Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

The cultivation of calm or tranquility and the development of concentration
Saengnapha
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Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Saengnapha »

I am just curious how many people open or close their eyes during Samatha or Vipassana practice. Personally, I have always kept my eyes open.
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Spiny Norman »

Saengnapha wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 9:12 am I am just curious how many people open or close their eyes during Samatha or Vipassana practice. Personally, I have always kept my eyes open.
I mostly meditate with eyes open, but sometimes with eyes closed. There are pros and cons really.
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Sam Vara
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Sam Vara »

I keep my mind open but my eyes closed.
Saengnapha
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Saengnapha »

Sam Vara wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 11:06 am I keep my mind open but my eyes closed.
Why not both?
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Sam Vara »

Saengnapha wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 11:29 am
Sam Vara wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 11:06 am I keep my mind open but my eyes closed.
Why not both?
Well, if I close my mind I might miss something of importance, and if I open my eyes I might get distracted.
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Saengnapha »

Dinsdale wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 9:16 am
Saengnapha wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 9:12 am I am just curious how many people open or close their eyes during Samatha or Vipassana practice. Personally, I have always kept my eyes open.
I mostly meditate with eyes open, but sometimes with eyes closed. There are pros and cons really.
Were you originally taught to keep your eyes open?
auto
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by auto »

one idea of eyes open and closed is that you can connect to psychic equivalent of sleep and wakefulness without sleeping or being awake. In short eyes themselves if they are open or closed doesn't mean a lot without knowing the pathways what they can be used to affect.
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by befriend »

Closed eyes creates more concentration if that's what your looking for.
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ryanM
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by ryanM »

I close my eyes for the same reason I close my mouth (of course, probably different if my nasal passage is clogged!). However, I don't think either way is better. Most important is what's going on in the mental landscape.
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bodom
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by bodom »

Both are viable practices. I generally close my eyes but will open them if I notice I'm starting to get drowsy. If you sit with your eyes open you will find that when you reach a certain level of Samadhi that the eyes will naturally close on there own.

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Saengnapha »

bodom wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:55 pm Both are viable practices. I generally close my eyes but will open them if I notice I'm starting to get drowsy. If you sit with your eyes open you will find that when you reach a certain level of Samadhi that the eyes will naturally close on there own.

:namaste:
For me, that is a different reason for the eyes closing than keeping them closed throughout.

Nobody has stated whether they were taught to keep their eyes closed or open during practice. I'm curious how people decide.
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by bodom »

Saengnapha wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:14 pm
bodom wrote: Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:55 pm Both are viable practices. I generally close my eyes but will open them if I notice I'm starting to get drowsy. If you sit with your eyes open you will find that when you reach a certain level of Samadhi that the eyes will naturally close on there own.

:namaste:
For me, that is a different reason for the eyes closing than keeping them closed throughout.

Nobody has stated whether they were taught to keep their eyes closed or open during practice. I'm curious how people decide.
I was taught by my teachers to do what was most comfortable to me.

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by dharmacorps »

Eyes closed for me. One of my teachers sat with his eyes open which always surprised me. At first I thought he was watching me meditate.
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Aloka
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Aloka »

I was taught by a Tibetan Buddhist teacher to keep the eyes open, still, and focused on the space beyond the tip of the nose. I find this much better than having my eyes closed.


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Polar Bear
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Re: Eyes Open Or Closed During Practice?

Post by Polar Bear »

In yoga classes I was taught to keep the eyes open and to look down (while keeping the head straight of course) and find a single spot to let the eyes rest on the ground a few feet in front of me. In Buddhist practice I think it is most often taught to close the eyes but not always. When I meditate, I usually close the eyes but not always. The suggestion to do what is most comfortable is appropriate. But you shouldn’t switch back and forth in a single session, that’s just restlessness, with the exceptions that it is okay for the eyes to naturally close and okay to open the eyes if you’re getting drowsy.

:anjali:
Last edited by Polar Bear on Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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