The Abandon Release Method Practice Instructions

 

Preliminary Instructions

The setting should be where you will be undisturbed. If you are at home when you practice you can ask your family members not to disturb you while you are practicing. You should be alone during your practice session. You can begin with a one hour or two hour practice session.

There should be nothing you have to attend to during your practice sessions. There should be no other activities going on during your practice sessions. The time set aside for practice is for practice only.

If you have children, it is best to have someone you trust watching your children during your practice sessions, so that you do not have to worry about them.

Body posture is not important with The Abandon Release Method. You can do the practice laying down on your bed or you can do the practice sitting up.

For your first practice session, laying down on your bed would be better. Laying down helps one to forget the body.

If you do the practice sitting up, you can do the practice in a meditation posture with legs crossed if you find that comfortable. If you do not find that comfortable you can do the practice sitting in a chair or sitting on a couch.

Whatever position causes no pain and is most comfortable is best.

If you do the practice sitting, when you sit down you can sit with your spine straight.

However, as soon as you begin the practice you should ignore your body posture and ignore your body.

After practice begins, it does not matter what position your body is in.

You can alternate, sometimes doing the practice laying down in your bed and sometimes doing the practice sitting up.

The advantage of doing the practice laying down on your bed is that it is easier to forget the body in that position.

The advantage of doing the practice sitting up is that gravity will assist in pulling your mind into your spiritual heart and that is one of the reasons why sitting up has been a posture recommended in the traditions of the past.

Another advantage of doing the practice sitting up is that you are less likely to fall asleep during practice.

Although you ignore the environment during the Abandon Release Method, ignoring smells, sounds, sights, and the body, if there is an emergency such as the smell of smoke or the sound of someone needing help or a painful body sensation indicating the need for attention, you should stop the practice and attend to what needs to be attended to.

Thought and awareness are not the same. The following definitions for the word "thought" and for the word "awareness" should be used for the Abandon Release Method:

Thought: Thoughts are the words of your native language in the mind. If your native language is English, and the language you think in is English, then thoughts are those English words in your mind. If you think in two languages, then thoughts are the words of those two languages in your mind.

Awareness: When you wake up in the morning awareness is that consciousness that woke up in the morning. Thoughts come and thoughts go, but the background of awareness does not come and go. Awareness remains continuous during all the waking hours until you go to sleep at night. Awareness is you, your consciousness that is looking through your eyes right now. Feelings come and feelings go, but the background of awareness does not come and go.

Awareness is you. There are not two, you and Awareness. There is only one. Awareness is another name for you. You wake up in the morning. Awareness wakes up in the morning. Two ways of saying the same thing. You were sleeping, now you wake up in the morning. What is the difference?

The difference is you were not aware while sleeping. You wake up and now you are aware. You could call awareness awakeness. In deep sleep you are not aware of any thoughts or objects. You wake up and now you are aware of thoughts and objects or you are aware of the absence of thoughts and objects. That which allows you to perceive thoughts and objects or the absence of thoughts and objects is awareness.

In the Abandon Release Method Practice the word consciousness and the word awareness have the same meaning.

A suggestion for beginners:

  • Practice for at least two hours per day, every day.
  • Practice  either in one two-hour session, or two one-hour sessions.
  • Morning when you first wake up is best.
  • Evening just before you go to sleep is second best.
  • Descriptions (approaches) of how to use the Abandon Release Method are given below. Following the Descriptions, there is a recommended schedule for alternating among them.

Like any skill, you learn by practice. The longer you practice, the more enjoyable the practice becomes, after you have gained some skill in letting go. Some people will find it easy and enjoyable from the beginning. Other people will find it easy and enjoyable only after some weeks of practicing every day.

You can make a recording of the practice instructions (The Descriptions A, B, C, D, E or F below) on an audiocassette or CD and then play them during your practice session, repeating the instructions on the recording after 30 minutes.

Put the "do not disturb" sign on your bedroom door, turn out the lights, lay down on your bed. If laying down flat on your back gets tiresome at some point, you can turn over on your side.

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The Abandon Release Method Practice Instructions

Description A

(Practice instructions must have few words, and therefore this description should be considered a practice for beginners.)

Shut your eyes.
Relax your body.
Now ignore your body.
Let go of all effort.

Letting go of all effort means also letting go of all sense of having to do something, as though there were nothing you have to do, nothing you have to think about.

Letting go of all effort means letting go of all will and all desire, as though there were nothing that needed to be done or changed.

Let go. Relax. Let go more. Relax more.
See how far it is possible to let go.
Let go of all thoughts.
Let go of all feelings.
Let go of all effort.
Let go of everything except your awareness.

Whatever thoughts, or perceptions, or images or feelings arise, let them go as soon as they arise or even before they arise.
Do not follow thoughts, as though you had no interest in them.
Let go of all your perceptions as though they had nothing to do with you.
Continue to relax more and more.

Throughout the practice session:

Let go more, then let go even more.
As the session goes on see how far is it possible to let go.
Relax completely.
Let go totally.
Release everything except your awareness.
Letting go is giving up completely.
Letting go is surrendering completely.
Letting go is relaxing completely.
Letting go is releasing completely.
Letting go is letting go of all effort and all thought.
Letting go is letting go of all feelings, desires and images.
Letting go is letting go of everything except your awareness.

The difference between falling asleep and The Abandon Release Method is that when you fall asleep you let go of everything including your awareness. In The Abandon Release Method, you let go of everything except your awareness.

Description B

(These practice instructions are for those who find the words "Let Go" difficult to understand. The words "Let Go" are superior to the words "Relax" and "Release", and therefore description B is also for beginners.)

Shut your eyes.
Relax your body.
Release your body.
Relax all effort.
Release all effort.
Relax your thoughts.
Release your thoughts.

Continue throughout the practice session to see how much you can relax and release your thoughts, feelings and desires.
Relax and release everything except your awareness.
Relax totally.
Release totally.
Relax completely.
Release completely.
Continue to release and relax more and more throughout the practice session.

Description C

Shut your eyes.
Let go of all effort.
Let go of all thought.
Let go of everything except your awareness.
Whatever arises, let it go.
Relax, release, let go.
Continue to relax, release and let go completely.
See how far it is possible to let go of all effort and all thought.
See how far it is possible to let go of everything except your awareness.

Description D

(A preliminary practice for beginners.)

Shut your eyes.
Let go of all effort.
Continue to let go of all effort during the entire practice session.
Let go of effort more and more and see how far is it possible to let go of effort.
Relax and continue to relax.
Relax more and more throughout the entire practice session.
Let go of all effort completely.
Totally let go of all effort.

Description E

(A preliminary practice for beginners.)

Shut your eyes.
Let go of all thoughts.
If a thought arises let it go.
If another thought arises let it go.
Continue to let go of thought.
Relax thought completely.
Continue to release thought throughout the practice session.
See how far it is possible to let go of thought.
Let go completely.

Description F

Shut your eyes.
Let go completely.
Totally let go.
Let go of everything except your awareness.

Description G

Let go.


Suggested Schedule

  • Use Description D for the first month, Description E the second month, Description A the third month, Description B the fourth month. (These four Descriptions are all recommended for beginners.)
  • Go back to Description A for the fifth month and Description B for the sixth month.
  • Use Description C next, and continue to use description C for 1 to 4 years; however, as a reminder, use Description A one day a month.
  • After 1 to 4 years of practice, you may be so familiar with the practice, that Description F is all you need to practice. If you switch to Description F, then once per month you should revisit Description C.

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Other Methods

The Abandon Release Method is a whole and complete practice unto itself, and as long as you are satisfied with the new life the Abandon Release Method gives you, you need no other practice.

There are two primary Direct and Rapid Means to Infinite-Eternal-Life-Awareness-Love-Bliss:

One is the path of Surrender

The Abandon Release Method is the most Direct and Rapid Means to Infinite-Eternal-Life-Awareness-Love-Bliss on the path of Surrender.

The other is the path of Awareness

The Awareness Watching Awareness Method is the most Direct and Rapid Means to Infinite-Eternal-Life-Awareness-Love-Bliss on the Path of Awareness.

The Awareness Watching Awareness Method is a whole and complete practice and as long as you are satisfied with the new life the Awareness Watching Awareness Method gives you, you need no other practice.

You can read the instructions for the Awareness Watching Awareness Method at this link: AWA Practice Instructions

The Abandon Release Method is Passive.

The Awareness Watching Awareness Method can be done actively with effort or passively with little or no effort.

Which method you choose to practice, the Abandon Release Method or the Awareness Watching Awareness Method is up to you.

The Abandon Release Method is the most restful of the two methods.

The suggested order is to try the Abandon Release Method first.

Whichever method you choose, it is important to give the method a fair chance by practicing the method for at least two hours per day for at least six months.

 

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Michael Langford