Why did Sri Swamiji recommend that the morning three- mantra sadhana should be practised sitting up in bed, rather than lying down?
In the morning, you are still half sleepy. When you are in a half sleepy state and you remain lying prone, you will go back to sleep. If I try to repeat the mantra while lying on the bed, I may just want to turn over to my side, continue with my mantra, and go back to sleep again. Sitting is necessary just to maintain that half-awake and half-asleep state. If you can maintain that lying down, no problem. If you can maintain that standing up, even standing in front of the bathroom, you could be repeating your mantra mentally.
How can we access the subconscious mind without any external stimuli or interferences? When you are moving, the senses become active. When you are lying, the senses become inactive. When you are sitting, your senses are semi-active. You are not fully awake or connected with your environment. You are not fully asleep, and in that state when you do your mantra, it goes directly to the subconscious mind. That much is sure. You are able to retain your focus and awareness. In the morning when you do the mantra, sometimes you will discover that you yourself become the mantra. It is not something that is being repeated in your mind, but you completely identify with the chanting. That is the tandra state, something like drowsy in which sankalpas become real and take root.
When you are in a deep meditative state, you are also in tandra. By saying drowsiness for tandra, people think that if they sleep in meditation, it is okay. There are many people who practise their meditation, with the head down and sometimes you can hear the snores of breathing. When you ask what they are doing, they will say, ‘I am practising meditation, dhyana.’ In tandra, pratyahara is natural. In that state, you do not have to withdraw from anything, you are already withdrawn, you are already in the state of pratyahara. There is less of the sensorial and mental activity. It is nearly sixty percent reduced. The mental barriers are down. Any good thought you plant in your mind, will be retained in tandra. This is one of the reasons why sankalpa is always done after you have acknowledged the condition of your body, and you are ready to go in. In yoga nidra, for example, in the beginning, and at the end too, when you are ready to come out of your reverie of yoga nidra, you do the sankalpa, and then you come out.
11 March 2023, Bihar Yoga Tradition Teaching for Teachers, Ganga Darshan, Munger