I have been meditating regularly for 2 months and every time I have different intuitive feeling what this meditation should be. Sometimes I plan to practice Hong-sau technique, but when I sit down to meditate I feel such deep joy that decide to concentrate on it instead. Sometimes I don't even feel like closing my eyes. Is it OK?
—Irina, Russia
Dear Irina,
We are very glad to hear that you are meditating regularly.
It is best to close your eyes when you are meditating and position your closed eyes, without any squinting or tension, so that you are looking at the point between your eyebrows (the spiritual eye) – it’s as though you were looking with great relaxation, at a light on top of a mountain in the distance.
It is not good to become extremely rigid about the way we practice techniques, such as Hong-sau. But still it is important to remember that Yogananda says: “It’s the discipline which brings God’s grace.”
One suggestion: always pray for help and guidance at the beginning of your meditation, followed by a practice of at least 5 minutes of Hong-sau. Then, if you are still feeling great joy, sit and enjoy that state for as long as you like.
It is very important to let this technique teach you to focus and concentrate your mind on God alone, using the mantra, and doing it exactly as Yogananda says to do it. It usually takes many years of practice to perfect a technique like this.
Always remember, however, that all meditation techniques, such as Hong-sau, are a means to an end. If you find yourself in a state of breathlessness and complete bliss and oneness with God (Samadhi) then certainly, all techniques can be discontinued at that point.
