inverting the senses

Inverting The Senses ------------------------------

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, (asa 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", wewould find it impossible because of the countless possible permutations of that subtle "I" which come into being upon the moment ofperception; 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 forthsome effort to meditate upon something the whole Cosmos (Maya) comes into existent to support the existence of effort and the oneperforming 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 orcontrol 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 (thewheel 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 tounderstand 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 andcauses effects again. There are reactions to our trying or even thinking of trying. The trick therefore is to learn to let the mind'sreactions 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 themillions of messages, which arrive due to perception generated from the senses etc. but this goes on automatically beneath thenormal threshold of awareness.

However if we understand that perception is always of the mind and senses, and knowing that, then turn the attention we normallyplace 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 andits 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 placedupon what is seen in the minds eye, via perception. This sounds like a contradiction but it is not, because the inversion of the attentioncauses 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 todefine 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 idealor 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. Thisis nothing short of saying place your attention on anything but the mind, thoughts or ones 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

Inverting The Senses

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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 rightthere.

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 oftrying.

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, elseif you deny the body , you are only causing it to fight you, and demand attention when you want to be meditating. If you follow thisadvice 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 noawareness 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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 seethem in what they wrongly imagine is an ungraceful attitude. Also in order to fully relax the mind one must stop thinking about grace andindeed 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 variouscontrols and "nerve centres" which make up your body. Then when you want to relax, tell these people that the factory is being shutdown, tell them that your present desire is that they leave you, that they "shut down" their machines and their "nerve centres" and goaway 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 yournerves 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 yourmind.

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, withoutfeeling even, for these little people are the ones who make your machinery work, the ones who feed the relay stations and the nervecentres.

Your arms and legs, then, will be not precisely numb, but without any feeling of tenseness, without any feeling oftiredness. 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! Gazeupon them in your imagination for a few moments, let your gaze encompass all of them, then firmly, confidently, tell them to get off, tellthem 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 theworkers 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 NewYork or Moscow--imagine them all leaving the city at once and going out into the suburbs. Think of elevator load after elevator loadtaking 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 fewmoments while you breathe slowly, steadily, then dismiss those thoughts in much the same way as your dismissed your "factoryworkers".

Step 2.

How to Concentrate the Prana in the Head---------------------------------------------------------

Warning! Do not attempt this if you have any form of respiratory disorder.

Note: It is not necessary to stress yourself very much when employing this technique.

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.

RememberWorrying about perfecting various positions or asanas as for Hatha or Ashtanga Yoga etc. is not particularly necessary, as you canget 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, eatsomething, 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. Thishelps 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 youallow yourself to exhale. Count slowly to 5 in the format of 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 takein new air count slowly to 5 in the format of 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 breathleaves your body. When you have emptied your lungs, you maintain the lungs in an empty state until you need to breathe. (You inhalesix 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 throwyour attention upward and outward in every direction through the top of your head. Allow the attention to rush out on the power of thebreath as you expel as much air as you can. As the attention leaves the head area picture yourself as merely awareness without formexpanding 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 isno 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 theawareness 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 notinclude 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 somethingyou direct your eyes toward the object? the same goes for all other senses including the mind. So you try to see, hear feel, smell, tasteand 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 theWaking 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 issaid to be a fourth state it is not, because it contains all other states.



Warning! Do not attempt this if you have any form of respiratory disorder.Note: It is not necessary to stress yourself very much when employing this technique.

inverting the senses

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