Yoga of Perfect Sight

Threatened Blindness and Floating Specks

"Most of the patients who attend the School for Perfect Eyesight at Pondicherry to consult Dr. Agarwal are usually chronic and so-called incurable. When they do not get any relief in their eye troubles from other doctors, then they try relaxation treatment which is so successfully going on in the clinical department of this School.

"I had the habit to read under powerful electric light up to the middle of the night. Gradually some difficulties regarding my eyesight began to develop and created difficulty to see properly when I came from light to darkness and vice versa. Later on I began to see floating specks before my eyes and this became very annoying. My distant vision also became weak. Then my father took me to the Cuttack Medical College for a thorough checkup. There many doctors examined my eyes and it was discovered that my retina had degenerated and it was declared that there were chances of becoming blind in future. Such a prognosis was a shock to me and to my parents. Many injections and tablets were tried to improve the blood circulation and vitality but all that was in vain. At this time my uncle Shree Manoj Das of Sri Aurobindo Ashram wrote to my father that he had not seen until now any case who had not improved under the care of Dr. Agarwal. My father intuitively felt he should take me to Pondicherry for treatment.

"Doctors at Cuttack had failed to find any cause for my eye trouble in spite of various tests. When my father asked Dr. Agarwal about the cause the doctor said that it was due to great strain on the eyes while reading for long hours under high power electric light. Constant reflection from the paper had affected the retina. Other factors such as constipation, poor action of the liver had caused the trouble to increase.

"Dr. Agarwal gave good hope of improvement after thorough examination of my eyes. The first thing that he taught me to relieve the strain was by blinking. I had developed the habit of staring while reading or seeing things at a distance. During treatment I was reminded by the doctor whenever I did not blink or did winking instead of blinking. By correct blinking floating specks have almost disappeared but when I unconsciously begin to stare, they appear and remind me to blink. Frequently I do palming for ten or fifteen minutes at a time and this relaxes my eyes and mind and the nerves of the whole body. Reading fine print in good light and in candlelight alternately has greatly helped me to read ordinary print without any strain. At the end of different exercises such as swinging and central fixation my eyes are bandaged for half an hour with some medicine upon them. On every Monday I take an enema. My diet has been regulated with more fruits and greens.

"Regarding floating specks Dr. Agarwal gave two important instructions. One is to ignore them when they appear. The other is: do not experiment to see them when they are not present.

"The result of all this treatment seems to me very wonderful. My health and vision have considerably improved. I have discarded my goggles and spectacles and am no more afraid of threatening blindness. I enjoy good eyesight, my mind and eyes are quite relaxed. It is hoped that one day Orissa also will have such an eye clinic for the cure of imperfect eyes without glasses."

Siddhartha Das