where exactly to concentrate between the eyebrows?...the technique says you should lift ur eyes and concentrate on the middle of the eyebrows...but if i uplift my eyes and concentrate there then i am have so much pain in my head feels like my head will burst..but if i concentrate without lifting my eyes then there is no pain but there i cant concentrate any where because there is everything dark there, how can i concentrate on something where I cant see anything?
—Ambar Bandyopadhyay, Incia
Dear Friend,
If you are practicing the Hong Sau technique of meditation, the goal is that your eyes be uplifted slightly, without any strain, as though you were looking at a mountain in the distance.
In the past, Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda has taught this principle by asking people to extend their arm in front of their face, with the thumb upward and held on a level with the top of the head. Looking at the thumb of your outstretched arm in this manner will lift your eyes in a gentle comfortable way.
When a person experiences pain as a result of uplifting their eyes, it is often the result of squeezing the eyebrows together when trying to concentrate. Or they may be physically tensing the muscles while concentrating on the spiritual eye.
When we meditate and are making a conscious effort to concentrate, we are often dislodging and unseating energy that has been stagnant for some time. This can create resistance and dissonance as our ego struggles to keep everything exactly as it is. This may also explain why people sometimes feel physical and emotional pain as they begin, or try to deepen, a meditation practice. As it says in the Bhagavad Gita, there is an ongoing struggle between our upward and downward moving tendencies.
As you meditation practice becomes more regular, the pain and discomfort you are experiencing should gradually subside.
Many blessings,
Nayaswami Naidhruva
