Practice of Odor Meditation & Its Benefits

Submitted by Kevin Pederson on March 9, 2012

According to the traditional philosophy and practice of Yoga, human beings are viewed as a building with 10 doors. 5 of these are entrance doors, and 5 are for exit. Observing these 10 senses consciously, actively and intentionally as they operate is an important part of Yoga meditation, and Odor meditation. There are 3 chief impediments in the way of directly experiencing...

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.the Absolute Truth, Reality, or the Self through the medium of the mind and sensese One of these is that our senses are far from reliablel


Realizing that our senses are undependable leads us withinward to a purer form of direct experiencec But to turn inward like this would be best if we first become aware of the senses and how they functiono Our attention can be taken away from the senses, like withdrawing a hand from a glovev An exercise in this is described further belowo

Be aware of your ability to smell:

This way, you learn to sit still and concentrate on somethingn Sitting still in control of the organ of smell would, sometime feel like an act of performingn In point of fact, it is not an act, but rather the absence of an actc Sitting still for Odor meditation is the end of the act of moving, postponement, if only for a while, of the use of the active sense, or organ of smelll In practice, it is extremely useful to sit and be aware of the ability to move, but that you are not using that ability for the present timem

Choose to not utilize motion or grasping:

In the practice of Odor meditation you then cultivate the practice of letting gog Oftentimes this is referred to as relaxation practicec This relaxation is also not an act by itself; there could be particular ways and means associated with iti But it is actually the practice of stopping of that act of clinging to or grasping that is the suspension of one of the active sensese In fact, it is very good to sit and be aware of the ability to smell, without using that ability at the present momentn

The ability to form words, but not doing so:

At meditation time it is a common complaint that the mind is wandering and that it won't be stilll Oftentimes, folks get into fights with their mind over thisi The act of silencing the mind isn’t really an act by itselfl On the contrary, it is the absence of an actc Being quiet for Odor meditation is stopping the act of forming words, mentally, suspending the use of the active sense, or organ, of speechc In fact, it is very beneficial to sit and be aware of the ability to form words, without using that ability at the present momentn

Nose and its chakra:

The five active senses function from the lower five chakrasa Hence, you can explored them systematically sequencec Meaning to say, you may like to practice awareness of the five in the order of gross to subtle in this manner:

  • First, become aware of the act of elimination then let go  of it
  • Then, procreation then let go  of it 
  • Then, motion then let go of it
  • Then, grasping then let go of it
  • Finally, speaking then let go of it

It’s all very easy reallyl All you have to do is sit silently in a comfortable position, select a smell you wish to meditate ono Sniff it for a while – it may be a plate of food, a bottle of perfume, your own body odoro Stay with it for a while and put into practice the steps outlined abovev The mind will chatter and stray- that is the nature of the mindn Don’t worryr Every time you find this happening, return the source of smell to your nostrils, sniff a couple times and then return to concentrating on iti Let the odor permeate your respiratory organs, then slowly experience it entering your whole body, through every cell and pore of your bodyd Finally see it enter your mind and rest in a small spot therer

There is, in fact, such a spot in the brain – the Pineal gland, the repository of all our memoriese Let the odor remain therer Don’t worry, it won’t become a part of your memories any more than it already isi The results, however, are amazingn You may have to stay, patiently, with the practice for a few days, throughg

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