Welcome to the third and last step of this introductory course of Anahata to lay the foundations.
First we dive deep into stillness using breath as a rope.
Second we expand it listening to soundscape so that your field of awareness,
Your consciousness could expand,
Enlarge and wider you become,
More still you become,
More calm you become.
Now it's time to take the third step which is the silence,
The sound of silence.
And in Indian yogic traditions the sound of silence is called Anahata.
It is also the name of the heart chakra,
Anahata.
It is the unstruct sound.
In our practice this is the third stage,
Third step,
Third aspect.
So ensure that you're sitting comfortably,
Relaxing and close your eyes with a gentle smile so that you can feel your body,
Filled with that smiling energy,
Feel the feet,
The legs,
The torso,
The face,
Back of the head,
Top of the head.
Behold the whole body in your loving gaze and bring your loving attention to your breath.
Observe the outgoing breath and go with it lovingly,
Just observing where outgoing breath is vanishing,
Where it is ending.
It will help you to come in touch with that stillness where the breath is ending.
Wait for the in-breath to return.
When it returns let it fill up naturally,
Effortlessly and arrive at the fullness.
And return to become the out-breath.
This is universal breath,
Breathing through you like it is breathing through everyone.
It's not your personal breath.
Life energy is breathing through you,
Making your body alive.
And it is rising out of stillness and returning to stillness.
The ground of your being is completely still.
The more you connect to the stillness,
Dissolve into it,
Feel it more and more.
Be the stillness.
And then listen far and wide to the soundscape,
To the farthest sounds,
The faintest sounds.
These sounds are only references to expand your field of awareness.
Relax into it.
Feel the wideness,
Feel the stillness.
Feel the sensation of wide stillness.
And now bring your attention to hearing.
Listening deep behind the sounds.
In between sounds there is silence.
Beneath all the sounds there is silence.
Listen to that.
That's where you can hear the sound of silence.
Like a very fine background shrill of high pitch.
Like a cricket in the forest.
Or a fading trail of a bell.
Hear that sound.
Widen into it.
Listen to it.
Lovingly.
And relax into it.
Relax into stillness,
Into wideness and the silence behind all the sounds.
So that you can feel the sound of silence deep within you and become that sound of silence.
Relax into it.
Accepting,
Surrendering to the deep and wide stillness.
And the deep silence and the sound of silence.
The more you hear it and surrender to it,
The more you allow it to permeate your whole being,
The more it will embrace you and become silence itself.
Your whole being becoming silent,
Still and wide.
Effortlessly,
Naturally.
Just by opening to wideness,
Silence and stillness.
Allow the silence to permeate,
To infuse into your bodily substance.
Feel yourself to be a vastness,
A wideness,
A deep stillness and deep,
Deep silence.
That's the foundation,
The very foundation of your being,
The formless ground of your being.
Immobile,
Calm,
Wide,
Silent.
As if you're gazing into a vast mountain range in deep stillness,
Deep listening,
Becoming wide and silent.
Feel the whole body,
Breath is happening naturally.
Bring your attention to your face,
To your eyes and gently open your eyes.
With that,
We are now completing the third and last step of another introduction.
These three steps are built on each other and the more you practice,
The more these qualities will develop within you.
Repeated practice is the only way.
The more you repeat,
The more your body will remember it and easier it will be to recall and become the stillness,
The wideness and silence.
So please do practice again and again,
Again and again,
So that this foundation can grow within you steadily and slowly.
And it is upon this foundation of deep inner stillness,
Wideness and silence,
Naturally the peace will settle.
It's a byproduct.
Once the space is ready,
Peace will walk in and settle.
Your role is to prepare the inner space,
Make it wide and still and calm so that peace can come in.
The more you practice,
The more this foundation gets built.
It is upon this foundation,
Advanced practices of anahata can be done,
Opening to inner and higher ranges of consciousness to develop the powers of intuition,
Developing in you yogic consciousness.
So once again,
Please do repeat.
Listen to all these three steps again and again,
Practice again and again,
So that it is reinforced and made into a muscle memory in the body.
And repetition is the way the body learns.
It's not so much the duration that matters,
More important aspect is repetition,
So that it becomes easily accessible experience,
Easily accessible inner state to be silent,
To be still and wide.
With this you are laying the foundation for anahata.
Thank you,
Wish you happy practice.
