Sounding

from Ouspensky's "In Search of the Miraculous," p. 304

On one occasion, in connection with the description of exercises in concentration and bringing the attention from one part of the body to another, G. asked:

"When you pronounce the word 'I' aloud, have you noticed where this word sounds in you?"

We did not at once understand what he meant. But we very soon began to notice that when pronouncing the word 'I' some of us definitely felt as if this word sounded in the head, others felt it in the chest, and others over the head--outside the body.

I must mention here that personally I was entirely unable to evoke this sensation in myself and that I have to rely on others.

G. listened to all these remarks and said that there was an exercise connected with this which, according to him, had been preserved up to our time in the monasteries of Mount Athos.

A monk kneels or stands in a certain position and, lifting his arms, which are bent at the elbows, he says--Ego aloud and drawn out while listening at the same time where the word "Ego" sounds.

The purpose of this exercise is to feel "I" every moment a man thinks of himself and to bring "I" from one center to another.