Yoga of Perfect Sight

Perfection in Eyesight

Our homage to Sri Aurobindo and the Divine Mother who have brought down the Supramental Power on the earth to bring a change in the consciousness of man for the flowering of life. Due to the pressure of that Light man is now more open to accept new truths and ideas. There are some enlightened doctors in the medical profession who are not satisfied with the old routine of treatment due to its detrimental effects and feel the need to do some real good to humanity; to such persons of goodwill the following points are presented for consideration:

1. It is a fact that glasses help many to relieve their discomforts of the head and eyes and enable people to see well at a distance and near, and their use in many cases is imperative. But this is also true that glasses do not check further deterioration and the number of glasses goes on increasing. Often glasses become an added torture to increase the pain and suffering and loss of eyesight. The problem of fast deterioration in eyesight and the increase of blind people amongst the educated class has become quite serious in the present time in spite of all possible medical aid and we should feel ashamed for this helplessness.

2. The process of seeing is mostly done in the brain: our vision is mind's interpretation of the retinal images. Relaxation of mind helps to see well while mental strain causes defective vision. The old writers on ophthalmology did not consider that mental strain could play an important part in the formation of errors of refraction and other diseases of the eye, hence they isolated the eye while determining the cause and treatment of visual defects and retinal disorders. This has led to our failure.

3. The incurability of errors of refraction is based on the theory that the eye changes its focus for vision at different distances by altering the curvature of the lens. Dr. W.H. Bates M.D., an American scientist and ophthalmologist, when he found himself incapable to prevent myopia and other errors of refraction, felt that there must be something wrong in the presumption of this theory. So he performed many experiments to determine the facts about accommodation and errors of refraction. He has made many remarkable discoveries:

(a) In accommodation the eye adjusts its focus like a camera by a change in the length of the organ, and this alteration is brought about by the action of external eye muscles called oblique muscles.

(b) Myopia is not caused by reading but by a strain to see distant objects. Strain at the near point causes hypermetropia.

(c) Reading fine print is extremely beneficial to the eyes.

(d) By eye education and mental relaxation almost all cases of defective vision can be cured partially or completely.

(e) Myopia can be easily prevented in schools by reading the Snellen eye testing chart daily with gentle blinking and palming.