I’ve been practicing DM for years, but have a doubt that sometimes distracts me. When I listen and repeat the mantra mentally, I hear a white noise sound, that I think is the hearing of blood flow in ears, because it has a pulsing rhythm that corresponds to my pulse. When I repeat the mantra, it seems like that white noise is the substrate on which the mantra is written, or what gives it the fuzzy quality I’ve read about here. The white noise sound seems strong when the practice seems deeper and also the feeling of the inner body vibration seems almost similar to the white noise sound. I’ve tried every angle to practicing correctly, and I think I’m practicing in the right way. Sometimes I can repeat it by focusing on the intention to repeat the mantra, and that seems to trigger more involuntary body movements caused by energy, but also requires the most focus, that I can’t always achieve. The practice does feel good, and the white noise may be less if I’ve lost sexual energy in the days prior. My doubt is that is this correct if it’s a body noise that it making the mantra fuzzy and is the background for it? Does it sound like I’m practicing correctly?
Hi GreenTea,
So, that is not in line with the Deep Meditation practice instructions. The instructions are to easily favour the mantra whenever we realise that we are off it. So, that does not involve a hard focus on the mantra.
If there is an internal noise that is distracting you, then easily favour the mantra over the noise. That does not mean that the noise has to be blocked out, or stopped. Simply favour the mantra with your attention over the sound. If the noise is too loud to be able to easily favour the mantra over the sound, then use the procedure in lesson 15 until such time as you are able to easily come back to the mantra again.
If thoughts arise, such as “Is this noise the cause of the mantra becoming fuzzy?”, again, just easily favour the mantra over that thought.
Thanks Tristan. I usually don’t do that hard focus that I mentioned; thats a separate approach I’ve tried. I don’t know how else to repeat it besides those two ways, unless it’s verbally in my mind, but that seems like stressing and over pronunciation, and a more surface level of repeating it. I think it’s not possible to filter out the white noise, or separate the two, so I think I’m doing it correctly, unless I focus on “is this right?” at the same time. I also try to relax my mind, but not so much that I get drowsy.
Green tea, For what’s it worth I have experienced a similar white noise for years preceding AYP practices. Early on I noticed this when I dropped into a deeper meditative state. When I started consistently practicing AYP I noticed this tone more reliably and gradually came to consider this a marker of “inner silence”. It always struck me as odd that a witness state, that was described as inner silence, could have a sound. As my practices strengthened I noticed the white noise becoming stronger with DM. I have also come to believe it is a tonal version of the pranic currents (ecstatic conductivity) I feel in my hands and coursing through my body. There seems to be a direct correlation of this tone and the feelings of rising energy in my body. I also have noticed it is more prominent when sexual energy is stronger through bramacharya practices, as you allude.
Tristan gives good advise about not getting distracted and returning to the mantra. For me, once I came up with an understanding of what the tone meant, it was reassuring rather than distracting. This may be my own interpretation of a different physiological process but it fits with my experience.
Thank you interpaul. Thats very helpful and reassuring! It might be that I’m incorrectly thinking of this white noise as the sound of blood flowing in my ears; this evening I cupped my hands over my ears, and it was a different sound than what I call the white noise. What made me think it was the sound of blood was it seems to have a pulse. I too have noticed this white noise increase the deeper the meditation is, and have also come to think of it as going along with silence. The white noise being pranic currents makes sense too, and also would explain why this white noise is less after using sexual energy. I’ve read of Kundalini having sounds, like a waterfall, bees, instruments and so on.
The inner sound current (not tinnitus) is possibly what you are calling white noise. In this connection the book, ‘Naam or Word’ by Kirpal Singh will be useful to read in my view. The pdf can be easily downloaded for free from different websites.
Hi GreenTea and all,
The mantra can refine to the level where it is no longer recognisable as a thought in the mind and that is fine. We just easily favour that. It can also refine to the level where it becomes a mere vibration, and again we simply easily favour that. It can also refine to the level of becoming a mere intention, and again, we simply easily favour that. All of this can happen during Deep Meditation practice. But the “easily” part always applies. If it is not easy to favour the mantra at any point, at whatever level it is functioning in the mind, then we would revert to the procedure in Lesson 15.
And yes, the “white noise” is a sound produced by prana moving through the energy channels in the body and is related to purification taking place. It can be pretty distracting at times! 
I’ll keep in mind to easily repeat the mantra. I think what I sometimes do is force a deeper level with extra focus. I can feel a more pronounced effect on the nervous system right away, but I understand this isn’t the best way to practice and can probably lead to overload.
Hi GreenTea,
Be careful to avoid changing the practice in order to try to produce a certain effect. In this case: Forcing a deeper level with extra focus, in order to produce a more pronounced effect on the nervous system. There are thousands of ways in which the practice of Deep Meditation could be altered in subtle ways, to produce different results. But once we start down that road, what we are doing is chasing experiences. So, we are no longer meditating. We are creating an idea in the mind, such as “a more pronounced effect on the nervous system is better”, and then adjusting the way we practice to bring the desired effect.
Deep Meditation works, because it is not about chasing experiences. So, it does not matter at all what happens. If we notice that we are off the mantra, we easily favour the mantra again. Any perceived effects on the subtle nervous system are irrelevant. This is important, because it means we are not chasing anything, and not grasping after anything. There is a relaxation in the mind that happens when there is no desire for any outcome. And this relaxation leads to inner silence, and then to vairagya, and eventually to yoga (union).
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2 posts were split to a new topic: Allowing stillness to produce a background mantra