There is a certain moment in deep meditation when the breath simply stops.
It is not forced. It is not held. It just… disappears.
This is keval kumbhak — a natural cessation of breath. For me, this happens when the up–down oscillations of pranic energy at a chakra slowly merge into a central still point. The wave’s amplitude reduces and reduces until it reaches zero.
In that zero point, I notice something striking — the mind is gone.
No thoughts, no images, no mental chatter. Just an absolute stillness.
Zero Amplitude – Zero Thoughts
While sitting in that state, it feels as if all mental activity has stopped. But thinking deeper, I realized: maybe the mind has not truly stopped existing. Maybe it is still active somewhere, just not where my awareness is looking.
When the amplitude of the pranic wave is at zero, my attention is also resting in that zero point. Thoughts may still be forming somewhere in the “mind-field”, but in this zone, they are simply not perceptible.
It’s like looking at a large movie screen but focusing on one tiny, blank center spot — all the action at the edges is still playing, but you don’t see it.
Breath Amplitude as the Thought Gateway
As I slowly come out of that deep point and start observing the breath’s movements again, I notice something:
The moment the breath-wave amplitude increases, thoughts start appearing. Small amplitude → few thoughts. Larger amplitude → more thoughts.
It’s as if the breath’s oscillation opens the gate for more of the mind-field to become visible. The breath amplitude acts like the size of a window — the bigger the opening, the more thoughts can pass into perception.
The Quantum Analogy
This reminded me of quantum wave mechanics.
In quantum theory, a particle’s probability of being found at a certain location depends on the amplitude of its wavefunction. Zero amplitude means zero probability — the particle simply won’t be found there. Means, the probability of finding a wavy quantum particle increases in direct proportion to its wave amplitude, with zero amplitude meaning zero probability.
My experience felt similar:
- Mind = quantum particle
- Thoughts = particle detections (collapses)
- Breath/pranic amplitude = probability amplitude for perceiving thoughts
At zero amplitude (in keval kumbhak), the probability of detecting a thought is effectively zero in the zone of observation. When amplitude rises, the probability rises — thoughts appear.
Orch-OR Connection
Orch-OR (Orchestrated Objective Reduction), proposed by Hameroff and Penrose, suggests consciousness arises from quantum collapses in microtubules inside neurons.
In my case, I don’t think those collapses stop entirely in samadhi. Instead:
- Collapses (thought formations) still happen in the mind-field.
- But my awareness in deep meditation is focused on the zero-amplitude center, where no thoughts register.
- When pranic amplitude grows, awareness spreads over a wider zone, catching more of these collapses as thoughts.
It’s a subtle but important difference:
The mind’s activity might still exist in potential form, but in samadhi, I am tuned into a region where it doesn’t show up.
The Practice-Based Side: Prana–Apana Tactics
In truth, this is not just a passive state that “happens” — it can also be reached deliberately through classical yogic techniques.
It involves balancing prana (upward-moving energy) and apana (downward-moving energy) in specific ways:
- Making one dominant over the other
- Reversing them — sending physical breath in one direction, mental breath (visualized energy) in the other
- Colliding them so they meet at a chosen point in the body
- Merging them completely into a single unified flow
The “mental breath” here is not literal air but the directed pranic flow in awareness. The “physical breath” is the actual inhalation/exhalation movement. These two can be made to work in opposite or complementary ways.
When they fully merge or balance, their oscillations cancel out, creating the still-point — the zero-amplitude zone I described earlier. That is where keval kumbhak naturally occurs, and thought perception drops to zero.
This is why it is hard to explain literally — without direct practice, the idea of “moving physical breath one way and mental breath the other way” sounds abstract. But in practice, it is as real and mechanical as adjusting two water streams so they meet perfectly.
Why This Feels Unique
I have read yoga texts, studied some Kashmir Shaivism, and explored modern quantum-consciousness theories.
Yoga speaks of chitta vritti nirodha (stilling the mind waves).
Kashmir Shaivism says vibration (spanda) never fully stops, but one can rest in the bindu (center).
Science says breath influences brain rhythms.
Orch-OR says quantum collapse underlies awareness.
But I have not come across anyone directly mapping breath/pranic amplitude to the probability of perceiving thoughts, using both lived yogic experience and quantum analogy.
This feels like my personal discovery — a bridge between keval kumbhak and quantum perception theory.
The Simple Takeaway
In keval kumbhak, the mind does not truly vanish — it simply becomes unobservable when awareness rests in the zero-amplitude point of the pranic wave.
As breath amplitude increases, the observable field expands, and thoughts return in proportion to that amplitude.
It is not about stopping the mind entirely; it is about where the lens of awareness is placed.
In the deepest stillness, the movie of the mind is still running somewhere — but I am looking at a blank spot in the center of the screen.
Demystifying Kundalini 