Bypassing The Byepass

Preksha Dhayana-Philosophical basis
A living organism is an organic unity of two elements- a conscious element called psyche and a material element called body. Thought , speech and muscular actions together constitute the domain of yoga or bodily activity. It is not the domain of knowledge but that of action.The domain of knowledge extends as far ascitta
and then ends, while the domain of emotions ends at lesya. From there onwards they manifest themselves thro' the three subordinate instruments of thinking, vocal equipment and the physical body. The functions of the mental faculty are thinking, planning ( for the future ), and memorizing ( the past ). It is not an instrument of knowledge. It is subordinate to citta and lesyaand carries out their orders. Prior to this, it does not exist.

Doctrine
Basic Principles
By Preksha we mean "to perceive". By perceiving we mean concentration on subtle consciousness by mental insight. Preksha Dhayana is a system of meditation engaging one's mind fully in the perception of subtle internal and innate phenomenon of consciousness. In Preksha Dhayana the concentration is of perception and not of thought. Perception is strictly concerned with the phenomenon of the present. It is neither a memory of the past nor an imagination of the future. In Preksha, perception always means experience devoid of the duality of like and dislike.
Constituents of Preksha Dhayana
The following are the constituents of Preksha Dhyana.
i) Relaxation with self awareness.
ii)Internal trip.
iii) Perception of breathing.
iv) Perception of the body.
v) Perception of the psychic centres.
vi) Perception of psychic colours.
vii) The aura.
viii) Auto-suggestion and contemplation.
ix) Recitation of Arham.
x) Recitation of Mahaprana Dhvani.

Philosophical basis for Relaxation ( Kayotsarga ); Acquisition of maximum mental steadiness is meditation. Motionless body ( thro' relaxation ) is an essential precondition for meditation.Unless the body is steady the mind can not be steady.
Relaxation-simulating death; Kayotsarga is simulation of death. Two conditions are essential, i) total cessation of voluntary movements, i.e., relaxed conditions of all skeletal muscles, and ii) extremely slow rate of respiration as if the system has stopped working. Total relaxation is when there is an acute perception of this state which is neither imagination nor autosuggestion but a real experience. This body is forgotten and cast away. It is further characterised by an actual experience of floating outside one's body and this is 'death' while living. The essence of this exercise is the actual awareness of the truth that that the conscious element is not identical with the inert body.

Philosophical basis of Perception of Breathing; Mind is ever restless. Meditation aims at restraining the mind's wandering and ultimately steadying it. Body and soul thro' breathing, are intimately connected with prana, the potential vital energy. Controlled and conscious breathing, as in perception of breathing is the source of greater power. Pranayama ( regulated breathing ) is an efficient means of improving the quality of respiration. It is the process of reinforcing and discipling the generation of vital energy.

Philosophical basis of Perception of body
Prandhara i.e. vital energy is like a electomagnetic force or a bio-electric force. There are several different streams of prana-the vital energy. One of them flows in the heart, another in the nose, another in the navel region, yet another in the rectum & another one flows thro' the layers of the skin. The flow of vital energy can be diverted to or from a specific part of the body to the field of urges and emotions.

Philosophical basis of perception of psychic centres :     Endocrines profoundly influence emotions and mental attitudes of a person. All passions and emotions are expressions of the endocrine glands. Their arousal due to recorded past will overload the system and their work is disintegrated. Excessive secretion produces psychological distortions and weakens the glands. It is therefore necessary that we control and regulate the passions and emotions. The emotional impulses must be resolved by conscious reasoning to avoid the overloading and dysfunctioning of the system.
All the innumerable points of our conscious element are psychic centres. However, in certain parts of the body, there is greater concentration of the conscious element than in other parts. Our brain, sense organs and the endocrines are such specific centres. Concentration of vital energy takes place in these centres. Psychic centres vitalize all important organs including the sense organs and the mind. An important purpose of meditational practace is to establish a more balanced equilibrium in the functioning of these organs. Perception of psychic centres can do this efficiently.
Intrinsic level of consciousnes   :      Mind is not the intrinsic level of consciousness. Our instincts and impulses, such as anger, conceit, jealousy and greed constitute the intrinsic level of consciousness. Ill health emanates from there; it does not emanate from the brain. Character emanates from instincts and the latter emanates from the endocrines which are not located in the brain. Most important organs of our body are ductless glands- endocrines. Impulses, urges and evil behaviour are all expressions of the endocrines. The vitiated and distorted tendencies of man can not be purified unless one modifies and transmutes the endocrine production. The tool for achieving inner harmony is transmutation of harmone- secretion and not preaching.
Yoga and Physiology :     Yoga emphasises the location of various chakras and kamalas ( lotus ) in the body : physiology tells us about endocrine glands. There is no real or significant divergence between yoga and physiology.

Philosophical basis of Perception of psychic colours
Functions of Lesya
Lesya acts as a liaison between the spiritual self and the physical self of a living organism. It is the built in mechanism within the organism through which the spiritual self can excercise its power and authority and control the functioning of the bodily organs.It deciphers the code of intangible psychic expressions into a form which is tangible and crude enough to control and function through such gross elements as flesh and bones. Lesya derives much assistance from endocrine system in its function of intercommunication and manifestation in the physical body. Lesya functions in both directions: centripetally, i.e. from periphery towards centre, as well as centrifugally i.e. from centre to periphery. Contaminating material is continuously attracted and collected from the external environment by threefold activities of the physical body viz. thought, speech and muscular action.
Mental state, Lesya and Aura
A living organism is neither a pure psyche ( soul ) nor pure matter. It is a compound of both. Conscious activity is the characteristic of soul : colour, smell, taste and touch are charateristics of matter. Aura of a living organism is an amalgam of radiation of two energies- radiation of prana energy from conscious substance and those of electro-magnetic energy from the material body. Though mental states are conscious funnctions and aura is material, there is an intimate relationship between the two. In fact, aura is a true image of one's mental state. From this, it is reasonable to conclude that mental states can be inferred from aura and vice versa.
Perception of psychic colours is the excercise for transmuting the evil effects of the malevolent lesyas to good effects of the balevolent ones. Without resorting to its practice, the thought-direction can not be reversed and evil reactions will continue.

Philosophical basis of Contemplation and Auto-suggestion
Concentration of thought, contemplation and auto-suggestion is not excluded as a technique of meditation from the purview of Preksha meditation. Thoughts are no doubt unproductive when the mind keeps on wandering and does not concentrate on a single theme. But concentrated profound thinking can result in discovering and establishing important philosophical as well as scientific doctrines and principles. When the mental faculty is concentrated and channelised in a single thought-process, it becomes meditation.

Benefits
; Any wise person, before undertaking an excercise , will think about its results. It is a reasonable expectation. By continuous practice of Preksha Dhayana, one can derive the benefits like,

Relief from tension.
Concentration.
Realization of Spiritual self.
Development of Wisdom.
Mental Happiness.
Purification of Character-strengthening of Will power.
Self -awareness.
Attitudinal change and Behavioural modification.
Freedom from sensual pleasures.