What should I do with my eyes when I meditate?
In some schools of Buddhism, you meditate with your eyes open and in others you keep them closed. If your eyes are open, what you do with them depends on the kind of meditation you’re doing. Generally, you look downward and shorten your gaze when you’re doing meditations to calm and concentrate the mind. You lift your eyes and expand your gaze when you’re meditating on openness and the environment around you.
A good approach to calm abiding (shamatha) meditation is to look slightly downward, letting your gaze fall about six feet in front of you, keeping it in soft focus and relaxed, neither too tight nor too loose. You can also use your eyes to help with obstacles. When your mind is scattered, lower and shorten the gaze; when your mind is dull, raise your gaze and take in more space.
Explore #MeditationHacks
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Tenku Ruff, a Zen priest, answers the question about finding the balance between trying too hard and not trying hard enough.
Should I meditate with my eyes closed?
Whether you keep your eyes open or closed during meditation depends on your approach.
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As part of our #MeditationHacks series, we share what to do when you feel like jumping off the cushion.
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We share an explanation of different hand positions used in Buddhist meditation.
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I’ve carved out time and space in my home for meditation. But, I still find it so easy to avoid it! Are there any tricks that can help?
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I can’t seem to escape from external noise when meditating. What should I do?
