Hi,
I feel I am getting closer and closer day by day to a lasting cure, and from now on I will post mainly on my blog (at the bottom).
A couple of days after my last flash, I started to think of what is going on, why does vision get better and why does it get worse, after playing cat and mouse for, far too long I need to know what is happening and why, How does a thought of knowing I had my vision bring so much improvement and mental focus. And so it clicked within a few days and day by day my understanding is growing. For the first time I am beginning to consciously get into a few days flash, instead of slipping into it without realising what is going on, like my previous other times.
Has anyone noticed that when sitting relaxed with the eyes closed, then suddenly a loud noise or a sudden knock at your door disrupts the relaxation, and something comes forward in your head, Or maybe when palming for long periods of time and then slowly taking your hands away, in both of these times something comes forward in your head which was previously relaxed and calm at the back. I believe in both occasions a percentage of the attention went from the mind and was swiftly placed on the eyes. As though every thought is coming from the wrong place.
So the big question is how does one think closer and closer to where you imagine from? And in doing so, keep the attention effortlessly forever alive, with each and every natural thought.
Consider the two statements
I donât know
I know that I donât know
Or
state your age incorrectly
Then state your age correctly
If stated with meaning the second of both cases should bring the thought deeper in the mind, and further back. And acceptance, truth, to know, or acknowledge is at the back while rejecting, falsehood to not know, confused or puzzled etc, brings the thoughts to the front.
This fraction of a change in mindset at first is considered fruitless, however this is the key to what bates is speaking of and this changes the vision greatly after a very short time if applied in every situation.
And I came to realise my previous long flashes months ago, where a result of knowing I was happy, or knowing my every movement, and so the vision always stuck for many days without me realising what actually was going on.
Simply know what you are doing, Every thought can be split into two categories wrong or right, and every wrong thought can be fixed very easily.
An example.. when angry or upset, know that you are, keep your control, know what you are doing, the vision should stay, I used to lose all of my progress at stressful times before but now with this I lose less than before, and soon after, it comes back most of the time.
A diffused person does things without properly knowing what he is doing.
At times it can put a person in a power full state in which the increased vision gets stuck for days, no matter what you do, as the thoughts are fixed and so vision stays for as long as the person knows it will or knows what he is doing and in doing so he keeps his mental control. Perhaps bates told his patients that the increased vision (of 20/20) will stay for good, as if they firmly knew it, then it would.
If the mind becomes weaker simply repeat to yourself your name and age truthfully. And know it is nothing physical that you are trying to do with your mind, so donât attempt to hold the right thought in place in your mind, or force a thought anywhere, this will not work, as this was not what brought it here, just simply carry on your thoughts normally and naturally.
Happiness causes the thoughts to align to the back also, however to remain happy forever is impossible. But to simply know that you are sad/upset also aligns the thoughts and is easier to keep and use in all situations. To know is to accept and keep focused, to not know causes the person to lose his mental control or to lose focus of the mind.
Most of my normal thoughts (when not in a flash) are in the same way as negative ones, (I am speaking of myself). But when in a long flash my thoughts are corrected a little and so the harms of thinking deeply was lessened.
Once the thoughts are somewhat better it doesnât need to be consciously maintained. Unless strain begins to creep back in somewhere, again it starts with a wrong thought.
I believe every exercise, like palming, imagining etc.. Is an attempt to align the thoughts back to its original place. imagination is simply a powerful strong right thought, as is happiness, and imagining a blue sun is a wrong thought, so it will result in strain. In the end it is the thoughts that will remain with us, and a thought is responsible for every flash or strain.
If a person canât notice what is happening try staring with the eyes open and then closing them to imagine for example, a letter, repeating this again and again every few seconds until it becomes clear that the attention/thought is switching between the two (mind and eyes)
When we spend time in our minds deeply thinking etc.. our vision worsens, this is a clear indication that our thoughts are at fault, I am guessing people with 20/10 vision may even improve with the thinking process. Because they have mastered how to think correctly.
I used to believe deeply thinking is harmful despite one of the functions of the brain is to think. Many doctors have their eyes after years of being in their head, studying hard for years. The simple difference is in their ability to think correctly. Try to replace the thoughts from where you think, to from where you know, by replacing the thinking process to a more of a knowing process, and slowly improve this with time.
With this breakthrough in understanding, I had another few days flash a week after my last one which is better than every month like it used to be. I really thought this would take me to 20/20, as my vision got stuck at 20/30 for many times when my belief was stronger, and knowing how to think. However after a good two weeks of being more mentally focused my vision sadly slowly returned to 20/80 the past few days. But I have had many good patches through the past few days. And I have got it back this morning by doing this again.
During the correcting of the thoughts process, I noticed it brings with it, waves of relaxation over the entire body including the eyes.
Mental control may take a few minutes to grasp but once it is understood, everything makes sense.
These conditions of rest and unrest are reflections of the mind. In other words, they indicate the presence or absence of mental control. (bates)
We cannot by any amount of effort make ourselves see, but by learning to control our thoughts we can accomplish that end indirectly. (bates)
No matter what their degree or their duration their cure is accomplished just as soon as the patient is able to secure mental control. (bates)
Hi centertime
I think, that's exactly the reason of the loss of mental control: the struggle for more.
Huxley puts it as "greedyness", "overeagerness to see" and Bates says:
Quote:One part of an object is seen best only when the mind is content to see the greater part of it indistinctly and as the degree of relaxation increases the area of the part seen worse increases, until that seen best becomes merely a point.
We discussed this here:
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Since this topic has been brought up, I would like to explain this in an easier way. I think this is important to understand for anyone walking in the path of mental control. Eyesight improvement is not supposed to be a long tedious journey, but until he doesn't understand his mistakes it can be.
Thoughts can be split into two, right or wrong. Its easier to understand this by saying right way of thinking and wrong way of thinking. To be clear this is not negative vs positive thinking, bates never said this for a reason. As it is not the situation of a person that determines his sight but the way in which a person thinks in that particular situation.
A right thought is simply a thought that is not interfered with, an easy thought. Out of all the easy right thoughts I personally found the thoughts which are 'known' to be the least interfered with and most helpful. At first this may seem like a branch off the bates method, however after flicking back through the works of bates we find this idea is echoed throughout his works, 'Increase the unknown by the aid of the known' (near and far chart) Also he told people to remember their signature on many occasions. Or anything they personally firmly knew, these thoughts are done effortlessly and easily and are more 'normal'. Many have attached the understanding of 'mental pictures' to most of this, but although very helpful this is not always necessary, as a truth which benefits the eyes are hardly pictured, they are simply known. The degree to which mental control is achieved is to the point at which anything can be securely known or mentally pictured. Belief, imagination are other excellent right thoughts.
A wrong thought is interfered with, I explained this recently in negative thoughts topic, this is the root of what causes strain throughout the body and eyes. These thoughts can be identified with a pain in the head, slight dizziness, clouding of the mind. Try to notice these, they are a little hard to spot at first. Our initial response in these situations have to change. In a way that relieve this pain instantly. The more a person becomes familiar with the right thoughts and understands what the roots of this whole method is based on. The loss and gain of mental control can be more easily identified and corrected. He then understands why his sight becomes better or worse. I think this is important to understand, as there is nothing worse than looking at blur not having a clue what is going on.
People obviously dislike these feelings of pain, dizziness etc.. in the head, however we should really be thankful and great full for them, as these are the best teachers of strain and effort a person can ever wish for. What other way can a person truly understand strain and effort? For 2 years I thought I understood strain and effort, when in reality my previous understanding of effort and strain were extremely limited and somewhat incorrect. Let the mind teach you the true meaning of strain and effort. It is your own personal guide.
to make this a little clearer, my previous common times of wrong thoughts where:
at times of unwanted thoughts
when listening to someone talking about something I dislike
anger, sadness.
This is a simple fun game of spot the difference, become more aware of the wrong thoughts. Approach these thoughts in a completely new different way, in a way that relieve this pain in the head.
The puzzle of negative thoughts, anger, sadness can be easily understood and corrected with the understanding of a wrong/right thought. The occurrence/relief of head pains indicate the loss/gain of mental control.
The bates exercises where developed upon this understanding of increasing the right thought, and so they act as a stick prodding him to think in the correct way.
Even after this is correctly understood, it still takes time to perfect.
The difference between a person having his sight improved by this mental control or is left scratching his head, is the persons mind. Each persons ability to form a mental picture is a good indication to the level at which he can secure mental control. Or remember anything better than before, for at least a moment. When the eyesight fluctuates more the wrong thoughts become more noticeable.
The easiest time to implement mental control is when the eyesight is very good for a time and then it lowers at this precise moment of the sight lowering a slight uncomfortable feeling in the mind is noticed, a wrong thought occurred. Welcome whatever (thought, feeling, emotion) you mentally pushed away, the sight instantly returns. With time and practise you will get better at relieving these pains. Analysing the wrong thought is the greatest thing I have benefited from throughout this whole journey.
If this can be correctly understood and implemented, one of the most rewarding things is that he can easily identify the wrong thought as clear as day and correct it. Shifting, blinking, centralizing, breathing return effortlessly, the muscles of the body release their tension. No matter how severe a persons situation there is a correct way and an incorrect way of thinking.
As for my improvement these days, with the understanding of the heart of the bates method right/wrong thoughts, at the times in my previous situations when my vision used to worsen are most of the time now the best situations when my vision increases, as at these times the right thought carries more weight and is a perfect time to correct these wrong thoughts, so the vision improves in huge leaps at these times, great mental training as bates puts it. Which I consider a huge step in my improvements. I still have no permanent cure, this is taking me a little longer than I expected, but I feel I am getting close, when I fall 1-2 steps after improved vision I can easily pick myself up and carry on walking, however when I fall 5-6 steps it takes me longer to relieve these more severe head pains. I then have to wait for the headache to reduce, with the help of imagination (imagining each letter of the alphabet every hour). The longer or more severe the head pains are the more of a challenge it is to relieve them. EVERY form of strain starts with a wrong thought. The removal is as quick as a right thought.
I tell many high myopes to imagine the whole alphabet every hour in their mind, I think this is the best a person can do, to slowly correct the thoughts, if exercises are difficult for him at that time. And slowly become aware of these wrong thoughts, as soon as he is able to.
I walk in the path of mental control only because I personally find little benefit in exercises. When I achieve a higher degree of mental control, shifting and registering details do become more a benefit.
Thank you, Eaglevision, for a very helpful post. I can relate to what you are saying in that I too find eye exercises of little benefit but prefer the mental approach. But I have also found that when I have gone a while allowing mental relaxation to come, it is then I find more of a motivation to do the physical exercises (shifting etc) and then they work quite well. As for the mental approach, it seems it is like accepting thoughts, including the bad ones, and not pushing them away or trying to do anything with them. When we try to push the thought away it is like we are refusing to deal with issues which the inner self is presenting in order for those issues to be dealt with. There have been times when I have gained mental control (resulting in better vision) but not quite understood how it was I was thinking differently. It does seem to be very subtle, the difference between a wrong and right thought. I think this is why it is seemingly so difficult to find the right state of mind, yet when it is found it is indeed the easiest thing in the world.
Thanks Jimboaxeman, yes it is very subtle almost too subtle and thats why we easily notice the headache but fail to notice the long string of wrong thoughts that slowly developed this into a headache, the first wrong thought was responsible the rest just followed. The first wrong thought although very subtle, can be identified. I found trying to think in the right way is harder than letting the thoughts fix themselves as a result of correcting the wrong thoughts whenever they happen, whilst practising what benefits.
I know what you mean by the feeling of headache/dizziness/sleepiness (it's really hard to describe the feeling for the lack of a better word) in the head. You are perfectly right that it's the best indicator of strain and when I somehow make it less, my vision instantly improves. And I knew already that I need to find a way to decrease this "headache", but my ways of doing it were not very efficient and didn't work most of time. Your approach of thinking a thought in the right way is really brilliant. I tried it and it worked like magic. All I did was I thought a simple thought like "my name is Oleg" or trivial stuff like that, and suddenly the dizziness unclenched instantly. What a tremendous find! But you're right that sometimes it's hard, when the strain is too strong.
I think I'm still lacking in detection of the wrong thoughts. Currently I simply replace it with the "right" thought, but then I obviously fall back to thinking some unknown wrong thought again. Can you give me an example of a wrong thought, in your own practice, that you identified and replaced?
Thank you Oleg, its great you are also finding this beneficial to clear the mind, a truth certainly has a powerful effect on the mind and so does a lie.
If a truth can focus your mind you could probably also benefit greatly from dodging, like the famous story of the man who dodged his vision all the way to 20/20. The secret being, when you look at anything glance away and think you saw it better than what it was, keep increasing this and believe even if you have to pretend, the effect upon the mind is similar to a truth (increases certainty) I can't quite achieve 20/20 but I can get a lasting 20/40 by doing this alone.
An example of a common wrong thought, in myself and one I often see in the faces of myopes, is when listening to someone talking to him about something they dislike, (for example in an argument) he strains his mind by the way of his thoughts at that time and his thoughts then become incorrect, they then all follow that pattern until a right thought finally relieves him, in the moment he may stare, panic, tighten his fist and bite down his teeth, These are all merely symptoms and results of a disaster that is repeated again and again. He must understand that this way of thinking is harder for him and dislike it enough to change it whenever he becomes aware of it.
A truth or any exercise mental, or physical can relieve the pain, but what really must be sought after is behaving in a way this pain does not come, regardless of what the waves of life have to offer. By noticing the pain try to re-do whatever caused the pain to come, but this time correctly. The words allow, and let go are true but they dont seem to do justice, thats why I tell people to literally welcome everything.
A little after many wrong thoughts have occurred, the body usually experiences desire to tighten its muscles, similarly after many right thoughts occur, the body experiences desire to release tension.
I had glasses for 17 years from age 5-22 with -9 dioptres, so dealing and removing the symptoms of strain for months was unfortunately not enough for me, (im not putting everyone in the same boat). And so dealing with the root has proven more beneficial.
Some people have been wondering why my blog is down, I am doing it up, thats all.
eaglevision Wrote:...is when listening to someone talking to him about something they dislike, (for example in an argument)...
LOL yeah, I actually experience that in almost all conversations with people, not only in arguments
I've been observing myself recently and I think my most common "wrong thought" is to feel that anything I do is a boring chore, but I have to make an effort and do it in spite of this feeling, because it is what I have to do, like if it were my job.
It is not that I think this thought consciously, but rather it's the default attitude towards any thought that my mind takes.
For example, when I read some text, even when holding it as close as I can see very well, I feel like letters are extremely boring and I have to make an effort to keep myself engaged.
This causes me constant strain and actually I often feel annoyed and easily get angered.
Just changing this mental attitude to the relaxed one by consciously thinking that what I am to do is actually going to be interesting and enjoyable always has great effect on mental relaxation and vision. Thinking a truth while in such positive mental attitude is very efficient to quickly clear up vision.
Something which has helped me with this kind of thing is realizing that what I am doing and thinking is MY CHOICE, in every moment. Mom or the boss or whoever is not pushing me to do this action. I've even done some tapping on phrases like "You can't make me see clearly!", or the oppositional "I don't want to see!" then "Yes I do" then "No I don't" and tap tap tap to break up the ingrained patterns and start re-programming myself. Kind of fun to play with.
@Oleg being interested does bring much success, like you mentioned.
Oleg K. Wrote:thinking that what I am to do is actually going to be interesting
When a person experiences flashes lasting for very long his mental behaviour changes greatly, not only certainty is increased but he also becomes for more mentally interested, he feels and behaves very differently. Bates says regarding interest 'when one is not interested, ones mind is not under control'. Interest that is natural, vibrant and peaceful.
The faces of the impaired sighted reflect confusion and boredom, and the faces of the perfect sighted reflect certainty and interest. The two ways are clearly displayed upon their faces, all day long.
Oleg K. Wrote:It is not that I think this thought consciously, but rather it's the default attitude towards any thought that my mind takes.
I think this is the real reason why higher myopes find it more difficult because the incorrect form of thinking is almost home for them, default and more comfortable, when they achieve relaxation it only takes a gentle push and the incorrect form can tie him in a knot once more.
Becoming more familiar between the two ways more and more is beneficial until it becomes merely a choice between the two. If this is difficult try to maybe correct/improve the thoughts by a mental picture or a small black dot whenever the incorrect form is noticed.
