Odor MeditationIt is easy for us to understand the unpredictability of the senses.
To ascertain this, just consider a neurological disorder called synaesthesia. In this disorder, one's brain connections are unusual.
For instance, when light enters our eyes (normally used to see), the neurological connections may be transmitted to the smelling centers of the brain. Subsequently, one is likely to experience smell while seeing particular objects, or one might hear certain sounds.
How very different our descriptions of external reality would turn out if all our brains functioned like this. Around one out of 25,000 people naturally fall prey to synaesthesia. Odor meditation consists of:- Sense smells during meditation, such as food, perfume, body odor, etc
- Be aware of your ability to smell
- Choose to not use motion or grasping
- Create the ability to form words without doing so.
By being aware of each of the sense of smell, and that you temporarily cease to use the abilities for now, your attention will automatically proceed inwards, in the direction of meditation. As your attention leaves the five active senses, it will, naturally, be attracted to the physical parts of your body that symbolize the particular sense organ. As the five active senses get settled, your attention will automatically move to that particular organ alone. In this case it is the nose. From smell, therefore, you can move easily to your breath. The two sets of kriyas, the active and cognitive, have a great deal of interplay between them. Once the active expressions is to stilled some extent, the cognitive senses seem to be more enhanced.
Often the active sense of smell (olfactory) is so busy, that the other cognitive senses can be overpowered and are, subsequently, less easily observed. Meaning to say, if you are having trouble sitting motionless and your mind is chattering away or wandering, you will find it hard to sit silent and work with the practices of seeing, feeling sensation, and hearing internally.
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