Vipassana & Inner Look

Venerable,
The practice of vipassana, "inner" vision, I suppose implies that the gaze is internalized. Can you enlighten us on the practice to apply to obtain this internalization. Respectfully,
Alain

Venerable,
In meditation, what do we mean by inner gaze?
Annie

Venerable Nyanadharo: Close your eyes and sketch a slight smile like that of the Buddha or the Mona Lisa if you prefer. This smile, you perceive it, you feel it, you could almost say you "see" it, and yet you do not use your eyes and your vision. You are soliciting the inner gaze, a way of perceiving totally independent of the sense of sight since in this case you always have your eyes closed.

When you are able to maintain with concentration this perception of the smile, then try the slightly half-opened eyelids and take back your perception of the smile whereas your sight from now on will be likely to hang images coming from the outside world. Prioritize the perception of the smile over images that come from the outside world. Your external vision thus automatically becomes “panoramic” by perceiving everything globally, but not dwelling on any detail since your observation primarily follows the perception of the smile in the most sustained and continuous way possible. You thus simultaneously perceive the inner world and the outer world.

To meditate is to preserve this fragile inner-external balance that thoughts, pain, boredom and other multiple distractions will try to break. Keep coming back to this balance. At first, the ensuing vigilant calm will be short-lived and gradually lengthen as your concentration develops. Good meditation.