Yoga Of Inner Light And Sound

Author(s): Achyutanand Swami, Praveshkumar Singh
Publisher: Santmat Sangh Samiti Chandrapur

Page 37

Learn the Tact of Bindu Dhyān from a True Guru!
While teaching how to do bindu dhyān Lord Shri Krishna instructs, in the Sixth Chapter of Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, to keep the trunk, neck and head in one straight line and to look in front of the nose without looking in any of the directions. He also teaches Uddhava similarly, in Shrimad Bhagvat (Canto 11, Chapter 14), to sit straight, erect and comfortably on a level seat and still the sight in front of the nose. Shandilya Upanishad, Chapter 1, too, advises accordingly:
"A wise person should keep his neck & head erect, look in front of the nose and the centre of the two eyebrows and sip the elixir, through his inner eyes, from the moon that is seen by practising thus."
Our most adorable Gurudev, Maharshi Mehi Paramhans Ji Paramhans, has also uttered:
"Sit on a pure 'Asana' (small piece of mat, carpet, cloth or woollen sheet etc.) with your back, neck and head held in a straight (vertical) line. Then keeping your mouth and eyes shut, internally chant the name of the deity you worship (or Guru), and internally visualise the form of your (Guru or) desired deity. By doing so regularly, with loving devotion & perseverance, the mind gradually gets purified.
That is, the practiser should sit in a comfortable posture holding his body, neck and head motionless in a straight line, shut his mouth and eyes, and first practise mānas japa (mentally reciting or chanting-without using or moving the lips or the tongue - the sacred mantra, given by the Guru, repeatedly with the fullest attention & alertness). This should be followed by mānasa dhyān (fixedly gazing at the imagined form of the Guru within us, keeping our eyes closed). Practising thus regularly & with sincere love, the mind gets purified.
The mind is, by its very nature, fickle and prone to frequently straying from mānasa japa and mānasa dhyān. If that happens while meditating, it should be immediately brought back to focus on its due target. Thus perseveringly practising pratyāhāra (the process of applying the mind back, again and again, every time it drifts away, to the selected target), the mind slowly gains in strength and is able to hold or stick to its goal. With the mind getting focussed thus, the inner current, the current of light, is subsequently easy to grasp, facilitating the journey ahead. This is why, Gurudev (Maharshi Mehi Paramhans Ji Maharaj) has said:
"The mind (while trying to focus it on a fixed target) often strays to numerous other thoughts. In all such cases when the mind wanders away from the target (as soon as its flight to objects or subjects other than the target is realised), immediately... Bring it back, again and again, and focus it on your target. Thus practising the 'pratyahāra' (the process or practice of repeatedly bringing the mind back to focus on its target every time it strays), acquire the state of 'dhāranā! (the state of mind staying focused on the target for a short duration).