Antar Mouna

By becoming ever more aware of ones own internal attitudes, instead of focusing on the limitations of others, one can speed up ones evolution by leaps and bounds.

In this meditation practice, the mind is dealt with in a direct manner, which makes it highly effective for dealing with the peculiarities of the mind. This also makes some of the principles of this ancient technique valuable for use in psychiatry.

Yoga doesn’t tire of reminding us that we experience life as a mere illusion. This illusory nature stems from our own minds which interpret the world erroneously. We colour it with our own take on things, through unbalanced emotions and a disturbed mind.

The mind thus fragmented, lends its own interpretations to life, distorting our experience, stirring up thoughts and emotions that only make things more difficult than they truly are. Yoga calls such a mind, an impure mind.
The premise of antar mouna is the purification of such a mind. Giving focus and direction to the mind are the first step towards this goal. But it is near impossible to control the mind, which is quick as lightning. The practice of antar mouna gently redirects the mind to focus on a neutral object of choice. The first steps towards purification. The mind being externalised almost all of ones waking hours, is taught to turn around and observe itself instead of focusing solely on the world around it.

Antar mouna is one of the few permanent practices. It can be practised all the time, even up to 24 hours a day, for an enlightened yogi. By becoming ever more aware of ones own internal attitudes, instead of focusing on the limitations of others, one can speed up ones evolution by leaps and bounds. As we are able to clearly see our own irrational behaviour and peculiarities, we also see those of others with clarity, over time. And become better equipped to deal with both.

The practise should be started with a few minutes daily, gradually building up to a maximum of one hour every day. This should be done over six to twelve months, depending upon the dedication of the practitioner. However, with just a few minutes daily, the effects of the practise will still be felt during the rest of the day.

The impure or idiosyncratic mind

People have rich emotional and mental lives, and most suppress these activities to some extent. This suppression only aggravates the mind, fragmenting it. Buried thoughts and emotions remain alive, ignoring them cannot eliminate them unfortunately. Like seeds they lie buried in the subconscious realms of our personality from where they influence us, driving our actions and reactions.

The mind acquires a certain quality, negative or positive, according to the levels of suppression. This is why some people can be positive and light hearted if abused while others may escalate and resort to bouts of anger, frustration even aggression, as they broil within.

As the mind enters into conflict with itself through repression varying degrees of schizophrenia result. We may be able to handle mild conflict and keep the schizophrenia within our limits. But unchecked dissension grows stronger, stress increases and becomes so intense that a person can be termed a full fledged schizophrenic as the mind becomes more and more confused.

The practice of Antar Mouna is excellent for tackling these internal disputes, in restoring calm and serenity, hallmarks of a pure, unsullied and whole mind.

The ability to observe the mind impartially is central to building a healthy clean personality. Whether we perceive our thoughts as holy or vicious we must be able to observe them without acting upon them.

During the practice one must be careful not to concentrate the mind but instead calmly sit as a spectator, becoming silent witness to all its quirks and absurdities.

With time, as the the mind learns to watch itself without judgement, it gradually becomes relaxed or comfortable enough to reveal deeper held complexes and phobias. Once that happens, the next step is learning to deal impartially with whatever is revealed. This impartiality helps lose their hold over the mind. A great turning point in ones life.

Observing the mind

During the practice one teaches the mind to accept itself in all its moods. Whether it’s a person one dislikes or the exasperating sound of an airplane flying directly overhead, observe the minds reactions calmly. Through specific techniques, gradually building awareness of the external environment, while also remaining aware of internal feelings and thoughts, the mind is slowly fine tuned. These are the first stages of pratyahara.

Pratyahara

most all our waking hours are spent in extroversion. We observe and react consciously and unconsciously to the world around us. We have never been taught to observe how this ever changing world interacts, every moment with a private, inner world. Through pratyahara we learn to gather the mind, giving it direction and the journey to self awareness begins.

Pranayama

When pranayama is practised before antar mouna, the energised mind is able to release yet more of its subtle impressions and latent tendencies rise to the surface. This must be done under expert guidance as one cannot determine for oneself if one is ready to handle these revelations. As said earlier, all stages must be gradually developed, as the immature mind may have to confront hidden setbacks it may not have the strength to deal with.

As the mind grows stronger

As we continue with the practice, the mind becomes more and more sensitive, which allows for greater insight into the workings of the mind. Long buried fears and insecurities start to arise and one is able to watch them instead of running from them.

The strengthened mind no longer looks to bury unwelcome thoughts and emotions deep within the psyche. Just an indigestion poisons the entire system, a suppressed or rejected mind poisons the entire being, leading to a convoluted personality. Which can in turn lead to illness.

During the practice it is best that difficult thoughts and situations come up. Often in the earlier stages as the mind finds calm for the first time, thoughts disappear for a while, and one is tempted to think that the mind has been quickly purified. But unless you can say without doubt that you are now a realised being, this is a false sense of wellbeing. Much like the calm before the storm.

Hidden tendencies not only stall spiritual development but also everyday wellbeing, for they are essentially one and the same. This is why it is most urgent to deal with the mind, which left to itself can potentially become more and more troubled and sick.

As the mind gains more strength and confidence in its own abilities it allows more stuff to arise and as one observes, they slowly lose their gravitational pull and with time, disappear altogether. This process of purification allows the mind to move in positive directions and meditation becomes easy.

If one follows the natural tendency of pushing them back continually, they must erupt in mini or maxi explosions that can create tumultuous uproars in ones life, as they may be too disturbing to handle. There is no way around them. Ignoring them, burying them or drowning them in the pursuit of pleasure or rebellion, will only make things worse. They must be allowed to rise to consciousness, from where they become easy to eliminate.

In yoga this is called atma shuddhi or chitta shuddhi. All those who are spiritually inclined, anyone who has asked themselves existential questions, must know that unless this purification isn’t undertaken, Existence or God or whatever name you prefer, cannot become clear to one.

Stages of Antar Mouna

The practice is divided into various stages, of which each must be practised for a certain number of weeks or months before moving on to the next. It is imperative to understand this and to have an experienced teacher. The human psyche is a vast, unknown territory and any advances into its depths needs a firm, experienced guiding hand.

Stage 1

One starts with developing self awareness. Particularly of the interrelation between the senses and the external world.It is best to keep the eyes closed during the practise and to sit still in a comfortable posture. The sense of hearing is heightened as the eyes close, and the world around pours into us through its sounds. After a while of listening to external sounds the mind spontaneously loses interest in them and looks elsewhere for stimulation. This becomes the cue for the 2nd stage.

Stage 2

As the mind finds nowhere else to fix itself, as all other senses are potentially inactive it naturally turns inwards, focusing on its own activity, observing its own thoughts, reactions to these, and to any image that may accompany them. This is material emerging form the subconscious as conscious activity is shut off and there is no reception from the external world.

Subconscious or gross, neuroses, phobias and tensions of the mind are released in this stage. Sometimes past experiences are relived, which is why this must be done in a safe environment, as suppressed desires, fears etc erupt to the surface. One should continue with this stage till the mind becomes serene.

Stage 3

Once the mind has gained a certain level of serenity, it is able to witness its own activity in a dispassionate manner, that is without being swept away by what attracts or repels it.

In this stage one learns how to create thought voluntarily and also to get rid of it voluntarily. This is a great breakthrough as all the minds activity until now was on an unconscious level. Finally one is able to take control of the mind consciously.

This creating and disposing of thoughts at will is to unburden and empty the subconscious. All the baggage one carries there, is likened by the yogi, to a man carrying his donkey on his head.

Next the mind is given a particular object to rest upon and one watches the mind build a fantasy around it, as it spontaneously will.After watching the mind fantasise about the chosen event or object, the thought is disposed of consciously.

Stage 4

This next stage involves again passively watching the minds activity, all its spontaneous thoughts arising. After a while the most prominent thought is chosen, then analysed and exhausted at will. Most thoughts arise naturally, change into varied fantasies and then exhaust themselves naturally. This process is done various times with different thoughts. Mastering this stage means one is getting access to yet deeper realms of ones personality.

Stage 5

Once the mind is fairly calm during the days activities, its trials and tribulations, it is entering the much coveted state of thoughtlessness. Here it becomes justified to refuse the minds rubbish activity and voluntarily keep it calm and centred, as one has learnt to eliminate without suppression.

Stage 6

Awareness on a chosen object that the mind has absolute affinity with. This affinity should be mental, emotional and psychic. It should have the properties of completely relaxing the mind and not inducing any worry or tension. One must choose an object, person or event that one has no demands of and that demands nothing in return.

The chosen object then becomes what is called ones psychic symbol and the mind is moulded around it, through concentration. By this last stage, the pure mind is ready to pattern itself into an absolutely new form.
It is the form and pattern of the mind that leads us to a positive life experience or the contrary. Transforming the mind is key to happiness and brilliance.