tantra · A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya, Swami Satyananda Saraswati (Bihar School of Yoga)
Antar Mouna: Stage 1 (Awareness of Sense Perception)
The opening stage of Antar Mouna ('inner silence'), a multi-stage meditation that begins not by suppressing the outer world but by deliberately, non-judgmentally attending to it — sound especially — as the doorway into witnessing awareness.
The theory, briefly
Antar Mouna is built entirely on sakshi bhava, the attitude of witnessing: throughout every stage the practitioner tries to be the seer rather than the thinker, intensely alert to whatever occurs without becoming involved in it. The text is explicit that this doesn't mean passivity or absent-mindedness — it means remaining a detached observer so that suppressed material in the mind can surface and exhaust itself without impediment.
Stage 1 addresses a specific obstacle: most people are conditioned toward extroversion, almost addicted to outside stimuli, and trying to force introversion by fighting the mind only builds tension. So stage 1 does the opposite of suppression — it prescribes deliberate, intentional awareness of the outer world, especially sound, since with the eyes closed sound is the most compelling sense impression. The text frames ordinary perception as three factors: the sense organ, the object perceived, and consciousness itself as the inner perceiver (the drashta, or seer). The aim of stage 1 is to let consciousness become clearly distinguished from the external senses and their objects, so that in later stages the exploration can turn to the subconscious mind itself.
Paradoxically, by fully permitting and attending to outer perception without resistance, one naturally and spontaneously loses interest in it — the text says this happens on its own once the practice is done correctly, rather than through effort or willpower.
The practice
Antar Mouna — Stage 1
18–28 minutes · The text notes antar mouna can be practiced in any position; a steady, comfortable meditative asana is recommended if one is available, but it isn't required — spine erect without strain, eyes closed for the whole practice.
- 1Sit steadily wherever you already are, close your eyes, and silently tell yourself you are beginning the practice of Antar Mouna.
- 2First become aware of your body — the pressure of contact against the ground or seat, the sensation of clothing — and hold your whole attention there until you lose interest in it.
- 3Widen your attention to the outside environment, letting every sense impression arrive without resisting it, without choosing which to attend to.
- 4As you do this, notice there are really three things involved in any perception: the sense organ receiving it, the object out there producing it, and the awareness that perceives both — the seer. The sound and its source are external to that awareness; they happen 'out there,' not to it.
- 5Notice that sound is usually the most prominent impression; listen to whatever arises — traffic, voices, birds, silence itself — without judging, analyzing, or thinking about its source, only hearing it.
- 6After a few minutes of receiving all sounds at once without choosing, narrow your attention instead: pick one prominent sound and hold to it alone, excluding everything else, for perhaps a minute. Then let it go and choose a different sound to hold in the same way.
- 7Silently affirm, 'I am the seer, unaffected by these sounds' — the sounds and their source are a relationship between object and sense organ, not something happening to the awareness that perceives them.
- 8After some minutes, shift your whole attention to the flow of breath at the nostrils, cutting off awareness of outer sound entirely.
- 9Alternate in this way for as long as you have time: outer sense awareness (especially sound), then breath awareness, then back to outer awareness, staying alert and witnessing throughout rather than drifting into thought or sleep.
None stated for this stage specifically in the source; the text does note that later stages of Antar Mouna can surface suppressed material and recommends readiness before progressing.
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