Yoga of Perfect Sight

A Case of Hysterical Amblyopia

I was upset when a report was received from Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education that my daughter Ange had developed very bad eyesight, she could not see the blackboard letters and often made mistakes in copying from her books. This was an indication that her eyesight was bad both for far and near. Next day I made an appointment with Dr. Agarwal and brought Ange to his eye clinic. When her eyesight was tested, Ange could see only the top letter from ten feet distance and her vision was recorded 10/200, and at the near point she could see about quarter inch size letters. But then when I showed paintings and drawings of Ange to the doctor, he remarked that Ange was suffering from hysterical amblyopia.

What is amblyopia? The doctor said, "The word amblyopia means blindness without any apparent cause. The patient does not know what is wrong; neither does the doctor, yet the patient cannot see. Under certain conditions of mental strain Ange failed to see while under other favourable conditions she could see very well."

Dr. Agarwal put some questions to me and found out the cause of mental strain which produced temporary blindness or loss of eyesight. Often the teacher at the school or the father at home scolded Ange and forced her to adopt a certain discipline and learn arithmetic for which she has absolutely no liking. The doctor told me that unless this tension was relieved at home and school, the treatment would not produce good results. The matter was placed before the Divine Mother by Mr. Kireet. Since then Ange has found that the teacher and the father treated her very kindly and did not force any discipline. Yet Ange is a very sensitive girl, she expresses herself freely and joyfully in a disciplined way. She has the energy to learn many things.

Further Dr. Agarwal stated that some children when they enter the classroom become nervous especially when the teacher is harsh and unkind or when the child has to study subjects for which there is no interest or liking. This nervousness causes mental strain, and when there is mental strain, the eyes also feel strain and the result is loss of sight. It is because vision is greatly associated with the mind. What we see is the mind's interpretation of the retinal images, in other words, the vision is mostly our imagination. By the improvement of imagination the causes of eye trouble are relieved and the sight is improved.

On the day of treatment I brought 2 red balls, a set of coloured pencils, drawing books and some sweets. At first we played with the balls, the doctor and the assistant also joined the game which was organised by Ange herself. When the game and its fun was over, Ange traced a drawing and coloured it. At times she did palming in the rocking chair. A Snellen test card was placed at about fifteen feet distance from Ange. The doctor asked Ange to read the chart letters and write them around the drawing in different colours. It was a great surprise to all of us when Ange read the last line of the chart and wrote it correctly on her drawing. Her vision was recorded more than normal, that is, 15/10. On the next turn she read fine print quite easily. At home she daily read the chart from ten feet distance. All the symptoms of temporary blindness were chased away by this simple treatment.

It is truth that when children are in motion, they feel greatly relaxed. For that running, dancing, playing, rocking, reading while shifting the sight from side to side, etc., are all very helpful.

Each day at the School for Perfect Eyesight was a very joyful day for Ange. And today we all feel very happy to see Ange enjoying good eyesight and this short note is an expression of our gratitude.

Ruth