Meditation in Laya Yoga functions as the central discipline through which the mind is gradually dissolved into subtler dimensions of sound, energy, and consciousness. It is not an auxiliary practice but the primary vehicle of transformation, guiding awareness away from external objects and habitual mental activity toward an inner continuum of subtle experience. Through sustained, one-pointed attention, mental modifications are allowed to subside, and the mind becomes capable of resting in increasingly refined states of stillness and clarity. This progressive quieting is what allows the mind to undergo laya, or absorption, into its own subtle source.

A distinctive emphasis of Laya Yoga is meditation on inner sound, or nāda. As attention turns inward, subtle sounds that arise in deep meditation become the focal point of concentration, leading the practitioner from gross auditory impressions to progressively more refined vibrations. Resting awareness in this inner sound current draws prāṇa and attention away from external distractions and internal chatter, culminating in absorption into the most subtle, unstruck sound. In this way, nāda meditation becomes a bridge from ordinary mental activity to a more fundamental level of consciousness.

Meditation is also directed toward the body’s energy centers, or chakras, which serve as inner focal points for awareness. By concentrating on specific chakras, often supported by visualization and mantra, dormant energies are awakened and the subtle body is purified and harmonized. This focused awareness allows the mind to dissolve into the energies present at each center, and facilitates the awakening and ascent of kuṇḍalinī through the central channel. As the chakras are activated and refined in this way, the energy-body becomes a more stable vessel for higher states of awareness.

Underlying these practices is a progressive process in which meditation orchestrates the withdrawal of consciousness from gross to subtle to causal levels. Techniques such as prāṇāyāma prepare and direct the vital forces, while dhāraṇā (concentration) and dhyāna (sustained meditation) stabilize the mind in its chosen inner support, culminating in samādhi, or complete absorption. Through this sustained meditative engagement with inner sound and energy centers, identification with body, mind, and personality is gradually loosened, and the ego-sense is absorbed into pure witnessing awareness. The culmination of Laya Yoga is the recognition that individual consciousness has merged into universal consciousness, revealing the underlying, non-dual ground of awareness as the practitioner’s true nature.