A single note, a single image, a single wordâand the soul remembers itself. Meditation can lead us there step by step, or life can open the sky in an instant. This piece maps both doorsâClosed-Eye and Tratakaâand shows how the living Current carries awareness toward Samadhi and the Bliss beyond.
Q: What are the essential techniques of Closed-Eye Meditation?
A: Sit stable and upright (floor or chair), spine easy and tall. Let the eyes close softly. Breathe naturally or slightly deepened to settle. Place attention on a simple anchorâbreath, mantra, heart center, or third eyeâor rest as pure witnessing. The method is withdrawal from outer input toward subtler mental quiet, allowing awareness to notice itself.
Q: What happens to mind and body in Closed-Eye practice?
A: Sensory load drops; mental chatter thins. Attention moves from beta noise toward quieter, receptive states; parasympathetic tone rises, breath and heart rate slow, tension unwinds. Subconscious material may surface and dissolve in the widened space.
Q: How does Closed-Eye work toward Samadhi?
A: Repeated Pratyahara (sense-withdrawal) stills fluctuations. Dharana (steady attention) ripens into Dhyana(effortless absorption). When subject, object, and knowing unify, Samadhi dawnsâfirst with subtle form (Savikalpa), then beyond all form (Nirvikalpa).
Q: What are the essential techniques of Open-Eye Trataka?
A: Sit the same way, but keep the eyes gently open. Fix your gaze on a single pointâa candle flame, dot, icon, or the moon. Donât blink if possible; allow tears naturally. Stages: (1) External Tratakaâunbroken gaze on the object; (2) Internal Tratakaâclose the eyes and hold the afterimage at the brow center (Ajna).
Q: What happens to mind and body in Trataka?
A: The visual anchor concentrates attention quickly, burning through restlessness. Alert stillness replaces dispersion; ocular muscles strengthen; neural circuits of focus refine. Tears may cleanse and settle the system.
Q: How does Trataka move toward Samadhi?
A: The unwavering gaze makes Dharana nearly automatic. When the outer form fades into inner afterimage, attention turns inward; Dhyana can arise spontaneously. Absorption in inner light parallels Savikalpa, which may open into Nirvikalpa as even the inner image dissolves.
Q: Can you show the progression to Samadhi for both practicesâside by side?
A: Yesâthink of two doors, one destination:
- Entry: Closed-Eye withdraws immediately; Trataka steadies on a single point.
- Pratyahara: Closed-Eye quiets by reducing input; Trataka quiets by narrowing to one object.
- Dharana: Closed-Eye sustains inward focus; Trataka locks attention through the gaze.
- Dhyana: In both, effort fades and absorption carries itself.
- Samadhi: Both pass through union-with-form â union-beyond-form.
Q: What is Merrell-Wolffâs âCurrent,â and where does it appear in this map?
A: The Current is the living hum of awarenessâfelt as a fine, luminous vibratory presence. It is not a single stage but a thread through all stages: a flicker at first during brief pauses, a steady undercurrent as concentration stabilizes, and finally the very medium of consciousness in absorption. At realization, the Current and pure awareness are not two.
Q: How does the Current show up outside formal meditation?
A: In the midst of daily lifeâwalking, listening, workingâyou may notice an uncaused âriverâ of presence. Thatâs the same Current recognized without ritual entry. As recognition stabilizes, it becomes Sahaja (natural, unbroken).
Q: Why do certain music, art, or inspired words trigger chest expansion and tears?
A: Outer pattern meets your inner signatureâlike tuning forks synchronizing. The heart center (Anahata) opens; resistance drops; the Current surges. Tears flow as somatic overflow when the finite system meets infinite truthârecognition more than emotion.
Q: Is this the Bliss (Ananda) of the ancient texts?
A: YesâAnanda is not ordinary pleasure but Being recognizing itself. Your tears, warmth, and vibration are the body-mindâs translation of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss) breaking through.
Q: Why can these moments feel even larger than deep meditation?
A: They bypass the staircase and open a skylightâconsciousness-with-an-object thatâs utterly transparent to the Absolute. Itâs intoxicating precisely because the timeless and the temporal are felt simultaneously.
Q: Map the real-time sequence of a Bliss-Current recognition so I can recognize and remain in it.
A:
- Contact: Sound/image/word strikes resonance before thought names it.
- Lock-In: Heart widens; breath softens; Current moves through the whole field.
- Overflow: Tears and vibration release the âtoo-muchnessâ of reality.
- Expansion: âMe-in-a-bodyâ yields to limitless field in which the stimulus arises.
- Stabilization: Do not grasp the cause; rest in the Current itself.
- Samadhi Threshold: Stay with the Current (form-based union); if the object fades and only awareness remains, formless union shines. With repetition, this matures as Sahaja.
Q: How do I train both doors while honoring the Current?
A:
- Closed-Eye: Short, consistent sits; emphasize relaxed uprightness; privilege noticing over fixing.
- Trataka: Modest durations (1â5 min gaze â inner afterimage); stop before strain; let tears be.
- Daily Life: Micro-pausesâfeel the Current for a breath at thresholds (doorways, page turns, between songs).
- Integration: After any peak (music/art/word), remain still for 60â120 seconds without seeking another hit. Let the Current own the moment.
When the Heart Overflows with the Soundless Music
A single note, a single image, a single word â and the soul remembers itself. What follows is not emotion alone, but the very pulse of eternity surging through the heart, carrying awareness to the threshold of the Infinite.
Q: Why does a certain piece of music, a painting, or a spoken phrase sometimes bring me to tears, filling my chest with vibration and an unexplainable joy?
A: Because in that moment, the outer world and your innermost being are vibrating in perfect unison. The music, the image, the word â they are not creating the Current; they are revealing what has been flowing in you all along.
Q: What exactly is this Current?
A: It is the living hum of consciousness itself â the Bliss (Ananda) that ancient texts place alongside Being (Sat) and Awareness (Chit). It is self-existent, without beginning or end, and it can be felt as a fine, luminous vibration moving through your entire field of awareness.
Q: Why does it feel so physical â in my chest, my breath, my tears?
A: The heart is where the finite and infinite meet. When recognition strikes, the subtle bodyâs Anahata center widens, flooding the chest with energy. Breath slows, sometimes pauses. Tears flow not from sadness but from the impossibility of containing so much reality at once.
Q: Why does this feel even more intense than deep meditation?
A: Meditation often climbs a gradual staircase to stillness. These moments are more like a lightning strike â the stimulus bypasses all resistance and opens the sky instantly. You are in the world and in the timeless at once.
Q: Is this Bliss?
A: Yes â but Bliss here is not pleasure in the ordinary sense. It is the joy of Being meeting itself without any barrier. The tears, the vibration, the chest expansion â these are the bodyâs translations of that meeting.
Q: Can these moments lead to Samadhi?
A: They are already partial Samadhi. While the music, art, or word remains, you are in a form-based union (Savikalpa Samadhi). If you remain in the Current after the object dissolves, you cross into the formless union (Nirvikalpa Samadhi). With recognition and trust, this Current can become your constant state â the effortless Sahaja Samadhi of the realized.
Q: How can I stay in it longer?
A: The key is not to grasp at the cause. Rest in the Current itself. Let the tears come, let the vibration expand, and know that the Bliss you feel is not dependent on the object. The music is only the doorway; the Current is the home.
Addendum: A Quiet Word for the Threshold
What arrives as vibration is simply Being remembering it is whole. Whether through the discipline of a steady gaze or the mercy of a single note, the Current asks nothing but this: do not turn away. If you can remain for one more breath than habit, the doorway becomes a home.
Resources:
- Franklin Merrell-Wolff, The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
- The Buddha, Satipatthana Sutta (Foundations of Mindfulness)
- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are
Numinous Waves 