Swamiji suggests the half-open half-closed position for meditation.....does the gaze has to be upwards... also what exactly is meant by an upward gaze?.....is one to look sharp ahead like tratak, or is it that the eyes just needed to be upward without the sharp gaze or looking ahead and the mind focused at eyebrow centre?
—sumit, india
When sitting for meditation the most important thing is to be relaxed. I think that for most people, gazing at the spiritual eye, with eyes closed is best to begin with. Imagine that you are looking at a distant mountain top, in this way the eyes are lifted upward but they are not strained. Here is a quote from Swami Kriyananda that you might find helpful.
Don’t look, merely: Gaze deeply into, and behind, the darkness you behold at the point between the eyebrows when your eyes are closed. The more intently you gaze, with deep calmness, the sooner you will behold at the center of that darkness an island-like area of blue or violet light, surrounded, perhaps, by a faint circle of white. The light may be dim at first, but it will present the beginning of what will take shape, in time, as the spiritual eye.
Meditation for Starters, Chapter 6, By J. Donald Walters, Copyright Hansa Trust
