I wish to know how does the 'imagine black dot' method work?
How do I practice it? Do I imagine a black dot right at where my eyes are looking at? How small/big the dot? Must the dot look as though it is at a distance?
The dot should just be as small as you can get it to be; but that isn't to say that you should make an effort and 'squeeze' it small. Just let it get smaller; it will if you allow it. Likewise do not force the blackness; just have the intention of it being black, and let it become so. The mind is an intelligent system and will follow direction and intention if you let it alone. It knows what you want. And it doesn't like interference of efforts.
Don't try and place in anywhere in your visual field of perception. To do that requires a strain.
Just enter it in your mind, and let it shift around. Play with it.
Hello roger,
how black and small the dot is, is unimportant. What is important is the relaxation that it delivers. Just try to relax your eyes while thinking of a perfectly black dot on a perfectly white background. The imagination or memory of a black dot seems to be a good tool for relaxation.
Just keep your ultimate goal in mind: visual relaxation.
Well done, Kazekage. I like the way you said it "just enter it in your mind". It has become my fresh mantra for the recent couple of days. It is a pleasure to remember that all I have to do is just to invite relaxation and wait calmly until it comes, and it will occasionally. It's funny to think that the black dot is already somewhere in my mind playing hide-and-seek with me
to Paul: What I agree with is that one should not try to make the dot blacker or smaller, but I don't agree that only the relaxation that the black dot delivers is important. Remembering the black dot is the METHOD of relaxation in view, recommended by Dr. Bates, and the best thing one can do is to literally follow the directions. If you think that only the relaxation delivered by the black dot is important, the next thing most likely to happen will be that your mind switches from the memory of black dot to trying to physically feel the relaxation in your eyes. I've come through this.
Also, I doubt if the "black dot on a perfectly white background" is the correct way of imagining black dot. Here's what Bates said in his FAQs:
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Quote:Questionâââ‰â¬ÂWhen remembering a black period, I see a bright disk with a small black center. Is this seeing a period?
Answerâââ‰â¬ÂNo, you are straining. The period that you imagine is very imperfect, because to remember the period, and at the same time a very bright disk, is an unconscious strain. You cannot strain and remember the bright disk, and simultaneously relax and remember a black period. When your bright disk is prominent, everything else is remembered under a strain. You cannot strain and relax at the same time.
First of all, i didn't say anything about a bright disk. The disk implies there is another object to think about, and as your mind does best what it focuses on, trying to perfectly remember both objects produces strain. There is nothing wrong with imagining a black period on a white background (besides, it was just a suggestion, but if you want to discuss it, I'm open to it) Also, the word "bright" and "white" do NOT have the same meaning.
It is always necessary to make a clear distinction between the two colors because anything in the middle is grey --> blur. He makes these distinctions everywhere:
Here is one in relation to imagining letters on the eye chart:
"He was told that the letter was black, perfectly black, and that the opening was perfectly white, with no grey cloud; and the card was brought close to him so that he could see that this was so. When he again regarded the letter at the distance, he remembered its blackness so vividly that he was able to imagine that he saw it just as black as he had seen it at the near-point, with the opening perfectly white; and therefore he saw the letter on the card perfectly black and distinct."
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Here is one that pertains to memory of black letters:
"When a black letter is regarded before palming the patient will usually remember not only the blackness of the letter, but the white background as well. If the memory of the black is held for a few seconds, however, the background usually fades away and the whole field becomes black."
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Needless to say, there is a clear connection between the letters presented here and the period.
Quote:I don't agree that only the relaxation that the black dot delivers is important. Remembering the black dot is the METHOD of relaxation in view, recommended by Dr. Bates, and the best thing one can do is to literally follow the directions.
Since the memory of a black dot is a method of relaxation, the relaxation it delivers isn't important??? That doesn't make sense, sorry... can you perhaps clarify that? Then why would you do the exercise if what it delivers isn't important? If relaxation isn't the key behind all these exercises then what is?
Quote:If you think that only the relaxation delivered by the black dot is important, the next thing most likely to happen will be that your mind switches from the memory of black dot to trying to physically feel the relaxation in your eyes.
If you remove the word "trying" from that sentence, there is nothing wrong with that. Worked for me quite nicely actually.
I think it's CRITICALLY important to understand that relaxation is what you are going for. Otherwise you get stuck in straining to produce the best damned black dot in the whole world (What the instructions clearly state - perfect memory of the black period gives you perfect eyesight).
You can't just go based on instructions, you must understand the concept and why you do this. You must keep the main idea in your head at all times.
I've been trying to "follow instructions" for a few years now, but it wasn't until I followed the instructions with the intention of delivering relaxation that I started to get great benefit.
Paul
I wasn't saying that relaxation isn't important. It IS important but one shouldn't think about it in the way you mentioned: "just try to relax your eyes while thinking of a perfectly black dot on a perfectly white background." I would formulate it as "just remember a perfectly black dot and you will eventually get relaxation". Feel the difference? If it were so easy to relax your eyes by will, why Bates suggested remembering black dot at all? Go ahead and relax your eyes if you can, but my experience shows that most likely you will strain trying to feel your eyes. It is a fundamental feature of Bates method that one should ruthlessly switch his attention from the final result (relaxation, good sight) to a state that generates the final result (memory of black dot). The black dot is one of the things that is called to DIVERT your mind from trying to feel/control your eyes.
Of course each myopic person has his own bugs in the head, so I've written about mine, but yours can be different.
Regarding the white background - I still doubt you are right. Remembering letters is slightly different. AFAIK, the black dot doesn't require any background to be remembered, and often such background (as in case with the bright disc) is a strain. Let our colleagues prove me right or wrong.
The black dot is a pure Zen thing - no size, no light, no background
