Do you need absolute darkness?

[Tiny]

Dear folks, this is one of my main problems. I like to have 1-2 salt lamps on at night (at the other end of  the room) especially the orange one that gives off very little light, yet little light seems to be too much, this least little light makes my eyes hurt. This is strange to me because I have no problems meditating or even napping during full daylight in my room or 30% ambient evening light from smaller lamps yet there appears to be a problem with this 5% dim light...
Sometimes I like to have it dark during the day so I use a scarf to blind my eyes and then sometimes it doesn't cover up all light and 1-5% light comes through and that gives the same extreme eyestrain. When I remove the scarf and simply continue with closed eyes the eye strain goes away.
Apparently dim light is very confusing for the iris, not knowing whether to shut or not.

So I'm wondering if anyone's experience concurs with mine.



peace

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Why do u need light? When i try to project at night i always have all the lights off. It's a matter of habit really.

Now do i NEED it? Yes i would say that i do. If there is even one small light it's really worse than having the chandelier on. The brain(as with sounds) tends to pay attention more on faint signals than apparent and loud ones(in volume/intensity) because he inherently thinks they are an indication to danger, so the brain really is trying to find out more about the strange faint signal rather than a fully apparent one. Something you can see is easy to ignore. You know where it is, you have your eye on it and you know that it poses no threat to you. On the other hand something which is faint and unstable might jump you at anytime. Keep that in mind


Edit/ I should note that the source of what i say is my own observations.

[Xanth]

I'm actually in the process of designing a "meditation mask" for myself.
My problem is that my eyes tend to 'creep' open as I'm meditating, allowing light in, which throws me off.

So yeah, I'd prefer perfect darkness.

[Tiny]

Why do u need light? When i try to project at night i always have all the lights off. It's a matter of habit really.

Now do i NEED it? Yes i would say that i do. If there is even one small light it's really worse than having the chandelier on. The brain(as with sounds) tends to pay attention more on faint signals than apparent and loud ones(in volume/intensity) because he inherently thinks they are an indication to danger, so the brain really is trying to find out more about the strange faint signal rather than a fully apparent one. Something you can see is easy to ignore. You know where it is, you have your eye on it and you know that it poses no threat to you. On the other hand something which is faint and unstable might jump you at anytime. Keep that in mind


Edit/ I should note that the source of what i say is my own observations.

Dear Koyaanisqatsi,

definatly agreed.

I like the idea of having a dim light so if i want to catch something or get up for pee i don't have to flip the light switch.

My problem is that my eyes tend to 'creep' open as I'm meditating, allowing light in, which throws me off.

Dear Xanth,

rolling back the eyes as occurs naturally during sleep should take care of that problem. If you forward look through your closed eyelids, they will eventually open again.



peace

[Stookie]

Back when I started meditating I practiced with the intent on being able to do it through distractions like light, sounds, & positions I'm not used to. I seriously wanted to be able to meditate in the middle of a busy intersection if needed (not that it would ever be the case). I'm convinced if you practice enough in any condition it will eventually become normal. Saying "this won't work for me" will probably not help.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

It is true that we are adaptive beings...

[Xanth]

Dear Xanth,

rolling back the eyes as occurs naturally during sleep should take care of that problem. If you forward look through your closed eyelids, they will eventually open again.

I've tried that before, but it always leave a "tense" feeling around my eyes... which interrupts me a bit.
I'll just have to keep working at it, I guess.