Silencing the Storm: A Journey into No-Mind

Here is a hypothetical question: How would you feel if one day your mind goes silent? There is no chatter, no worries, only total and utter silence.

If you are an obsessive thinker, it would be bliss. No annoying thoughts, no dwelling on the past pains, and absolutely no worry about the future. How wonderful!

I recently had such an experience.

The Process

I am, like any common person, tormented by my mind. The constant chatter, anxiety, painful memories, and so on that my mind conjures up are many a time unbearable, even excruciating.

Fed up, I turned to meditation.

Now, don’t assume that I am a rookie who doesn’t even know how to sit straight and breathe deep. I have a routine meditation session where I spend 10 to 20 minutes on a technique that I learned long before. But I was not serious about it. It was one of those things you do mindlessly—or, to be precise, with my mind dwelling on too many thoughts.

But when a recent life event pulled the rug from under me, I was vacuumed into a vortex of obsessive thoughts, self-pity, and depression. While drowning, I felt the dire need to gag my mind.

Well, a strong intent is necessary for any Herculean task.

Thus armed with the intent, I started researching effective meditation techniques. I found a couple. With the diligence of a yogi, I began the rigorous process of meditation.

To say it was hard would be like pointing at acid and calling it water.

Let me explain. My first one-hour mediation session was a masterclass on self-torture. After about 25 minutes, every cell in my body screamed for freedom. I felt like getting up and running a marathon, just to vent the pent-up energy. But with great willpower, I survived the ordeal. I was sweating profusely when the phone timer chimed, signaling the end of 60 agonizing minutes.

But I didn’t give up.

The next day, I set the timer again and sat down with a clenched jaw. And did the same the day after that. And the day after that… and so on and so forth—determined to cage my rogue mind.

Now, I have to admit that it got a little bit easier by the day. My mind, of course, swung with the agility of a trapeze artist from thought to memory to worry. But my body accepted the fact that I am not going to let it roam free, so it stopped being restless.

Once I got the hang of it, I doubled down and added one more session of meditation to each day, desperate for that elusive peace.

Was it fun? Hardly. But I had to calm my mind. It was a matter of life and death. Within a couple of weeks, I was meditating 4-5 hours each day, in separate sessions.

The Break Through

The long hours of meditation were surely taking a toll on me. My neck ached, my back hurt, but my mind was still rebellious as ever.

Then one day, without warning, something wonderful unfolded.

It was a drizzly Friday morning. After the second session of meditation, I noticed the texture of the yoga mat I was sitting on. It was odd. I hadn’t felt it so intensely before, though I have been using it since 2022. Then I noticed that I could feel the breeze through my window on my cheek. Needless to say, I haven’t felt it since I was a child. Now, as it happens, I could easily focus on my breath, flowing in and out freely.

Then it struck me. My mind is silent.

It felt like someone had gripped my thoughts with a vice, silencing the endless commotion. A rare taste of ‘No-mind’. So calm.

I was so at peace, I didn’t want to move, lest it triggers my mind. After 5 minutes, when the mind was still still, I ventured to move one of my fingers. Nothing. Then my wrist. My hand. My legs. Slowly, I stood up from the mat. Not a peep.

But I was cautious. I moved slowly, afraid to shake my head too much in case that restarts the mind. I took more than half an hour to come out of the room.

Even as I snailed through my room, wonder was growing with each moment of silence. But I couldn’t stall too much. It was a working day and I had to attend some meetings. I discovered that I could talk, respond to people, and function as usual without thoughts. Then I realized that we scarcely need our minds to function normally in the world.

The experience lasted almost 8-10 hrs. By evening, my mind began flickering back to life. I resisted, and it shied away. But after a while, it returned.

The Aftermath

The next day I woke up, my mind was back in action. But the sting of thoughts was substantially less. Peace was lingering somewhere in the corner of the mind.

Ever since, I have been trying to get back to that calm state of no-mind. I do get glimpses of it sometimes, but none as drastic as the first one. However, I can confidently say that with regular practice, my mind is a lot quieter than before. That itself is a reward.

Now it’s time for reflection.

We think of such states of consciousness as the privilege of great yogis and spiritual masters. Though accidental, my experience proves that laypeople can also get there.

I hope everyone at least gets a glimpse of no-mind. I wouldn’t label it as total bliss and put it on a pedestal. But it is a calmness like we never experienced before. I want everyone to have that.
Once we get a taste, we will yearn for the calm.

Imagine a state where your mind stops tormenting you. You are so at peace that nothing in the outside world can shake you up. How wonderful it will be.

It is not impossible. If I can do it, you can do it.

Get a yoga mat, light some incense, and start meditating.