Brain relaxation

The whole brain has to be relaxed, so calm and relaxed that it is not doing anything. But how will you know that it is relaxed? If we close the fist very tightly we become aware that all the muscles are very tense. Then when we open the fist we become aware that all the muscles have become loose and relaxed. Because our minds are tense all the time, we do not even know what it is to be tense and what it is to be relaxed. So we will do one thing. First we will make the brain as tense as we can – then we will relax it suddenly. You will realize what the difference between the brain being tense and being relaxed is. Now, when we sit for meditation, for one minute make the brain as tense as you can, give it as much stress as you can. And then I will say, ”Now let it relax” – then let it relax totally. Gradually you will come to know what it is to be tense and what it is to be relaxed. You should be able to feel it, it should become your experience, and then you will be able to relax it more and more. So the first thing is to relax the brain totally. Along with the brain the whole body has to be relaxed. One has to sit so comfortably that there is no tension or stress anywhere on the body. There should be no weight anywhere on the body. Then what will you do? The moment you allow everything to be relaxed the birds start singing, there is the sound of the watermill, somewhere a crow may cry, somewhere there will be some other sound – you will start hearing all these sounds because the more relaxed the brain is, the more sensitive it will become. You will start hearing and feeling every little thing. You will also start hearing your own heartbeat and hearing and feeling the coming and going of your breath.Then, sitting silently, one should experience quietly all that is happening around and do nothing else. You are hearing sounds, listen to them silently; a bird is singing, listen to it silently; the breath is moving in and out, go on watching it silently – nothing else has to be done. You do not have to do anything from your side because as soon as you do the brain will start becoming tense. You have to just go on sitting in a state of relaxed awareness. Everything is happening on its own, you are simply listening to it quietly. And you will be amazed that as you listen silently, a deeper silence will start arising within you. The more deeply you listen, the more the silence will go on growing. Within ten minutes you will find that you have become an extraordinary center of silence, everything has become peaceful.

So we will do this as the first experiment of the morning. The first thing: you will make your brain totally tense. When I tell you to make the brain completely tense, then close your eyes and make your brain as tense as you can. Then I will tell you to let it relax – then let it relax, go on letting it relax.... In the same way also let the body relax. The eyes will be closed, and, sitting silently, listen quietly to whatever sounds are heard. For ten minutes you have to simply listen silently – nothing else has to be done. In these ten minutes, for the first time, you will start feeling that a stream of silence has started flowing and your life-energy has started descending within. It will start sinking downwards from the brain.