This is a technique for shutting out the senses through breath control. It shuts out the signals that come to you from the outside world. Whatever you perceive of the world is through the information that comes to you from your five senses: through sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. This meditation negates all the experiences that come through the senses. When you close yourself to the world, you also close yourself to your body. Your energy returns inward.
This meditation can be done anywhere, anytime. Wherever you are at the moment, note the signals that are coming to you through your senses. You can see the flowers in the garden. You can hear the birds sing. You can feel an ant creep up your leg. What do you do? Simply close your senses. Just imagine that you have become blind. Imagine that you cannot hear the birds, cannot feel the creeping of the ant. Imagine that you have turned into a statue, that you have frozen. Imagine that you can no longer move. Go deeply into this feeling. You can do it! Just stop breathing for a single moment, and your senses will close on their own. When breath stops, sensation also stops. Hold your breath and see. You can feel the irritation on your skin. Even the sounds recede into the distance. Your body actually feels frozen. You cannot lift your arm! This is an excellent technique for relaxation.
When you can no longer flow outward, when you can no longer receive information through the senses, you become thrown back upon yourself. You become an island of silence. In that silence, you will find your own center. Now, even when you look out, even when you listen, you will be doing it from that point of silence at your center. And once you discover this point, you will never again get lost in the uproar of the senses. At will, you can shut out your senses, you can become the witness of your senses.
