Meditation without the meditator, ध्यानं विना ध्यानम् 12 Sanskrit Quotations

"When there is a meditator, real meditation is not." — J. Krishnamurti MEDITATION WITHOUT THE MEDITATOR ** ध्यातृरहितं ध्यानम् ** A Sanskrit Chant, set against the raw, vacant imagery of Solitary Banyan trees. Most representations of meditation rely on the cliché of a person sitting under a tree, breathing, or practicing a system. But real meditation cannot coexist with methods, techniques, or systems—for the very reason that these systems mechanically construct a "meditator" who is trying to achieve a result. When the seeker, the method, and the self-image completely dissolve, only then does true meditation take place. Then what remains of meditation when the meditator is absent? This Sanskrit chant created for this presentation should not be understood as an established traditional mantra. It simply explores a question that lies at the heart of contemplative inquiry: whether meditation is something performed by a self, or whether stillness becomes possible when the very centre from which we seek, practise, and pursue experience falls silent. Through twelve successive images of solitary banyan trees, the chant unfolds without a human figure, without instruction, and without the familiar imagery of someone sitting in meditation. The ancient trees stand in their own stillness, their immense canopies sheltering the ground, their roots descending into the earth, their branches extending without apparent effort. They are not presented as symbols to be deciphered, nor as objects of worship. They simply stand. The Sanskrit verses question the assumed separation between the meditator, the act of meditation, and that which is observed. They speak of the constructed nature of bondage, the quieting of the mind, and a stillness that does not depend upon a seeker to sustain it. The accompanying soundscape remains sparse, allowing silence to emerge between the verses. Nothing is hurried towards a climax. There is no destination to reach, no special state to acquire, no final experience to possess. In the spirit of non-dual contemplation, and in a spirit of inquiry that resonates with the question of the observer and the observed, this work does not offer a method or claim to a final understanding. It invites us instead to remain with the question itself. Can there be meditation without the one who meditates? Perhaps the question cannot be answered by thought alone. Surely, this is to be seen. *A note on the work* The Sanskrit chant is a contemplative composition compiled from several sources The text Sources are as follows: • Verses 1 & 12: The Ashtavakra Gita (On the illusion of the meditator) • Verses 2, 3 & 10: The Avadhuta Gita (On the rejection of systems and methods) • Verses 4, 8 & 9: The Ribhu Gita (On action without an actor) • Verses 5, 6 & 7: Traditional Vedantic Contemplative Analogies (The silence of the tree) May the images and the silence between the words offer a space for unhurried reflection. No meditator. No method. No destination. Only the question remains. An English version of this contemplative video can be watched at:    • Meditation without a Meditator, a contempl...   English translation of the Lyrics: Verse 1 The meditator, the meditation, and the object seen— all of these are merely mental constructs. Verse 2 I am not the body, nor the intellect, nor an isolated individual self. Verse 3 There is no system, no mechanical action, and no manufactured worship. Verse 4 Know that which is contrived to be a prison; that which is natural is unbroken. Verse 5 Just as the form of the tree is completely still, so the mind becomes absolutely quiet. Verse 6 The shade exists but there is no one beneath it; this empty seat is supreme. Verse 7 Existing without an egoic root, standing eternally alone as pure being. Verse 8 The highest action is done without an actor— a subtle vibration of a still mind. Verse 9 When no-one is thinking, only then does true meditation takes place. Verse 10 A mind free from the known, completely empty— that alone is true meditation. Verse 11 This state, entirely devoid of a seeker, is the timeless reality. Verse 12 Only meditation remains; the meditator is not. Of this, there is no doubt. The original Sanskrit quotatios written in the traditional Devanagari script: ध्याता ध्यानं च दृश्यं च सर्वं कल्पितमेव हि। नाहं देहो न मे बुद्धिर्जीवो नाहं तथैव च। न तन्त्रं न च कर्माणि न कल्पितमुपासनम्। कृत्रिमं बन्धनं विद्धि स्वाभाविकमखण्डितम्। वृक्षरूपं यथा शान्तं तथा चेतः प्रशाम्यति। छाया अस्ति न कश्चिच्च शून्यासनमिदं परम्। अमूलं मूलरहितं नित्यं तिष्ठति केवलम्। अकर्तृकं परं कार्यं स्पन्दनं शान्तचेतसः। यदा न मन्यते कश्चित् तदा ध्यानं प्रवर्तते। ज्ञातमुक्तं मनः शून्यं तदेव ध्यानमुत्तमम्। गवेषकविहीना तु स्थितिरेषा सनातनी। ध्यानमेवावशिष्टं हि ध्याता नास्ति न संशयः।