Click to read notes on DRIFT WATCHING

Time and again in our search and endeavour on the path, we come across a wall. On the wall is written," beyond the threshold of your awareness". If this be so, then we cannot consciously proceed or carry out any process or technique if the sequence therein or linkages therein are, "outside or beyond the threshold of awareness".

There are processes that we have no reason to or wish to interfere with, like the processes carried out by the upkeep area of the brain to maintain our body/brain system and keep it fairly healthy. But when it comes to our thinking process we should and must be fully aware of all the phases connected with learning, unlearning and re- educating; especially the most important and damaging aspect viz.: negative diagrams percolating into our body/brain system and their conscious recall and re-education.

Under such circumstances we again find that certain communications or linkages we are (normally) not aware of and they seem to be " beyond the threshold of our awareness"; though from experience we know that such communications or linkages do exist and take place, say between the thinking instrument area and a point inside the up-keep area of the brain; when we notice that certain bad news create immediate and even serious pathological disturbances over an otherwise healthy normal person.

  So it finally amounts to refining and upgrading our awareness; because awareness is an energy and so has three basic qualities of tamas, rajas, sattava i.e. inertia and passion, wild emotions and intellectual content. If you observe properly, all life is awareness in action. For such basic and important factor we are doing nothing to improve and upgrade. Depending on this code, structure and spectrum of our awareness will be the quality of our life and based on the grade of our awareness i.e.passive or low to active or high to very high leading to pure awareness state will depend on the quality of life also -this is inner evolution and does not depend on the outer evolution which science has helped to advance.

Outer evolution is not keeping step with this inner evolution. Without this inner evolution man will become even worse than he is to-day. The majority today are man and woman the animal in human form. Please note that tamas and rajas i.e. non-refined sex and emotions form the explosive energy of sensitiveness that explodes time and again and will ultimately ruin an individual. So if we are ready with refinement of awareness then only we can proceed to up-grade awareness. Nature has so designed that without refining awareness, it can never be up-graded and all attempts to upgrade will be frustrated.

The necessary steps for refining are:

A) DRIFT WATCHING i.e. controlling the five mechanisms that lead to hindrances of sex, anger, ego, avarice, greed, passion, possessiveness i.e. change our false magnetic point.

B) CORRECTIVE EXERCISES i.e. introduce corrective methods.

C) REFINING EXERCISES i.e. daily practice the six vital exercises for breaking down emotional granthis formed in various parts of the body system.

D) 3 STEP RHYTHMIC BREATHING i.e.practice as much as possible three step rhythmic breathing to come to atleast eight hours a day. PLEASE do not proceed further if you are not honestly convinced that you have succeeded in refining.

Now for a little explanation before we start the up-grading practices. An incident takes place:

(A) in our time/space concept,

(B) it takes place as an experience.

Experience is the result of our awareness and the quality of our experience depends on the quality of our awareness i.e. we will miss some vital part of experience..

But out of (A) and (8) all of us are aware of time/space registration and as memory repeat what happened for we cannot remain in the state of experience for more than a fraction of a moment: because we have never consciously tried. Whenever we are held in experience for a longer duration than a fraction of a moment, we find that we are lost to the immediate world around us for that duration.

Even in life's flashback of events reminded to us by a statement or by some occurrences, we tend to get lost for a moment or moments. This does mean in away going back into the past and recalling emotional debris!

But if we can do this as if seeing in the mind's eye, after recalling the emotional debris and being not involved, but let it run out of the body/brain system harmlessly it would be very helpful in our progress. If one is not involved in both the cases, via: (A) whenever emotional debris is recalled at the registration area or (B) when fresh in-coming impulses loaded with near identical memory patterns come to the registration area, one is able to throw out whatever that has reached the registration area and it would be most desirable. To be able to do this is not possible normal. To say it is very difficult is to out it mindly. So we need some technique to upgrade our awareness. But this must be done after refining awareness. Nothing can stand in the way of a person who has refined and properly upgraded awareness!

The technique which will now be shown is a beautiful exhilarating practice and once a little mastery is had will lead to X-ray eyes that will be able to see thoughts and motives. incoming impulses and memory gat terns. and through opaque objects and much more, because awareness has been refined and upgraded and so will become penetrative. But to avoid frustration please refine awareness.  

NOTE : The brain has to accept a humble attitude and no dramatics, no trespass into anyone's privacy except with the honest purpose to study and help. If this promise is kept, progress will be deep and very satisfying.

Because up-grading of awareness is like giving nuclear arms in the hands of an undeveloped nation, such practices were never put on paper. Please co-operate with us and promise to refine awareness and never to put new found powers to wrong use.

So an incident occurs and when experiencing one gets lost to immediate surroundings for a fraction of a moment because awareness functions at , low level. Now we begin. We take aid of (for the time being) a prism till certain progress is made; after which we shall need nothing. Please do not talk of a crystal ball and such other devices used with certain motives. On the contrary avoid them.  

Step 1  

Spread a clean white handkerchief on a table cleared of all other objects which would distract attention. Keep the prism on the handkerchief standing and not on its side, take a comfortable sitting position and look from above into the prism for a period of 5 minutes. Do not strain or stare, just look into the prism. Place remember; no thoughts, no motives, no expectations, no fears, no doubts, no hopes and no excitement of any sort. Be honest and do not let your imagination run wild from the first day. To 1acilitate close watching the face may rest on the palms, the elbows on the table. In three to six months of practice the prism will disappear from sight. Do not be disappointed if nothing happens day after day. Initially, as soon as one looks at the prism one becomes aware of drifts, since watching the prism is really watching oneself with the aid of a neutral object. In the beginning, there will be some reactions and responses to the memory - associated impulses, but these will gradually disappear leading to attention that is steady and silent. Understand that the prism disappearing is not the purpose of this practice; the purpose is to just look into the prism. Whenever you are successful in the first step the prism will disappear from your sight and only the handkerchief will remain, but within a moment the prism will reappear. Do not be disappointed because some disturbance of some sort is still there in your thinking instrument.

When there is a clear and undisturbed linkage of the (1) thinking instrument and (2) the point inside the upkeep area of the brain, prism will disappear for as long a time as you will be able to maintain the linkage undisturbed. During the practice of the 1st  step you will not be aware of your immediate . surroundings. Do not even try to be aware of the surroundings.

What is the purpose of the 1st step?  

1) To so train the thinking instrument that it does not interfere with the up-keep area of the brain nor,

2) At the same time, though it receives continuously the incoming impulses which pullout near identical memory patterns, it just does not pay any attention to any of them and lack of attention will stop the I.E.S.M. centers from functioning so that the incoming impulses and memory patterns flow out of the system without being developed or registered.

NOTE : Attention links the thinking instrument to the self-mind automatically and Itself mind thus involved operates the I.E.S.M. centers and does not remain a mere catalyst. This means that indirectly the thinking instrument has the ability to bring about or not of the functioning of the I.E.S.M. centers.

If the prism remains invisible for say ten seconds, which is a measure of success, continue practicing until the duration reaches one or two minutes then go over to the second step i.e. after obtaining the ten second duration. Do not be over anxious and do not practice these steps unless refining exercises have been done earlier.

  Step 2  

Now spread the handkerchief on the floor with the prism on it, and instead of sitting in a chair, stand or lean leisurely against a wall and just look at the prism for 5 minutes. If short -sighted, sit in a chair instead of standing. In six months of practice, the prism will disappear form sight. Here too, you will not be aware of the immediate surrounding.

If the prism remains invisible for say ten seconds, which is a measure of success, continue practicing until duration reaches one to two minutes before going on to step three.

You are lucky if the 1st step is. possible within six months of your daily training. You are more lucky if the 2nd step is possible within the next six months. Later on in life you should be able to maintain this posture of the thinking instrument when walking along the road inspite of all disturbances in your normal life.

Step 3

Spread the handkerchief on the table with the prism on it. Stand nearby, a foot away from the table, and in that position be aware of all that can be seen other than the prism. The prism must disappear from sight, yet all else around it that can be seen” should remain visible at the same time. Both the standing position and the look are fixed. Do not move the eyeballs. Try to get a measure of success of duration ten seconds and continue practicing until the duration extends to one or two minutes.

Step 4

Stand 3 feets from a window and look out of it. What you see outside the window is one picture, what you see of the room is another picture. Now continue to just look (not stare) out of the window till you see nothing -the view disappears completely and it will be like seeing the sky. In the initial stages the room picture 'Nill also disappear, but one must remain aware of it. Do not. move your eyeballs. It may also happen that either of the picture will disappear and come into view again. The window picture must disappear and the room picture be clearly seen at the same time. Get a measure of success, of duration 20 seconds, and continue practicing until the duration extends to 1 or 2 minutes.

  Step 5

Walk on the footpath. Look in front of you and walk as if you are walking through a narrow passage 4 feet wide and 8 feet high (more or Jess) which is visible in front of you. The rest is like sky all around -it must disappear totally from your vision, yet all life in the passage in front of you for say 50 yards be clearly seen. Get a measure of success, of duration 30 seconds, and continue practicing until the duration extends .to 1 or 2 minutes.

When you are through with all the 5 steps and have honestly succeeded in getting a measure of success with each, your thinking instrument will be finely -tuned, well trained one capable of forming and maintaining inner linkages. Your awareness has been refined and upgraded and made penetrative. If you can go so far and honestly (but after refining of awareness) you will be able to hear the nearest whisper at a distance, smell from a distance and will be able to taste without putting anything to your tongue. Besides, you will be ready for higher practices of scientific yoga. For your answers to Questions and problems either for yourself or others, the normal thinking process is now not needed. 

DRIFTS AND HABIT WATCHING 

"Mind and thinking -and how both Drift?"
Experience says that while engaged in thinking we have our main subject, but off and on we go off the track into other disconnected subjects or processes. Such processes are called drifts or drifting from the main subject. There are two intensities of drifts; (A) Controllable and (B) Uncontrollable or unrecognized.

A) Whenever we drift from the main subject, but in the midst of adrift realise that we nave drifted and so come back to the main subject.

B) Whenever we drift from the main subject, and are not aware that we have drifted and further drift into some other disconnected subject till we end on a subject so different that we are even unable to trace the main subject or the in between drifts.  

Both (A) and (B) can take place when an individual is thinking or rather is engaged in the process of thinking or even this can happen when a group of people are engaged in light conversation. In the scriptures is an interesting though a simple story illustrating 1his drift of the mind and the great difficulty or preventing a drift from becoming the main subject; the main subject quite forgotten or put aside.  

One day sage Narada and Lord Krishna were passing over the holy Ganges river and were discussing about man on Earth. The sage said, "Lord, the only thing that I cannot understand is, how and why so easily does this poor creature man fall into the snares of illusion. If he can only keep his mind on one subject and not drift, i.e. have one subject -God the Divine being, there is no chance for him to go astray and take such ages to be enlightened. Lord said, "Yes, Narada, if they C3n see the stars or the sky or as you see, so clearly and if their minds were as steady as yours is, perhaps they may be able to avoid the snares of illusion. But let the poor man go his way, for as I see the holy Ganges below, I would like to have a cup of water from this cool and refreshing holy river. Can you oblige me?"

The story goes on to say that sage Narada came down to the 'banks of the river Ganges with the purpose of fetching some water when he saw a young girl. Though beautiful, she could have no influence over the sage, but she started discussions on the subject of life, death, immortality and the Divine Being. Who could know more than the sage Narada and yet she spoke so convincingly that even Narada found it difficult to match her great wisdom. The sage was anxious to know who this young sage was. He spent a long time discussing with her and the cup with the Ganges water in hand; he completely lost sight of the fact that Lord Krishna was waiting for him and about his purpose in coming down below on the banks of the river Ganges. The young girl then once again took the form of Lord Krishna. Sage Narada bowed his head. Lord Krishna said, 'You see Narada, even after seeing and knowing the divine being, it is possible to forget the purpose, and mind however steady like yours, drifts from the contemplation of the main subject -then how much more difficult it should be for these mortals down below, who thought they know not well their purpose as you do, drift away and completely forget it."

  The great sage Patanjali very rightly said that if a man can bring his mind again and again to the main subject, whatever the subject may be and keep the mind for a moment on the main subject then that could be called the beginning of concentration.

A human being is both, the computerised organism as well as Transcendence itself, being a fragment of Transcendence. Transcendence is the highest aspect of God and these two aspects must remain in communication, only then is one a whole human being. Normally, though one functions as the computerised organism only. There is no harm in functioning as one, but in that case the various. lesser computers that are installed to work in conjunction to create the splendid computerised organism should all be set right for they are not functioning properly. .The proof? Are you free from brooding and/or day dreaming? Are you free from emotions? are you free from impulse/response type of thinking and living? Are you free from inner dialogue between your various centers? Are you free from frequent and unwanted drifts? If you are free from these then your thinking instrument is educated.

The mechanisms of brooding and/or day dreaming are the video games of ; the human brain and have done enormous harm to whole of humanity. These games repeat whether we want them to or not, and create fear, doubt and anger. The drift very ably supports both mechanisms mechanism which depends on incoming impulses that enter haphazardly and at random, and so are drifts. These drifts serve as hooks and we are caught on it.

Yet, in accordance with the law of nature, individual structure will, like a magnet, draw in certain incoming impulses. If two persons are walking together along both will invite completely different series depends on individual interest', but it is d each of them, which has been formed and over past ages.

Should we not watch our mind., our heart, our eyes, our tongues, our hands and or feet from drifting? Can we top this drifting? Is there a method? Is any price too high to achieve this one success -the control of the tendency to drift.

1) Make a note of various drifts that are noticed when you walk down the street. If an honest and correct registration of the drifts is made . and analyzed, the structure and the spectrum of the person is gradually revealed. Do this over a period of few weeks.

2) For another practice take up any subject for study. While on it the mind (brain) will keep drifting, so put your mind to the feeling of the sensation of breath in the nostril. Keep to this exercise for five minutes daily over a period of a few weeks, and note where the mind (brain) drifts on each occasion. Note as many drifts as possible and group or classify them.

3) For some weeks, spend ten minutes daily on the following exercises. Let your mind (brain) roam freely and make no attempt to control it, allowing it to drift from one thing to another. Once again make a short list of the drifts observed in order of maximum repetitions. If you study the lists made from time to time it will come to you as a revelation as to what are your aspirations, fears, and doubts, wl1ether you tend to be intellectual or emotional, whether sex center is very strong or suppressed, whether you are. superstitious or falsely religious, whether angry or hurt often, or secretly envious or jealous of someone, or afraid of someone or something, or some sort of unknown fear is dogging you. Do this and observe over a sufficient period of time. Do not be connived in advance that you are suffering only from such and such drift and emotion -study yourself! Every time prepare a short list of the most recurring drifts in order of importance.  

It will not surprise you to know that an average human being spends 75% of his waking and sleeping time in brooding and/or dreaming. Both awake and sleep states are therefore only dream states -so one is never awake really. In order to correct the magnetic point created by each individual over the past ages we shall follow the corrective methods. As it is corrected, the incoming impulses that are drawn in will also change and day dreaming and/or brooding will lessen. As you will be less and less oppressed by these mechanism, the chemical reactions that were earlier generated will alter also and health will show definite signs of improvement. Our body is a chemical factory where take place. Health -physical, emotional and psychic -is. dependent on fear, doubt and anger.

4) Now for some weeks note the habit mechanism: how many times daily you express, or want to express, some particular type of thoughts or how many time is you mechanically do a thing you had not actually wanted to do. Again, the magnetic point sharpened by your false structure is behind this. Over a period of time make a short list in order of most frequent occurrences: based on this we shall introduce corrective methods. By these methods we want to check what data is fed daily into our computerised organism which, however sophisticated, can only work by the useless data fed. It does not matter if it is religious or philosophical -if it keeps you in the past or in the future and oppresses you with fear, doubt and anger and brings about the hook, even for intellectuals, than we must feed in useful corrective data only. This is the practical work we have to do when deal with our computerised organism and our own brain.  

Whenever you make a list do not refer to it or memories it. Just put it aside each time. After a month or two, or even more, pullout all the lists. Group together those that are similar and separate out those that are dissimilar. If you find that the group of similar lists is much larger, then only go for the appropriate corrective exercises. Consciously understand your memory properly. This will betray your magnetic point. Be careful in your observations. There is nothing to be ashamed of. All humanity is sick, not taking into consideration chronic or psychological cases. If only we can introduce this method in schools there will be no sad cases later in life that we encounter today. We can periodically repeat in teenage and early youth stages for fresh improper data accumulated and correct the same. Every grudge, hatred, fear (known and unknown) and antisocial behavior is the expression of causes deep down; inferiority complex, aggressiveness and other syndromes all point to many silent causes. Most of these are planted very early in the child's life. If we take up this healing on war footing throughout the World, then in one or two generations we shall get signs of great improvement in human nature and health, physical, emotional and psychic.

Remember, we have to be free from all oppressions of life and death an also from fear, doubt and anger. One has to intelligently set up inner communications between re- educated computerised organism and the inner Transcendence in each individual case. If this is not done, life' purpose is not fulfilled.