Free of thoughts, consider for a short while, any part of one’s body as only void. One becomes permanently free of thoughts. Then, one’s own form attains the splendor of the state that is free of thoughts.
Verse 46
How to do this techniques
- In this practice, one is to consider any part of the body as void.
- Choose a part of the body that you find easy to meditate on.
- It could be the nose, a finger, the chest, or any other part of the body.
- Then sit comfortably, close your eyes and consider that part of the body to be void. The body is a unit. All parts are interconnected.
- If a particular part has a certain property, then the entire body has that property too.
- If a particular part of the body is void, then the entire body is void. Some people may find it difficult to meditate on the entire body as void. They may find it easier to concentrate on a part of the body. In either case, the effect is the same. If a part of the body is void, then the entire body is void. Free of thoughts. This is an important point.
Points to Remember
While practicing any sitting meditation, one has to focus on the practice. If one is thinking, then one is not meditating; one is only thinking. While meditating, thoughts may arise. Sometimes one is lost in a train of thoughts. When this happens, a person should not get frustrated or upset. Instead, bring your awareness back to the practice.
The moment you realize you are thinking, stop the thoughts and focus again on the practice.
The last few verses have been described as sitting meditations. They do not necessarily have to be practiced that way. Some of them can be practiced throughout the day.
Headlessness
British spiritual master Douglas Harding had a mystical experience in the Himalayas, several years ago. He suddenly felt he had no head. Only two eyes peering into the universe. His mind had stopped working, and he felt a sense of unity with everything. Time no longer existed, and there was only the present moment. He described his experiences in a book called, On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious. It was an experience he tried to instill in his students.
- You can try this yourself now.
- Imagine you have no head. Someone or something has cut it off.
- What would you be then? There would be no thoughts, as there would be no mind.
- You would simply be aware, living in the present, from moment to moment.
- You experience this feeling of headlessness when your awareness grows. Suddenly, you stop identifying with your body.
- You feel that your head and your body are nothing; it is empty, void. Instead, you feel this infinite expanse of space, and that you are one with this space.
- You feel one with all of life, and your sense · of self literally, grows to infinity. Then, one’s form attains the splendor of the state that is free of thoughts.
When a person becomes enlightened, they emanate a sense of peace and joy to all those who come into contact with them.
People who met Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa always remarked how they felt a feeling of love and compassion flowing from these great saints. Being in their presence was enough to feel the love they always gave. People visit places where the great masters lived. Jerusalem where Christ preached, Dwarka where Krishna lived, and Bodh Gaya where Buddha attained enlightenment. The vibrations of these Masters are still felt there centuries after they’ve passed away. Bodh Gay a is in the state of Bihar, one of the most crime-ridden states in India. Yet people who go there feel very peaceful. There is a sense of peace that still prevails in Bodh Gaya.
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