Starting the Meditation

In these instructions, I have tried my very best to stay honorable to the earlier translations and interpretations. I have also done my best to bring the text into the language of the modern world.

I have found it best to simply work with the text as it is, rather than to assign rational meaning to it, and I encourage you to do the same. You can work with it as a visualization meditation.

After reading the text, you can use this one page tear-sheet for an easy reference to the praxis.

Prepare the space

Find a place where you will not be interrupted for fifteen minutes or so. It can be outdoors or indoors. The outdoors can be wonderful, especially if you can be close to nature. It should be as quiet as possible.

I set the alarm on my phone for 15 minutes and turn off all other notifications so I know when to come out of the quarter hour. That way, I don’t have to be troubled by an interrupting thought creeping in — How long have I been here?

Wear loose clothes or loosen your clothes so you feel less constrained. Sit. You can sit on the floor or on a chair. Keep your back naturally straight as if walking (but not tensed). This is best for the circulation of the Light to occur. Make yourself comfortable.

Prepare yourself

Spend a moment with yourself. Try and shake off the troubles of the day and the busyness of time. Still your mind. Still the heart. Get silent with yourself. It is said in the ancient tablets, “Have the body like dry wood and the heart like cooled ashes.”

Find quietude in the room and within yourself. Remember that your consciousness is not simply your mind, but all of the wonderful parts of you.

The space beyond the nose

The two founders of Buddhism and Taoism have taught that one should look towards the space just beyond the nose. What does that mean? Your nose serves the eyes as a guiding line. You are focusing your attention at one aim. This does not mean that you should go cross-eyed; rather, you are relaxing into a gaze that is very near.

All illustrations by Eugene Frost | The Closeburn Learning Trust © 2018

Observe the Light in the space. The Light is something extremely mobile. When one fixes the concentration on the near space, the Light streams in of its own accord. Don’t ask questions. Still the mind.

If one is not guided by the nose, either one opens wide the eyes and looks into the distance, so that the nose is not seen, or the lids shut too much, so that the eyes close, and again, the nose is not seen.

Stay attentive on the space between the two eyes just beyond the nose, allowing the Light to penetrate.

Breathe rhythmically, always through the nose, pulling air with the diaphragm, and exhaling through the mouth.

Eyelids half closed

Only when the eyelids are sunk properly halfway is the end of the nose seen in just the right way. Allow the Light to stream in itself, without trying to force the Light to stream in by concentrated effort. You are not doing all the work. As it is said, “You only need to allow the Light to circulate.”

Eventually, your eyes will completely shut. But do not worry about when that will happen. It will happen through the total relaxation of the body. But this is not dreamy reverie.

Looking at the nose serves only as the beginning of the inner concentration, so that the eyes are brought into the right direction for looking, and then are held to the guiding line; after that, one can let it be. Once your eyes have closed, look within at the inner Light.

Continue to breathe rhythmically through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. Later, such established rhythm will keep the breath moving.

Let the hearing power of the ear lessen. The tongue should be positioned at the roof of the mouth so that taste lessens as well.

The house between the two eyes

The light will begin to travel with the breath. As you relax, observe the “square inch of the house” that rests above the nose and upon your brow between your two eyes.

Yes, in the beginning, there is a fair amount of body architecture to recall. Like early bike riding, the fits and starts will end with practice. Soon, you will be enjoying the ride. Let your breath and the streaming Light come into your lungs and into your belly, as in the graphic:

In the ancient texts, the square inch of the house is where splendor dwells. This square inch of the house in the center of your brow is not splendor itself, but splendid is the light that inhabits it. This is known as “Heavenly Consciousness”. By tradition, this could be Buddha Consciousness. This could be Christ Consciousness. It will be the warm consciousness, in short order, that begins to flood your whole being once we contemplate the light. By secular tradition, this is the higher self (more on the biology of soul later).

In everyday life, the heart can be a trickster. The mind can overanalyze. Now, the distinct powers and aspects of self — mind, body, heart — arrange themselves under the power of the house where splendor dwells. The Light is the master. The square inch of the house is merely the dwelling place.

By this practice of observation of the square inch of the house, you are refreshing, restoring, and rebooting the light that dwells in your brow with additional and other heavenly Light. Hermann Hesse refers to his character in Siddhartha as the one with a “radiant brow.” This is most likely the pineal gland, or as Descartes would call it in the 17th century , “the seat of the soul.” In the Old Testament, when Jacob saw the face of God, he called the land “Peniel”.

As we continue through the steps in this practice, all parts of the body are washed by the Light, and become inspired by the Light. It is not only the light of peace, but the light of creativity, of imagination. As I mentioned above, “all life is a creative act”. This practice brings you to the creative energy.

Socrates and the ancient Greeks called the spirit that moves from being to being “Genius.” You were a fortunate woman or man if Genius touched you. In today’s world, you are a genius or you are not. This Light is believed to be the light of Genius, of inspiration. It is the Light of the moon and the sun and the Light that animates their movement in space.

When the Light circulates, the powers of the whole body arrange themselves before the square inch of the house. As from the ancient text, “It is as if a holy king has taken possession of the capital and has laid down the fundamental rules of order, all the states approach with tribute.”

Release the mind

As you fix your will on the space at the end of your nose to allow the Light to stream through your eyes, begin to release your mind. Let it fall beneath the house where the splendor resides.

This is most easily done by letting go of each thought as it enters your mind. Do not reflect on the thought. In this moment, nothing can be gained by that kind of reflection. Let it go. When another thought enters, let it go, too. All entanglements must be put aside. One must be supreme and independent. Soon your mind will be released into the Light, for you are no longer tethered to it by its thinking. The Buddhist traditions calls this mind the “monkey mind.”

At times, we must put the mind behind us, and certainly below us, under the dwelling place of splendor. We are bigger than our minds. The mind is only part of consciousness. There are the senses by which we become conscious, and there is body-consciousness. Too hot or too cold. Hopefully, the room or the outdoor sanctuary in which you sit is just right.

The mind is a wondrous organ. Yet, at times, we must let it rest from its constant computing, the analyzing and compartmentalizing. The controversial mystic, Osho, calls the mind “Satan.” Jesus says in the desert, “Get behind me, Satan.”