As long as words carry meaning, the mind is occupied with the thought of that meaning.
When the words become meaningless, there is nothing left in the con- sciousness except the monotonous sound-image, and that too then can disappear.
Your name always catches your attention if mentioned in a crowd.
Much of your identity is often bound up in your name.
In this exercise, say your name the way you normally answer to it and repeat it aloud for a full 5 minutes.
If your name is John Schofield and you are called Johnny, then repeat aloud Johnny Schofield softly to yourself.
After a few moments, your first and last names will begin to run together in a blur of sound.
Don't stop though; continue repeating your name aloud for 5 minutes.
You may become disoriented after hearing your name reduced to a continual sound.
Old remembrances of you as a child or infant will pop up.
You also might find yourself externalizing and viewing yourself repeat your name as if you were outside the body.
The exercise is directed toward an intuitive knowing that you are more than a name and identity, more than your body and physical brain, more than your job or daily role playing, more than your individual sex and even more than your mind.
The poet, Tennyson, could spontaneously evoke mystical experiences with himself by the technique of repeating aloud his name over and over again.