Vision Pratyahar – Elementary Practice

This is done preferably in a dark place with a blindfold. If possible, the top of the head and the eyes must be covered with a dark fabric. Every distraction should be avoided. The skull is such that sunlight penetrates it. Therefore, if possible, the skill should be covered but with a dark fabric.

Pratyahar is a vast practice which takes many years, if not lifetimes to master. Usually, methods given by teachers are either partial processes or bits and pieces of the required effort. This instruction concerns only the vision tendence which a coreSelf has. In that respect it is only an elementary stage of the practice.

The mistake yogis make in doing pratyahar, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi is that they feel they can master it in no time. They are not prepared to spend years doing any practice which is just part of a discipline and not all of it. This attitude causes many students of yoga to be mediocre.

The psyche of the atma coreSelf is designed for expression mostly. This is because this existence is about procuring sensual fulfillment. It is a go, get and consume apparatus, but it is a psychic something. It is complicated. The atma coreSelf did not put his psyche together. He/She just realized himself/herself as a being with the psyche. At the spur of the moment, he/she operated the psyche. But it did so haphazardly because it was not pretrained. Imagine what it would be like, if you wake up to find yourself to be the only person in a jet aircraft. There are no instructions. There is no senior pilot on board. No stewardess. No one but yourself,

You realize that you are in danger because the aircraft may crash. In fact, it will crash. That is unavoidable because the fuel tank cannot be refilled in space. You have to figure how to land the machine. You must find a long runway. “First things first,” you think.

You decided that it is best to slow the aircraft. At its highest speed, it has the least gas efficiency. You need time. The only way to increase that is to cause the aircraft to fly at a slower speed. If that is done, you can search for the manual. You can use the radio to broadcast and reach a technician somewhere.

Undoubtedly the plane will crash because the probability of your finding a runway, and learning how to use the controls, is not in your favor. This is your predicament. Anxiety! Why?

Because we are not in control. We discovered ourselves as bodies, fragile perishable things, with a mind and with little explanation about how we came to be.

With this understanding an attempt is made to slow the aircraft, find a runway, have a clear instruction from the manual on how to land the plane. Will it be a failure?

That does not matter. The important thing is to make the effort.

First you need a blindfold. There is no point in looking out a window because there are dark clouds in every direction. These will not permit your vision to be of any use.

Get the blindfold installed on your head and face. Since you cannot see because of the clouds of dark energy, it is best to close down the seeing facility.

Install the blindfold. Sit down comfortably. Close the door to the pilot’s cabin up front. There are too many lights there which will distract you. Be in the middle of the aircraft. With the eyes closed identify the impulse for seeing. That impulse is in your head somewhere. Find it. Pull it back to the center of the head, the center of the energy in the mental space.

If you find that this energy resists your desire to pull it back, do not be alarmed. Keep a pressure on it, pulling it back to the center. If you hear a whistling sound in the back of the aircraft, do not worry about it. Note it. There is a name for this whistling sound. It is called naad. Be aware of it. Keep your activity energy pulling back the optic force which usually runs through the eyeballs. Pull this energy back to the center.

Do that practice until you feel that the optic energy no longer courses outwards to see something, to see anything outside of the body.

That is the elementary stage of vision pratyahar. How long will it take? This could take for as much time as it would for the aircraft to use all stored fuel. Or it may happen in a short time. Keep practicing this on and on, day after day, until the plane crashes or until you master this and can continue to the next stage.