Eighteenth dhāraṇā. The first sound technique. Oṃ — the primordial sound, akṣara — the imperishable, the syllable. But the instruction is not to repeat Oṃ. It is pratyāhāra — withdrawal, the retreat of sound. The moment where Oṃ stops sounding and consciousness withdraws to its source.

Ananyacetāḥ — with mind that goes nowhere else. Completely present in that moment of sound dissolution. Not attentive to meaning. Not attentive to the next Oṃ. Attentive to the space that remains when sound dies.

Yugapat padaikatattvaṃ samadhigacchati — the yogi reaches simultaneously the single reality. Not gradually. In the very instant of sound dissolution, reality reveals itself as one. The silence after Oṃ is not absence of sound. It is the presence of all.