Empty Bowl Meditation

As Described in Dr. Lads Book:

Textbook of Ayurveda: General Principles of Management and
Treatment1
In the stop, the mind stops time stops thought stops and it opens to the vast emptiness. At the moment you
become empty, God will come to fill you. You are close to God. Vasant Lad

There are many meditation techniques, but Empty Bowl meditation is one that calms the mind, awakens kundalini
shakti, and unfolds a blissful state of awareness. Sit comfortably and quietly in a cross-legged posture facing east
or north, with the palms up and placed open on your knees, like empty bowls. Relax your fingers as if you are
holding a bowl in each hand. Open the mouth slightly and touch the tongue to the roof of the mouth, behind the
front teeth.
Simply watch the movement of the breath, which is the object of awareness. Do not interfere with your breath; just
let the lungs do their work with no effort on your part. As you pay attention to your breath, be aware of the tip of
your nose and the touch of the air entering the nostrils. Sit quietly and feel you are inside the nose, remaining
aware of the movement of air touching the nostrils. Incoming air has a cool touch, while the outgoing air is warm.

After about five minutes, follow the breath with your attention. Go with the air into your nose, throat, lungs,
diaphragm, and down behind the belly button, where you will experience a natural stop. Stay in this stop for a
fraction of a second, then follow the exhalation, as it goes upward from the belly to the diaphragm, lungs, throat,
and out through the nose to about nine inches in front of the nostrils, which is a second stop that is outside the
body.
The movement of breath is time. At these stopping points, the breath stops and time stops, and there is only pure
existence. God is present and you are surrounded by peace and love. The moment you allow the lungs to breathe
and become like an empty bowl, divine lips can touch you and your heart will fill with divine love. God will pour
His love into you. Most bowls are full of ambition, competition, thoughts, feelings, desires, anger, frustration, or
fear. Since time immemorial, God has been seeking an empty bowl into which to pour His love.
gama means inhalation and nigama means exhalation. In these two processes, God is breathing and whispering
the love divine into the heart of every being. Hence, another name for Empty Bowl meditation is gama Nigama
Veda.
Practice this meditation for 15 minutes each morning and evening. You may also practice this meditation in a
prone position. Spontaneously stay in the stops between breathing in and out; in whichever stop you feel more
comfortable, remain there without effort. In the beginning, it will only be for a fraction of a second, so dont worry
if nothing happens. Just do this sincerely every day for a year or so, without expecting anything. Over the days and
months, you will find your time in each stop naturally prolongs until eventually the inner and outer stops merge at
the third eye and everything happens within you. A person should think, nothing should happen, then everything
will happen on its own accord. This is the skill in action of meditation. When your stop, naturally and without
effort, increases to ninety seconds, you will be become enlightened. Then you see the inner light behind the third
eye, the blue pearl that is a beautiful dawn on the horizon of bliss. This is a powerful technique that leads to kevala
kumbhaka, the suspension of breath and thought.

About Dr. Lad

Dr. Lad is the founder and medical director of the Ayurvedic Institute. For more information on Dr. Lad and his
school, visit the Ayurvedic Institute. This article has been reprinted with the permission of the Ayurvedic Press, All
Rights Reserved.

References
1. Lad, Vasant. Textbook of Ayurveda Vol III: General Principles of Management and Treatment. Albuquerque: The
Ayurvedic Press, 2012. Print. 323-325.