Now, the point is that, being human, if you look at the Sun your
eyes will suffer irreversible damage extremely quickly. Sunglasses
do not make any difference. No form of gazing should ever be
practised on the Sun, under any circumstances. Similarly, eye
contact should not be practised outside during the day, to avoid an
excess of light harming your eyesight. Anyhow, you will get the
best results indoors, in semi-darkness. If you practise during the
day, it is best to dim the room by drawing the curtains.
Similarly, it is recommended that you do not gaze at the Moon
without blinking, for its luminosity may also be harmful to your
eyesight. But there is no restriction at all when it comes to gazing
at stars. It is actually an enlightening practice that fills the soul.
- Mirrors... will amaze you! How can it be possible for a physical
surface to reflect not only your physical image, but also your
aura, faces of yourself in the past and future, and faces of your
guides? Chogyam Trungpa, the well-known Tibetan master, once
told a friend of his that in deep meditation, he could see the realm
of Shambhala in his mirror. And the mirror is one of the basic
elements of initiation in western schools of esotericism.
The ancients must have had a sense of the mysterious nature of
mirrors, since the word mirror came from the Latin mirari.
Mirari means both to wonder and to admire, and is the source of
other words such as marvel, admire, miracle... and mirage!
5.3 Reconnection with the space
Before starting any of the practices of eye contact, and in
between them, reconnect with your eye in the following way:
Sit up with your eyes closed.
- Start implementing the throat friction (section 2.1).
- Become aware of the vibration between the eyebrows, and
connect it to the throat friction. Keep on building up the
vibration between the eyebrows for about 1 minute. - Become aware of light or colour patterns between the eyebrows.
Connect the throat friction to the light. Continue for 1 or 2
minutes. - Become aware of the purple or dark space (the background of
the lights and colours). Remain in the space for 1 or 2 minutes.
This set of instructions (to be practised with your eyes closed) is a
shortened version of the third eye meditation described in section
3.7. As always, ‘the eye’ refers to the third eye, between the
eyebrows, and not to the physical eyes.