The world is such a beautiful place. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the flowers are fragrant and dazzling with their colors, the fragrance is enveloping us and the taste of a fruit lingers in our mouth. The sound of the rustling of the leaves and the brushing of the breeze on our face. All our senses are tuned to these wondrous gifts of responses from mother earth. What happens our senses are very seductive; they ensnare us and we become their willing victims.

Now we come to the difficult part. Can we stay like this and gorge ourselves on our senses’ appreciation and absorption? If we do we become greedy and suffer from overindulgence.

In the Upanishads it is written,

When the chitta or mind is free from all flickering desires, when the mind is destroyed, the peaceful state which ensues is similar to sushupti or deep sleep, yet the yogi is awake.

The key is pratyahara, withdrawal of senses, which leads to reduction of desires, and thoughts. What should we do?

We can practice the sadhana of inner silence, Antar Mouna. Close your eyes. Become aware of the sounds around you. Do not heed who or what is making the sound. You will hear many sounds. Listen to the loudest sound and then to the softest sound. Do not identify the source the sound. This is external awareness. Now shift your awareness to the sound of your breath. Listen to the sound of the breath. This is internal awareness. Move back and forth between internal awareness and external awareness. Practice daily for twenty minutes. Your eyes are closed, you have reduced your sense of hearing. You remain neutral and you are sitting still. You are silent. You are not engaging with your senses.

Aim Hrim Klim

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