Hello everyone, I’m Italian, so I’m using the translator. I have an important issue that I can’t seem to resolve.
I practice external trataka on a candle flame. I’ve gradually gotten to about an hour a day without watering my eyes, as recommended in the Shivananda texts. I blink every now and then, and I feel like I’m making good progress. I no longer lose awareness of the meditation object, and sometimes, after about 40 minutes, it seems like my awareness of the flame is a continuous flow. I feel a tug at my external and internal third eyes, I feel crackling sounds, energy movements, and other sensations, in addition to the many benefits this practice is bringing me in my daily life. I’d like to start integrating some internal trataka, without abandoning this external one, until I can visualize the flame well internally. I have some questions for those more advanced than me in the practices, in addition to the fundamental question.
In the practice of trataka, one must maintain self-awareness (or divided attention as Gurdjieff calls it, or non-identifying, or the other term used in Buddhism). I ask because some texts by Shivananda and other masters of the same school mention maintaining self-awareness at all times, while others don’t even mention it, and I believe it’s a very important factor. Even in the Visuddhimagga (which always talks about concentration and meditation, with similar techniques like kasina, etc.), it seems to me there’s no explicit mention of trying to be a witness. Personally, it seems to me that the witness arises spontaneously as the practice deepens, but I’m not so sure, and perhaps I could improve the practice significantly if I simultaneously try not to lose self-awareness?
When I move on to internal trataka, is it essentially the shambavi mudra? That is, should I focus my eyes on the third eye and try to visualize the flame there, or are they two distinct practices, because in the shambavi mudra, nothing is visualized?
Can I include Kechari mudra in the internal trataka, and is it advisable to do so if I can learn it gradually?
Sorry, but sometimes I get lost in the texts, so I prefer to hear the opinions of those who are more advanced in the practices.