The Dual Nature of NSR Meditation: Waves and Particles
Everyone who has practiced the NSR Meditation technique has experienced for themselves that transcending happens in waves.
First, there is the delightful trip inward. When given the chance, helped by the NSR syllable, the mind enjoys diving within. It enjoys settling down into quieter and more enjoyable states, eventually experiencing a peaceful state of consciousness without the disturbance of even a single thought. It's not that we try to stop thinking; that would not work and would be very uncomfortable. It would not be natural. Instead, we simply take the correct direction then let go. We let the mind follow its natural inclination, its natural direction, which is inward, to quieter states.
If the mind enjoys settling down do much, and it is so natural, why wouldn't meditation be a simple matter of settling down and experiencing inner silence. Why do we actually have periods of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and even inner turmoil?
The answer, of course, is
stress. It is stress that makes us lose consciousness when we settle down at night (we call this sleep and erroneously think it is a good thing). And it is stress that makes us stop diving within and instead come back out into mental activity, including thoughts, feelings, and sensations. These are all the side effects of the deep rest we get from the settling down phase of transcending.
So we have a wave of diving within followed by a wave of coming out on a thought (or ten). Effective meditation consists of wave after wave.
So, where are the particles mentioned in my title? Well, I guess I stretched the analogy a bit. The distracting thoughts of the outward stroke are the particles.
David Spector
NSR Meditation/USA
