The Principle of Seeing Light with Eyes Closed

Ru Chun: The day before yesterday, after finishing sitting meditation, I wanted to try sleeping meditation. As I lay there getting drowsy, in that hazy state, I felt as if my heart were breathing, with qi being expelled—it felt so comfortable. Last night while meditating, suddenly there was a brightness before my eyes, and I thought, "It's the middle of the night, how can it be so bright?" The moment this thought arose, the brightness immediately disappeared. Could it be that some states can only be touched by the manas, and the mind consciousness cannot reach them?

Assessment: When the qi channels pass through the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the brain, the obscuration of the aggregate of form is reduced, so that one can see brightness even with eyes closed. And the purer the mind and the better the meditative concentration (samādhi), the more unobstructedly the qi channels can pass through the back of the brain and even the whole body, and the brighter one feels before one's eyes. When the eyes are closed, the brighter it is before one's eyes, the smaller the obscuration of the aggregate of form, the smoother the flow of qi and blood, and the better one's meditative skill.

When merit (puṇya) improves, one naturally lets go of worldly dharmas, and meditative concentration naturally improves. Skill is cultivated through practice, and is also the result of an opened mind-nature. In cultivation, do not fear being slow-witted; fear only heavy greed, fear only petty cleverness and unwillingness to truly apply effort. However good cultivation is, why cling every day to the unreliable worldly dharmas of arising, ceasing, and change? Through cultivation one can obtain any supreme worldly dharma—fame, power, status, wealth, and so on—there is nothing one cannot obtain. But clinging to worldly dharmas not only fails to obtain the supreme supra-mundane dharma; even the pitiful worldly dharmas cannot be preserved. The two are not comparable. Why is it that many people still cannot figure this out and cling greedily to worldly dharmas without letting go?

Ru Chun: The manas always seeks benefit and avoids harm. The ignorance and afflictive habits from beginningless kalpas have made the manas believe that obtaining material form is a gain for the self, while losing it is a heavy loss and damage to one's own benefit. The more one pursues worldly benefits, the greater the merit one consumes, the less wisdom one has, and the farther one is from the Path.

Haiqing: Over time, when lying down in meditation, under certain conditions, the breathing changes—I don't know how it changes. It shifts from breathing through the mouth and nose to abdominal breathing, and the whole body feels warm, with a feeling of spring warmth and blooming flowers.
ADA: So that's how it is! Not only can I see silvery-white, golden, and purple light while meditating. Even when not meditating, as long as I close my eyes for a few seconds, there is light before my eyes, as bright as during meditation. Especially at night, in a room with the lights off, I can see with eyes open a thin layer of light filling the room, like colored glaze, making everything behind the light—furniture and such—appear extremely illusory. This situation began in 2020; at first I wasn't used to it, was a bit afraid, and couldn't sleep, but gradually I got used to it. However, light is also a mark, isn't it? One must not cling to it. Without seeing the mind and realizing one's nature, one is still an ignorant ordinary being. The key is still to diligently accumulate merit, rectify one's mind-nature, and improve one's meditative concentration skill; only afterward can there be true wisdom.
Assessment: Your mind is pure, your meditative concentration is good, your qi channels circulate well, and the obscuration at the supreme faculty (indriya) is small, so you can see brightness and are not limited by darkness.