Unmasking The Mind: A Simple Practice For Clarity

In this meditation, you’ll be gently guided through the ancient yoga practice, a powerful journey of self-inquiry through negation. Layer by layer, you’ll peel away what you are not. From the body, the senses, the thoughts, and even the idea of being the thinker. What remains is a quiet, expansive awareness of your true, unchanging essence. Expect a deeply introspective experience that softens mental noise and brings you closer to the stillness beneath all experience.

Transcript

Welcome. Let's settle in. Please find a comfortable spot and a posture where your body can truly relax. Feel your own weight on the floor or wherever you are sitting. Let your eyes slowly close if they haven't already or just soften your gaze. No forcing. Just be gentle on yourself. Today we are diving into something ancient. It's a path of unbecoming, Of peeling back layers one by one like an onion. It's a process of interiorization, I would say, Going deeper and deeper within yourself. In simple words, We will analyze everything by gently whispering within ourselves mentally, Not this, Not this. It's a gentle yet powerful process of elimination. We are going to discover what you truly are by letting go of what you think you are. This practice is about discerning between what is permanent and impermanent, What is real and unreal and what is self versus non-self. It's not about losing anything. It's about finding the boundless, The untouched, The eternal within. So please lean in and simply just listen, Follow and critically analyze each word and each sentence I'm going to speak. So let's start with the most obvious, Your body. Feel it, The skin, The bones, The muscles, The warmth, The coolness, The subtle twitches. Every part of the body from head all the way to the toe, Your hands, Your legs, Stomach, The back, The spine, The face, Eyes, Nose, Ears, Lips, The neck, The fingers, The muscles, Every small organ, Every small part, Every corner, Every area, Just be aware of everything. Now my question is, Your feeling of this body, Is that you? Think about it. Are you your body? When you were a child, Your body was tiny, Soft. Now it has grown, Changed. It will continue to change day by day, Moment by moment. So a body is a temporary dwelling, Isn't it? It's a beautiful and intricate vessel. But the question is, Is it you? Or are you the unchanging essence? Think about it. Take a deep, Soft breath and with the exhale, Just whisper to yourself silently, Not this body, Not this body. Now feel the sensation of your hands. If they are resting on your knees or wherever they are touching, The warmth, The pressure, Is this sensation you? Or is it something your body experiences? What about that little ache on your shoulder? Or the comfort of your seat? These feelings that you are experiencing, They are coming and going, Don't they? They are like fleeting clouds in the vast sky. So now gently, Internally repeat, Not this sensation, Not this form, Not this changing vessel. This is not you. Let it go, Not with force, But with a soft, Knowing release. Now let's move to your senses, The eyes behind your eyelids, The ears listening to the gentle hum of the room, Or perhaps the distant sounds of life outside. Feel the air on your skin. Are you the seeing or the ears hearing? Are you the touch sensation? Who are you? These senses are perceiving the world, They bring information, But aren't they just the tools? Just like a well-loved pair of prescription glasses, These prescription glasses help you see, But they are not you. So when you close your eyes, The outer world fades. When you plug your ears, The sound dims. So can they be your true eternal self? Think about it. Now take another breath, Slow and deep. With the exhale, Release the identification, Not these eyes that see, Not these ears that hear, Not these senses, Not these eyes that see, Not these ears that hear, Not these senses. Who am I? Let's go a little more deeper. What about your actions? The things that you do, The words that you speak, The work that you engage in, Even the breath moving in and out, It's a constant action. So now the question is, Are you the doer, The one performing? Who are you? Are you a doer? Are you a performer? Sometimes we feel so tied to what we do, To our jobs, Our roles, Our daily tasks, But these are temporary, Aren't they? They start, They finish, They bring joy, Maybe sometimes frustration, Yet underneath it all, A quiet presence remains, The one witnessing the doing. Think about it. Underneath every action, There is a quiet presence that witnesses the doing. So now softly, Silently, Mentally whisper to yourself without making any sound, Not this doing, Not these actions, Not the one who thinks I am the doer, Not this doing, Not these actions, Not the one who thinks I am the doer, I am something apart from everything. So we have peeled one more layer, Let the layers gently fall away. Now is the trickiest part, Your mind, Your thoughts, Let's look at them. They flutter and dance, Don't they? Like a flock of restless birds constantly moving, Landing, Taking off. That thought about tomorrow's to-do list, That memory from yesterday, The brilliant idea that just sparked within us. Are they not just passing through your mental space? So are you the thought or the space in which the thought appears? Who are you? The intellect helps you grasp, Analyze and understand. Even these words are being grasped, Analyzed and understood by the intellect. So it's a sharp tool and an essential one. But when you master a subject, That tool serves you. If you are good in mathematics, You are not mathematics, It's just a tool that serves you. So maybe you are not the tool. Let's look at our emotions. Our emotions like joy, Sadness, Anger, Peace, They all surge and recede like waves in an ocean. They are powerful, Beautiful and sometimes overwhelming. So now the question is, Are you this wave or the deep, Calm ocean beneath it all? Who are you? Take a deep breath. Acknowledge these mental stirrings, The thoughts, The feelings, The ideas and then with compassion, With detachment, Let them go. Mentally whisper to yourself without making any sound. I'm not this thought. I'm not this feeling. I'm not this intellect. I'm not this me that identifies with it all. Let go of even the feeling of I or the feeling of I am humble, I am wise. These are all tags, They are attributes because the self or the true soul is beyond attributes, Isn't it? So lovingly just release them and mentally say, Not this, Not this. Now what remains? You have stripped away the body, The senses, The actions, The thoughts, The emotions. What is left? Who are you? You're left with silence, Right? A spaciousness or a deep, Quiet awareness. This is the I, Not the small, Limited I of your personality but the boundless, Pure witness. It is pure consciousness that is eternal and imperishable. Just think about it. Dwell on this thought for a few seconds. It's the I that knows you exist, The I that perceives all experiences yet remains untouched by everything. This is something only you can experience and it is something that can only be experienced at a subtle level and cannot be physically grasped. I think this is your true nature, Your pure consciousness because it is eternal, Unchanging, Always present, Like the sky, Always there, No matter the clouds passing through. So simply rest in this awareness or this feeling of being pure awareness beyond all definitions. You don't need to grasp it, You don't need to name it, Just be it and try to merge your awareness with this principle, Becoming one with it. This is joy, This is bliss, This is happiness. Now allow yourself to dissolve in this spacious blissful state for a few moments. This is where real peace resides. This is the ultimate goal leading to freedom and oneness with Supreme Consciousness. Just be silent in this awareness, Watch your breaths, Feel the silence and now as you are watching your breaths in this silence, You are becoming aware more and more towards the external sensations. So now gently, Slowly begin to bring your awareness from the breath to your body by feeling the rise and fall of your chest or abdomen, The cool air entering and the warm air leaving your nostrils. Become aware of your body again, Feel the pressure, The slight pressure of your clothes, The contact with the floor beneath you or the object you are sitting on. Feel the room around you, The external sounds that are far away or close by. Tune your ears to all the sounds. Take a deep, Slow breath and as you exhale, Gently open your eyes if they were closed. Carry this spaciousness with you, This knowing that you are not merely this limited this, But something vast, Something eternal, Something truly wonderfully you. Stay silent, Smile and be comfortable. Just sit comfortably and bring back yourself into this awareness of the outside world. Now let me explain the science and the art of this. It is important because it helps us bridge the ancient wisdom with our modern quest for understanding and it will help us recognize the profound and tangible effects these practices have on our being. So with not this what we are doing is actually very radical inside. We are systematically trying to unknow ourselves to peel back all these labels we have collected over a lifetime more like stickers on a suitcase we are trying to peel all of them. So let me also explain a few concepts from ancient yoga scriptures that we did during the meditation. So one is the practice of not this body, Not this thought is basically a fundamental process of mental discipline. We are using the intellect and mind to separate true from false to understand what is real versus what is merely a shadow of truth in the visible world. Yoga scriptures tell us that the ultimate reality, The self is beyond the grasp of our usual tools like the eye, Speech or even the mind itself. We are trying to understand the dance between the mind as an instrument and consciousness as the light illuminating it. So by negating what is not the self we are basically training our mind to stop clinging to these passing experiences. So when you consistently practice this kind of profound focus it influences your brain waves. Imagine if you can reorganize and restructure these brain patterns you know it's like shaping or reshaping a river bed so that water flows differently more clearly. So this deep concentration leads us to a space where mind can become one pointed and still. The journey of not this, Not this that we just did aims to bring into a state of pure consciousness. This is often described as a fourth state of awareness transcending the waking, Dreaming and deep sleep states which we normally experience. It's where the motion of consciousness and energy is no longer experienced. This is just a metaphor it basically refers to a deep alteration in your state of being where constant chatter of the mind and distractions and the senses fall away. Most importantly these ancient texts suggest that the consciousness isn't merely a product of the brain and this is why no machine can ever be conscious. We talk about AI being conscious but this not this, Not this seeks to realize the true self which is pure, Eternal, Unchanging and beyond senses, Mind or even the ego and AI cannot have these qualities. So it is that unmanifest, Without form and indefinable which is the cause of everything. This suggests a dimension of awareness that isn't reducible or or understandable because it's so vast, Unknowable to neural activity but is instead the ground and the foundation or the substratum of the very being that we call I. So when you say not this, Not this you are not just uttering words you are actually gently, Firmly nudging your entire system, Your mind, Your energy your very brain patterns towards a deeper, More refined state of awareness. So what we just did is a scientific process of inner deconstruction that reveals an undeniable boundless truth and it works so do try this a few times and let me know your feedback. Thank you very much.