Inverting
The Senses
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First there must be an understanding of the Will and the part it
plays in causing perception.
There is an "I" known as the Subtle "I",
which is the watcher or witness of any or all states.
It
is well known that the natural tendency of mind is to follow the flow of
thoughts and feelings; yet the first feeling or thought that arose, arose from
psychochemical stimulation, which became the perception that causes the
reactions which mind follows.
Psychochemical reaction arises from some form of stimulation,
either in the exterior world or from an act of Will.
So
then perception can also arise because of the action of “Willing” the mind to
focus.
Such
that when there is a minute stimulation, there is not only a reaction in the
physical body and then brain to that stimulation first, (as a psychochemical
reaction) but then there is also a reaction in “Mind” to that
perception, which was once a psychochemical reaction.
It
would seem that if we wanted to stop the reactions to stimulation that result
in the perception of "I-the involved person or subtle I", we would
find it impossible because of the countless possible permutations of that
subtle "I" which come into being upon the moment of perception; not
to mention that the location of that subtle "I" alters constantly, as
does its size.
you
might wonder how this knowledge has application regarding meditation. It has
application in the fact that the moment we put forth some effort to meditate
upon something the whole Cosmos (Maya) comes into existent to support the
existence of effort and the one performing the effort to meditate.
For this reason it is not possible to attain Moksha
(freedom-while-alive) while exerting effort.
Even
the application of Will in the mind produces a reaction and the whole Maya is
born again, so that if we use the Will to suppress or control the mind, this
also inhibits us in our quest for realization. Because the mind reacts to that “Wilfulness.”
It
is said, we must master the mind if we are to attain Moksha; there is the
following.
So
then, to master the mind. To stop the world. To stop what is called "The
Vital Breath" and get off the so-called wheel of karma (the wheel of cause
and effect), we must look and see what it is that rides or is subject to the
circle or wheel of effect. We must come to understand what it is that is
expanded as the Cosmos.
In
short it is not possible to stop the Mind or the world by trying,
because that very trying is itself, an effect of something else and causes
effects again. There are reactions to our trying or even thinking of trying.
The trick therefore is to learn to let the mind's reactions subside due to
non-interference.
so
we allow the sensations as you say, and yet leave them
The
mind never wholly stops, but the inner attention is placed elsewhere while the
mind continues doing its job of correlating the millions of messages, which
arrive due to perception generated from the senses etc. but this goes on automatically
beneath the normal threshold of awareness.
However
if we understand that perception is always of the mind and senses, and knowing
that, then turn the attention we normally place in and on the senses and mind,
inward. (Invert that attention) with an act of Will, what we are doing is not
stopping the mind and its processes, but telling it to look elsewhere, it then
co-operates in its own transcendence.
Pay
close attention to the fact, that Mind CO-OPERATES in its own transcendence.
We
said above that even an act of Will causes reactions, then we say to use the
Will to invert the attention which is normally placed upon what is seen in the
minds eye, via perception. This sounds like a contradiction but it is not,
because the inversion of the attention causes the minds reaction to be
introspective, this perception eventually is transcended and replaced by direct
knowing.
Now
the subtle "I" is the Ego\Jiva\Soul which must be transcended if we
are to attain Moksha. Yet, as described above, that Subtle "I", is
untranscendable via Will or action, because of the fact that its' very nature
is "Change-Itself" (It is Time). It is also impossible to define
for the same reason. But we can understand what causes it to come into being.
Notice
that its nature is CHANGE OR
TIME , it is hence karma itself.
The
location and definition of that self within us, or within the mind, which I
have called the subtle "I" alters according to perception, because it
is a "Perceived I". There is emphasis on the fact that it is "A PERCIEVED I" not a Real "I" at
all....
It
would seem then, that it is attention itself, which causes the existence of
that subtle "I" It is therefore said that meditation on an ideal or
single point, Being, Guru or God is indispensable for realizing the truth.
How
then, do we turn the attention inward? How do we invert the senses? It is often
said that we should meditate on the Guru etc. This is nothing short of saying
place your attention on anything but the mind, thoughts or one’s self. Yet
there are a million books about that, so we will show how that single pointed
devotion dissolves the Cosmos.
First
there is the subtle "I", then the Cosmos exists immediately, more
than immediately, existence is instantaneous.! Why? Because that subtle
"I" becomes that very Cosmos when it looks at itself as anything.
It
is Time. It is Change. It is space. It would therefore take eternity to define,
know and expand as that Cosmos. Time is born right there.
With
this knowledge we dissolve Selfhood.
First
we must invert the senses so that they no longer create the perception of any
experience either in mind or the exterior.
Inverting the Senses
----------------------------
We are sorry but we will go over it again, as it must be seen all
at once.
Our
problem is perception itself. It is perception and what we perceive either in
mind or elsewhere that continues to delude us. Perception has its source in the
reactions of the mind and body, to stimuli. These reactions are utterly
unstoppable while you are alive, so they too must be allowed to go on
uninterfered with. Because if we try to stop them, there is also a reaction in Mind
to the act of trying.
So
it seems we cannot win at all, we are trapped forever in Maya, but there is a
way.
The Inversion Meditation
-----------------------------------
First
of all whether sitting or lying or performing any asana, makes no difference at
all, do whatever is comfortable.
Make
sure the body has been satiated with whatever it needed before beginning. This
helps because then the body co-operates, else if you deny the body , you are
only causing it to fight you, and demand attention when you want to be
meditating. If you follow this advice meditation bares fruit very quickly.
Once the body has been placated, the mind easily relaxes its
demands on the attention.
So
to begin: Employ a simple relaxation technique first then bring the prana up
into the head area completely so that there is utterly no awareness of the body
below the neck.
Note:
The following two steps are
necessary, as we have placated the body so must we placate the Mind or else it
will not relax.
Step 1.
How to Relax Prior to Concentrating The Prana in the Head
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1. Lie
down in any position which is comfortable. If you want to have your legs
outspread, or your arms outspread- spread them out. The whole art of relaxing
is to be completely and utterly comfortable.
It
will be much better if you relax in the privacy of your own room, because many
people, particularly women, do not like anyone to see them in what they wrongly
imagine is an ungraceful attitude. Also in order to fully relax the mind one
must stop thinking about grace and indeed all about conventions.
2. Imagine
that your body is an island peopled by very small persons who are always
obedient to your commands.
You
can think, if you like, that your body is some vast industrial estate with
highly trained, highly obedient technicians at the various controls and
"nerve centres" which make up your body. Then when you want to relax,
tell these people that the factory is being shut down, tell them that your
present desire is that they leave you, that they "shut down" their
machines and their "nerve centres" and go away for the time being.
3. Lying
comfortably, deliberately imagine a host of these small people in your toes, in
your feet, in your knees--everywhere in fact.
Picture
yourself gazing down upon your body and upon all these little people who are
pulling up on your muscles and causing your nerves to twitch.
Gaze
down upon them as if you were some great figure high in the sky, look upon
these people and then address them from your mind.
Tell
them to come out of your feet, leave your legs and arms etc. command them to
march away from your hands and from your arms, tell them to congregate in the
space between your navel and the end or your sternum.
The
sternum, let us remind you , is the end of the breastbone. If you run your
fingers down the middle of your body, between your ribs, you will find that
there is a bar of hard material, and that is actually the sternum.
Run
your fingers down a little further until the material ends. So- between that
spot and your navel is the designated spot.
4. Command all these little people to congregate on that space. Imagine
that you can see them marching up your limbs, up your body in their serried
ranks like workers leaving a busy factory at the end of the day.
In
coming to the designated spot they will have deserted your legs and your arms,
and so these limbs will be without tension, without feeling even, for these
little people are the ones who make your machinery work, the ones who feed the
relay stations and the nerve centres.
Your arms and legs, then, will be not precisely numb, but without any
feeling of tenseness, without any feeling of tiredness. We might say that they
will be almost "not there".
Now
you have all your little people congregating in the pre arranged space like a
lot of factory workers attending a political rally! Gaze upon them in your imagination
for a few moments, let your gaze encompass all of them, then firmly,
confidently, tell them to get off, tell them to leave your body until you
instruct them to return.
5. Picture to yourself
that a Silver Cord stretches upward from your navel disappearing into space
beyond the Universe. Tell the workers to go along the Silver Cord, leaving you
in peace while you meditate, while you relax.
Picture
to yourself that the Silver Cord is like an elevator rope, and imagine all the
rush hour travellers in a city such as London or New York or Moscow--imagine
them all leaving the city at once and going out into the suburbs. Think of
elevator load after elevator load taking all these workers up the silver cord,
leaving the city comparatively quiet.
"MAKE"
these little people do that for you--it is very easy with practice!!
Soon
you will be quite without tension, your nerves will no longer be a -jangle, and
your muscles will no longer be tense. Just lie quiet, let your mind "tick
over". It does not matter what you think about, it does not matter even if
you do not think. Let that go on for a few moments while you breathe slowly,
steadily, then dismiss those thoughts in much the same way as your dismissed
your "factory workers".
Step 2.
How to Concentrate the Prana in the Head
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Lord Buddha
once said:
If the string of your lute is too tight it will break;
If it is too loose, the lute will not play.
So we employ this not too tight, not too loose idea when
meditating.
Step
1.
Find a nice comfortable
place to sit or lie down.
Remember
Worrying about
perfecting various positions or asanas as for Hatha or Ashtanga Yoga etc. is
not particularly necessary, as you can get caught up in the process. All you
need do is make the body comfortable so it doesn't distract your attention. Go
to the toilet, eat something, have sex, put on a jumper, do whatever you need
to do to relieve all the bodies needs of the moment.
It is far easier to progress with the body's compliance than
it is to go against its nature.
Step
2.
Once you have settled
the body, exhale all the air from your lungs and diaphragm. Push it all out
completely.
Remember
This expels the oxygen
that is mixed with carbon dioxide in your lungs and diaphragm and replaces it
with a better mix of oxygen. This helps the lungs transmit more oxygen to the
blood thus helping the brains' clarity.
Repeat the below two cycles six times. (One repetition
includes an inhale and an exhale)
Cycle 1.
Slowly and steadily inhale as much air as you can, then hold your
breath until you need to breathe. Let yourself stress a bit before you allow
yourself to exhale. Count slowly to 5 in the format of à one and two and three
and four and five. Cycle 2.
Exhale slowly and steadily until you cannot push any more air
out, empty your diaphragm as well as your lungs. Again before you take in new
air count slowly to 5 in the format of à one and two and three and four and
five. Return to cycle one.
Remember:
Each time as you slowly
exhale you picture your body sinking deeper and deeper into relaxation, at the
same speed that the breath leaves your body. When you have emptied your lungs,
you maintain the lungs in an empty state until you need to breathe. (You inhale
six times as for cycle 1 and 5 for cycle 2. Cycle 2 is done five times because
the sixth exhale is a little different)
On
the sixth and final exhale, you don't slowly exhale, as you do for the previous
five-and-a half inhale - exhale cycles, instead you throw your attention upward
and outward in every direction through the top of your head. Allow the
attention to rush out on the power of the breath as you expel as much air as
you can. As the attention leaves the head area picture yourself as merely
awareness without form expanding as the Universe to the point of dissolution in
Consciousness.
This
technique when perfected gives one the key to consciously expand the awareness
into cosmic consciousness. Yet while this is no small achievement it is still a
long way from dissolution of the Cosmos itself and with it that awful Karmic
Wheel as there is stil the awareness of the Self as the entire
Cosmos/Time/Manifestation etc. which is itself subject to existence.
Note:
If you are using this technique in conjunction with the relaxation technique to
bring about inversion of the sense, do not include the upward fling on the
sixth exhale. Instead exhale as per the previous cycle and relax into breathing
normally.
Step
3.
Visualize
an emptiness inside yourself (this is very important) Then Direct the senses to
that inner space and ask them to hear, see, taste, feel, smell and think in
that space. In short, "Invert the senses" Now this would have been
impossible but for the exercises above.
Do
you see that when you hear for example, you direct your attention to the origin
of the sound? Or when you want to see something you direct your eyes toward the
object? the same goes for all other senses including the mind. So you try to
see, hear feel, smell, taste and think in the inner space, this inverts the
senses.
Once
you have succeeded in making the senses stabilize on the inner space in a
unified way (this takes a fair amount of practice) there is a point at which
they sort of lock onto the inner space as reality, instead of the outer. The
cosmos then disappears, in both the Waking state and the Dream State. You wake
up in deep sleep as Consciousness.
Though you are asleep you are awake in the Waking and Dream State at the same time. This is the Turiya State which though it is said to be a fourth state it is not, because it contains all other states.