Sensory Awareness Best Concentration/Meditation
Mike Dubbeld
Mystical teaching are caught - not taught.
(Read the first paragraph before you
go on the attack about pratyahara.)
In 1974 I found a very nice little book called OM A
Guide to Meditation and Inner Tranquility. I still think highly
of this book by Frank J. Mac Hovec. I thought I would share
a few pages of it. One very peculiar thing about it is his
discussion on pratyahara. Pratyahara has nothing to do with
as
he uses it in the book. Since I will be typing it exactly
as it appears -
replace the word pratyahara with
'sensory awareness' wherever it appears.
My
comments are in brackets [ ].
THE YOGA METHOD
'Pratyahara is
sensory awareness. It means developing
your senses, sharpening them. It means tuning in or focusing
in on only one sensory aspect of a thing to the exclusion of
all else, sensing it for what it is and not for what we think it is
or want it to be. It is letting the object exist of and by itself
and to experience it for its own sake.Pratyahara is unlearning,
unconditioning, overcoming your own fixed ideaof what you
see, hear or touch. It is looking at an object and "lettingit be,"
receiving its signals in an open and receptive attitude.
You can develop pratyahara by
having a tea ceremony just
before yourmeditation. It should be a tiny cup of fragrant tea.
Jasmine or oolong isvery good. No sugar. But hot, and only
one tiny cup. Place it on your altar. Close your eyes and
concentrate on its aroma. If you can't smell it, lean closer.
Hold the cup in the fingers of both hands. Close your eyes.
Think on the cup's warmth. Place the cup to your lips but
before you drink smell the aroma again and think on it, sense
it thoroughly.Taste just a tiny sip. "Go with" the taste. How
delicate. Enjoy the pleasure of the immediate moment.
Sense the warmth on your tongue. Whenyou sip again,
sense how its warmth travels down your throat, even into
your stomach. Focus the taste on your tongue, how the
flavor is centered there.
You are surrounded in your home with
hundreds of
opportunities to develop pratyahara. There are sounds:
clocks, washers, dryers, furnaces,creaky floors, lawn
mowers, dishwashers, garbage disposals, running water,
closing doors, to name a few. There are "people sounds"
all around you. Listen not only to what they say but how
they say it, their tone of voice, the speed at which they talk,
the pauses, what they do while talking. And "nature sounds"
such as birds, rustling leaves, brooks, rain, wind. Listen.
Really listen.
Develop your sense of sight by "seeing as if for
the first
time." If a sunrise, sunset, or blue sky with clouds, is not
available to you, look a some of your clothing, the colors
of your walls, carpets, furniture. Have you really see them
before? Visit an art gallery or museum. What a feast of
images and colors.
Touch things more. Feel different textures,
tree bark,
glass, cement,leather, wool, metal, skin, hair. There is
magic in touch. Johnson and Masters have a sequential
program for married couples to teach how to sense each
other. Humanistic psychologists recommend a paired
exercisewhere one partner closes his eyes and the other
partner leads him around the room, having him touch
things and try to guess what they are. Most people who
try it learn a great deal about trust, the feel of familiar
things and how wonderful it
is to be able to see.
And what of taste ? We wolf our food. You can
develop
your sense of taste by trying foods seasoned differently.
Here again, the Hindus for centuries have been preparing
curries and chutneys. Enjoy your food. Savor it. Make it
a
kind of ceremony. Linger on the taste awhile longer.
Slow down. "Turn on" to
the taste.
There is a whole world of sensory awareness. Is it
really possible to bebored surrounded by such
excitement every day? The everyday world is full of
sensory explosions we can experience simply by
being receptive to them, simply by being an interested
spectator. Achieving pratyahara is becoming a finely
tuned receiver, studying and enjoying everything
that enters the senses, What the Buddhists
call "windows of the mind."
Practicing pratyahara means overcoming
distractions.
After all, if youtune into total sensory input, you'll have
trouble sorting them out, there are so many signals
received. It would be relatively easy to be confused by
"sensory overload." But then, you’ve been meditating
long enough to take care of that. Tune out all but one
thought or object.Become a gardener of the soul,
turning over the soft, rich, rich soil with an imaginary
spade, gently, easily. Focus on the spadeful, not the
whole garden. We sense fully only what we select.
We thoroughly sense only specific features of the
object.
Begin to sharpen your sense every day, on the job, at
home, on vacation.You can do this even at meetings, in
waiting rooms, driving to and from work. Do you ever
really look a traffic light right in the eyes? Sense the red.
Polish the senses. See, hear, smell, taste, touch!
There is a whole new world out there, waiting for you to
explore it. It is truly a great adventure, for all who have
eyes to see, ears to hear, fingers to touch. Pratyahara
is
to have a third eye, a
third ear and a third
hand.
[This leads to what I have phrased 'heaven on earth.' The
meek shall inherit the earth! Also, when we go on vacation
we break out of our subconscious habit mind and look at
things again as if for the first time - because it IS the first
time. Even when we return from vacation, the subconscious
being re-programmed in this way provides a benefit.
Sharpening the senses causes the mind to become
radically tranquil and peaceful also. Instead of losing
patience standing in line in the store or in traffic - practice
this sensory awareness on all that you see - the biggest
building, the brightest red, the biggest tree, Bluest house,
etc]
Dharana is knowing, fully knowing. Dharana is one-pointed
concentration. It is undistracted, intense involvement with
something, putting it in extremely fine focus, being totally
occupied with it. It differs from pratyahara in that dharana
uses all the senses and embraces a whole object or idea.
It
doesn't sort out the senses and embraces a whole
object or idea. It isn't
merely sensing the colors of a sunset.
It seeks to "know" the sunset, the totality of it, the identity
of it. Pratyahara means seeing, touching, feeling, smelling,
perhaps tasting, a rose (in the Middle East roses are used
for flavoring). It is appreciating the rose for specific attributes
in terms of the senses. But dharana concentrates on the rose,
all
of it. It focuses on total "roseness."
You can practice dharana using
your meditation candle.
Gaze upon it as you did in earlier meditation. Observe the
flame, its reflection on the wax at the top, how the light is
diffused just below the surface. See the waxy texture of
the candle itself, how it fits into the holder.Close your eyes
and
envision the candle. Hold the candle in your mind's
eye. Bring it to life in
your mind. Make it real in your
imagination. Know the candle, really know it.
The ancients used
flowers or fruits to develop dharana.
It's interesting to note that the world's artists do much the
same thing trying to bring to life flowers and fruits in still-life
painting. You can do the same with the oils and canvas of your
mind. An apple, an orange, banana, or pear will do nicely.
Concentrate on it. Touch it, study it closely. Use your
sharpened
senses. Then close your eyes and duplicate the
fruit in yourmind as clearly as if your eyes were open and
you were looking at it. Make it equally real with or without
your eyes being focused on it. As a close to this part of
your meditation, further your pratyahara by
experiencing the fruit --
eat it. But slowly, savoring it.
A glass of water can be your dharana
model. Through your
senses you canknow the shape and feel of the glass and the
water within it. There is the seemingly perfect circle of the
glass rim, the vertical lines of the sides, the reflection of
light from your candle. But you must graduate from sensing
to
knowing. Concentrate on the total sensory input of the
glass so that you
duplicate the glass in your mind. It is there
just as vividly as the glass you see when you open your eyes.
It
is equally real. It is "knowing" the glass.
A freshly sharpened pencil is
another good model for
dharana. Feel the eraser, the metal cap which holds it, the
smooth enameled sides, the rough texture of the wood
near the point, the sharp point itself. Does the bare wooden
section have an odor? The eraser? Study it, its parts,
the whole
pencil. Know it in part and as a whole.
Concentrate on it. Eyes closed, picture it. Make it real.
Know it.
Seeing, even appreciating a sunrise or sunset for its own
sake is pratyahara. Being "into" it, getting with it, knowing it
is dharana. As your skills improve, it will won't seem like
concentration. Its more like absorption. Total absorption.
You can achieve dharana in nature by knowing mountains,
deserts, rivers, oceans, trees, flowers, soil, the moon, stars,
sky, clouds, and so on. And if indoors, paintings and pictures
can provide the means. You will know you have achieved
dharana when the thought so permeates your mind that
nothing else comes through, and it is so vivid that it is the
same whether your eyes are open, seeing the object, or
closed and imagining it.
Dhyana is at-oneness, total absorption,
becoming. It is
transcendental consciousness, contemplation so deep
that it is impossible to separate the "you" from the "it," the
object being concentrated upon. It begins as dharana, firm,
strong, one-pointed concentration to the total exclusion of
everything but the one thought or image allowed to come
through. This involves both theintellect, conscious
concentration, and the senses, sensing what is there for its
own sake. It is factual and it is felt. It is thought
about and experienced. It thus involves total perception and
judgment, the mind and the senses. But doing this is but
the beginning
stage of dhyana.
Gradually, the intellect fades. It is no longer needed.
The
mind's eyesees the object without thinking. The mental
image exists by and of itself, focused immovably on target.
As the intellect fades so also the object and, a feeling of
well-being, of freedom, of rapture, flows. Everything flows
together. Some experience a floating feeling at this stage.
If this happens, do not be frightened by it. Go with the
feeling for it is part of the dhyanic process. It is a good sign.
Relax with it; let it come. Don't resist it, "do not push the river."
Finally, dhyana peaks in a feeling most experienced
meditators describe as "selflessness." The intellect is a
strong supporter of ego. Only the perceived, felt object
exists and you are one with it, transcending everything,
even you.
Dhyana is a mystic leap from the you to "it," the object
of
contemplation. There is no knower, only the known. And the
knower and the known are one. You are the object; the object
is you. You are absorbed totally in it. It is as if you and it are
together in a single bubble of consciousness, aware and
vibrating with identity.
Dhyana is achieved naturally, easily, by
following the
practices thus far described. All that has happened to you
up to this point has prepared you for this higher meditative
state, and the one to follow. If you have difficulty achieving
dhyana, total absorption, being one with the object, go
back and repeat all the exercises. It may be that you have
omitted something, missed something. Emphasize the
visualization of the white lotus blossom. Include
OM in your meditation. Relax. Don't strain, don't overdo.
Let if flow. It will come. Make your spirit a receptacle.
Let
the hidden spring which is in
each of us flow.
Samadhi is cosmic consciousness, Mystic Unity. It is
achieved suddenly, with a flash of insight. It has been
described like falling off an imaginary log. It is intuitive,
not intellectual. We left the intellect behind some time
ago. Samadhi can occur anywhere along the meditative
path, spontaneously. It is caught. Not taught.
Savitarka is the
beginning of samadhi. It is a feeling of
"at-oneness," of deep and natural belonging. In this
state, there are no names, no identity, just belonging,
acceptance, part of something great and powerful.
It is a feeling as if something great is about to happen,
something good, something
positive.
Gradually, you "plug in" to the total universe, to the All,
the One. There is no time anymore, no place, no cause or
effect, no concept of space except boundless infinity.
It's the biggest idea you've ever had; powerful, unifying,
uplifting, expansive. The ancients called it nirvitarka,
the
peak of the meditative experience, the zenith.
In samadhi you are
completely swallowed up in the process.
You are plugged into something truly great, to Creation itself.
It is more psychial than psychological. It is far too deep for
words to describe it. Those who have achieved it describe
it thus: "I belong to no one. No one belongs to me. I am free.
Part of something great. I am with oceans, continents,
mountains, rivers, rocks, drops of water, atoms. One in all,
all in one. One. All I am one; all is one. One with the object,
one with self, one with Self, one with nothing, one with
everything. There is no more me, no more it. There is no
knower, no known, no seer, no seen, no subject, no object,
no
good, no evil. There is only Oneness, Unity, and
I am there, everywhere,
nowhere.'
[End of OM The Yoga Method]
------------------------------------------------
[Above is what is really
meant by the Buddhist Vacuum -
unknown to most so-called Buddhists]
[It is highly likely this
little book is out of print/I have not
seen itsince 1974 and I have been to extensive bookstores
that have yoga stuff. But you never know a web search may
find something used even. I see The Peter Pauper Press
as the publisher. The whole book is 64 small pages
(half notebook size and about 8 inches high)]
[One of my favorite activities is to go down to
'The Mall' in
Washington DC which is a huge grass field lined with benches
with museums (Smithsonian) on each side. On one end is the
Lincoln Memorial and at the far end - about 2 miles is the
Capitol Building. People play soccer and Frisbee all day
every day there in between scheduled events. As well as
jogging and bicycle riding. I take my bike there from Arlington
National
Cemetery (250,000 military graves -
also where I
worked for 5 years as Security Night Manager
partime).
I plop down on a bench for several hours with my bike and
water and popcorn from the vendors selling it. I practice
sensory awareness deliberately on everything going on.
Sometimes the Hari Krishna's chant all day long there. It is
amazing how tranquil and peaceful the mind becomes from
simply sitting
in one spot for so long. And when it is time to
go, I find it hard also. Get a lot of nice sunshine also. But I
practice sensory awareness driving to work, and anytime
I move from one place toanother. Some days I look for the
bluest blue (Mondays along with water/glass/reflections)
Other days I study trees. At the end of a long day of
sensory awareness I sometimes do 'Recall Meditation'.
I try to recall backward (is easier) everything I did that day.
It takes you far doing this. It also is very effective at
developing ESP when combined with becoming consciously
conscious activities. It results in what I call 'Heaven on earth'
which is a condition of super tranquility of the mind.
Children are naturally studying everything because they do not
know yet what to 'watch out for' and proceed to dream of the
things we do as adults. They live closer to the Eternity of the
Moment and are farmore observant than us. This sensory
awareness greatly helps with concentration and meditation
and has great practical benefit instead of getting irritated by
waiting in line at a store I will study the sales posters say.
The floor - what color. What kind of ceiling? How many isles
are there? The time goes by much faster that way. Same
with being stuck in traffic - something very, very common
in
the Washington area.]
Mike
Dubbeld
Petra Malini
"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message news:b80681$bvv$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
'Pratyahara is sensory awareness.
Mike Dubbeld
(Read the first paragraph before you
go on the attack about pratyahara.)
In 1974 I found a very nice little book called OM A
Guide to Meditation and Inner Tranquility. I still think highly
of this book by Frank J. Mac Hovec. I thought I would share
a few pages of it. One very peculiar thing about it is his
discussion on pratyahara. Pratyahara has nothing to do with
as
he uses it in the book. Since I will be typing it exactly
as it appears -
replace the word pratyahara with
'sensory awareness' wherever it appears.
My
comments are in brackets [ ].
Also what the construction of the word does not say is far
more important than what it does and NO SCHOLAR
whatsoever or anyone else could possibly know what pratyahara
is at all with any amount of words.
Mike Dubbeld
"Petra Malini" <mal...@netscape.net> wrote in message news:GXRoa.5094$8K2....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
Petra Malini
"Mike Dubbeld" <mi...@erols.com> wrote in message news:b81o4t$rvu$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...