user8788: I am not clear about one important phase of the Buddha's life: when he was a wandering aspirant, after leaving his two earlier teachers of yoga. There is not much reliable information available about how the Buddha conducted his practices of meditation and thought control.
The best I know is some fragment of a text wherein the Buddha talks about how he sought to control his thoughts by jamming his tongue to the roof of his mouth. At best, that description sounds like a struggle, not a practice or a method.
Is there any sermon where he talks about his struggle? Or a sutra which gives an account of his efforts?
Can you throw some light? Thank you.

user4722: Please read the Anupada Sutra
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.111.than.html
From what I have gathered over the years, before the lion of the Shakya clan (Buddha Shakyamuni) was enlightened, he had found teachers to teach him various methods and practices, and he would master all of them.  
He found that his most advanced teacher of the period taught him all the way to the state of neither perception nor non-perception which he figured out to be "pretty cool but really only puts the cosmos matrix on pause and is not taking me all the way to liberation"
So I think if you go through the jhanas, those were basically the states he was able to master, and if you can practice them (and use them as a ladder) you can eventually tap into the Sublime Holy state of Emptiness, which transcends all the jhanas.
Blessings and stillness be with you

user-1: The Buddha practised extreme fasting, mental concentration, breath control, wilderness retreats, and living in cemeteries (he says somewhere that he used a pile of human bones for a pillow). I have theorized that one might describe the types of asceticism in which the Buddha engaged as proto-Shaivite, the earliest text of which is approximately dated to the parinibbana of the Buddha (but the actual traditions encoded in texts are invariably older). 

user8157: MN 12 also gives an account: 


"Sariputta, I recall having lived a holy life possessing four factors. I have practiced asceticism — the extreme of asceticism; I
  have practiced coarseness — the extreme of coarseness; I have
  practiced scrupulousness — the extreme of scrupulousness; I have
  practiced seclusion — the extreme of seclusion.[17]
"Such was my asceticism, Sariputta, that I went naked, rejecting conventions, licking my hands, not coming when asked, not stopping
  when asked; I did not accept food brought or food specially made or an
  invitation to a meal; I received nothing from a pot, from a bowl,
  across a threshold, across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating
  together, from a pregnant woman, from a woman giving suck, from a
  woman lying with a man, from where food was advertised to be
  distributed, from where a dog was waiting, from where flies were
  buzzing; I accepted no fish or meat, I drank no liquor, wine or
  fermented brew. I kept to one house, to one morsel; I kept to two [78]
  houses, to two morsels;... I kept to seven houses, to seven morsels. I
  lived on one saucerful a day, on two saucerfuls a day... on seven
  saucerfuls a day; I took food once a day, once every two days... once
  every seven days, and so on up to once every fortnight; I dwelt
  pursuing the practice of taking food at stated intervals. I was an
  eater of greens or millet or wild rice or hide-parings or moss or
  ricebran or rice-scum or sesamum flour or grass or cowdung. I lived on
  forest roots and fruits, I fed on fallen fruits. I clothed myself in
  hemp, in hemp-mixed cloth, in shrouds, in refuse rags, in tree bark,
  in antelope hide, in strips of antelope hide, in kusa-grass fabric, in
  bark fabric, in wood-shavings fabric, in head-hair wool, in animal
  wool, in owls' wings. I was one who pulled out hair and beard,
  pursuing the practice of pulling out hair and beard. I was one who
  stood continuously, rejecting seats. I was one who squatted
  continuously, devoted to maintaining the squatting position. I was one
  who used a mattress of spikes; I made a mattress of spikes my bed. I
  dwelt pursuing the practice of bathing in water three times daily
  including the evening. Thus in such a variety of ways I dwelt pursuing
  the practice of tormenting and mortifying the body. Such was my
  asceticism.
"Such was my coarseness, Sariputta, that just as the bole of a tinduka tree, accumulating over the years, cakes and flakes off, so
  too, dust and dirt, accumulating over the years, caked off my body and
  flaked off. It never occurred to me: 'Oh, let me rub this dust and
  dirt off with my hand, or let another rub this dust and dirt off with
  his hand' — it never occurred to me thus. Such was my coarseness.
"Such was my scrupulousness, Sariputta, that I was always mindful in stepping forwards and stepping backwards. I was full of pity even
  for (the beings in) a drop of water thus: 'Let me not hurt the tiny
  creatures in the crevices of the ground.' Such was my scrupulousness.
"Such was my seclusion, Sariputta, that [79] I would plunge into some forest and dwell there. And when I saw a cowherd or a shepherd or
  someone gathering grass or sticks, or a woodsman, I would flee from
  grove to grove, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow, from
  hillock to hillock. Why was that? So that they should not see me or I
  see them. Just as a forest-bred deer, on seeing human beings, flees
  from grove to grove, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow,
  from hillock to hillock, so too, when I saw a cowherd or a shepherd...
  Such was my seclusion.
"I would go on all fours to the cow-pens when the cattle had gone out and the cowherd had left them, and I would feed on the dung of the
  young suckling calves. As long as my own excrement and urine lasted, I
  fed on my own excrement and urine. Such was my great distortion in
  feeding.
"I would plunge into some awe-inspiring grove and dwell there — a grove so awe-inspiring that normally it would make a man's hair stand
  up if he were not free from lust. When those cold wintry nights came
  during the 'eight-days interval of frost,' I would dwell by night in
  the open and by day in the grove.[18] In the last month of the hot
  season I would dwell by day in the open and by night in the grove. And
  there came to me spontaneously this stanza never heard before:

Chilled by night and scorched by day, Alone in awe-inspiring groves,
  Naked, no fire to sit beside, The sage yet pursues his quest.
  51. "I would make my bed in a charnel ground with the bones of the dead for a pillow. And cowherd boys came up and spat on me, urinated
  on me, threw dirt at me, and poked sticks into my ears. Yet I do not
  recall that I ever aroused an evil mind (of hate) against them. Such
  was my abiding in equanimity. [80]

"Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this: 'Purification comes about through food.'[19] They
  say: 'Let us live on kola-fruits,' and they eat kola-fruits, they eat
  kola-fruit powder, they drink kola-fruit water, and they make many
  kinds of kola-fruit concoctions. Now I recall having eaten a single
  kola-fruit a day. Sariputta, you may think that the kola-fruit was
  bigger at that time, yet you should not regard it so: the kola-fruit
  was then at most the same size as now. Through feeding on a single
  kola-fruit a day, my body reached a state of extreme emaciation.
  Because of eating so little my limbs became like the jointed segments
  of vine stems or bamboo stems. Because of eating so little my backside
  became like a camel's hoof. Because of eating so little the
  projections on my spine stood forth like corded beads. Because of
  eating so little my ribs jutted out as gaunt as the crazy rafters of
  an old roofless barn. Because of eating so little the gleam of my eyes
  sank far down in their sockets, looking like a gleam of water which
  has sunk far down in a deep well. Because of eating so little my scalp
  shriveled and withered as a green bitter gourd shrivels and withers in
  the wind and sun. Because of eating so little my belly skin adhered to
  my backbone; thus if I touched my belly skin I encountered my
  backbone, and if I touched my backbone I encountered my belly skin.
  Because of eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my
  limbs with my hands, the hair, rotted at its roots, fell from my body
  as I rubbed.

53-55. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose
  doctrine and view is this: 'Purification comes about through food.'
  They say: 'Let us live on beans'... 'Let us live on sesamum'... 'Let
  us live on rice,' and they eat rice, they eat rice powder, [81] they
  drink rice water, and they make various kinds of rice concoctions. Now
  I recall having eaten a single rice grain a day. Sariputta, you may
  think that the rice grain was bigger at that time, yet you should not
  regard it so: the rice grain was then at most the same size as now.
  Through feeding on a single rice grain a day, my body reached a state
  of extreme emaciation. Because of eating so little... the hair, rotted
  at its roots, fell from my body as I rubbed.

"Yet, Sariputta, by such conduct, by such practice, by such performance of austerities, I did not attain any superhuman states,
  any distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. Why
  was that? Because I did not attain that noble wisdom which when
  attained is noble and emancipating and leads the one who practices in
  accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering.



user7548: The Buddha talks about this in MN 36: Maha-Saccaka Sutta. It's quite a long and detailed passage, in which he describes how he went to different teachers who taught him the Jhanas and starved his body to the extreme. His story sums up the extreme ways of practicing, that one should avoid using The Middle Path: First living in sensual indulgence & luxury while growing up in a powerful family, then leaving this live behind and almost starving himself to death. 

"I thought: 'Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the past have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this. But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?'


8788: <p>I am not clear about one important phase of the Buddha's life: when he was a wandering aspirant, after leaving his two earlier teachers of yoga. There is not much reliable information available about how the Buddha conducted his practices of meditation and thought control.</p>

<p>The best I know is some fragment of a text wherein the Buddha talks about how he sought to control his thoughts by jamming his tongue to the roof of his mouth. At best, that description sounds like a struggle, not a practice or a method.
Is there any sermon where he talks about his struggle? Or a sutra which gives an account of his efforts?</p>

<p>Can you throw some light? Thank you.</p>
 4722: <p>Please read the Anupada Sutra</p>

<p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.111.than.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.111.than.html</a></p>

<p>From what I have gathered over the years, before the lion of the Shakya clan (Buddha Shakyamuni) was enlightened, he had found teachers to teach him various methods and practices, and he would master all of them.  </p>

<p>He found that his most advanced teacher of the period taught him all the way to the state of <em>neither perception nor non-perception</em> which he figured out to be "pretty cool but really only puts the cosmos matrix on pause and is not taking me all the way to liberation"</p>

<p>So I think if you go through the jhanas, those were basically the states he was able to master, and if you can practice them (and use them as a ladder) you can eventually tap into the Sublime Holy state of Emptiness, which transcends all the jhanas.</p>

<p>Blessings and stillness be with you</p>
 -1: <p>The Buddha practised extreme fasting, mental concentration, breath control, wilderness retreats, and living in cemeteries (he says somewhere that he used a pile of human bones for a pillow). I have theorized that one might describe the types of asceticism in which the Buddha engaged as proto-Shaivite, the earliest text of which is approximately dated to the parinibbana of the Buddha (but the actual traditions encoded in texts are invariably older). </p>
 8157: <p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.012.ntbb.html" rel="nofollow">MN 12</a> also gives an account: </p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="44">
  <li><p>"Sariputta, I recall having lived a holy life possessing four factors. I have practiced asceticism — the extreme of asceticism; I
  have practiced coarseness — the extreme of coarseness; I have
  practiced scrupulousness — the extreme of scrupulousness; I have
  practiced seclusion — the extreme of seclusion.[17]</p></li>
  <li><p>"Such was my asceticism, Sariputta, that I went naked, rejecting conventions, licking my hands, not coming when asked, not stopping
  when asked; I did not accept food brought or food specially made or an
  invitation to a meal; I received nothing from a pot, from a bowl,
  across a threshold, across a stick, across a pestle, from two eating
  together, from a pregnant woman, from a woman giving suck, from a
  woman lying with a man, from where food was advertised to be
  distributed, from where a dog was waiting, from where flies were
  buzzing; I accepted no fish or meat, I drank no liquor, wine or
  fermented brew. I kept to one house, to one morsel; I kept to two [78]
  houses, to two morsels;... I kept to seven houses, to seven morsels. I
  lived on one saucerful a day, on two saucerfuls a day... on seven
  saucerfuls a day; I took food once a day, once every two days... once
  every seven days, and so on up to once every fortnight; I dwelt
  pursuing the practice of taking food at stated intervals. I was an
  eater of greens or millet or wild rice or hide-parings or moss or
  ricebran or rice-scum or sesamum flour or grass or cowdung. I lived on
  forest roots and fruits, I fed on fallen fruits. I clothed myself in
  hemp, in hemp-mixed cloth, in shrouds, in refuse rags, in tree bark,
  in antelope hide, in strips of antelope hide, in kusa-grass fabric, in
  bark fabric, in wood-shavings fabric, in head-hair wool, in animal
  wool, in owls' wings. I was one who pulled out hair and beard,
  pursuing the practice of pulling out hair and beard. I was one who
  stood continuously, rejecting seats. I was one who squatted
  continuously, devoted to maintaining the squatting position. I was one
  who used a mattress of spikes; I made a mattress of spikes my bed. I
  dwelt pursuing the practice of bathing in water three times daily
  including the evening. Thus in such a variety of ways I dwelt pursuing
  the practice of tormenting and mortifying the body. Such was my
  asceticism.</p></li>
  <li><p>"Such was my coarseness, Sariputta, that just as the bole of a tinduka tree, accumulating over the years, cakes and flakes off, so
  too, dust and dirt, accumulating over the years, caked off my body and
  flaked off. It never occurred to me: 'Oh, let me rub this dust and
  dirt off with my hand, or let another rub this dust and dirt off with
  his hand' — it never occurred to me thus. Such was my coarseness.</p></li>
  <li><p>"Such was my scrupulousness, Sariputta, that I was always mindful in stepping forwards and stepping backwards. I was full of pity even
  for (the beings in) a drop of water thus: 'Let me not hurt the tiny
  creatures in the crevices of the ground.' Such was my scrupulousness.</p></li>
  <li><p>"Such was my seclusion, Sariputta, that [79] I would plunge into some forest and dwell there. And when I saw a cowherd or a shepherd or
  someone gathering grass or sticks, or a woodsman, I would flee from
  grove to grove, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow, from
  hillock to hillock. Why was that? So that they should not see me or I
  see them. Just as a forest-bred deer, on seeing human beings, flees
  from grove to grove, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow,
  from hillock to hillock, so too, when I saw a cowherd or a shepherd...
  Such was my seclusion.</p></li>
  <li><p>"I would go on all fours to the cow-pens when the cattle had gone out and the cowherd had left them, and I would feed on the dung of the
  young suckling calves. As long as my own excrement and urine lasted, I
  fed on my own excrement and urine. Such was my great distortion in
  feeding.</p></li>
  <li><p>"I would plunge into some awe-inspiring grove and dwell there — a grove so awe-inspiring that normally it would make a man's hair stand
  up if he were not free from lust. When those cold wintry nights came
  during the 'eight-days interval of frost,' I would dwell by night in
  the open and by day in the grove.[18] In the last month of the hot
  season I would dwell by day in the open and by night in the grove. And
  there came to me spontaneously this stanza never heard before:</p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Chilled by night and scorched by day, Alone in awe-inspiring groves,
  Naked, no fire to sit beside, The sage yet pursues his quest.
  51. "I would make my bed in a charnel ground with the bones of the dead for a pillow. And cowherd boys came up and spat on me, urinated
  on me, threw dirt at me, and poked sticks into my ears. Yet I do not
  recall that I ever aroused an evil mind (of hate) against them. Such
  was my abiding in equanimity. [80]</p>
  
  <ol start="52">
  <li>"Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this: 'Purification comes about through food.'[19] They
  say: 'Let us live on kola-fruits,' and they eat kola-fruits, they eat
  kola-fruit powder, they drink kola-fruit water, and they make many
  kinds of kola-fruit concoctions. Now I recall having eaten a single
  kola-fruit a day. Sariputta, you may think that the kola-fruit was
  bigger at that time, yet you should not regard it so: the kola-fruit
  was then at most the same size as now. Through feeding on a single
  kola-fruit a day, my body reached a state of extreme emaciation.
  Because of eating so little my limbs became like the jointed segments
  of vine stems or bamboo stems. Because of eating so little my backside
  became like a camel's hoof. Because of eating so little the
  projections on my spine stood forth like corded beads. Because of
  eating so little my ribs jutted out as gaunt as the crazy rafters of
  an old roofless barn. Because of eating so little the gleam of my eyes
  sank far down in their sockets, looking like a gleam of water which
  has sunk far down in a deep well. Because of eating so little my scalp
  shriveled and withered as a green bitter gourd shrivels and withers in
  the wind and sun. Because of eating so little my belly skin adhered to
  my backbone; thus if I touched my belly skin I encountered my
  backbone, and if I touched my backbone I encountered my belly skin.
  Because of eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my
  limbs with my hands, the hair, rotted at its roots, fell from my body
  as I rubbed.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>53-55. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose
  doctrine and view is this: 'Purification comes about through food.'
  They say: 'Let us live on beans'... 'Let us live on sesamum'... 'Let
  us live on rice,' and they eat rice, they eat rice powder, [81] they
  drink rice water, and they make various kinds of rice concoctions. Now
  I recall having eaten a single rice grain a day. Sariputta, you may
  think that the rice grain was bigger at that time, yet you should not
  regard it so: the rice grain was then at most the same size as now.
  Through feeding on a single rice grain a day, my body reached a state
  of extreme emaciation. Because of eating so little... the hair, rotted
  at its roots, fell from my body as I rubbed.</p>
  
  <ol start="56">
  <li>"Yet, Sariputta, by such conduct, by such practice, by such performance of austerities, I did not attain any superhuman states,
  any distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. Why
  was that? Because I did not attain that noble wisdom which when
  attained is noble and emancipating and leads the one who practices in
  accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering.</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>
 7548: <p>The Buddha talks about this in <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.036.than.html" rel="nofollow">MN 36: Maha-Saccaka Sutta</a>. It's quite a long and detailed passage, in which he describes how he went to different teachers who taught him the Jhanas and starved his body to the extreme. His story sums up the extreme ways of practicing, that one should avoid using <em>The Middle Path</em>: First living in sensual indulgence &amp; luxury while growing up in a powerful family, then leaving this live behind and almost starving himself to death. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"I thought: 'Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the past have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this. But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?'</p>
</blockquote>
