Asparśa-yoga: A unique Vedantic technique of

Mindfulness
Nithin Sridhar

Abstract
Mindfulness is a very popular practice today in the West. While its origins in the Buddhist
meditation practices of Zen and Vipassanā are grudgingly acknowledged, the rich traditions
of meditation and mindfulness in the Vedic tradition, which forms the basis of even the
Buddhist practices are rarely written about. This paper examines one such practice of
Mindfulness—the asparśa-yoga—that has been conceptualized and practiced in the tradition
of Advaita Vedānta.
Asparśa-yoga is the yoga of non-contact which has its roots in the Upanishads, but finds an
explicit mention and a crystal clear enunciation in the Māndukya Kārikā of Ācārya
Gauḍapāda. The term Asparśa primarily refers to the state of contact-less existence, and
secondarily to the means of attaining such a state, both of which will be explored in the
paper. It will further be shown how Asparśa-yoga can be understood as a unique vedantic
practice of mindfulness.