Trataka

To keep your end in view at all times can and must be learned by means of Trataka which is the appropiate technique to do this.

Trataka means continuous gazing in Sanskrit and is one of the most important and simplest concentration exercises in yoga. Practising Trataka thus implies constant gazing at an object without closing your eyes or blinking in the meantime.

You need an object - your concentration object!

The chosen object should be simple and you should feel a spontaneous attraction towards it. The list for possible concentration objects has no limits - here are only some propositions: a black point, the sun (but please only at sunrise or sunset when the sun is still red and its light intensity on a low level), the sky, your own reflection in the mirror, somebody's eye, the darkness, the moon's reflexion in water, a crystal, a button, the picture of a beloved person, the flame of a candle...

Choose your concentration object with care and then stick to it!

Doing Trataka demands in the first place to fixate your concentration object in a relaxed and steady way. You focus completely on your object of concentration. If you notice your thoughts flying away or you are losing yourself in daydreams, turn back gently to your concentration object. If there is the slightest feeling of discomfort close your eyes immediately and stay like this for a while. Then open your eyes and repeat the exercise.

As soon as this exercise is easy to master, go to the next phase: combine the external concentration with visualisation. For that, close your eyes and concentrate on the negative image which is mostly perceptible the second you close your eyes. Or imagine the image of your concentration object like you have seen it just before. The image might appear only vaguely at the beginning but keep on practising and it will improve. The image will appear and after a while disappear - then you bring it back and it will disappear again. This will go on for a while until no image at all will be perceptible. Then open your eyes anew and start over again.

The intensification of this is to concentrate on a non-existing object. So you begin with your eyes closed and draw in (in your inner eye) the image of our concentration object - without fixating it with your open eyes in between. By practising this technique your are not only training your power of concentration but also your ability to visualise. Implicitly you improve your memory. And as a consequence your draw nearer to our original idea: keep your end in view!

What exactly does it mean to keep the end in view? How does it work?

First of all you have to have found a goal.
What do you wish for? What do you want to achieve? And above all: how do your formulate your goal?

Here the basic knowledge of goal formulation:

1.- Define your aim in a concrete an precise way. Resolve all possible W-questions in this context (e.g. clarify what you need for it and / or set a dead line for the realisation of your target if possible etc.)

2.- Pay attention to the words in the formulation of your aim: avoid all kind of comparisons and use exclusively positive wording!

3.- Do the eco-check: what are the consequences for you and others if you reach your goal?

4.- Is your goal realistic?

5.- Is your aim really desirable? Is this your heart's desire? Are you really behind it or are there inner objections?

6.- Does the realisation of the goal depend only on you?

7.- Can you measure a progress in the achievement of your goal? If possible define your goal in milestones.

Use the seven points above as a check list after you have found your aim.

And now that you have found and formulated your goal visualise yourself immediately after the achievement of your goal.

Imagine the situation as vividly as possible, project yourself right into the moment of realisation of the desired situation and try to feel the actual situation, e.g. hear the sound which accompanies this moment

• let all your senses be part of this, sink into your goal… and all the things you notice in this very moment (= the things you might see, hear, feel, smell, taste), this is the object of concentration which by means of Trataka are to be brought back and to be kept in front of your inner eye. It is of utmost importance that you focus on this vivid image and not on the way of how to get there - as there is not just one way to skin a cat.

And now, go right ahead: what is your first aim?

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