The 2nd stage (Duration: 15 minutes)

In this stage of the meditation, close your eyes and all you need to do is a dance in any way you feel and want. Dance all the way to divinity.

 “When you dance, you become a whirlwind and by and by, you are completely lost in your dancing, it happens – something breaks down inside you, the barriers are lost – you become one unity. A great orgasm spreads all over your being. You are in tune with existence in those moments.” – Osho

According to Dance Therapists, dance is considered “bottom-up” therapy which means that the healing starts from the body, strengthening the Skeletal System and then reaches the Brain, soothing the Nervous System. By contrast, popular Psycho-therapies like; Psychodynamic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are “top-down” therapy which means that the healing starts from the Brain ( Mind and Consciousness ) and then surfaces on the body ( symptoms and behavior ).

According to researches, dance movement makes Neural Synapses stronger. In simple words, Neural Synapses are chemical or electrical signals that help in communication between two Neurons (Nerve Cell). Active dance movements improve the Neural Synapses and as a result, there are fewer chances of Neural Degeneration Diseases such as; Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, it also slows down the process of Aging.

According to Dr. Peter Lovatt, director of the Dance Psychology Laboratory of the University of Hertfordshire, England, spontaneous dance movements stimulate Hippocampus which improves memory and cognition.   

So, it is obvious how important, the 2nd stage of the meditation, the dance stage is in terms of Spirituality, Physiology, and Psychology.

The 3rd Stage (Duration: 15 minutes)

In this stage, you need to keep your eyes closed and may stand or sit. You need to witness all that is happening inside and out of you.

But what is witnessing in terms of meditation?

The word witness is common in the English language which means to observe but in terms of meditation, it means to observe from the layers to the body to the layer of consciousness. The word for witness in the Sanskrit language is Sakshi. The word Sakshi is made up of 2 words; “Sa”, which means “with” and “Aksha” which means “eyes”; here it means the inner eyes that open up when the outer 2 eyes are shut. 

But how do we witness (observe consciously)?

Witnessing can be done in 2 levels; 

• The Body Level and 
• The Thought Level 

The Body Level Witnessing: 

The dance in the 2nd stage will have generated heat and vibration in your whole body. Feel that heat with awareness. Feel that vibration consciously. Your heart BPM will be high and in summer, you will sweat. Feel the heart rate and become aware of the running sweat from your forehead down your body underneath your clothes. Slowly, your breath will also slow down. Feel the breath slowing down and become more and more relaxed with each out-breath. 

The Thought Level Witnessing: 

As you continue the witnessing, many thoughts will come by. As a witness, let it come, feel it and let it pass by. Don’t judge any thought as good or bad. Suppose, you are looking at a street out your window and many cars are passing by. Let’s consider that the cars are your thoughts. Neither count the cars nor identify any car by its color, brand, or anything. Gradually, if witnessed non-judgmentally, the cars become non-existent for you. In the same way, the sensations and thoughts also become non-existent for you.

The 4th Stage (Duration: 15 minutes)

This is the last stage and during this stage keep your eyes closed, lie down, and let the relaxation and witnessing expand and deepen more. By this time, your breath will become slower and the heartbeat rate more relaxed. Keep watching your body. If you are feeling any discomfort in your body, witness, that discomfort too and slowly make an adjustment and continue witnessing. 

A Buddha’s short story can help you understand witnessing in this stage. 

Once Buddha, in his journey through a forest became tired and thirsty and asked his close disciple, Annand to get water from a nearby river. Upon reaching the river, Annnad notices that the water is dirty because few women were washing clothes there. He returned without water and told Buddha about the situation. After half an hour, Buddha again asked Annad to get water from the same river bank. This time the women were gone and the water was clearer. He brought the water for Buddha this time. 

Buddha says to Annand that the human mind is just like the water from the river. Last time, the water was dirty because the women were washing the clothes. This time the water was clearer because the water remained untouched for a while and the dirt settled on the river bed. Just like that, remain untouched by thoughts, sensations, and emotions and the mind will become clearer and purer.  

Buddha Heart Sutra in Pali language goes like this,

“Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha”

The English translation is 

“Gone, gone, gone on beyond, gone beyond the horizon, Awakening.”

The pathway to go beyond is total witnessing. In total witnessing, you disappear in your inner silence, just like a drop disappears in the Ocean. This is the state of meditation. 

There goes a saying in Zen Buddhism, 

“Leave your front door and back door open.

 Allow your thoughts to come in and go. 

Just don’t serve them tea.”

Witness your thoughts coming and going and by and by you will become disassociated and unattached with your thoughts and gradually you too will no longer remain, in terms of mind. This is the state of meditation.