Back to something more practical. Why do we practice with our eyes open and looking at a blank space? This question was asked by one of our sangha recently and, given that I am fairly sure it has been explored before, it would suggest it is both important and not immediately apparent.
Eyes open: All the Buddha images seem to show him with downcast eyes and when many of us started meditating the first instruction was close your eyes. So why change? While that is true of meditations that particularly seek to calm the mind, in 'doing nothing' practices that rest in pristine awareness - awake awareness - the eyes are kept open, soft and resting just slightly higher than the horizon. This is because closed eyes are implicitly making a distinction between the inside and outside of me, and are shutting out the outside because, being a source of distraction, it hinders calming the mind. It's a bit like what is beyond our senses is the enemy and it must be kept out. However, in doing nothing meditations, all these assumptions are abandoned. Within intrinsic awareness there is no inside nor outside. Everything is awareness - it encompasses me and outside me - this is what is meant by 'non-dual' - there is just and only awareness. Given this, why would we want to cut out part of this awareness? We are no longer trying to calm our mind, rather we are learning to rest in awareness itself, in such a way that it is not an object we observe but rather something that we are.
Blank wall: This follows on from above. To be able to notice our awareness and rest in it, it helps to have an open and clear space before us. Hence the blank wall - or an open cloudless sky facing away from the sun. A blank wall has nothing very interesting going on and so it is easier to relax the eyes and not focus on anything. It disconnects our eyes from focusing on specific objects and makes our already present awareness more noticeable. Of course, this is just something that helps and it is entirely possible to recognise awareness wherever we are.
I know that many of us find closing our eyes easier. It's a kind of shutting out the world and finding somewhere nourishing inside. It also facilitates a change in consciousness - a place of one-pointed calm. But if we find we have become addicted to this and feel we can practice no other way, then perhaps it is time to open our eyes wide and maybe stop picking and choosing. If we have never done it, have a go and notice what happens.
NW. 21 Feb 2024 with thanks to LH.
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