My Indoor Sun

Two weeks ago I bought a brilliant lamp for sun treatment indoors. Luckily, I no longer depend on the weather, which in winter is overcast 90% of time.

As Rishi advised, I chose a metal-halide (Hg-I) high intensity gas discharge bulb, OSRAM PowerBall HCI-T (see the specs), 150W, NDL (neutral day light), with good, even, white spectrum. The luminous intensity of this class of bulbs is about 10 times greater than that of the conventional halogen bulbs, not to mention the old incandescent bulbs. So, my 150W bulb shines like a 1500W halogen and it really makes my room look like a bright sunny day. Also, because this lamp is very energy-efficient and does not heat, I can leave it turned on all day long, so that my eyes are more relaxed at average.


I bought the bulb bundled with the LIVAL Hawk projector (see the specs), wide-flood (44 degrees) beam, and installed in on a ceiling track. I can move the projector and direct it where I like. The control gear is conventional, although it also ships with the full electronic control gear, I didn't want to wait for the next supply.

These are quite expensive toys. The projector is US $240, including the bulb which itself is about $40, and the 2m track and all its parts about another $40.

The following are my general impressions:

1. This projector, and all other projectors for such bulbs, look quite BIG. Mine is over 12 inches long and 11 inches wide. It was certainly not intended for home installation and I had pretty hard time convincing the salespeople that I knew what I was doing :).

2. The salesman also claimed that it's going to be too bright for a home room, but it appears to be absolutely OK for my purpose. The brilliant light casts contrasting shadows and the Snellen card looks like perfect black letters on a perfect white background.

Moreover, the light beam (44 degrees) is somewhat too narrow. If you want to flood the entire room with bright light, you may need two or three projectors. There have been also double-ended rectangular projectors with "very wide flood" beam, which I could consider as more appropriate, but I decided for the narrower spot light, because it fits better for sun treatment.

Compare with other home lights

3. The color of the light is pure white, meaning that the rest of home lights look like dingy yellowish candles. I wouldn't like to use other lights in the room while the projector is on.

4. The lamp does NOT utter any humming noise, as older gas discharge lamps I heard did, even though the control gear isn't electronic. What I do notice sometimes is that the light is slightly flickering. Not like fluorescent lamps with their nauseating 50 Hz vibration, you know, but there is a hardly noticeable shivering. I wonder if this is because the control gear is not electronic, or if it's a nature of the gas discharge .

5. The lamp does not ignite instantly and it takes about 2-3 min for the lamp to reach its working level of brightness and color. Also after turning off, it cannot be immediately turned back on. This inertia is due to the process of metal evaporation inside the inner capsule of the bulb. The lamp also lives longer if it's not turned on and off too frequently. By the way, the lifespan of this lamp is about 6 times longer that halogens.

Compare with a 500Wt halogen (on the left)

6. I've made a simple calculation and it shows that on a small distance from the lamp (about 5 inches), its luminous intensity is equal to the sun. I don't I do stand that close to the lamp, but my feelings indicate that my calculation should be correct. It's really a very good substitute, whereas the 500W halogen project I used previously does not compare at all. The light spectrum resembles the sun also much closer. I even use the burning glass with the lamp, and it does not burn my skin :)

The Biggest Dilemma of the Bates Method

The biggest dilemma of the Bates method is that you want to change the way you use your eyes, yet you need to completely divert your attention away from your eyes. This may seem contradictory at first glance, but it means simply that you're still sticking to the wrong idea that the problem is in your eyes, while it is truly in your mind. The desire to influence your eyes is simply a wrong goal. Replace the wrong idea of doing something to your eyes with the right idea of leaving them alone and instead playing with your memory and imagination, and the situation will change dramatically. This replacement must happen not only in your rational belief, but also in the emotional attitude, and it always takes time. You should become sincerely MORE interested in imagination and memory than the eyes and current acuity of vision.

While I keep caring about my eyes, every Bates technique I do gets perverted and becomes its opposite. Let's take shifting for example. To move my eyes all the time is the WRONG way. The right way is to DO NOTHING with my eyes, step aside and wait. What's going to happen is that I will become bored in a second and my interest will go to another point, and my eyes will want to shift as well. Bingo! What I should do is just to not interfere with this natural desire. Feel the difference: the INTEREST comes first and the motor impulse comes last. Such shift always produces swing as well. This is very unlike the anxiety to keep moving the eyes all the time at all costs, which is even more strain.

I've re-read Chapter X "Strain" and thought that I've been still missing the subtle point of totally letting go of the idea to do ANYTHING with my eyes, whatever technique I am practicing. Since I realized it over again, it is going to change.

…This relaxation cannot, however, be obtained by any sort of effort. It is fundamental that patients should understand this; for so long as they think, consciously or unconsciously, that relief from strain may be obtained by another strain their cure will be delayed.

Amen.