Welcome to the practice of inner silence.
There are several reasons why we practice inner silence.
First to help you to understand your own thoughts and inner personality.
Also to become more skillful at removing unwanted and spontaneous thoughts.
This practice is a tool to help create inner silence at will.
You'll distinguish between spontaneous thoughts which happen without your awareness or your will such as when you're ruminating in the past or projecting into the future.
Voluntary thoughts are ones you create at will,
At your directive,
When you deliberately think of an image or put a concept into your mind.
Let's become more skillful at removing spontaneous thoughts in this step by step approach.
Bring the spine tall.
Close or lower your eyes.
Breathe fully into the base of the spine.
Exhale ground into your seat below.
One more time.
Breathe in fully.
Exhale ground yourself.
Set the intention to be receptive.
Receptive of the instructions and what you find within.
Notice of external sounds and sensory stimuli,
The practice of remaining undisturbed.
Become aware of the sounds around you.
Notice the far away sounds and the nearby sounds.
Let the sounds be the object of your meditation,
Not at all considering the sounds to be disturbances.
Receive the sounds but remain undisturbed by them.
If you notice your mind has wandered or you're thinking about a sound,
Just bring your mind back to receiving sound.
Or if it helps,
Label the sound,
Such as ringing or swishing or whirring.
In addition to the sounds,
Become aware of sensations experienced by the body,
Such as wind or heat or discomfort.
Notice the sensations but be undisturbed by them.
You might pick up a smell or there might be a touch on the skin.
Whatever the stimulation is,
Be aware of what you sense but undisturbed by it.
Withdraw your focus from the outer environment and sensory stimuli.
Travel your awareness inward to the inner workings of your mind,
To your thought process.
Become aware of spontaneous thoughts,
The thoughts that just come and go.
You don't have to bring in a thought,
Just let your thoughts come to you spontaneously.
If there are good thoughts or even bad thoughts,
Try not to dispel them or stop them.
Just be aware that you are thinking these thoughts.
If you try and suppress them,
They will come back with a greater force.
Let them come back.
If you're caught up in a story or a narrative you're playing back repetitively in your mind,
Be aware of the stories you tell yourself.
Allow yourself to ruminate.
Allow your mind to run free.
Just be aware of what you're thinking.
Now,
Let's dispose.
Now,
Let's dispose of the spontaneous thoughts and create thoughts or images at will.
In your mind now,
Create an object,
An object such as one in nature or an object you might see in your home or perhaps an object you notice on your commute.
Whatever you choose,
Create it deliberately.
Don't allow any unwanted or spontaneous thoughts to pop into your mind.
Be conscious of what you create.
See it with detail or color or dimension.
Now remove that object from your mind,
Dash it away.
This time,
Create a place in your mind,
Perhaps one you've visited or imagined or read about.
Be willful as you bring this location or scenery into your mind with vivid detail.
Create a place now.
Now discard that image from your mind,
Remove it with your will.
And now create any image that you choose,
Consciously create it in your mind.
Create it for a while.
Now,
Dash that thought out of your mind.
Remove it.
Let's go back now to allowing spontaneous thoughts,
Thoughts that are involuntary,
The thoughts that just come and go.
As these thoughts pop into your mind spontaneously,
Involuntarily,
Remove those with your will.
Its arrival is spontaneous,
But its departure is willful.
Practice removing unwanted thoughts at will.
If you're caught up in thinking,
Be aware that you're thinking,
Then remove those thoughts.
If you find there's space between the thoughts,
Honor the inner silence between the thoughts.
Continue to practice removing unwanted thoughts until you find more space between thinking.
The goal is to increase the amount of inner space within.
Very good.
Now become aware of the inner space.
Let there be a state of inner silence in this space.
If a thought pops up,
Remove it.
Continue to do so until you find that inner silence,
That inner ease.
Very good.
Now become aware of your body.
Become aware of the sounds you hear around you.
Inhale fully.
Exhale completely.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Let there be a state of inner silence.
