As a beginner<\/a>, if keeping your eyes open during meditation is too distracting, it\u2019s fine to close them. And, as your practice progresses, you may encounter particular types of meditation that involve visualization, in which case, having your eyes closed can be helpful. Generally, though, in Mingyur Rinpoche\u2019s tradition, you are encouraged to meditate with open eyes. If you\u2019re unable to do so at the outset, it\u2019s recommended that you practice it a little at a time until you find it comfortable.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/12″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-2 vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row u_row_style=”1″ lms_row_has_bk_offset=”1″ lms_row_bk_columns_offset=”0″ u_row_enrollment_restriction=”0″][vc_column lms_has_clearfix=”0″][vc_single_image image=”105089″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1657706041340{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}” el_class=”hidden-xs”][vc_single_image image=”105088″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1657705455868{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}” el_class=”visible-xs”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row u_row_style=”1″ lms_row_has_bk_offset=”0″ lms_row_bk_columns_offset=”0″ u_row_enrollment_restriction=”0″][vc_column width=”1\/12″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-2 vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-8″][vc_column_text el_class=”subtittle-open-post”]<\/p>\nNo bugging out required<\/h3>\n
It might help to know that \u201ceyes open\u201d doesn\u2019t mean staring or bugging out your eyeballs, trying not to blink. It can actually feel very relaxed. If having them open irritates you, check in with how<\/i> they\u2019re open. You can even touch your face to see if the muscles around your eyebrows are tense, and if they are, release them. Continue to tune in like this until meditating with eyes open eventually feels natural and comfortable.<\/p>\n
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Staying awake to the world<\/h3>\n
Through the practice of meditation, we can come to experience the quality of authentic inner joy anytime, anyplace, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This may sound like an impossibly lofty goal, but it\u2019s achievable. How? By bringing awareness to everything we do. \u201cEverything we do\u201d includes the nitty-gritty of dealing with the people, places, and things that make up our world: staying late at work, driving our kids to school and our pets to the vet, taking the bus, and shopping for groceries. We need our eyes open for all this stuff, so it goes without saying that meditating on the cushion with our eyes open will make it all the more natural to do so off the cushion.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/12″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-2 vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row u_row_style=”1″ lms_row_has_bk_offset=”0″ lms_row_bk_columns_offset=”0″ u_row_enrollment_restriction=”0″][vc_column width=”1\/12″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-2 vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-8″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1657713867011{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 40px !important;}” el_class=”subtittle-open-post”]<\/p>\n
The key to authentic inner joy <\/b><\/h3>\n
There are other reasons to keep your eyes open. Meditating with your eyes closed can give rise to experiences specific to having one\u2019s eyes closed in general . . . a certain dreamy quality that might seduce you into thinking, \u201cOkay, now<\/i> I\u2019m meditating.\u201d Quite unconsciously, you might then start dividing your experience between being on the cushion with these lovely, dreamy experiences, and being off the cushion \u2014 also known as everything else. It\u2019s \u201cmeditation\u201d life versus \u201ceverything else\u201d life . . . and then, bam! You have unwittingly turned meditation into an instrument for further splitting your view into what you do and don\u2019t like, positive and negative, hope and fear, good and bad \u2014 when actually, what we\u2019re meant to discover in meditation is that awareness can handle and hold everything equally, which is the key to inner joy.<\/p>\n
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The force be with you<\/h3>\n
In the vast space of awareness, hope and fear are just two galaxies among countless trillions. Within awareness, you can touch into a deep, grounded, stable sense of well-being, of sanity. In order to be able to experience this calm sanity throughout the day, you need to be able to bring awareness to your life in real time. It\u2019s not something you need to create by closing your eyes and digging deep inside; you can connect with it at any moment. To deal with what life dishes out, you need to be fully available to reality. After all, should you get pulled over by a police officer, it\u2019s not as though you can say, \u201cExcuse me, officer, I need to close my eyes for a few minutes and meditate.\u201d The idea is to be present and bring awareness to every situation.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/12″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-2 vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row u_row_style=”1″ lms_row_has_bk_offset=”1″ lms_row_bk_columns_offset=”0″ u_row_enrollment_restriction=”0″ lms_row_bk_offset_section_classes=”bk-qoute-full”][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u201cWherever you are and whatever you are doing, pause from time to time and relax your mind. You don\u2019t have to change anything about your experience. You can let thoughts and feelings come and go freely, and leave your senses wide open. Make friends with your experience and see if you can notice the spacious awareness that is with you all the time. Everything you ever wanted is right here in this present moment of awareness.<\/span>\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”autorquotepost”]\u2013 Mingyur Rinpoche \u2013[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row u_row_style=”1″ lms_row_has_bk_offset=”0″ lms_row_bk_columns_offset=”0″ u_row_enrollment_restriction=”0″][vc_column width=”1\/12″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-2 vc_hidden-xs”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″ lms_has_clearfix=”0″ offset=”vc_col-lg-8″][vc_column_text el_class=”icon-tittle-post”]<\/p>\nHere is a guided meditation session to help you get started:<\/h2>\n
[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1620054501575{padding-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_inner el_class=”repro” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-3 vc_col-md-offset-3 vc_col-sm-offset-3″][vc_column_text el_class=”box-audio”]Try to apply this walking guided meditation by Tergar Instructor Myoshin Kelley in your everyday life with your eyes open.<\/p>\n