The Definitive Guide to Attaining VOM

Many of the Bardonists who contact me struggle with VOM, the fourth mental exercise of Step 1. For someone who is ready to practice VOM, this shouldn’t ever happen. The key to becoming proficient at VOM is proficiency at thought-observation, which is the first mental exercise of Step 1, so whether or not someone is ready to practice VOM depends on whether or not they are proficient at thought-observation. Two things happen when you attain proficiency at thought-observation.

The first thing that happens is that you become better at noticing the gaps between the thoughts passing through your mind. This is obvious. When you observe the train of your thoughts, you are not just observing your thoughts, but also the gaps between your thoughts, so of course you get better at noticing those gaps.

The second thing that happens is that the gaps between your thoughts grow sider. Consider the following comments about thought-observation from Rawn Clark’s book A Bardon Companion.

With Step One, the "Schooling of the Spirit" concerns three basic types of meditation. The first is titled "Thought Control", but this is sort of a misnomer. What is meant here is not direct, active control of what thoughts arise in your mind; rather, what is referred to is establishing yourself as an active observer of your thoughts. When the observer-perspective is established, the multitude of thoughts that normally arise will naturally slow of their own accord.

When you first sit down to practice thought-observation, thoughts will pass through your mind quite frequently. However, after a few minutes or so of detached observation, thoughts will pass through your mind less frequently. This will result in the gaps between the thoughts growing bigger.

As a result of these two things, it should be easy to sink into one of the gaps. That is what VOM is. It is just remaining in the emptiness that exists between thoughts. Therefore, observe your thoughts until you learn to become aware not just of your thoughts, but of the gaps between your thoughts as well. Then, when those gaps grow quite large, you can try to sink into one and remain there. As you remain in the gap, you will sink deeper and deeper, entering into greater and greater states of inner silence and stillness.

So that is how you enter VOM. This is probably a somewhat weird analogy, but since I am Christian, my mind often works by making connections to stuff in the Bible, so here goes. In the New Testament, the Christ Logos says “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Similarly, no one can enter VOM except through thought-observation. Christ’s statement is somewhat jolting, and it really makes you think about what he meant. I’m trying to jolt people into thinking about what I mean when I say that proficiency at thought-observation is the key to becoming proficient at VOM. If you don’t understand VOM, or if you are really struggling with VOM, it’s because you aren’t proficient enough at thought-observation. Anyone who has attained the necessary level of proficiency at the first mental exercise should have no issue becoming proficient at the fourth mental exercise.