Antar Mouna
The Path To Stillness
Antar Mouna is a Tantric practice of training the mind in preparation for meditation. Before we dive into Antar Mouna, first let me define meditation or dhyana. David Frawley, a brilliant teacher of Yoga and Ayruveda defines meditation as “…our ability to contact our true Self and consciousness (Atman or Purusha) which is the source of life and intelligence.” Meditation isn’t a technique, it’s a state, and just as we must train our bodies to be strong and flexible, we must train our minds with the same level of focus and patience, and in my personal experience, structure!
During the first seven years of my yoga practice, I studied mostly postures and breathing exercises. I began where many westerners do, with the physical practices of yoga. After a while, I found myself interested in the other limbs/aspects of yoga, including philosophy, meditation, and the subtler practices of this science.
The Eight Limbs of Yoga:
yama-social rules
niyama-personal rules
asana-postures
pranayama-expansion of the breath
pratyahara-turning inward of the senses
dharana-focus and concentration
dhyana-meditation
samadhi-complete realization/bliss
Before long, I made my way to southern India, and immersed myself in study and practice at a small ashram in the mountains of Tamil Nadu. It was there that I first learned of Antar Mouna or Inner Silence. The techniques used to train the mind for dhyana, fall under the limbs of pratyahara and dharana. Pratyahara is a practice used to balance the internal and external senses. It’s not possible, for most of us, to jump directly from asana to dhyana. This would require that we jump from the body to the mind. A more accessible path is to traverse what lies between the body and the mind: the senses and the breath. Harnessing the power of the sense organs and the breath is the link to moving from the physical practices of yoga to the more subtle aspects.
Antar Mouna contains six stages and is most effective when practiced in progressive order. The first four stages are practiced for a minimum of 30 days, longer as needed. If there’s a significant break from this practice, it may be beneficial to start over. While you can practice Antar Mouna any time of the day, a regular practice at the same time of every day will magnify the benefits. One of the many gifts of Antar Mouna is the awareness and release of dysfunctional mental conditioning. Because of this, Antar Mouna may not be appropriate for everyone. With all of the techniques available to train the mind, it’s important to find the best fit.
STAGES OF ANTAR MOUNA
Awareness of Sense Perceptions
Observation of Spontaneous Thoughts
Conscious Creation and Disposal of Thoughts
Awareness and Disposal of Spontaneous Thoughts
Thoughtlessness
Awareness of Psychic Symbols
Antar Mouna - your Meditation Coach
This is a technique to prepare the mind for meditation, and has been the most helpful technique I have utilized in learning to train my mind. Before I began practicing Antar Mouna, I found sitting to be a challenge, which is not a unique experience for most of us. The technique of observing thoughts and sensations left me feeling out of balance and ungrounded, caught up and spinning, with little inspiration for the next sit. When I learned about Antar Mouna I discovered that I simply needed a little prep work before the observation stage, and voila! Observing suddenly became accessible in a different, more rooted way. The intelligence in the progression of these stages is like working with a coach or trainer for the muscle of your mind. We don’t start a new exercise routing by bench pressing our weight. We scale our load down to our level of strength, and build from there. The same is true for concentration practices.
In both western and yoga psychology, there is an understanding of the part of the mind that is called the Witness Consciousness, or simply the Witness. In Sanskrit, the Witness is called Sakshi or Drashta. This is the part of the consciousness that is able to observe thoughts, feelings, and sensations, without reacting to them. Awareness and strengthening of the Witness is an essential part of a yoga practice, or any practice that provides guidance in self-study. When we are able to observe our experience of life, and of the moment, without going into an automatic reaction, we have cultivated the quality of equanimity, non-reactiveness. It’s this connection to our innate steadiness that allows us freedom from the kleshas, our conditioned behaviors and beliefs.
Antar Mouna is a structured way of learning to hone this part of the already-awake mind, that’s present in each of us.
STAGE ONE: AWARENESS OF SENSE PERCEPTIONS
Remember that meditation is a state, not a technique. First we must build the competency necessary to find a one-pointed focus, dharana, which will lead us to the state of meditation, dhyana. I hear so often, “I can’t meditate because I can’t stop thinking!”. What a daunting task it is to attempt the complete cessation of thoughts. Before that happens, before we will find ourselves in a true state of meditative absorption, we must train our mind to focus on something.
In this first stage of Antar Mouna, we engage a sense outwardly. For example, we may choose to focus on the sense of hearing, and simply listen. Listen to all of the sounds around us. Be specific with the act of listening. Listen to the sounds that are the closest, the sounds that are far away, the individual sounds, as well as the collective sound. With this stage, we are giving the mind something external to focus on, which is easier for most, at least initially, than focusing on something internal.
If the sense of sight is used, place an object in front of your meditation seat - something inspirational such as a flower, a picture of a teacher, a mandala or yantra (yantra means “instrument” or “machine” and in the west is usually a geometric shape or symbol), at eye level height and foot or so in front of your sitting place.
In using the sense of smell, incense can be burned, or simply smell the natural scents all around. If the sense of touch is engaged, appreciate the feeling of clothing resting the your skin, or the weight of the body on the earth, the sensation of wind as it blows. With the sense of taste, a flavorful tea can be taken before the practice, or observe the neutral taste in the mouth.
Usually, one or a couple of senses will feel the most accessible and enjoyable to engage, go with one that’s interesting to work with. The same sense should be used throughout the entire duration of this stage.
BENEFITS OF STAGE ONE:
Heightened Sensory Perception. With refinement of the sense experience, we increase our ability to observe the more subtle components of our sensory perception and of our experience of reality.
Awareness of Mental Conditioning. By engaging a sense intentionally, we begin to recognize the patterns of thoughts that arise once a familiar sense is interpreted. For example, we hear the post carrier deliver some mail and we feel: excited - “I wonder if my package has arrived?”, or we feel anxious - “Did I receive the letter of acceptance or denial?”.
To begin practicing stage one, first decide which sense to engage with. On your first sit of the series, you might take five or ten minutes to move through all five senses and then pick a sense to commit to using for this stage. Be as regular as possible with the time and location of your sitting practice, and for those that are new to a sitting practice, begin with 5 minutes. I recommend building up to and aiming for a 15-20 minute sit. It’s most important to do this practice consistently, so if on a given day, 15 minutes of practice is out of the question, sit for 5 minutes.
Remember, it's recommended that each stage is practiced for a minimum of 30 days, though it can be practiced as long as needed. For example, when I began this practice, while I was studying in southern India, I felt finished with the first stage in about a month, and then I practiced the second stage for over a year and a half before I felt ready to move on. So, take your time, pay attention, and honor your experience on this path.
STAGE 2: AWARENESS OF SPONTANEOUS THOUGHTS
Once we are ready to transition to stage two, we may become more drawn to observe our thoughts, or we may simply become less interested with the engagement of our senses outwardly. I felt ready to transition to stage two after a month of dedicated practice of stage one. It's important to take your time. If we build a strong and stable foundation, we can continue the challenging and rewarding practice of self-study. However, if we skip the proper cultivation and strengthening of the Witness, then further self exploration may become hindered due to a lack of skill, or due to the intensity of the experience.
The concept of spontaneous thoughts is quite amazing. Our conscious mind is not actively creating a thought, the thought appears to randomly pop up to the surface of the conscious mind. So what exactly is the source of this thought? The source is the subconscious mind. We think the same thoughts each day, sometimes repeating certain thoughts hundreds of times. I have heard references claiming that over 90% of the thoughts we have each day are the same thoughts we had yesterday. Wow. Certainly some of these thoughts are useful, but do you know what most of these thoughts are? Negative thought patterns of how we feel about ourselves, others, or our environment. So much energy is wasted in this realm of harmful thought patterns. In stage two we deliberately observe these spontaneous thoughts without trying to suppress them.
A big part of stage two is the cultivation of the Witness. The Witness observes the thoughts as if watching a movie, and watch the scenes change, one by one. We let go of labeling the scenes or thoughts as “good” or “bad”, and simply acknowledge the thought by repeating mentally “thought” or “thinking”. Some thoughts are particularly “sticky”, that is the thought is enticing, it calls us to entertain it and they are often weighted in some way such as with worry or fantasy. When these sticky thoughts surface, allow your Witness to acknowledge it with mentally saying “thought” or “thinking” and then use the power of your mind to resist engagement. We aren’t suppressing thoughts, we are watching them without interacting with them. Watch them float into conscious awareness and watch them float right out.
BENEFITS OF STAGE TWO:
Liberation from mental conditioning. We are not our thoughts! Meaning, our True Self is not what’s happening in our mind. However, we can fall victim to allowing our mind to control our experience of reality. When we identify patterns of thought, we begin to observe who or what is behind the steering wheel of our vehicle in this lifetime. When we realize that some or much of the time, it is our patterns of thought, our ego, and our cravings or aversions that lead us into a state of reaction rather than conscious action, we have made it to the first step of reclaiming the steering wheel.
Noted demonstration of the automatic thought processes, and the ability to reclaim and conserve mental energies. As I mentioned above, it takes a lot of energy to be continually cycling thoughts in the mind. This energy can be conserved and reserved for realizing the goals and aspirations we set for ourselves.
Ease in letting go of thought suppression. By allowing thoughts to come and go freely, we begin to accept what we’re working with in this life, how we function, and lessen the pervasive self-judgement that accompanies attempts at thought suppression/rejection. This stage allows the mind to create the space necessary for the thoughts to dance around, moving at will, and without attachment.
Aids in cultivation of equanimity by building up the Witness. With the cessation of labeling thoughts as “good” or “bad” we begin to find the state of equanimity. In one passage the Bhagavad Gita defines yoga as “equanimity”, using the Sanskrit work samatva, which literally means “sameness” or “evenness”. Equanimity is essential in the practice of yoga, because it allows us a tool of awareness that's nonreactive. When we disempower a thought by changing an automatic labeling, we empower the Witness.
Take this practice off the mat and observe every moment with a curious mind. It's important to practice at the same time and place, as much as possible. However, ultimately, we seek to live our yoga. The mat or the cushion is a great container for developing the skills necessary to live life well, and to prepare us to walk each step with our eyes wide open, clearly seeing reality. This inquiry into the reality project or the practice of clear seeing, takes balancing the fire or tapas of self-discipline, with compassion and patience. Be both steady in your practice and gentle with yourself.
STAGE THREE: CONSCIOUS CREATION AND DISPOSAL OF THOUGHTS
In stage three of Antar Mouna we voluntarily create any thought, and then concentrate on that thought for some time. While concentrating on this thought, use vivid and detailed imagination, and then after a while, let it go. I like to escort the thought out of my mind with an exhale out through the mouth. The exhale part of the breath cycle is the most effective in aiding the release of impressions in the mind as well as tension or pain in the physical body.
It’s easier to begin this stage by focusing on lower vibratory thoughts such as anger, jealousy, or fear. This may seem strange, however, our minds have become accustomed to, and even comfortable with, these lower thoughts. Once we strengthen the mind’s ability to concentrate, we find ourselves naturally focusing on higher vibratory thoughts such as peace, compassion and love. Because this stage focuses on the cultivation of thoughts, it’s important to reject any spontaneous thoughts.
The consciously created thought acts as bait to attract and catch other thoughts related which hang out in the subconscious mind. This means we have to hold the cultivated thought in the mind for a while. When the other thoughts surface, maintain the focus on the original thought. So, instead of leaving the first thought and progressing onto the next in a wandering tangental sort of way, compile them into one big thought bundle.
Drawing subconscious thoughts to the surface is a deeper form of mental hygiene. Once we see what our consciously created thought attracts, we are lessening the power of those subconscious thoughts, because they have been brought to the surface. They’re not hiding anymore. To see is to have the ability to transform.
The cultivated thought can be an idea, a memory or something we want to manifest. The particularly “sticky” thoughts, the one’s that tend to cycle over and over in the mind are good ones to work with. There’s a reason they’re repeating in the mind. They have subconscious thoughts attached to them, weighing them down, and preventing their full processing and release. This stage of Antar Mouna is a useful tool to practice manifestation. For example, if we want to attain a new job, we can create a positive thought surrounding the acquisition of the job. On the flip side, if we need to let go of a responsibility, we can create a thought of separation from the responsibility, such as thinking of shifting that duty to another person.
BENEFITS OF STAGE THREE:
Strengthens focus and concentration. By consciously cultivating a thought and imagining it in detail, we are encouraging a strong sense of concentration. With the refusal to entertain spontaneous thoughts, we are honing our skills of unwavering attention.
Memory retrieval. With vivid construction of a thought, we are constantly utilizing stored information from previous experience. Remember the children’s game Memory? It’s like that. We are flipping over the matching subconscious cards to link to the thought at the forefront of the mind.
Attraction of subconscious thoughts. This is the like the spring cleaning of the mind (only hopefully we do this more than once every spring!) This form of deep mental hygiene gets into all the nooks and cranny’s of the subconscious. Whenever we create space in the body or mind, and in this case, the release of the subconscious thought is creating space, fresh prana, the vital energy of life, can flow in. Whenever we release, light fills the space.
Manifestation. We are responsible (in large part) for creating the reality we want to live in.
Take as much time as needed to hold the conscious thought in the mind. If we move through the thoughts too quickly, they won’t have time to entice the subconscious associated thoughts, and we will end up feeling agitated or vata deranged. We know it’s time to move on, to release the thought bundle with an exhale, when subconscious thoughts stop surfacing, or we get bored with the thought and the mind wanders without responding to the guidance of refocusing. This stage is fascinating! The stuff that pops up into the conscious mind can be surprising, and immensely beneficial in understanding our habits and patterns.
Each stage prepares us for the next, and in moving onto the next stage, if something feels off, or it feels too challenging, go back the previous stage and work with that a bit more.
STAGE FOUR: AWARENESS AND DISPOSAL OF SPONTANEOUS THOUGHTS
Here we draw upon the Witness consciousness once again and take a step or two back to watch the movie in our mind. This step begins like stage two, where we allow thoughts to arise spontaneously. However, instead of continuing to watch the progression of the movie scenes, once the thought is acknowledged, we hold it in the mind so it can attract related thoughts, feelings, and memories, just like we do in stage three. This holding step cleans house, so to speak. It dredges up similar thoughts from the subconscious, and after a while, we have a big ball of thoughts, rather than only that first one. Finally, once we feel ready, we release that bundle of thoughts, and I often signify this with a long exhale through the mouth.
Stage four of Antar Mouna is structurally similar to stage three, so it can be a smoother transition than the earlier stages. One of the notable considerations when practicing stage three is to disregard any spontaneous thoughts that float into the consciousness, and only engage with the thought, feeling or memory that has been specifically cultivated. In my experience of stage three, it’s enticing, as it always is, to entertain a spontaneous thought. That is to hold the thought in the mind. When this happened my first few times practicing stage three, I tried to rationalize holding my awareness on that spontaneous thought by making excuses like, “well this one naturally floated in, maybe I’m supposed to think about it....”, or “it feels like more effort to consciously cultivate a thought, what about finding ease in practice?”. I soon realized that though these are decent arguments to be made, ultimately, the structure of Antar Mouna is what hooked me. It’s what allowed me to sit. So moving away from the structure that has proved to be helpful for me in my practice isn’t the wisest choice. And now, after practicing stage three for a good long while, I can clearly see the benefit of training the mind not to engage with the spontaneous thoughts.
If we don’t make a conscious decision to choose what to focus on, be it a thought, an object, a person, or an experience, our habits and patterns will make that decision for us. If we aren’t paying attention then the following will dictate where our attention flows:
Kleshas: the conditioned behaviors and beliefs, or conditioned states
Samskaras: impressions that remain from previous actions or behavior
Vasanas: groups of impressions that form habits and patterns; latent tendencies
Karma: results of our previous thoughts, words, and actions; the law of cause and effect
In stage three of Antar Mouna, we are choosing what to focus our attention on. This is an essential step in preparing the mind for a little less structure. Now in stage four, we give the mind more freedom and allow for spontaneous thoughts to climb onto the center stage of our awareness.
BENEFITS OF STAGE FOUR:
Refinement of stage three benefits.
Deeper subconscious purging. In stage two we begin to see some of the thoughts stored in the basement of our mind, our subconscious. In stage three we see them again, and now in more patterns. We start to get a feel for our tendencies, our cycles of thoughts. In stage four, we strengthen our ability to pay attention (because we have less structure) and we continue to learn about our habits, to identify the veils that alter our perception of reality. Our unique conditioning colors our experience of life. The more we examine the lenses through which we see this world, the more freedom we have in choosing to remove them, and to exist in Supreme Reality.
STAGE FIVE: THOUGHTLESSNESS
This stage is one described as a mental vacuum. No substantial thoughts will arise because there’s no longer any suppression of thoughts. The subconscious thoughts have been purged, and the mind finds a place of calm, while alertness or awareness is still maintained. Thoughtlessness leads to actual Inner Silence, and will arise spontaneously as a result of having built your inner strength in the previous stages. This is not really a “stage” to practice for 30 days or more. It’s an experience - and a momentary one at that. You may notice a second or a few seconds of thoughtlessness during any of the previous stages.
The challenge when thoughtlessness arises is usually the fruitless and frustrating attempts to hold on to the experience of thoughtlessness. The guidance offered in this phase is to just notice when the mind is empty. Notice and rest into that space of silence and spaciousness. And when the next thought arises, continue practicing your stage of concentration technique (stage one-four).
STAGE SIX: AWARENESS OF PSYCHIC SYMBOLS
When the mind is purified and no unnecessary thoughts arise, spontaneous symbols may arise, or they may not. This symbol surfacing is due to optimal prana flow, the vitalenergy of life. If we see a symbol in our mind as we are working with stage four, then we can transition to letting the psychic symbol be the focal point of the mind during meditation. The intuitive symbol will show itself time and time again.
This stage is not guaranteed to happen, nor is it essential. We all have varied abilities and natural inclinations in how we engage our sense organs. When we turn our senses inward, some of us may “see” with our mind’s eye, with tendencies towards visualization, whereas others may be more apt to “hear” inside, etc. The main focus of stage six is to observe what happens when the flow of thoughts slow and then cease.
When the waves and ripples of a lake settle, the surface of the lake becomes a mirror. If there are waves and ripples, the surface of the lake distorts the reflection of that which surrounds it. The untrained mind, with it’s constant stream of thoughts, is likened to the surface of a disturbed lake. We have the opportunity to see clearly only when our mind is clear as well. We have the opportunity to experience Supreme Reality when our thoughts, conditioning, impressions, and habits and patterns dissolve. Once these veils that alter our perception of reality are lifted, once the waves have settled, then we experience “clear seeing”. The Buddha said, “It is your mind that creates this world”. When we understand this truth, we move into liberation or moksha, or rather, we remember we have been free the whole time, it’s only now that we can see.
After stage four we find ourselves in Dharana or focus and concentration. This is the limb right before the state of Dhyana or meditation. In Dharana, the mind is fixed to an object or idea. This practice of concentration will wax and wane. The mind will still and then wander, still and then wander. Once there is no disturbance or wandering, we’ve transition into state of Dhyana, where there's an uninterrupted flow of awareness towards the object or idea. We are completely absorbed in the experience.
Continuing on the Path
Once you’ve progressed through stages one-four, you may continue with the practice of stage four, or you may transition to another technique. You have systematically built up the strength of the muscle of your mind and the skill of concentration. This will benefit whatever meditations you practice from here on out. And on a metta level, everything you do and experience in life will be benefited after Antar Mouna!
Just like the muscles of our bodies require continual exercise to stay strong and mobile, the same is true for the muscle of the mind. You may return to this structured technique when there’s a break in practice, or when you need more support in concentration because of life circumstances. You may choose to start with the first stage or whichever stage feels useful. Once you’ve gone through the practice (remember this may take years), you’ll know where to pick it back up. If you choose, for example, to return to Antar Mouna and begin with stage two or three and your mind is all over the place, step it back a stage and work there. Antar Mouna is intelligently designed to work skillfully with the nature of the mind. Just as you trust a coach to train your body progressively, you can trust in the structure of this practice.
I went to India to study two things: Indian Philosophy and Meditation. This is the technique that allowed me to develop a strong sitting practice, and I’m passionate about sharing it. I’d love to hear about your experience - please share and ask any questions you have about Antar Mouna in the comments below.