Pointed intnet That tool doesn't matter.
The breath does not matter whether you're using a mantra or not.
That doesn't matter.
In fact,
Silence is the best.
Mantra and breath are used for beginners.
Yes?
Why?
Because they were so lost in the world.
The beginners had no idea.
You tell them,
Close their eyes,
Look at what do I do in the dark?
So beginners,
They need something to hold on to,
Some support.
So in the dark of closed eyes,
You're giving them breath to hold on to.
Or you're giving them a sound.
Either you are chanting the sound from outside or you're telling them,
You chant it inside.
Finally,
It is sound.
Outside or inside.
Yes?
So we're either giving them breath or sound or whatever.
Whatever different techniques.
It doesn't matter whether you're using the breath this way or that way.
It is holding on to something.
It's okay.
At the beginning level,
It is required.
When you progress till number 4,
Number 5 in the stages that I explained,
Now you have to drop it.
Like you,
When Anand was a little boy and your parents were teaching you how to ride the bicycle,
They held it from behind.
Only till you reach stage 4,
Stage 5,
Where you could start balancing and then there,
You start moving on your own now.
Which means now we have to move from sound or object like breath or something towards silence.
The inner silence.
That is what we do in the Pluta retreat.
Only in the first retreat,
You are using a breath or something because everybody comes from different levels as beginners.
And then soon you move to the next level where it's absolute silence.
There is no instruction given.
Neither.
I'm not even in the room.
You're meditating on your own.
And no mantra,
No breath,
Nothing.
So Buddha very beautifully underlined how to go through the silence of the mind.
That also has stages.
Going through the silent stages of the mind.
That is what happens on Buddha's path.
So different things appear to different people.
Some people find it in that too much.
Some people are so ripe.
They're already at number 7.
They're ready for 7.
And then they get Advaita and they say,
Oh yes,
The Noor is there.
What was I doing all this while?
Because when you're meditating on the breath,
Or you are in the mind,
The Noor is there.
The Noor knows that you are meditating.
Right?
Yeah.
So the Noor was always present.
Advaita goes directly here.
Yes.
That is why I'm seasoned meditators.
People who walk the path very,
Very long.
They get it.
They just get it.
But some people need to go down one step and that's fine.
No problem.
Then the best step is one level down is Buddha.
Because Buddha has silent retreats.
No guided instructions.
No voice.
Yeah.
Just you with your own mind.
Going deeper.
And then one step under that,
Like for a beginner,
Is sound or breath or mantra.
Give them some external support to hold on.
Very clear.
So these are levels in which supports are given.
You have to figure out where you are.
You will obviously know it.
Yeah.
If Advaita seems very tough,
Then you take this one step down.
You don't need to go all the way down to the beginning.
No.
Just take one step down.
Do silent,
Absolute silent meditations.
No sound,
No mantra,
No breath.
Just you and the mind.
If you don't know the techniques,
We can teach you the techniques.
That's not difficult.
Then after trying that for say a year,
Then again you touch upon Advaita.
Can I come here?
Yeah.
You have to experiment because everybody is at different levels.
Yeah.
So everybody has to gauge it for themselves.
Thank you.
Thank you.
