A Simple Awareness Exercise

Before you sign up for the retreat, please do the following awareness exercise for a few days. It will give you a clear understanding about the current state of your mind. It will tell you how restless you are in your thoughts. You will understand that most of your time, you live in a state of day dreaming and unless you learn to snap yourself out of it, you cannot be peaceful and happy.
Keep a pen and journal with you. Sit straight. Focus on your breath.
When you inhale, in your mind say ‘Om’ and on exhaling, do reverse counting starting from one hundred – one count with each breath. If, on the way, some other thoughts disturb you, note them down and start all over again from one hundred.
For example, Om with the first inhalation, 100 with the first exhalation. Om with the second inhalation, 99 with the second exhalation. And then a thought like this pops up from somewhere: ‘O, I am hungry. I should eat something before doing this exercise. I can’t sit for one hour on an empty stomach.’
Stop now and note down the thought and the associated feelings in your journal. Start again from Om-100.
Whenever a thought arises and causes distraction, stop. Note it down and start again.
If you have feelings, note them down too.
Do it for one hour. Then, study yourself in your journal. You might have written tens of thoughts. You might also have forgotten so many others. You will see that most of the thoughts are incoherent and futile. You will also appreciate that most of the time, you remained lost in these thoughts and you could not have a smooth flow of concentration. You will find that most of these thoughts are about your past or future and they are not relevant to the task you are doing in the moment. That is, if you want to be mindful of the moment, you cannot do so with these thoughts running wild in your mind.

NOW ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:

• What was the lowest number you could reach? Was it 80, or 70, or was it 99-98?
• Is your mind peaceful?
• Can you ever live your life in the past or future?
• Can there be stable happiness and fulfillment without peace?
• Do you really want peace, fulfillment and happiness?
• Do you want to do something about this restlessness?

This is a very simple awareness exercise that will give you some understanding about your mind. You have learnt a basic first step in detaching from your involuntary thoughts and becoming aware of their existence. You have got some understanding about the current restlessness of your mind.

In the Z Meditation Retreat, you learn how to dig out all the roots of agitation with Deep Deconditioning Inquiry and realize Unconditioned Peace, Love and Freedom.

We wish that you grow in peace and happiness and become a source of unconditioned love.