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.
स्वविषयासंप्रयोगे चित्तस्य स्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः
sva-viṣayāsaṁprayoge cittasya svarūpānukāra ivendriyāṇāṁ pratyāhāraḥ
When the senses withdraw from their objects and follow the mind's own nature, that is pratyāhāra.
Yoga Sutras 2.54 · verse 105 of 196
Unfolding the thread
The senses usually run out after things: sights, sounds, tastes. In pratyāhāra, they come home. They stop chasing and follow the mind inward, the way bees follow their queen. It's the bridge between the outer limbs and the inner ones.
Try today
For a few minutes, close your eyes and let sounds come and go without following any of them.
The Echo
The same truth, heard in another tradition
“Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take; Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste Make mad the mind.”
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