Tratak, Yantra, and OM
Meditation is a very important tool in achieving mental clarity and health. Different techniques are used to help clear the mind and relax the body. One of these techniques is Tratak or steady gazing.
Tratak is a good form of concentration exercise. In this technique, you will gaze at an object or point without blinking, then you will close your eyes and try to visualize the object or point. This helps you to still your mind and focus your attention on the practice.
The Practice of Tratak
- Place the object at eye level, three feet (90 cm) away from you.
- Regulate your breathing, then gaze at the object without blinking.
- Look steadily without straining.
- After about a minute, close your eyes, keep your inner gaze steady, and visualize the object.
- When the after-image vanishes, open your eyes and repeat the process.
Yantras
Yantras are geometrical images which serve to focus the mind. Like a mantra, each Yantra has a specific mystical meaning.
OM - A Powerful Symbol
The OM symbol is usually used to focus on while practicing Tratak. To the Yoga community, there is no symbol that is more powerful than OM, as witnessed by these words from the Mandukya Upanishad: "OM: this eternal word is all; what was, what is and what shall be." In Sanskrit, the longer lower curve indicates the dream state, while the upper curve represents the waking state and the curve issuing from the center symbolized deep, dreamless sleep. The crescent shape represents the “maya”, the veil of illusion, and the dot stands for the transcendental state. When the individual spirit in man passes through the veil and rests in the transcendental state, he is liberated from the three states and their qualities.
Candle Gazing
A candle is commonly used when practicing Tratak since its image is easy to visualize when you close your eyes. When using a candle in this technique, place it in a darkened, draught-free room so you can clearly see its flame throughout the practice.
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According to ancient Indian scripyures the manifestating Word of God is Om (Aum), and, being " double in its pronunciation and triple in its essence," that it expresses every power of generation, preservation, and destruction; that is, correspondence with their Trimurti (Trinity) — Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer; " all one in different aspects
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Om is a fundamental word covering the whole phenomena of vocal utterance. As such, Swami Vivekânanda pronounces it " the natural symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds," believing that It denotes the whole range and possibility of all the words that can be made." All the religious ideas of India have been and are centered around this sacred Word.
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AUM encompasses the three states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep,the three levels of gross, subtle, causal, the three levels of conscious, unconscious, subconscious, and the three universal processes of coming, being, and going. Absolute silence beyond the three levels is the silence after AUM.
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AUM is the sound heard by Rishi Vishvamitra,and other seers during meditation.Since the sound was heaveny,and available in all the three periods of time,permanent,they unanimously called it the God itself.In the Gita also, it is said, "Omiti ekaksharam Brahma", meaning that the name of the Supreme is AUM.
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A-U-M: these three sounds are combined in it. A-U-M are three basic sounds. All sounds are made of them or derived from them; all sounds are combinations of these three sounds. So these three are basic. They are as basic as in physics the electron, neutron and proton are basic.
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'Gurdjieff says that "The Law Of The Three" is basic for the universe that we know.If we go deep we will find, we are bound to find, that everything will be reduced to three. This is "The Law Of The Three".
Christians have called it the trinity -; God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Ghost. Indians have called it TRIMURTI: the three faces of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh or Shiva. Now physics says that if we move, if we go on moving through analysis to the very base, then matter will be reduced to three: the electron, neutron and proton.
Poets have said that if we go deep in search for human aesthetic feeling, emotion, then there is SATYAM, SHIVAM, SUNDARAM -; the true, the good and the beautiful. Human feeling is based on these three. Mystics have said that if we analyze ecstasy, SAMADHI, then there is SAT-CHIT-ANANDA -; existence, consciousness and bliss.
The whole human consciousness, in whatsoever dimension it works, comes to "The Law Of The Three".'AUM is the symbol for this 'Law of The Three'.'
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"Aum is the limit as far as sound is concerned, you cannot move beyond. That is why Aum has been used so much, in India, and all over the world. The Christian-Mohammedan 'Amen' is nothing but Aum in a different form; the same basic notes are there. The English words 'omnipresent', 'omnipotent', 'omniscient' contain it: the prefix 'omni' is a derivation of Aum. So 'omnipresent' refers to that which is present in the whole of the Aum, in the whole of existence. 'Omnipotent' means that which is absolutely potent. 'Omniscient' means that which has seen the Aum, the whole, "The Law Of The Three". The whole universe comes under it.
Christians, Mohammedans, have been using after their prayers 'Amen'. But Hindus have made a complete science out of it -; the science of sound and the science of how to transcend sound."Osho
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"Intone Aum inside, and you will feel that your whole body dances with it. You will feel that your whole body is undergoing a cleansing bath; every pore is being cleansed. But as you feel it more intensely, and as it penetrates you more, go on becoming more and more slow, because the slower the sound, the deeper it can go."
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Basics & Backgrounds
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