This meditation technique is an incredibly powerful way to keep the mind peaceful. It is prescribed in Bhagwad Gita,1 the primary book of Indian spiritual heritage. It derives its power from three key forces: detachment, transformation, and stillness.
Here, I describe a meditation exercise that I have found to be spiritually very helpful. You are welcome to try it but I would recommend that you start slowly and see if it suits you. Please do not exert yourself while doing it. If you feel any discomfort, please discontinue and do not try it again without consulting a doctor. If you have a history or breathing trouble or heart problems, please consult your doctor before undertaking this exercise.
A Key Principle being applied here: Thoughts, emotions, and breath are intertwined
A person’s thoughts and emotions are deeply intertwined with his or her breath. This intertwining is at a subtle level and we rarely notice it. Once we become aware of this, we are more likely to see the connections as our thoughts and emotions ebb and flow. One way to visualise this reality is to see the three as strands of a string. Pull any one of these three strands, and you will pull the string along with the other two as well. The opportunity here is that controlling the thread of breath through techniques of meditation can help control the other two strands. Meditational breath control is a body of knowledge that aims to turn the breath into the controlling strand of the mind and thereby clear the mind of unhelpful thoughts and emotions. Once toxic thoughts and emotions are discarded, the mind automatically shifts to a state of peace and happiness. This article describes the yoga technique to do exactly that – control the mind using your breath.
Thoughts and emotions are intertwined with breath. Control your breath using the right techniques and you can control the other two. This can give you unprecedented control over your mind.
The Advanced Meditation Exercise
In this section, I describe the steps to perform this exercise:
Start with sitting in a comfortable posture. The back should be straight, and the neck should align with it. It should be possible to sit still and comfortably in this position for at least 30 minutes.
Close your eyelids partly and try and maintain them as such during this exercise. In this position, they would restrict your span of vision up to the tip of your nose. Eyelids may flutter or move a bit in this position from time to time. Ideally, the eyelids partly cover the eyeballs now. So, top part of vision is blocked. This eye positioning helps to prevent you from falling asleep while also ensuring that your mind is alert. It reduces the distraction that comes from widely open eyes as well as the drowsiness that comes from closed ones. The eyes should focus on something that is in their line of sight extending from the eyes to the tip of the nose to what is visible ahead of that (let’s say this is a chair). Continue to look at this chair during this meditation.
Now, try and bring your attention to the point between your eyebrows. Rephrased: try and bring your consciousness to this point (this can be done by imagining yourself reduced to a single point and this point existing between your eyebrows). This point is called the mind’s eye or spiritual eye in yoga. Remember, you are brining your attention here – not trying to look at it. This is tricky and needs some practice to get right. Trying to look at it would strain your eyes. You can continue to look at the field of vision described above: part eyelid and part what remains visible outside. One way to do this is to imagine your eyelids made of soft flower-petals (and thus not having any strain or tension in them). Imagine these petals to be completely relaxing all muscles in and around your eyes as a result. All this while, you should try to relax your body from head to toe –maintaining a straight posture. As you imagine the petals becoming a part of your eyelids, you should feel any tension melt away. Spend some time to try and get this right before proceeding. Do not proceed further if eyes are uncomfortable or strained.
If following these instructions creates any stress for any part of your body, I would advise you to stop and not proceed further.
Next, exhale and follow these steps:
- Breathe in and feel yourself directing this incoming air rising from your nostrils into the mind’s eye. Feel (or imagine, if you cannot feel) the incoming breath terminating at the mind’s eye. If you are a religious person, imagine God’s presence there and pronounce His name mentally during this inhalation process. If you would not like to bring God into this exercise, imagine the presence of infinite energy in your mind’s eye. Please also read this footnote.2
- Breathe out and imagine your outgoing air to be rising from your lungs and directed at the mind’s eye. Feel (or imagine) this air-flow reaching and ending at that point in your forehead. If you can hear your exhaling breath, try and imagine it sounding like “Om”. Else mentally pronounce the “Om” sound (don’t use your mouth to say it). Mentally stretch this sound till your exhalation is on.
- Repeat.
Try and maintain stillness of body, eyes, and mind. Stillness of the body comes from having a good, stable posture and avoiding unnecessary movement. Stillness of the eyes (or eye muscles) come from not trying to visually follow the breath or move the eyes in response to the flow of breath, as well as the next point (stillness of mind). Stillness of the mind comes from trying your best to hold your attention on the image you are forming in the mind’s eye. When attention diverts, as it often may, patiently pull it back and focus on the mind’ eye again. In my experience, this mental stillness makes it easy to steady the breathing and the cardiovascular system. The more you are able to keep still at these three levels (physical, eyes, and mind), the deeper the meditation state you are likely to achieve. Deeper states of meditation bring increased peace and happiness to mind and remain as a calm residue even after the meditation ends. Some people may feel a very subtle current that flows in the direction of the breath through the mind’s eye.
For those who are familiar with Indian ritual of sacrifice (yagya) using the fire ceremony, the above breathing exercise is the mental-spiritual equivalent. The incoming breath can be imagined as lighting the fire in the mind’s eye by kindling the image or imagined presence of a Deity. The outgoing breath carries with it what one is sacrificing into this fire. This “sacrifice” can be anything that a person is willing to mentally give up to get closer to the entity you imagine to be present in your mind’s eye.3 Just “place” the thing to sacrifice inside your breath and exhale (visualise or feel this happening before exhaling). This sacrifice could be any of the following (this is not a comprehensive list):
- The possession of something dear that is renounced: This is not physically giving a thing up but mentally getting detached from it. The multiple attachments of the mind are the primary reasons for it to keep feeling disturbed. So, the more prized the possession being mentally cast away, the more powerful the meditation can be.
- Giving up something that one does not have: This is interesting. It is also surprisingly helpful. Try mentally renouncing and casting in the mind’s eye something that you really want to have but are unable to get, and have decided to renounce. Getting past the related desire can bring considerable peace.
- Something very important can be mentally cast away. For example a job, a position, reputation or status. Often the attachment or dependence on these is a source of stress. After inhalation, any of these can be imagined within and then cast into the mind’s eye through exhalation.
- Tensions, troubles, sources of stress, and even physical pain can be cast away. One can imagine them being present inside oneself and then cast into the fire in mind’s eye with exhalation and destroyed as a result. Strictly speaking this may not be seen by many as a sacrifice, but in yoga any action that detaches us from this body or world is deemed a sacrifice. Some would notice that when in trouble, people cling even tighter to the source of the problem. e.g. when in physical or psychological pain, a person often mentally holds tighter to the source of pain. Mentally renouncing troubles could thus be a “sacrifice” that can bring immediate relief.
- Unhealthy but desirable foods can be similarly cast away. One can imagine the food or the taste after inhalation and then cast it into the mind’s eye. This is a potentially helpful way to reduce and even eliminate cravings.
- Bad habits or the underlying stuff associated with them: In such cases, after inhaling, a person can imagine the related action of performing the habit or sensory feelings he experiences as a result… and cast them into the fire of mind’s eye and feel the relief of doing away with it. Again, this should reduce cravings.
- Self-image: this is giving up one’s attachment to how others perceive himself / herself (or how one would like to be seen). Self-image is an important part of one’s ego, and fretting about it can be a significant source of stress. Much of our misery comes from fretting about how others see us. Casting this self-image aside is an important step towards a more peaceful and happier mind.
- Any and all thoughts: any thought or emotion arising in the mind can be cast away. This is a very powerful way to clear the mind. A mind that consequently does not hold any thought will be grounded in peace and happiness.
- In more advanced meditation levels, one can imagine the exhaled breath “emptying” oneself. The breath is imagined to carry the “self” into the mind’s eye, leaving behind a vacuum. In this imagination, everything (including the body, its possessions and relationships) are all dissolved into the mind’s eye. After the exhalation, one imagines that nothing is left where the body existed. And the self is now situated in the mind’s eye, detached from the rest of the world. Seeing oneself as the body is the foundation of the yogic concept of the ego4 and a huge bottleneck for spiritual advance. Much of the feeling of regret from aging, nostalgia for youth or the past, and related sentiments flow from this attachment. This method is also another way to detach oneself from physical pain felt by the body (works best for constant, predictable pain). Once the self is situated in the mind’s eye, there is no connection left with the pain. The pain then turns into a feeling like carrying a big object in the pocket. You can feel its presence but it causes no discomfort.
If you are not sure what to cast away, you could observe what occupies your mind the most. Chances are that this is a strong source of attachment or aversion and the object of attention or the underlying sentiment would be a good thing to cast away.
Again, it is important to note that this exercise is not actually physically sacrificing the body, or giving up anything, but mentally abandoning the related attachment. The normal routines of taking care of the body and protecting it from harm must not be impacted by this exercise. Indeed, the body is the primary means to advance spiritually. Keeping it healthy is the first step towards spiritual advancement. Doing deliberate harm to it or neglecting its well-being is a recipe for needless misery and comes in the way of spiritual self-realisation.
Negative thoughts and emotions can be discarded from the mind like we throw our trash
A few important things need to be called out here, sometimes at the risk of repetition:
- This spiritual exercise is about giving up attachment and not doing any harm to self, to others, or to any property.
- The thoughts of things sacrificed will keep coming back and the mind will keep trying to spring back to its “normal” state of getting attached. A person can continue to cast such thoughts away with the next exhaled breath.
- This exercise takes a relatively short while to understand and perform for the first time (days / weeks) but a lifetime to master. Regular practice is key, ideally every day. Yet, occasional implementation is better than none at all.
- The more the attachments, the more the obstacles one has for spiritual advancement. The above exercise helps suspend this attachment to help one experience unconditional happiness – a taste superior to material or bodily enjoyment. This higher taste of existence provides the means to a person to start his spiritual journey. Without the higher spiritual taste, it is difficult to transcend attachments that hold our true-happiness to ransom.
- This exercise is the breathing-equivalent of a number of prescriptions of Bhagwad Gita as well as states described therein – from giving up attachments, to renouncing results of actions, to the final stage of surrendering the self. All of these may be done through slight variations of the same exercise.5 It simplifies and reduces all actionable teachings of Gita into one simple routine. It also appears to have sway over physical sensations. For example, I am able to neutralize the physical pain (that is constant and predictable) through this exercise.6 Research shows that meditation can indeed counter pain.
- Much of the advancement that is described in Yogasutra by Patanjali is possible using the above exercise as a means. At a deeper level, this is quite similar to the core teachings of Gita.
- Quite often, a practitioner would notice that the first half of the meditation time is needed just to focus the mind and relax the breathing. This means that the true benefits of stilling the mind and experiencing a sense of peaceful happiness comes more in the later part of the meditation rather than in the beginning. This also means that longer meditation sessions bring disproportionate benefits to a person since it is only in the later part that s/he reaps the best rewards from the exercise. At the same time, I would not recommend excessively long sessions. Around 30-45 minutes should be about right. Regular meditation is more important that irregular lengthy sessions. This is because an important use of the meditation is to do away with mental stresses as we go through our normal lives. Regular meditation keeps a person learning and practicing the meditation techniques during the non-meditation time of the day.
Breathing
In deeper states of this meditation, the amount of air one breathes reduces considerably. This is sometimes described as “equalisation” of breath. This happens when the incoming and outgoing breath displace each other by very small amounts. With a still mind, one may then also feel a very subtle current within the mind’s eye that is sustaining himself in the absence of most of the breathing that a person would normally need. In this state, the person feels no distress and yet he can also feel that the volume of breathing is gone down. This is possible when a person reaches deep state of TAME meditation. It is important to not try and force oneself into this state and allow it to come about as a part of following the TAME method.7 Heart patients and those with respiratory illnesses should be cautious about this aspect of the meditation and make sure that they are not feeling any sense of unease. If they do, it is advisable to stop.
Three active elements of this meditation
This meditation technique appears to me to be more effective than the others because it actively pushes the envelope on three things: detachment, stillness, and transformation. I have talked in the article above about detachment and stillness. This note is on the third element: transformation.
Through my research, understanding, and practice of yoga and meditation, it has become clear to that the human body exercises its power over inert matter when it applies the force of transformation. This power is symbolised by the “Fire” aspect of creation (also sometimes called the “Fire” element”). This aspect deals with transformation, changing one thing into another. e.g. changing food into energy that powers life. And also, transforming mental disturbances and other negative thoughts into a peaceful mind. This fire is said to work through the mind’s eye. This is why the focus on the mind’s eye in this article and the reason to push negative thoughts into it.
The most powerful variation of TAME
So far, multiple options have been offered to do this meditation. For example, different options on what one offers as sacrifice and what one imagines in the mind’s eye. In my experience, the following variation provides the most powerful meditation experience. This variation requires three things. The first is one of subordination of the self. Call it a service mindset towards all or one that comes with devotion to a higher power than oneself. It comes with the thinking that all that is mine, including my body is now being surrendered to this higher power located in my mind’s eye. In this variation, this power is visualised as a person. Re-phrased, God is being visualised as a person in the mind’s eye. This appears to work more powerfully since we connect better with someone we can visualise as a person. This is also one of the reasons why ancient Indian texts describe God as a person — it is an implicit acceptance of the limitation of the human mind in terms of who we are able to connect with. The second part is continuous clearing of the mind. Keep removing all thoughts of everything else from the mind. Remember that allowing other thoughts into the mind and dwelling upon them dilutes the mediation. When the mind experiences a diversion, as it periodically will, discard the thought with the next exhaled breath and bring yourself back to the surrender process mentioned in the first point above. The third is giving the meditation exercise your all. With the exhaled breath, imagine squeezing your entire being through the exhaled breath into the mind’s eye.
Closing notes
Expand this state into non-meditation times
This meditation exercise forms the core of my morning routine. With time, the peaceful state of mind it fosters has spread into more and more of the day, thereby keeping my mind free from disturbances that would otherwise throw me off-balance. Both attachments and aversions that can upset a mind may be handled through it.
The similarity with shooting arrows
An analogy for the TAME meditation is shooting arrows. Placing the arrow on the bow is akin to deciding the thought / emotion / sacrifice that is to be cast into the mind’s eye. The pulling back of the arrow is comparable to pulling down the diaphragm and filling the lungs with air. The aim is taken at the mind’s eye. Exhaling, thus, is releasing the breath (arrow) upward into the mind’s eye. Stillness of the body, eyes, and mind are key to ensure that arrow does not go astray.
Given the power of this meditation, ancient Indian texts describe many warriors (that personify forces on the mental-spiritual plane) as archers. The side aiming to bring peace and happiness to the mind uses the TAME breathing as described above. As a result, the mind is cleared of disturbing thoughts, emotions, and attachments with the exhaled breath breath. If this side is dominant, the mind becomes still, peaceful, and unconditionally happy. The other side, that is keen to do the opposite, uses disturbed breath and negative thoughts / emotions in coordination along a similar pathway aimed at the mind. But that side grows more powerful with uncontrolled breath, swirling emotions, and lack of focus in the mind.
Safety
Be careful to ensure that you are not doing anything that impacts safety while trying to get into a relaxing meditative state. For example, doing this while working on a desk is ok. Trying to do this while driving a car or riding a bike is not.7 Please exercise caution.
Questions for modern science
Reducing in volume of air breathed during deep states of TAME meditation is a very interesting phenomenon for modern science. How does the body sustain itself in deep states of meditation when biological processes appear to be normal but the air breathed is reduced considerably? Where is the energy to sustain life coming from? Can life be sustained with much lower amount of air if the mind is in a higher state of activation and awareness? Does that mean that a higher level of consciousness can replace physical energy in the body? When the same state can continue outside of meditation, does that mean that the body is consuming less oxygen and thus producing less waste? What does that mean for life-spans and longevity?
Also mentioned in the Bible?
Although I am hardly an authority on the Bible and my understanding of it is quite limited, I see a similarity between spiritual teachings of Gita and those of The Bible. For example, take the Biblical line “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light”. In my understanding, this “single eye” refers to the “mind’s eye” in this TAME meditation technique.
Mental renunciation is more difficult than the physical sort
Mental renunciation (or detachment) is at the core of spiritual advance and is very difficult to do. Physically giving up something is relatively easy. Stopping the mind from ruminating over the things it desires is not; and for this reason, spiritual advance is difficult in the beginning. The key is to persist regardless of success or failure of the outcome of this exercise. One will observe that over time (a few weeks / months), the mind starts to bend to this spiritual force.
Recommended Reading
Why TAME meditation appears to work better than other techniques: TAME meditation appears to be more effective than other meditation techniques because it activates three essential elements of meditation: detachment, transformation, and stillness. Meditation needs all three.
Use Meditation to counter depression and stress: Modern approaches towards depression and stress are not working as they do not understand the mind that creates them. It’s time to rethink our approach.
TAME Meditation can block out pain: TAME meditation technique can block out pain. This works best for pain that is constant and predictable. But it needs practice. And, Modern Science needs to pay attention.
All spiritualism through one meditation technique? Could one meditation-breathing technique replicate most of the things taught by Bhagwad Gita, the epitome of Indian spiritual heritage?
Footnotes
1: See Bhagwad Gita verse 4.29, verses 5.27-28, and verses 6:11 onwards to 6:15.
2: Brining God into this meditation process is a matter of personal preference. My experience has been that brining Him in with a human form that is easy to visualise makes the exercise immeasurably more powerful. Obviously, there is little point in trying to bring Him in if you don’t really believe in Him. For more on this subject, please see this article.
3: Mentally giving up things that one holds dear is an important part of spiritual advancement. Desire creates a cycle of disturbance in the mind that prevents it from being happy – as discussed in my earlier article. Imagining the casting away of the object of attachment is one technique to get rid of the attachment. This entire exercise is predicated upon getting the mind into a frame of thinking wherein it does not hark after sensory desires but finds satisfaction in being unconditionally happy. Reaching such a state requires a person to experiment with mentally renouncing things that are dear and, over a period of time, transcend the related desires.
4: The yogic concept of the ego starts from imagined separation of the self from the creation. With this separation, a person imagines himself to be his body, and separate from others. This “I-ness” or separateness is the foundation of all our vexed thinking.
5: This interpretation of Gita actions being replicated by a single action may flow from Gita itself. TAME is essentially what Gita describes in different words from verse 6:11 onwards when it explains how a person should meditate. This style of meditation is thus flowing from Gita and not coming from me. In my description, I explain it in a manner that (I believe) is easier to follow, merely rephrases Gita’s words, and connects this exercise explicitly to Gita’s other teachings.
6: This is an interesting phenomenon and could attract future scientific research as we begin to understand the mind better from modern science’s perspective.
7: This meditation exercise, like all others, would impact reflexes and may make them more sluggish.
