Have you ever said, “I can’t meditate”? If you are one of them, good news for you. Humans have been dealing with monkey mind since ages and long ago some Sufi mystics understood the challenge and devised a technique known as Gibberish meditation.

Meditation is the art and science of ceasing the mind’s chatter. However, every time the word meditation is used, an image of a person sitting cross-legged with closed eyes comes to our mind. But for some, it just doesn’t work. Especially if you are a beginner. But this may not be the case always. History shows how monks and mystics have used different methods to train their brain and get out of the monkey mind madness. In this post, I am going to tell you about one such method, the no-brainer gibberish meditation method.

When You can’t meditate, try Gibberish Meditation

The story behind

Gibberish meditation, named after a Sufi saint Jabbar, is an ancient technique for brain training brought to light again by Osho. According to Osho, there was a Sufi saint called Jabbar who was famous for his brainless banter. The locals would call him a madman. His disciples were confused by the behavior of their teacher everytime someone from the village approached him. The disciples grew tired of the embarrassment and wanted to understand what their guru was up to.

When they approached him with this question, Jabbar explained how we sentient beings indulge in unhealthy conversations and hold it for a lifetime. Such conversations can be damaging to the brain. In order to prepare his body for silence, he used meaningless sentences and words.

So what exactly is Gibberish meditation and why bother?

Gibberish meditation is the technique which involves speaking random meaningless words and sentences to let your emotions out. Imagine a child who is yet not able to speak. A child is usually uttering meaningless words throughout the day.

This same technique was adopted by Jabbar and other Sufi saints. They realized that the happiest of all the sentient beings on this planet were children and what sets them apart from the rest of us is language, perception and identifying with possessions.

In Gibberish meditation you are speaking the language of a child that makes no sense. The idea of gibberish is to break old patterns in our brains. Since we start speaking we associate ourselves with words as a medium to express ourselves.

When we speak a language that has no meaning, the old patterns are shattered and the expression becomes natural. The expressions are no longer related to a person or an experience.

Imagine being able to express your pain irrespective of the person causing it or the situation. How will you feel being able to be angry without offending anyone or letting go of the sorrow without blaming anyone?

“Just throw out all mind garbage and create the space in which the Buddha appears.”

                                                                                           -Osho

Benefits of Gibberish meditation

1. Breaks the continual verbalization pattern in the brain
2. Breaks the idea of possessions and identification with things and people
3. Allow you to let go of all the stored anger, grief and guilt without damaging your relationships
4.  Makes you more vocal and confident
5. Makes you more conscious and aware

How to do Gibberish Meditation?

Although it is a no-mind meditation, yet there is a whole science involved in the method. Let’s take a look at the prerequisites before starting the meditation.

1. Do not speak in a language you know. If you speak English, for example, don’t speak in English. Feel the freedom of not knowing anything.
If you cannot come up with a language of your own, use lalalala….as the language.
2. Do not stay silent. The idea is to be as voacl and expressive as possible.
3. Do it in a group if possible. If doing it alone use a timer for the different stages of the session.

Stage 1: Gibberish (15 mins)

In stage one, you become a kid again. If you are doing it alone,

1. Sit with your eyes closed and start speaking gibberish. Make sure you are using this gibberish meditation to get rid of all the stored emotions.
2. Keep speaking until you no longer feel the effort to speak gibberish.
3. Express whatever comes to your mind. Shout, cry, laugh. Allow yourself to express completely.

If you are a group of 2 or more people, there is an extremely fun way to do gibberish meditation.

1. Sit down with closed eyes and find your gibberish language and keep speaking for some time.
2. Stand up and form groups to talk to each other in gibberish very expressively.
3. You are allowed to laugh, cry, shout while you talk to other people.

Stage 2: Silence (15 mins)

1. When you have poured your heart out, now is the time to reap the benefits. You will immediately notice how calm your brain becomes when everything is taken out of it. You feel the sense of freedom and enjoy the silence of the otherwise monkey mind.

2. When the timer stops for stage 1, lie down immediately on the floor or a mattress whichever is available. Make sure there is no movement in the body and you are relaxed. If you are doing this at your workplace you may want to sit instead.

3. Lie down on your back and stay still like a bag of rice.
Inhale and exhale deeply and feel the connection to the ground.
The process should be comfortable and no extra efforts are involved in the process.

4. When you wake up from the silence, you feel transformed. Your body feels lighter and your mind becomes more effective. You are able to concentrate better and make better decisions in life.

The results can be observed almost after a single session. However, it is recommended to go through the process for at least 7 days before you experience the range of benefits. Each session comprises of a 45-minute gibberish and a 45-minute silence stages.

But given the time constraint in this fast-moving world, the benefits can be achieved in a short span of time as well. Start with a 10 min gibberish and a 10 min silence regimen and gradually increase the time as per your convenience.

Inside each one of us is a Buddha who is clouded by the rubbish and insanity of the brain. Once you know how to tackle your brain, you can win the world. Once you have tasted the ambrosia of silence, there is no turning back. Throw the rubbish out of your mind and enjoy the deep awareness it brings along.

Never ever say “I can’t meditate” again.

If you are a beginner, you should read this meditation guide for beginners which answers all your questions about meditation.

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Chakshu Vats

Chakshu is a US alliance certified yoga teacher, a biotechnologist and an Ayurveda evangelist. Her passion is to help people live a toxic-free life, emotionally and chemically. She loves reading self-help books. When she is not writing, she is busy thinking about life.