to be understood by the analogy of the eye.For consciousness is the inner eye, the eye of the mind.So, like your eyes, your consciousness is constantly expanding and contracting. For example, if you are angry, you become more unconscious, and the unconsciousness expands so much that only a small part of you remains conscious.Sometimes even this small part is gone and you become completely unconscious.Conversely, in a sudden event -- if on the road you suddenly feel that an accident is going to happen, that you are on the verge of death, then you become fully conscious, then there is no unconsciousness at all.Suddenly the whole mind is conscious.So, such changes are happening all the time. When I say conscious and unconscious, I don't mean any fixed boundary between them.No.It is an indeterminate phenomenon.Whether you have less consciousness or more consciousness is up to you.You can create consciousness: you can train yourself to be more conscious or less conscious. If you train yourself to be less conscious, then you can never meet the unconscious.Really, you will become incapable of meeting it.When someone takes drugs or narcotics, he is training his mind to become completely unconscious.When you go to sleep, or if you are hypnotized or self-hypnotized, you lose your consciousness.There are many methods, many methods of helping people become more unconscious and even considered religious practices.Anything that creates boredom creates unconsciousness. There are many ways to help you encounter the unconscious.I'm going to suggest a simple exercise to help you come across it. Before you go to bed at night, close your door and put a large mirror in front of you.The room must be completely dark.Then light a small candle next to the mirror, don't let the fire light reflect directly in the mirror.Only your face should be reflected in the mirror, no lights. Constantly gaze into your own eyes in the mirror without blinking.This is a 40-minute experiment, and within two or three days, you will be able to keep your eyes from blinking for the entire 40 minutes.Even if the tears flow, let them flow, but still don't blink and keep staring into them. In two or three days you will become aware of a strange phenomenon: your face will start to take on a new shape, and you will even feel frightened.The face in the mirror will start to change, and sometimes there will be a face so unfamiliar that you can hardly recognize it as yours.But all presented faces are yours.Now, the subconscious mind is starting to explode, and these faces, these masks are yours.Sometimes you even see a face that belongs to your past life. After a week of constant practice—gazing for 40 minutes every night—your face will have a constant flow.Many faces will come and go.After 3 weeks you won't be able to remember which face is yours, you won't be able to remember your own face because you see so many different faces coming and going. If you continue, then one day, about 3 weeks later, a very strange thing will happen: suddenly there will be no face in the mirror!The mirror will be vacant, you are looking at emptiness, there is no face at all. This is the time!Close your eyes and meet the unconscious.When there is no face in the mirror, just close your eyes.This is the most meaningful moment, close your eyes, look within, you will face the unconscious.You will be naked, utterly naked, just as you are, and all deceit is gone. This is who you really are, but society has created many layers so that you cannot be aware of it.And once you know yourself naked, totally naked, then you start to be a different person, then you cannot deceive yourself, now you know what you are. You can never be transformed unless you know what you are.Only this naked reality can change.In fact, as long as there is the will to change, it will have an effect on change. As you are now, you cannot change yourself.You can turn one false face into another false face, a thief into a monk, a criminal into a saint, but none of these are real transformations.Transformation means becoming who you really are. The moment you face the unconscious, encounter the unconscious, you come face to face with your reality, your authentic being.The false social stuff is gone: your name is gone, your shape is gone, your face is gone, only the naked reality of your nature is there, and with this naked reality, change is possible. This mirror-gazing technique is a very powerful method, very powerful.Use it to know one's own abyss, one's own naked real existence.And once you know it, you become its master. 4. Tratak When you do Tratak, you stare continuously, without blinking, for 30-40 minutes.All your consciousness has to come to the eyes, you have to become the eyes, forget about everything, forget about the rest of your body, just be the eyes, gazing continuously without blinking. When your whole consciousness is focused on the eyes, you reach a tense culmination, a tense height.Your eyes are the most delicate part of you, that's why they get more strained than other parts.When the eyes are tense, the whole mind is also tense. The eyes are the gateway to the mind.When you become the eye, and the eye reaches a tense height, then the mind also reaches a tense height.When you fall from that height, you drop effortlessly into that abyss of relaxation.Tratak created one of the most tense peaks possible in consciousness.Because of that peak, the counterpart will happen naturally, the relaxation will happen naturally. When you are doing Tratak, the thoughts automatically stop and gradually, your awareness becomes more focused on the eyes.You will just be aware, no thought, the eyes cannot think.When the whole consciousness is concentrated in the eyes, the mind has no energy to think.Then there is no thought, only the eyes exist, so there is no thought then. The moment you want to blink is the moment you have to watch out for, the mind is trying to get energy back to think, it is trying to take consciousness away from the eyes and back into the mind.That's why there is a constant gaze, a fixed gaze.Even a movement of the eyes gives energy to the mind, so don't move the eyes at all.Your gaze must remain absolutely fixed. When you gaze and the eyes are not moving, then the mind is also fixed, and the mind follows the eyes.The eyes are the door, the door of the mind inward and the world outward.If the eyes don't move at all, then the mind stops, it cannot move. This technique starts with the eyes because it is difficult to start with the mind.It is difficult to control the mind, but the eye is something external and you can control it.So keep your gaze absolutely still, gaze without blinking.When your eyes are still, your mind will also become still. (Note: Tratak is the gazing technique of ancient yoga. Gazing into a mirror is a form of Tratak. Another powerful form of Tratak is gazing at your guru or one of your favorite spiritual masters The photo. That photo must be a frontal image of the entire face, and the master's eyes must be looking straight ahead. Place the photo at about an arm's length away, with the master's eyes at the same height as your own, and your gaze point at or between the master's eyes.Like the mirror gazing technique, this technique must also be done for 30-40 minutes, practiced every day for at least 21 days. Tratak can also be done with another person.Each stares into the other's eyes for 30 to 40 minutes.If the other person is your lover or someone who makes you feel strongly, whether positive or negative, then another dimension is opened.This trick is also done every day, with the same person, for at least 21 days. ) 5. The repetition of the mantra You can use a mantra to still the mind, to make the mind completely still.You keep repeating a certain name: Rama, Krishna or Jesus.Mantras can help you not get caught up in other words.But once the mind has become silent and still, then the name -- Rama, Krishna or Jesus becomes an obstacle.它变成一个代替，一个替代品，所有其他的话语都被扔掉了，但是那时候这个语词以一种疯狂的方式在继续。你变得执著于它，你无法去掉它，它已经成了一个习惯，一个深深的占据。 所以，从反复念咒开始，到达一种不需要咒语、可以丢开咒语的境地。使用"罗摩"把其他语词从头脑中驱赶走，但是当所有的语词都被驱赶走了，那么不要再保留这个语词。它也是一个语词，所以扔掉它。 这个扔掉变得很困难。一个人要抛弃咒语会开始觉得有罪恶感，因为它帮了那么大的忙。但是现在这个帮助已经变成了一个障碍，扔掉它！手段不应该变成目的。 当我做静心时，我通常是重复一个咒语或者一个那莫卡（namokar，耆那教的一个较长的咒语），但是头脑还是不安定。一个人在做静心时如何才能完全地占据他的头脑？ 占据时间的需要是非静心的头脑的需要，所以你首先应该弄明白你为什么有这个需要。为什么你不能不被占据？要被持续地占据的这个需要是什么？它是否只是一个对自己的逃避？ 你不被占据的时刻你只有你自己，你回到你自己。那就是为什么你想被占据。这个想被占据的需要只是一个逃避，但是这对一个非静心的头脑来说是必需的。 非静心的头脑一直被其他东西占据。当其他东西没有了，那么怎么办？你不知道怎样被你自己占据。你甚至没有觉知到你可以与你自己生活在一起。你总是与别人、许许多多别的人生活在一起，所以现在，在静心中，当你没有与别人在一起。当你是单独一个人——尽管它并不真正是单独的（alone），你就开始感到寂寞。寂寞（loneliness）是别人的不在（absence），孤独（aloneness）是自己的在场（presence）。你开始感到寂寞，你必须要拿什么东西来填充。一个那莫卡可以办得到，任何东西都可以办得到。但是除非你有一个静心的头脑，如果你连续地重复那莫卡或任何其他东西，它都只是一个拐杖，它都必须被扔掉。 如果你要做这一类事，最好是使用一个词的咒语，譬如：罗摩（rama）、奥姆（aum），而不要像一个那莫卡那么长的咒语。使用一个词，那么你会感到比使用很多词较少被占据，因为随着词的变化，头脑也会变化。用一个词你会感到无聊的，而无聊是好的，因为那样一来，在某一点上，扔掉整个事情就比较容易一些。所以比起使用一个那莫卡来，使用一个词比较好。而如果你能使用一个无意义的词，那会更好，因为那个意义甚至会让你分心。 当你必须抛弃某个东西时，那么你应该觉知到你必须扔掉它。你不能够太执著于它。所以，使用一个词、一件东西，某个没有意义的东西，譬如"霍"（hoo）。它没有意义。奥姆基本上也是这样，但是现在它已经开始有意义了，因为我们一直把它与神圣的东西联系在一起。 那个声音应该是没有意义的，只是一个无意义的词。它不应该传达任何东西，因为在某些东西被传达时，头脑就被喂饱了。头脑是被意义喂饱的，而不是词。所以，使用某个像"霍"一样的词，它是一个没有意义的词。 而且，实际上，"霍"比一个无意义的词更有用，因为用它，一个内在的紧张就被创造出来了。用"霍"这个声音，某些东西就会被扔出来。所以，使用一个词是把某些东西扔出来，是把"你"扔出来，而不是给你某些东西。 使用"霍"。在使用它时，你会感觉到某些东西被扔出来。当呼气的时候用这个词，那样就会使吸气成为一个空隙。平衡它："霍"，然后吸气就成了一个空隙，然后再"霍"。那个词应该是没有意义的，它应该是一个声音而不是一个词。而且要着重在呼气。那个词，那个声音必须在最后被完全扔掉，所以它不应该被吸气带进来。 这是很微妙的，只要把声音扔出去，好像你在扔掉某些排泄物一样，好像你在把你的什么东西扔掉一样，然后它就无法变成食物了。一直要记住，深深地记住：任何与吸气一起进来的东西都会变成食物，而任何与呼气一起出去的东西都是垃圾，它只能被扔掉。所以，当吸气时，要空、要虚，这样，你就不会给头脑提供任何新的食物了。 头脑甚至从声音、语词和无意义的东西——从一切东西中微妙地摄取食物。用这个来做实验：当你感到有性欲，当你处在性的幻想中时，在呼气时使用这个"霍"。几秒钟之间，你会感到超越了性，因为某些东西被扔出去了，一个非常细微的东西被扔出去了。如果你在生气，使用这个声音，几秒钟之间就会没有怒气。 如果你感到有性欲，而在吸气时你使用这同一个声音，那么你会感到更有性欲。如果你感到愤怒，而你在吸气时使用这同样的"霍"，那么你会感到更愤怒，这样一来，你就会觉知到即使一个简单的声音也会那么强地影响你的头脑，你也会觉知到在吸气与呼气时它的作用是那么的不同。 当你看到一个漂亮的、可爱的人，某个你所爱的人，而你想去触摸她的身体，如果你随着呼气去触摸她，那么你不会觉得什么，但是如果你随着吸气去触摸她，那么你会感到一阵神魂颠倒。随着吸气来触摸会变成一种食物，但是随着呼气来触摸，它根本不会是一种食物。把某个人的手放在你手中，只是在吸气时去感觉那只手，让呼出的气变空，那么你会知道那个触摸就是一种食物。 那就是为什么一个没有母亲养育的孩子，或者一个没有被他的母亲触摸和爱抚的孩子会缺少某种东西。如果他没有被他的母亲触摸过、爱抚过、拥抱过，那么他将永远没有能力去爱任何人，因为那个微妙的触摸对孩子是一种食物，它在他里面创造出很多东西。如果没有人很有爱心地触摸他，他将没有能力去爱任何一个人，因为他不知道哪一种"食物"是缺少的，他不知道某种活生生的东西缺少了。 所以，我不会说不要去触摸一个女人，我说："去触摸，但是在呼气时触摸。"当吸气时，只是保持觉知，停留在空隙中，不要去感觉那触摸。继续触摸着，但是不要去感觉那个触摸。 要觉知到气出去时的那个感觉，那么你会觉知到呼吸的秘密——为什么它被称为普拉那、生命活力。呼吸是最有活力的事。如果你着重在呼气时用餐，那么无论多么好的食物都将不是一种提供给你的身体的食物。即使你吃得很多，如果你着重在呼气，那么都没有营养。所以，跟随着吸气来进食，而在要呼气时，让那儿有一个空隙，那样，只要吃很少量的一点食物，你就能变得更有活力。 记住这个呼气时的声音"霍"。它会破坏掉头脑的不平静状态，但是它在不久也就成了一根拐杖。如果你经常做静心，你会觉得不需要它。不仅不需要，而且它会变成一个打扰，一个纯粹的打扰。 成为不被占据的是世界上最美妙的事之一，成为不被占据的是最伟大的奢侈。如果你担负得起这个不被占据，那么你会成为一个皇帝。它是出自于我们被占据的那些时刻，有时候会有一个我们不被占据、完全不被占据的片刻。一直被占据着不仅是不必要的，而且在最终，它会变成有害的。 破坏一个不被占据的状态是疯狂的，因为那正是你进入无时间性（timelessness）的片刻。如果被占据着，你就永远不能超越时间；如果被占据着，你就永远无法超越空间。但是如果你是不被占据的，完全地不被占据——甚至不被你自己占据，甚至不被静心占据，你只是存在，那就是灵性存在（spiritual existence）的时刻，那就是极乐的时刻，那就是沙特奇塔南达（satchitananda）。 这个词的第一部分是沙特（sat），它的意思是存在（exisc tence），你只是存在着。然后你变成了这个存在的自我意识（conscious），不仅仅是自我意识，你还变成了意识（consciousc ness），奇特（chit）指意识和存在两者。存在变成了意识……于是极乐、阿南达①随之而来。 ①阿南达（ananda）：意即喜。据印度《奥义书》和吠檀多派哲学，"喜"是最高存在梵的一个重要属性。 ——Editor's note 这不仅仅是一个感觉，而是你同时变成了极乐、存在和意识。我们运用3个字是因为我们无法用一个字来表达它。你同时是3者。 所以，盼望那些不被占据的片刻。你可以使用拐杖，臂如用一个咒语，但是不要为它而高兴，而要知道它们最终是要被扔掉的。 六、一个视觉化的技巧 头脑本身意味着投射，所以，除非你超越了头脑，否则，无论你在经历到的是什么，都只是一个投射。头脑是一个投射机制，任何你所经验的光、喜乐，甚至神性的情景，都是投射。除非你到达了头脑的完全停止状态，否则你不会超出投射，你一直在投射。当头脑停止，只有那个时候，你才超越了危险。当没有经验、没有景象、没有对象时，意识像一块没有反映物在其中的纯净的镜子一样存在着，只有那时，你才超越了投射的危险。 投射有两种类型。一种投射类型会引导你到更多更多的投射，它是一个肯定性的投射，你永远无法超越它。投射的另一类型是否定性的，它是一个投射，但是它能帮助你超越投射。 在静心中，你把头脑的投射本能当作一个否定性的作用力来使用。否定性的投射是好的，这就好像一根刺被另一根刺挑出来，一种毒药被另一种毒药破坏了一样。但是你必须持续地觉知到危险是一直存在的，直到每一件事情都结束了，即使是这些否定性的投射，即使是这些内在的情景。如果你正在经历某种东西，我不会说这是静心。它仍然是沉思，它仍然是一个思想过程。不管它怎么细微，它仍然是思考。当没有思想而只有意识存在——只是一片无云的、广阔的天空，当你无法说什么"我"在经历时，只有这样才可以说：我存在（iam）。 笛卡尔①的著名格言"我思故我在"在静心中变成了"我在故我在"。这个"我存在"先于所有的思考，你存在在你思考之前。思考是稍后来的，你的存在先于它，所以存在无法被从思考推论出来。你可以没有思考而存在，但是思考不能没有你而存在，所以思考不可能是证明你的存在的基础。 经验、情景，以及任何被对象性地感觉到的东西都是思考的一部分。静心意味着头脑、思考的完全的停止，但不是意识的停止。如果意识也停止了，那么你不是在静心中，你是在沉睡之中，那就是沉睡与静心之间的区别。 ①笛卡尔（Descartes，1596～1650）：法国数学家和哲学家。将哲学思想从传统的经院哲学束缚中解放出来的第一人。 ——Editor's note 在沉睡之中，投射也停止了。思考将不在那儿，但是同时，意识也是不在的。在静心之中，投射停止了，思考停止了，思想也没再有了，就像在沉睡之中，但是意识是存在的。你会觉知到这个现象：完全的空无围绕着你，没有任何对象围绕着你，当没有对象要被认识，没有感觉也没有经验，那么第一次，你开始感觉到你自己。这是一个无对象性的经历，它不是你经历的什么东西，它是你是的某个东西。 所以，即使你感觉到那神性的存在，它仍是一个投射。这些是否定性的投射。它们有帮助，以某种方式它们帮助你超越，但是你必须觉知到它们仍然是投射，否则你就无法超越它们。那就是为什么我说，如果你感到你在遭逢到极乐，你仍然是在头脑中，因为两分性在那儿：神圣的和不神圣的两分，极乐的和非极乐的两分。当你真的达到了终极之处，你就不会感到极乐，因为非极乐是不可能的。你无法把神圣感觉成神圣，因为不神圣是没有的。 所以记住这个：头脑是投射，带着头脑，你所做的任何东西都将是一个投射。带着头脑，你无法做任何事。唯一的事就是怎样使头脑无效，怎样彻底地去掉它，怎样成为无念地（mindlessly）意识。那就是静心。只有那样，你才能知道，你才能认识到那个与投射不一样的东西。 任何你所知道的都是你所作的投射。对象只是一块屏幕：你不断地在它上面投射你的想法，你的念头。所以，任何静心的方法都开始于投射——否定性的投射，结束于不投射。那是一切静心技巧的本质，因为你不得不用头脑来开始。 即使你正要走向的是一个无头脑（no mind，无念）的状态，你也不得不用头脑来开始。如果我要走出这个房间，我也不得不以走进这个房间为开始，第一步必须是被带进这个房间。这会产生混乱。如果我正在房间里绕圈子，那么我是在房间里走动。如果我正在走出房间，那样的话，我也不得不在房间里走动，但是是以一种不同的方式，我的眼睛必须盯着门口，我必须在一条直线上走，而不是一个圆圈。 否定性的投射意味着直线地走出头脑，但是首先，你不得不在头脑里走上几步。 举例来说，当我说"光"。你从来没有真正看到过光，你只是看到过被照亮的物体。你看到光本身吗？没有人看到过它，没有人能看到它，你看到一座被照亮的房子，一把被照亮的椅子，一个被照亮的人，但是你没有看到光本身。即使当你看到太阳，你也没有看到光，你正在看到的是光的折射。 你无法看到光本身。当光照射在某个东西上，折回来，被反射，只有那时你才能看见被照亮的物体，而因为你能看到被照亮的物体，你才说那儿有光。当你看不见物体，你就说那是黑暗。 你无法看到纯粹的光，所以在静心中，我把它作为第一步、作为一个否定性的投射来使用。我告诉你从感觉那没有任何物体的光开始。物体被去掉了，那么就只有光。开始去感觉没有任何物体的光……有一个东西已经被去掉了——物体，而没有物体，你无法连续地较长时间地看到光。迟早，光会消失，因为你必须被聚焦在某个物体上。 然后我告诉你去感觉喜乐。你从来没有感受过不带有任何对象的喜乐。无论你知道什么样的幸福，喜乐，他们都是与某个东西有关的。你从来不知道任何无关于任何东西的喜乐的片刻。你或许爱某个人，于是感到很喜乐，但是那某个人是对象。当你听某种音乐你感到很喜乐，但是那个音乐是对象。你感受过一个不带有任何对象的非常喜乐的片刻吗？there has never been!所以，当我说去感觉不带有任何对象的喜乐，它看起来是不可能的。如果你试着去感觉不带有任何对象的喜乐，迟早那个喜乐会停止，因为它无法独立存在。 然后我说去感觉神圣的存在（divine presence）。我从不说去"感觉上帝"，因为那样，上帝就变成了一个对象。你感到过没有某个人在场（being present）的那个存在（presence）吗？它总是与某个人有关。如果某个人在那儿，那儿你开始感到那存在。 我把那某个人完全去掉了，我只是说：感觉那神圣的存在。这是一个否定性的投射，它无法持续较长时间，因为没有支持它的基础，迟早它会消失。首先我去掉了对象，然后，渐渐地，投射本身会消失。那就是肯定性的投射与否定性的投射之间的区别。 在肯定性的投射中，对象是有意义的，而感觉跟随着，而在否定性的投射中，感觉是不重要的，而对象是完全要忘掉的，好像我在把整个地基从你脚下抽走。从你里面、从你下面、从每个地方，地基都被抽走了，而你和你的感觉被单独留下来。这样一来，那个感觉就无法存在，它会消失。如果对象不在那儿，那么那个与对象直接关连的感觉就无法更长时间地延续。在很短的时间里，你可以投射它们，然后它们会消失。而当它们消失，你单独地被留下来——在你的完全的孤独之中。那个点就是静心的点，从那儿，静心开始了。现在你在房间外面了。 所以，静心在头脑中有一个开始，但是那不是真正的静心。在头脑中开始而能够使你走向静心，而当头脑停止，你超越了它，那么真正的静心开始了。我们不得不从头脑开始，因为我们在头脑中。即使去超越它，也必须要使用它。所以否定性地使用头脑，永远不要肯定性地使用它，那么你会到达静心的。 如果你肯定性地使用头脑，那么你只能创造出越来越多的投射，所以任何以"肯定性的思考"而被知道的东西都绝对是反静心的。否定性的思考是静心的，否定是为了静心的方法。不断地否定到一个点，在那儿没有什么东西留下来被否定了，而只有否定者留下来，于是你就是在你的纯净之中了，于是你就知道了什么存在着。以前所知道的任何东西都只是头脑的想象、梦幻和投射。 七、有意识地去死 静心意味着臣服（surrender），完全的顺随（lettinggo）。一旦某个人臣服于他自己，他就会发现他自己就在神性的手中了。如果我们执著于我们自己，那么我们就无法与那全能的神（almighty）成为一体。当波浪消失，它们就变成了海洋本身。 为了理解静心的意义是什么，让我们来试试一些实验。 坐下来，不要让别人碰到你，慢慢地闭上你的眼睛，使你的身体保持放松，完全地放松以至于没有紧张，在身体里根本没有紧张。 现在想象有一条河在两座山中间流得非常快，带着巨大的力量和声音。观察它并且跳进去，但是不要游泳。让你的身体没有任何活动地漂浮。现在你随着河流而动，只是漂浮。没有要到什么地方去，没有目的地，所以也就没有要游泳的问题。感觉好像是一片干枯的叶子在河流中不费力地漂浮。清醒地经历它，以至于你能知道"臣服"、"完全地顺随"是什么意思。 如果你已经理解了怎样去漂浮，那么现在去发现如何去死、如何被完全地化解。把你的眼睛闭起来，让你的身体变得完全松弛、放松。观察一堆木柴正在燃烧。有一堆木柴已经被点上火，火焰升向天空。然后再记住一件事：你不只是在观察木柴的燃烧，你已经被放在这上面。你的所有朋友和亲戚都站在周围。 去有意识地经历这个死亡的片刻是比较好的，因为总有一天它真的会来。随着火焰越来越高，感觉你的身体正在燃烧。在很短的时间里，火会自动熄灭掉，人们会解散，火葬场会再次变得空旷和寂静。感觉它，而你会看到一切都变得寂静，除了灰烬之外什么也没有留下来。你完全化解了。记住这个被化解的经历，因为静心也是一种死亡。 现在你把眼睛闭上，完全地放松。你没有什么事情非要去做，没有必要去做任何事情，在你存在以前，事情就像它们存在的那样存在了，即使在你死以后，它们还是会一样。 现在，感觉任何正在发生的东西正在发生。感觉它的"如如"（suchness，这样）。它是这样，它只能够这样，没有其他的可能，所以为什么要抗拒？"如如"的意思就是"没有抗拒"。那儿没有期待任何不同于它是的其他东西。小草是绿色的，天空是蓝色的，海洋的波涛咆哮着，鸟儿歌唱着，乌鸦在呱呱叫……你那儿没有抗拒，因为生命就是如此。突然之间，一个变革发生了。平时被认为是一个打扰的东西现在看起来变得和蔼可亲了，你不反对任何东西了，你和每一样事物的现状一起高兴。 所以第一件你必须去做的事是在存在的海洋里漂浮，而不是游泳。因为一个人准备去漂浮，那么河流本身就会带他去海洋。如果我们不抗拒，那么生命本身就会带领我们到达神圣的存在。 第二，你必须从死亡中化解你自己，而不是救活你自己。那个我们想去救的一定会死，那个将会在那儿永远存在的会因为没有我们的努力而在那儿。一个准备去死的人能够打开他的门来欢迎神圣的存在。但是如果你关上门，因为你对死亡的恐惧，那么你这样做的代价就是无法到达神圣的存在。静心就是去死。 最后一件你必须去经历的事是"如如"。只有对鲜花与荆棘两者都接受才能带给你和平。和平毕竟是完全接受的结果。只有在一个人甚至准备接受和平的缺失时，和平才会来临。 所以，闭上你的眼睛，让你的身体松弛，感觉好像在身体中没有生命。感觉好像你的身体正在松弛。继续感觉这个，在一个很短的时间里，你会知道你不是身体的主人。身体的每一个细胞、每一根神经都感觉是松弛的，好像身体是不存在的。把身体单独留下来，好像它在河流中漂浮一样。让生命的河流带你到它想去的任何地方，就像一片干枯的叶子一样漂浮在它上面。 现在，感觉你的呼吸正在渐渐地变得安静、宁静。当你的呼吸变成宁静的，你会感觉到你正在被化解，你会感觉到好像你在一个燃烧的柴堆上，你被完全地燃烧掉了，甚至灰烬也没有留下。 现在感觉鸟叫的声音、太阳的光线、海洋的波涛，而你只是成为一个它们的观照者，非常具有接受地、觉知地观看着。身体是松弛的，呼吸是宁静的，而你在"如如"中，你只是这一切的一个观照者。 渐渐地，你会感觉到内在的一个变革，然后突然之间，某种在里面的东西会变成宁静的。头脑变成了宁静的和空的。感觉这个：成为它的一个观照者并且去经历它。河流已经带走了你的漂浮的身体，火堆已经烧掉了它，而你是它的一个观照者。在这种空之中，一种喜乐进来了，我们称之为神性。 现在，慢慢地呼吸二三次，随着每一次呼吸，你会感到新鲜、和平和极乐的愉悦。现在，慢慢在睁开眼睛，从静心中回来。 每天晚上睡觉前做这个实验，然后马上睡觉。渐渐地，你的睡眠会进入静心之中。 八、有意识地进入睡眠 你掉入睡眠的那个片刻就是你遭遇到无意识的那个片刻，你每天都在睡觉，但是你还没有碰到过睡眠，你没有看到过它：它是什么么，怎么来的，怎么进入的。对于它你什么也不知道。每天晚上你进入睡眠，每天早晨你从睡眠中醒过来，但是你没有感觉到睡眠来的那个片刻，你没有感觉到发生了什么。所以试试这个实验，3个月之后，突然有一天，你会知道地进入睡眠。 躺在床上，闭上你的眼睛，然后记住——千万记住——睡意在来临，而在它来的时候，你要保持清醒。这个练习是非常艰难的。第一天，它不会发生，第二天，它不会发生。但是如果你每天都坚持，持续地记住睡意在来临，而你不允许你没有觉知地让它来到，你必须感觉到睡眠是如何接手的，它是什么。然后有一天，睡眠将在那儿，而你仍然是清醒的。 那个片刻，你就觉知到了你的无意识，而一旦你变得觉知到你的无意识，那么你再也不会是昏睡的了。睡眠会在那儿，但是你将是清醒的，你里面有一个中心会继续知道着。在那儿所有围绕着你的都会睡着，而中心将继续知道着。 当这个中心知道着，那么做梦就变得不可能了。而当做梦变得不可能时，白日梦也变得不可能了。于是你会以一种不同意味的方式来睡觉。因为那个遭遇，一个不同的品质发生了。 九、与存在作无言的沟通 你正在看一朵花。看着它，感受它的美，但是不要用"美"这个词，即使在头脑中也不能用。看着它，让它被吸入到你里面，深深地进入它，不要使用语词，感觉它的美，不要说："它很美"，即使在头脑中也不要说。不要语言化，而渐渐地，你会变得有能力感觉到花的美而不使用语词。的确，这是困难的，但是自然的。 你先是感觉，然后语言就来了，但是我们太习惯于语言了，所以那之间就没有了空隙。感觉在那里，但是你甚至还未感觉到它，一个语词突然之间就来了。所以要创造出一个空隙；只是去感觉花的美，但是不要用语词。 如果你能够把语词与感觉分离开来，那么你能够把感觉与存在分离开来。于是让花在那里，你也在那里，就像两个存在，但是不要让那个感觉进来。现在甚至不要感觉那花是美的。让花在那儿，你也在那儿，处在一个深深的拥抱之中，不带有一丝感觉。然后你会感受到没有感觉的美，你将"是"那朵花的美。它将不是一个感觉，你将"是"那朵花。 于是你存在性地感受到了某种东西。 当你能够做这个，那么你会感受到每一样东西都消失了： 思想、语词、感觉。然后，你就有能力存在地感觉了。