The Best Bates Teacher in the World

It is the sun.

People who teach Bates method may be wrong. They may be just earning their living by telling you things that resemble Bates method but actually are against it. They may have been taught by wrong people too. They may not even have perfect sight. There is no guarantee that they completely understand the fundamental principles set forth by Dr. Bates. The reality is that most of them do not.

But even if you find a good teacher, he or she won't tell you the feelings and experiences of your own mind and body you should look for. Human language is just not capable to carry such things. So, the best you can get from a human teacher is just encouragement and a guard from obvious blunders.

The sun is totally different. The sun punishes you immediately with the intolerable discomfort, afterimages and other ill effects when you treat it in the wrong and strained way. And it encourages you with pleasant comfort and improved vision when you find the right way. All this happens directly in your mind, without mediation of words. I often thought that if I only could have a perfect indicator of strain, I would cure myself very quickly. I have finally found it. The discomfort from bright light is a direct manifestation of strain. It IS strain, in a sense.

The next step I have found is a fun game of provoking more discomfort when you reach a certain level of comfort in the bright light. For example, I look at the sky near the sun and notice the sun is seen worse in the eccentric field, look to the earth than back to the sun, swing the sun etc. This all usually breaks my balance, I begin straining and a wave of discomfort returns. Then I dissolve it again, and my comfortable relaxation becomes deeper and more stable.

After successfully learning to obtain comfort in bright light, I began to notice the same discomfort as from looking at the sun with strain, in many other situations, when there is no bright light. It's just too subtle, and that's why I wasn't able to notice it before the sun amplified it hundred times. Now when I am able to sense the discomfort in other situations, I can also apply the same techniques that I use to get accustomed to the bright light. The results are very encouraging.