Is Open-Eyed Meditation Possible?

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Welcome to the Eastswesticism podcast where our host, Todd Perelmuter shares the lessons he's learned spending eight years living with gurus, monks, lamas, and shamans across 35 countries and five continents. Join in the journey as he brings the best scientifically proven methods for living your best life from the east and the west, straight to you. The path to peace, love, health and happiness starts here.

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Hello, and welcome to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter, thank you so much for joining today is such a pleasure. Today, we're gonna be talking about the question that my friend had about meditation. I was telling him how I'm meditate. And he told me that sometimes he meditates with his eyes open. And it never really occurred to me, but apparently, a lot of people meditate with their eyes open. And I asked him, you know, do you stare at a candle? I've heard of that? And he said, No, I just stare at a blank wall. 

1:13  
And so I wanted to basically answer the question, Is meditation with open eyes possible? The short answer is yes. There are probably now 1000s of different meditation techniques, each providing a different level of benefit. And efficacy. There's very few negative forms of meditation. Some are less effective. Some are really good at increasing your focus. Others are graded, increasing your awareness. Others may be deeply relaxing. 

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But there's not just one way to meditate. There's many ways and anything that helps you train your mind to be either more peaceful, more joyful, more patient, more alert and aware, more focused and concentrated, more relaxed, more fulfilled, more in touch with your inner self is fantastic. amazing, wonderful. For me personally, I find that closing your eyes is a an incredible tool for turning your attention inward. 

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As we all know, such as with one pupil, when you close your eyes, your other senses are heightened. I find it very beneficial, that when you close your eyes, neurologically speaking, your visual processing center of the brain shuts down. And the energy you spend there in that part of the brain can expand and broaden to other areas of the brain. So by closing our eyes, we literally turn our attention inward. 

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We feel our body from the inside out not from the sense of touching, but from another sense of just feeling sensing, we're able to use that attention that we would spend visually and turn it towards our thoughts, our mindset, our thought patterns. And in doing so, we're able to take a closer look inside the mind. Understand the way it works, the way our thoughts appear and disappear. The way our stream of thought jumps from one almost random thought to the next. We're able to feel our emotions, more in depth. 

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And the more we observe, the more wisdom arises, the more we understand the nature of the mind, the nature of our thoughts and emotions. This is why meditation has been referred to as becoming your own therapist. Because we have that wisdom, that ability to understand deep within us. 

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We just have to observe just like in scientific pursuit, when we study any phenomenon. All wisdom and understanding starts with observation. We test and observe. And so by taking a brief break, from what we usually do, which is observing the external world, for 99% of our waking life, if not more. 

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Meditation allows us the chance to turn our attention inward, to fully process our thoughts and emotions, to give our mind and body a chance to heal on a spiritual level, for me, closing your eyes creates that opportunity to block out the distractions of the external world, to turn our attention away from physical material world, and to observe a non material spiritual inner world and to reconnect with that deep source of infinite love and gratitude. 

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I don't doubt that many people get great benefits from open eye meditation. I'm sure they develop a deep sense of patience and calm as would come from sitting still without distraction. And I'm sure that they find great peace and solace and benefit from that. So I wouldn't tell anyone to not do their favorite type of meditation. 

6:58  
For me, personally, I find that closing my eyes simply adds to the heightened sense of awareness of my inner self. For me, meditation is about closing out the outside world and turning inward. And closing my eyes is a very profound way to do that. I know that some practices involve staring at a crystal or staring at a statue of a god or some kind of spiritual artifact that means something to you. 

7:49  
Sometimes people even close their eyes, but visualize a god or a deity that most closely speaks to them. And I think that is all beautiful, and that there's a wonderful place for that. For me personally, and for anyone new to meditation or considering meditation, I would encourage them to try closing their eyes for two reasons. Number one, it creates a psychological connection in the mind, a subconscious, habitual reaction that when my eyes closed, my meditation begins my focus turns inward, and it's it's like an automatic habit that will happen. 

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When we sit down and close our eyes, your body will instinctively know this is the time to meditate. This is the time to clear my mind. This is the time to relax and get settled into myself. Number two, everything you need, you have and all of the strength and power any human has. You have and I have. It is all within each of us. 

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You don't need a crystal, a candle, a statue, or even a blank wall. You are whole, your complete and everything you need for enlightenment you were born with. And no matter where you are, no matter what situation you're in. You can sit down or stand. You can close your eyes. And you can turn your attention to your breath or your mantra and connect With that eternal infinite consciousness, oneness with all that ever was ever will be an ever is. This is a simple, profound and powerful practice meditation.

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It was passed on for 1000s of years, each generation handing it off to the next because of the enormous difference that it made in their lives. It's free. It's available to everyone. And it can help us reconnect to our natural way of being. No religion has a patent on it, or monopoly on it. It's free, it's available to everyone. And it can change your life and it can change the world. So, most importantly, give it a try. 

11:04  
One or two minutes a day, add a little every week or two and start getting those great benefits. Thank you so much for listening. It's been an absolute pleasure. Please send any questions to @toddperel on Twitter, Instagram, and I'll try to get to as many questions as I can. Thank you so much again, like, subscribe and review. Only five stars please. It would mean the world to us. Thank you so much. Until next time,

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you were listening to the Eastwesticism podcast. Be sure to visit us at eastwesticism.org to join the conversation and receive enlightening emails. Until next time,