SANSKRIT drishti
“ Always remember , your focus determines your reality .” - George Lucas
By Purvi Lippincott
Have you ever caught yourself staring off into the distance while lost in thought ? Something might catch your line of sight and you snap back to reality . Other times you look up and realize someone is staring back at you . Whatever the circumstance , when we reduce the sensory experience so that everything else fades away we are using drishti , even if we didn ’ t know it . Drishti is a yogic gaze used to focus , to see past layers of thought to the most central point of being . To immerse yourself in a moment .
Drishti is a tool used in yoga practices that can help you concentrate and maintain presence when the thoughts start creeping in . When close to the ground we may look somewhere on the Earth . When standing and balancing we may look straight ahead or even above to intensify the challenge . Always available to us in any pose is the opportunity to close the eyes , look to the back of the eyelids or focus on the mind ’ s eye , internally looking to the place above and between the eyebrows . Wherever you may look , it is important to find something that is still and not moving so the mind can hone in and less likely to be distracted .
There are nine specific drishtis , but it could be argued that there are an endless amount of these gazes . It varies with each asana ( posture ) in your practice . You can work your way through the eight limb path of yoga , which helps to deepen the practice , giving us better technique in the journey to the end goal of yoga , Samadhi .
Samadhi is the final stage in which we transcend our Self and become one with all that is . The asana practice helps us work towards self-observation . This allows us to turn so far inward and away from all the sensory experiences . We can concentrate with focus and intent , which eventually leads us to a deep meditation that guides us to this last stage of enlightenment .
Meditation , postures and breathing techniques are various aspects of yoga that incorporate drishti to dig deeper . We can utilize this yogic tool in helping us become one-pointed in mind , keeping the mind from running off with our thoughts . This intentional gaze allows you to combat the scattering of the mind which is often the biggest obstacle in finding presence . Yoga does not free us from our thoughts , but keeps us from attaching to any thought in particular .
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali , an ancient yogic text , breaks down the eight limbs through the second pada ( book / chapter ). It is early on that the Patanjali shares the purpose of our yoga . Sutra 1.2 says “ Yogas Citta Vitti Nirodhah .” Translated , this means “ the restraints of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga ”. Some would say that if you have reduce the chatter of the mind , than you have reached the goal of yoga . The entire science of yoga is based on this philosophy . To free ourselves and find inner stillness , we use yoga . Allow drishti to help keep you from the distractions .
“ The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress .” Ramana Maharshi ■
INDIANA & YOGA MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 71