Effortless Meditation

Kaushik Chokshi
www.beyond-karma.com
 Contents
Effortless Meditation
Practice
It’s all about being present. Be present, come out of the world of thinking, fear
Obstacles
and sadness, and find truth. Releasing can help us through the process.
Release
Release Meditation
Metta Meditation
Welcome! Week 1
Week 2
You can navigate using the Contents at the bottom, available Week 3

on every page. Week 4

Week 5
Week 6
This ebook should print fine in color, grayscale, or Week 7
black&white. Resources

Please visit www.beyond-karma.com for free articles and

more ebooks.

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Kaushik Chokshi
Peace

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Effortless Meditation
Here’s the short version: Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, Practice
you will get swept away in thoughts. When you realize this, gently bring your
Obstacles
attention back to awareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come and to go.
That’s all. Release
Release Meditation
True meditation is not a practice. It is being—just being. It is being without the movement of becoming. It is Awareness. Metta Meditation
Just stop and look, just be, without the effort of thinking and without the effort of becoming—this is true meditation. It
Week 1
doesn’t happen when we sit and “meditate.” It is a natural and easy state of being.
Week 2
True meditation is natural being. The power is in its simplicity. We are so habituated to doing something, becoming Week 3
something, lurching for the next moment, that in the beginning True meditation may take time to settle, just like a shaken-up
Week 4
mixture of sand and water settles.
Week 5
We use attention in one of two ways. We either shine it directly on objects in consciousness, or, we shine it through the Week 6
mind, where the shine is filtered , interpreted, labeled, divided reconstructed, and delayed. In Awareness Now, we shine
Week 7
attention directly on objects.
Resources
Our attention is usually fixed in objects in consciousness. It is fixed in thought and thought-stories, the voice in the head,
emotions, desires, fear, conditioning, perceptions, memories, imagination, past, future, grasping, and becoming. We are in
Effortless Meditation when attention is not fixed. Attention is just on Awareness, when we just are. Then the objects in
awareness are left to their natural rise and fall. There is no effort to manipulate, start or stop these objects in Awareness.

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There is no grasping, no becoming. There is utter acceptance–no movement to be different or better, no movement to have

Kaushik Chokshi
this or that, no leaning towards the next moment, and no running away from the Now.

It is just natural, effortless awareness; the kind of awareness that a cat has watching a mouse hole. There is curiosity, but
not an interfering sort of curiosity.

Effortless meditation is what we are when we give up all practices and rest in choiceless, unbidden Awareness. It has no
method. It is not about going anywhere, doing something for a while, or sitting in special postures with special goals. It is just
the awaring presence. It happens right here, right now. There is no effort. In fact, anything you “do” will get you out of the
natural state. If you expect a shift or some sort of meditative experience, it will take you out of effortless meditation.

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The mind is empty only when thought is not. Thought cannot come to an end save Effortless Meditation
through passive watchfulness of every thought. In this awareness there is no watcher Practice
and no censor; without the censor, there is only experiencing. In experiencing there
is neither the experiencer nor the experienced. The experienced is the thought, which Obstacles
gives birth to the thinker. Only when the mind is experiencing is there stillness, the
silence which is not made up, put together; and only in that tranquility can the real Release
come into being. Reality is not of time and is not measurable. -J. Krishnamurti Release Meditation
Thoughts come. Thoughts go. There is no judgment of positive or negative. Is-ness. Metta Meditation
Week 1
Here’s the short version on how to meditate: Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, you will get swept
away in thoughts. When you realize this, gently bring your attention back to awareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come Week 2
and to go. When you are comfortable with this, you will find in stillness, there is still a lurching, a constant “becoming”, Week 3
“shoulding.” Let go of the subtle sense of lurching out of the Now. Then, look at who is meditating.
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Resources

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 Contents
Meditation is your true nature now. You call it meditation, because there are other Effortless Meditation
thoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled; you remain alone, i.e., Practice
in the state of meditation free from thoughts; and that is your real nature which
you are now attempting to gain by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away Obstacles
of other thoughts is now called meditation. When the practice becomes firm, the real
nature shows itself as the true meditation. Release
-Ramana Mahrishi Release Meditation
The practice of meditation can be important because it has physiological benefits and it can lead to true, effortless Metta Meditation
meditation.
Week 1

The practice of meditation starts firmly in the dualistic monkey-mind. Week 2

Week 3
You will find that some of these sit-down meditation techniques can take some practice and persistence to develop. Week 4
Week 5
Sitting down is suggested because you are at rest but you will not fall asleep as you might when you’re prone. Sitting in
your favorite chair is fine. If you want to sit on the floor, that’s fine too, just keep your pelvis higher than your knees, and this Week 6
will keep your back straight. Week 7
Resources
Progressively increase your sitting time. Start with five minutes.

Feel free to experiment. Play around a little. The goal is to develop concentration and then to allow attention to float. This
will lead to True Meditation. Different personalities resonate with different techniques; there is not set prescription.

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Kaushik Chokshi
Read the book entirely before you start practicing.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Learn the release techniques first. Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Before we start the week by week practice, we will learn to recognize some of the obstacles that will come up. Metta Meditation
Recognition of obstacles is usually all that’s needed to dispel them. Then , we will learn a few release meditation techniques.
Week 1
This will ease your transition from the world of fear and sadness into the world of openness. Inevitably, in this transition,
emotional turmoil comes up. Release, Release Meditation, and Metta meditation are effective salves for this, and in their own Week 2
right, very effective meditation techniques. Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Resources

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Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university Effortless Meditation
professor who came to inquire about Zen. Practice
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is Obstacles
overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. Release
How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" Release Meditation
Clinging to concepts is the biggest obstacle to awakening. Without this obstacle, we awaken instantly when we have the Metta Meditation
insight that we are not mind.
Week 1

It can be very subtle obstacle. It shows up in many ways: Week 2

• Resistance to starting: “I will become emotion-less”, “I need to understand fully”. The resistance can show up as Week 3
frustration, anger and irritation. Week 4
• I will start tomorrow. Awakening is Now or never. Week 5
Attachment to awakening: We form all sorts of concepts about what awakening is and how we will get there.
Week 6
•

• Attachment to gurus: devotion is not awakening.

Week 7
• Attachment to practices: The phantom in us looks immediately for answers in external authorities. We chase the
answers, typically through religion, philosophy, spirituality, meditation, traditions, self-improvement, books, and Resources
we adapt others’ ideas and beliefs, and revelations. We are convinced that this story will finally end all the other
stories, at some future date. In our minds we form ideas. Your idea may be enlightenment or awakening or the
purpose of life or natural being or flow or God or reincarnation or some sort of new-age thing. We enshrine the
simplicity of the unknown and call it enlightenment. Remember, practicing is not living.

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• Attachment to effort: do you listen to or read Eckhart Tolle or Adyashanti or some other favorite guru over and

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over and over again?
• Spiritualized Ego: Do you believe yourself to be on a mission to awaken—a sensitive, mature, spiritual , noble
mission that is better than the pedestrian desires that the people who are chasing money and happiness?
Examine this fiction.

Can it be seen that these are just thoughts? Can it be seen that the ideas are not the same as being? Can it be seen that
there never can be a satisfying end to all the mental stories? Thought-stories are not looking for an end, they are constantly
looking for continuation. The mind has a strong tendency to believe and categorize, codify, organize into hierarchies, cling to
ideas of priests, lineages, traditions, right and wrong, higher and lower and so on. Beliefs-all beliefs—are a heavy obstacle to

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direct experience of Truth. This formation of ideas and beliefs leads to a frustrating, futile chase.
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Effortless Meditation
Ramana Mahirishi put it succinctly: “You impose limits to your true nature of
infinite being, then, you get displeased to be only a limited creature, then you Practice
begin spiritual practices to transcend these non-existing limits. But if your Obstacles
practice itself implies the existence of these limits, how could they allow you Release
transcend them?”
Release Meditation
This can be a difficult intention because the mind will fight it. It may feel little uncomfortable to rely only direct Metta Meditation
experience, because what do we really know from direct experience? If you go into it, there isn’t much we can be sure of. “I
Week 1
exist,” there is Awareness, and all experience is in the Now. That’s about it.
Week 2
In a poem Seng-ts’an writes: “Do not seek the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.” Week 3
Week 4
Get comfortable with the emptiness of no beliefs, no ideas, no concepts, no knowing, no desires, no anticipation, no
system, and no future. Nisgardatta said, "When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you want nothing, seek Week 5
nothing, expect nothing, then the Supreme State will come to you uninvited and unexpected." Week 6
Week 7
“Cease to cherish opinion.”
Resources

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Thinkingness Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Thoughts are just thoughts. They are the mind’s propaganda. They are compelling but the compulsion eases with Metta Meditation
meditation and noticing. Thoughts are passing clouds in the vast sky. Notice, and they diminish.
Week 1

Noticing is the barest of attention. Don’t go beyond that. Intellectually questioning thoughts is just thought questioning Week 2
thought. It is more thought. Week 3
Week 4
Thinking is of course is not bad. It is just dispensable and unnecessary. It clouds up the joy of being.
Week 5
If you are able to give up beliefs and opinions, do. “Do not seek Truth; only cease to cherish opinion.” Week 6
Week 7
You may be tempted to snatch at the gaps between thoughts. Don’t. Allow them to expand on their own. Resources

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 Contents
If you could get rid Effortless Meditation
Of yourself just once,
The secret of secrets Practice
Would open to you.
The face of the unknown, Obstacles
Hidden beyond the universe
Would appear on the Release
Mirror of your perception.
- Rumi Release Meditation
It is the ego which decides to become awakened. There isn’t one ego; there are bunch of ego roles—all stories, and the Metta Meditation
story of awakening is particularly compelling. The ego can never awaken, for it is a phantom, and it is not in the ego’s interest
Week 1
to allow Awakening, and yet the ego loves the doing of awakening. This is why spirituality is so popular.
Week 2
Techniques that are easier work better than ones that require effort or discipline. Keeping clear of the clinging to dogma Week 3
or tradition can help. We just have to be wide open. The ego is tricky. The ego may create a space in the mind and call it
Week 4
“presence” or “flow” or “awakening.” The ego may say, okay it looks like we’re determined to be aware, so here is the
present, but it continues to look at the present through the veil of the past, and desires and fears and thoughts. Being present Week 5
is a powerful technique. But the ego can subvert that by looking at the present through the same old mental patterns. Week 6
Week 7
Being truly present means relinquishing the clinging to the thought-story we call the ego.
Resources

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 Contents
Effortless Meditation
Emotions
We are afraid of some emotions, because in the grip of the emotion, we feel it Practice
will persist forever. In hopelessness, clinging desire, or depression, we feel this is Obstacles
the way it will always be. Fully accept the emotion, welcome it, make space for Release
it, observe it, and release it.
Release Meditation
Fear Metta Meditation
Week 1
Fear grips us by telling us it is bottomless and endless. We know it isn’t. Use the Release technique.
Week 2
Anger Week 3
Week 4
Anger is when we don’t get what we want. For us to be angry, we have to be deluded into seeing others as solid, separate Week 5
selves. Know that everyone , including you, is doing the best that they can, given their conditioning. Recognize, accept, allow,
welcome, make space for anger, and release it. Week 6
Week 7
Depression Resources

Depression is rage turned inward. When we suppress negative emotions, we can’t help but suppress the joy of being with
it. This leads to depression. As we spiral into depression, we try to think our way out of it or make sense of it and this just
keeps us trapped. We even learn to take a peculiar pleasure from depression. Releasing works very well for depression.
Releasing rejuvenates our ability to feel.

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Sadness

Sadness may be grief. It may also be the ego’s appeal to world, to friends and family, to God, to consciousness. The ego is
saying I am not getting what I want and I will express that as sadness. Accept, observe, welcome, and release.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Other Obstacles Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Giving up Metta Meditation
Week 1
Some people find the practice of meditation very difficult. Meditation can be helpful in awakening, but it is not
necessary. I don’t want you to get discouraged. If you find meditation very difficult, you can still awaken with other Week 2
techniques. See the ebook “Awakening - Twenty Awareness and Release Techniques” on www.beyond-karma.com. Week 3
Week 4
Agitation
Week 5
Meditation brings up insights. You are observing thought. It is not conceptual analysis, but something deeper, something Week 6
you can’t quite explain. You are beginning to see your relationship with thought. You are breaking the addiction to thought. Week 7
And like breaking any other addiction, it will bring up some withdrawal symptoms. You may feel some agitation. You may feel
agitation even when you are not meditating. Resources

Use the Release technique. Use Releasing Meditation. Use Metta Meditation.

Boredom

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Know that boredom is the mind fighting the present moment. If meditation seems like a chore, just acknowledge that,
don’t pretend otherwise. Mediation is a temporary road. It will pass.

Strong Motivation

How can strong motivation be a problem? For some people, meditation becomes an identity, and achievement, and a
discipline. There is nothing accomplished about meditation, because it is only a temporary road.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
More… Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Doubt Metta Meditation
Week 1
If you are concerned about lack of progress, either persist or put it aside for a while. Or fall back to an easier technique.
Week 2
Becoming, Shoulding, Lurching Week 3
Week 4
When you are still in meditation , notice that there is still a subtle sense of the mind lurching towards something, possibly Week 5
the next moment. Noticing will release it.
Week 6
Time Week 7
Resources
Early morning is probably best. You can fall into awareness right after you wake up. You can fall into awareness as soon as
you go to bed. You can fall into awareness while driving; turn off the radio and simply be attentive to driving. When thoughts
come, shift attention to driving.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Releasing will help and ease your meditation practice. You can do this during
Obstacles
meditation, or at anytime. It takes about ten seconds.
Release
Release Meditation
This is a beautiful technique that’s as effective as it is simple. That’s because it’s very natural. We knew it as children but Metta Meditation
have forgotten how to use it.
Week 1

It works right away with emotions, but once you have some practice with it, you can use it just as well for thoughts and Week 2
beliefs, and for releasing emotional baggage around desires. Week 3
Week 4
It helps to understand the structure of emotions. If we were fully functioning organisms, a feeling would simply be a
transient message about something going on right now, and we would feel it as a quick ripple. That’s a feeling. An emotion, Week 5
however, is a pattern, and it is remembered and it accumulates energy, leaving a deeper groove each time it is experienced, Week 6
and it may or may not be about something happening right now. Emotions can come up as a response to circumstances, but
Week 7
more often, they come up as a response to thoughts. An emotion is an energized thought, and it always starts as sensations in
the body. This is obvious with strong emotions like anger or anxiety. Anger starts off with muscular contraction, an increase in Resources
adrenaline, temperature, heartbeat and blood pressure, and a hotness in the face. Anxiety may start as sensations in the belly.
Even the smallest of emotions starts as a sensation, though we may not be sensitive to the sensations. The sensations start
up, and they trigger an associated thought-story. With negative emotions, the associated thought-story is usually in voice of
the inner critic. The thoughts and sensations then get into a feedback loop, energizing each other, and the emotion gathers up
a storm.

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Kaushik Chokshi
You will notice that with negative emotions, the first thing we do is contract. We mentally resist and physically contract
our bodies, in anticipation how bad it’s going to feel.

You may also notice the paradox of negative emotions. Emotions promise to hold off the very thing they give us. Fear says
I am trying to keep you safe. Anxiety says I am trying to give you the security you need. Anger says you are not liking what is
happening. Hurt says you will feel bad if you don’t pay attention to me.

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Effortless Meditation
Can I make a lot of space for this emotion? Practice
Am I able to let it go? Obstacles
Let it go Release
Release Meditation
In Asia, they use this clever trick to catch monkeys. There is a circular shackle or a hole through which the monkey puts Metta Meditation
her hand to grab a banana on the other side. The hole is just big enough to let in an open hand, but not big enough to let out a
Week 1
fisted hand. The monkey cannot get her hand out if she holds on to the banana. This is exactly what we do with emotions. We
grasp them. All we have to do is open our hands to release. Week 2
Week 3
Here’s a quick experiment to show how this technique works. Make a fist and squeeze it hard as if you’re holding on to
Week 4
something, and keep squeezing. What does that feel like—a little uncomfortable? Perhaps it feels a little strange, but if you
keep squeezing the strangeness goes away. It’s still uncomfortable but secure and automatic. Emotions in the same way are Week 5
uncomfortable and automatic. And releasing emotions is as easy as opening your hand. Week 6
Week 7
The technique is a series of questions, which we answer very quickly. The questions in themselves are not important nor
are the answers. The questions help us stop, look, and be aware of what’s going on, and they help us re-learn what we have Resources
always known: that it is easy and instant to release any emotion. Ask and answer these questions quickly. No matter what the
answer is, move on to the next question. Soon they will become non-verbal. With practice the questions disappear and
releasing becomes automatic.

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When you experience an emotion, big or small:

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Can I make a lot of space for this emotion?
Am I able to let it go?
Let it go

What are you feeling right now? You don’t have to label it, and it doesn’t have to be a big emotion.

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Effortless Meditation
I am making space for this emotion. Practice
I can let this emotion go. Obstacles
I am letting it go Now. Release
Release Meditation
Can you allow the emotion? See if you can allow the emotion without resistance. Make a lot of space for the emotion in the body. Don’t contract. Metta Meditation
Don’t resist. Welcome the emotion, allow it, and love it. Then, make even more space for it. Allow it to expand right out of your body. If you don’t think
you can welcome the emotion, it’s perfectly fine. Move on quickly no matter what happens. Week 1
Week 2
Are you able to let the emotion go? You don’t have to let it go, the question is: are you able to? It’s okay if the answer is no. Just continue.
Week 3
Let it go now. It helps to sigh, or exhale long and easy while letting go. It’s perfectly okay if you don’t think you’re actually letting go or you don’t Week 4
understand what it means to let go. It works anyway.
Week 5
Instead of questions, you can make them into statements, something similar to: Week 6
Week 7
I am making space for this emotion.
Resources
I can let this emotion go.

I am letting it go Now.

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With practice the technique becomes non-verbal and natural and technique-less. You will notice a sensation in the body, make space for it by not

Kaushik Chokshi
contracting, and release it.

The mind will immediately question whether this will work. “It’s too simple.” “If I knew how to let go of emotions, I would have done it already.”
“How can this work?” “What is the mechanism?” “I can’t use this until I understand more.”

The answer is just to try it a few times.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
When you find a technique difficult or the times when you just can’t seem to
Obstacles
settle, fall back to this meditation.
Release
Release Meditation
Shut your eyes. Relax. Use any technique to relax, such as presence or progressive relaxation. Let go of mind-stuff. Let go Metta Meditation
of any feeling of having to do something. You are just here and now, with nothing to do and nothing to change. Let go of all
Week 1
beliefs and desires. Ignore your body. If thoughts arise, let them, watch them come and go. Continue to let go. Surrender
completely. Release everything. Accept. Surrender. See how deep you can go with this. Let go until there is just awareness of Week 2
Awareness. Let go even more. Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Resources

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Effortless Meditation
Loving-kindness Practice
Obstacles
End your meditation session with Metta. It will help with agitation and fear. Release
Release Meditation
Send out loving-kindness. Send out compassion. Send out gratitude. Feel compassion and gratitude and loving-kindness Metta Meditation
and friendliness. Feel that you are truthful, positive, and compassionate in thought, words, and action. Send out this feeling to
Week 1
your loved ones, and ones who have wronged you, and ones you have wronged. Send it to anyone.
Week 2
End you your meditation with this metta meditation. Week 3
Week 4
At any time in the day allow the feeling of metta—of compassion, love, kindness, friendliness, honesty—to rise. Allow the
feeling to rise and send it out—mentally zap another person with it and see what happens. Zap your waitress, the attendant at Week 5
the store, the grocery cashier, loved ones—do it quietly without expectation, and see what happens. Week 6
Week 7
It really works!
Resources

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Sitting is suggested because it is restful, but not so restful that you will fall asleep. I am able to lay prone and meditate Metta Meditation
without falling asleep, and you may be as well. There isn’t any particular position that is better than others. Be comfortable.
Week 1
Sit in your favorite chair. If you want to sit on the floor, fine. Sit on a pillow so your knees are lower than your pelvis. This will
straighten your back. Week 2
Week 3
Start this week by just sitting quietly for five minutes.
Week 4

That’s all. Week 5

Week 6
Obstacles Week 7
Resources
If you haven’t meditated before, you will find that sitting for five minutes is not easy. Surprising, isn’t it? Work through it.
You can do it.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Silently count each in breath and out breath. Count to 11 and then count
Obstacles
backwards
Release
Release Meditation
Silently count each in breath and out breath. Count to 11 and then count backwards. Metta Meditation
Week 1
Increase your sitting time to ten minutes.
Week 2
Obstacles Week 3
Week 4
You’re probably still struggling with sitting for five minutes or ten minutes. It’s okay. Work through it. Use gentleness and Week 5
humor.
Week 6
When you start counting you may notice that you get to 2 or 3 and your attention has wandered off. There is nothing Week 7
wrong with you. This is common. With a smile, gently bring your attention back to counting. Resources

When do you meditate? Early morning is best, but anytime is good. You can try this while you are walking or exercising.
Don’t do this while you’re driving.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Now, just the out-breath… Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Silently count just the out breath. Count to 11 and then count backwards. Metta Meditation
Week 1
Increase your sitting time to fifteen minutes.
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Resources

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Anapana Meditation Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Just focus on breathing, without counting. Metta Meditation
Week 1
Focus just on the nostrils. Feel the air moving in and out, and warmth of the air going out, and the relative coolness of the
air coming in. Week 2
Week 3
Obstacles Week 4
Week 5
You will be shocked the compulsiveness of thought. It takes attention away in two seconds. The trick is to be gentle with
yourself. Smile at the monkiness of the mind and bring attention back to breathing. Don’t get frustrated. Week 6
Week 7
Resources

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Meditation is breaking he addiction to thought. And like breaking any other
Obstacles
addiction, it will bring up some withdrawal symptoms.
Release
Release Meditation
In the last few weeks we have been developing concentration. In the next few weeks, we will try various types of Metta Meditation
meditation. See what resonates with you.
Week 1

Increase sitting time to 30 minutes. Week 2

Week 3
Observe thought. Week 4
Week 5
You might want to notice the voice of thought. Thought is in words and has a voice. Isn’t it interesting that the voice of
thought is often critical and adversarial? Without judgment, observe thought. Don’t participate in the content of thought, Week 6
keep attention on thought, not in thought. Week 7
Resources
As you observe the gaps between thoughts will widen. You’ll soon realize that these gaps—this space—is the constant
background Stillness in which thoughts arise. Thoughts come and go. The Stillness is constant.

As gaps expand, and stillness abides, you will notice that you are present.

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Kaushik Chokshi
Remember to end each session with metta meditation.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
You will find being present is ordinary. Don’t expect the extra-ordinary; that
Obstacles
will take your right out of presence.
Release
Release Meditation
The immediacy of life in the present precedes the mind and all concepts. Metta Meditation
Week 1
It’s hard for the mind to understand what being present is because the mind is never present. Yet, we do have moments
of presence, when we are awed by beauty or those times when we are in flow. Week 2
Week 3
You will find being present is ordinary. Don’t expect the extra-ordinary; that will take your right out of presence. Week 4
Week 5
Try it. It is not an effortful presence. The ego is capable of creating a mental space of presence, and you can tell because
ego-presence feels effortful, artificial and dull. We are already always present, so it’s little misleading to say “be present.” Week 6
What we mean by that is really to be Awareness, absent of the constant lurch for the next moment, the grasping, or the Week 7
becoming.
Resources
The body is always present, so we can always bring attention deeply into the body or breath to be present.

Do the following to be present:

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Kaushik Chokshi
Sit down, shut your eyes, and watch your breath. Become aware of breath going in, and going out. Breathe freely, there is
no need to control or change the flow. Become aware of the sensation of air passing through your nose and nostrils. Pay
attention to the lungs filling up and emptying. Pay attention to the belly expanding and relaxing. If attention is distracted by
thought, gently bring it back with a smile.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
If thoughts rise, let them… Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Expand your attention to the sound of breathing. Don’t label or analyze, simply listen to the undulating sound of breath. Metta Meditation
Notice that there is no time between perception and hearing. Time only happens when there is thinking about hearing. Hear
Week 1
without thinking. Is there any effort required to hear? Pay attention to the way the sound is heard. As you notice the sound,
pay attention, just to hear the sound, without decision or interpretation or judgment. Hearing just happens. There is no Week 2
thought required. Meet the perception half-way. Is there any time delay between the sound and the hearing? The hearing of Week 3
sound is thought-less, time-less. Relax, and be the awareness that hears the sound, without thought.
Week 4
Expand your attention further to any sound that comes into perception. Don’t label or measure or judge. Just pay Week 5
attention to the sound. Notice the sounds pop up in Awareness, inside of you. There is no space or time between awaring and Week 6
the occurrence of the sound.
Week 7
If thoughts rise, let them and shift attention back to the sounds. Resources

Now feel your weight. Feel your skin touching your clothes. Feel your skin touching air. Don’t label or figure out what it is
touching, just simply feel the perception of touch. Go inside the body to feel it. Put attention inside your hands and soon you
will feel a tingling, an aliveness. Notice there is no time between feeling the sensation and being aware of the sensation. Just

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to feel, is there any time required between the sensation and the feeling of it? There is no decision, no effort, no thinking; it

Kaushik Chokshi
just happens. Time only happens when you interpret the sensation with thought.

Move attention to taste. Do you taste anything? Is there a taste? Don’t figure out what it is. Just be aware of it.

Move attention to smell. Is there any smell? Don’t label it or figure out what it is, just abide in the perception of it.

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Effortless Meditation
Practice
Move deeply into the Now. Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
Open your eyes. Look around the room. Don’t label anything. Simply take in the seeing. Take in colors without labeling Metta Meditation
them. Take in the background, the ceiling, floor, the walls, the sky, clouds, anything without labeling. Feel the colors rather
Week 1
than seeing them. Notice there is no time delay between seeing and awaring. Perception takes no time. It is right here, right
now. Don’t label anything, see it for the first time. Trace the contours and edges very slowly with your eyes. This is just Week 2
Awareness. Everything you see is Awareness seeing in Awareness. The entire visual field and beyond is in Awareness. All these Week 3
objects are simply perception in Awareness.
Week 4
Move deeply into the Now. Week 5
Week 6
When you are deeply in the Now, look at the grasping and running-away feeling in the mind, with Awareness.
Week 7
Resources

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 Contents
Effortless Meditation
Practice
There is distance between you and thoughts. Obstacles
Release
Release Meditation
This is it! Metta Meditation
Week 1
I refer to this as Aware of Awareness, Awareness Now, and Effortless meditation. Some call it formless meditation.
Week 2
Try this: Week 3
Week 4
Just be. Notice. Notice thoughts come and go. Notice perceptions come and go. Notice breath and body sensations come Week 5
and go. Notice Awareness. There is no effort, no doing, no lurching. Just be. Notice that everything we know arises in
Awareness. Awareness is the space and silence in which thought and every other object arises. Fall backwards into Awareness. Week 6
Release into Awareness. There is no effort to this. Just be. Be patient. Awareness will expand on its own. Week 7
Resources
Or, try this:

Take some time to relax completely. Use the progressive relaxation technique or just breathe out and relax. Look at
something in the room. Focus on it. Awareness is looking. Become aware of Awareness. Shut your eyes and remain aware of
Awareness. Relax. Let go. Relax and let go even more. Let go as deeply as you can. If thoughts arise be aware of them, let

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Kaushik Chokshi
them come and go. Simply observe, without participating or attaching meaning. There is nothing else to do. Shift attention to
Awareness that is witnessing the thoughts. There is distance between you and thoughts.

Or, try this:

Be utterly present. Be present with the things that are already present. Your body, your breath, the tingling inside your
hands, the sense of sound, the sense of sight when you simply experience and not divide or label, a plant, a flower, the
sky…these are utterly present. This is a relaxation into presence, not a trying or a grabbing or a becoming of presence. There is
no difference between what is and what you want it to be. There is no time-delay between perceiving and sensing. There is no
lurching forward to the next moment. Just Stillness.
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Effortless Meditation
Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, you will get swept away
in thoughts. When you realize this, gently bring your attention back to Practice
awareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come and to go. Let go of the Obstacles
constant “becoming” and “shoulding.” Release
Release Meditation
Or, try this: Metta Meditation
Week 1
Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, you will get swept away in thoughts. When you realize this, gently
bring your attention back to awareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come and to go. Let go of the constant “becoming” Week 2
and “shoulding.” Week 3
Week 4
Awareness does not need the seer or the seen; it is just pure seeing.
Week 5
This is Awareness watching Awareness. Week 6
Week 7
When you are ready, go to Effortless Meditation. Resources

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 Contents
Effortless Meditation
Kaushik Chokshi Practice
Peace Obstacles
http://www.beyond-karma.com Release
Release Meditation
Metta Meditation
Please visit www.beyond-karma.com for free articles and Week 1
more ebooks. Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
ARO meditation has an excellent, free email course. Week 7
Resources
Vipassana meditation offers a donations-welcome ten day
silent retreat.

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