To summarise: this practice consists of going into the eye and
being very motionless, without blinking, and letting the image
become blurry. Then observe how ‘something inside’ retracts every
so often, and projects you back into the image with sharp outlines.
Relax, let yourself shift into the blurry image again, in which
altered colours may appear... until ‘something inside’ contracts
again, and then it is like falling: you abruptly lose your
perception. Try to become more and more aware of the nature of
that ‘something’ which makes you fall out of your state of
perception.
Continue the practice for 5 to 10 minutes or more.
Then close your eyes. Rub your hands. Place your palms on your
closed eyes, as indicated in section 5.5.
5.10 Grasping is the nature of the mind
What is the part of yourself that retracts when you do the
exercise indicated above (section 5.9)? It is the layer of ordinary
mental consciousness, which corresponds to the astral body of
Clairvision language (and of Steiner's language), and to the manas
of the Indian tradition. It is a layer that functions through
reaction. The Tibetan masters use an excellent word to describe
this: grasping. Watch how your mind usually operates. A thought
comes to your mind, about your fridge, for instance. Immediately
the mind grasps the thought and chains another to it. It is like a
reaction to the previous thought. You think, “I have to go to the
supermarket, to fill up the fridge.” And then another grasping
takes place, another thought is linked to the former one: “I also
have to go to the bank”... and so on. A chain of thoughts is woven,
taking you far from the original thought.
During eye contact, your own experience will confirm how
relevant the word ‘grasping’ is, to describe this quick little
reaction that makes you lose your perception of the blurry image,
and projects you back into the sharp physical image. When this
happens, you definitely feel a kind of little contraction – not a
physical one, but a grasping of the mind.
Subtle perception requires letting go, and that is exactly what the
ordinary mental consciousness, the manas-mind, cannot cope with.
The mind has to grasp, that is its very nature. The manas-mind
grasps you back into the physical image, just as a muscle of the
physical body becomes tense in a situation of emotional stress.