Candle-gazing or fire kasina experiences/safety?

[-_sometimes]

I find candle gazing to be helpful in calming my mind and bringing some attention to the process of perceiving. 

 

I'm not quite sure the role this sort of meditation has in daoism, so this sort of perspective is more than welcome. 

 

As for fire kasina, I've heard some crazy things from those or who have practiced extended periods, warnings of psychosis, hallucinations (or not?) during retreats, seeing closed eye visuals even outside of practice. 

[Vajra Fist]

One of the biggest proponents of fire kasina is Daniel Ingram, who has written a free book on the practice.

 

https://firekasina.org/

 

There's also some interesting material on trataka here, from the yogic tradition:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dharana-Darshan-Upanishadic-Concentration-Visualization/dp/8186336303

 

There's a few interesting podcast interviews with Ingram about his experiences with fire kasina and those of his students

 

https://deconstructingyourself.com/the-liberating-practice-of-the-fire-kasina-with-daniel-ingram.html

 

https://m.facebook.com/guruviking/videos/ep73-daniel-ingram-dangerous-and-delusional/218514889803268/?_se_imp=280LbaNh7WV7TVvo8

 

What I found fascinating is that this is something from the pali cannon and yet has largely been forgotten in modern traditions.

 

I was originally interested in this, because when I first started meditating in my teens, and knowing very little about cultivation, I used to get very vivid visions of candle flames in my mind's eye. So I thought perhaps there's a karmic connection to this practice.

 

But after reading up on it, I felt fire kasina was a little high risk. For instance, Ingram says that the common steps in practice is to perceive a bright dot on your eyelids. Then after that, the dot turns purple pr dark.

 

After that, and this is beyond what I experienced in my own limited practice, the dark spot eventually resolved into a field. Some people see grand vistas, or entities, some of which can be terrifying. Those beings also apparently appear utterly real, three dimensional and sentient. 

 

In that sense, I think you have to have reached a certain level of equanimity in practice to be able to not get affected by that. Personally, I don't have the cojones.