First Light
How First Light worksTuesday 27 October·
- Sunrise
- 07:55
- Quiet hour
- 06:19–07:07
- Brahma Muhurta
- Moon
- Waning gibbous
- Next full moon: Tue 24 Nov
Autumn
The quiet hour (Brahma Muhurta) is the traditional time for practice, just before sunrise.
तत्र शब्दार्थज्ञानविकल्पैः सङ्कीर्णा सवितर्का समापत्तिः
tatra śabdārtha-jñāna-vikalpaiḥ saṅkīrṇā savitarkā samāpattiḥ
When this absorption is mixed with word, meaning and idea, it is called absorption with reasoning.
Yoga Sutras 1.42 · verse 42 of 196
Unfolding the thread
The first level of absorption still has language in it. You're focused on the object, but its name, what you know about it and your ideas about it are all mixed in. That's natural. It's where everyone starts, and it's already far steadier than ordinary distraction.
Try today
Look at something familiar and notice its name arriving in your mind. Try to see it for a moment before the name.
The Echo
The same truth, heard in another tradition
“I teach without noise of words, without confusion of opinions, without striving after honour, without clash of arguments.”
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