It’s all right; it will open later. But that should happen when your mind is very clear. If you see it now, you may sometimes become attached to appearances and create obstacles; not seeing it now is actually a good thing for you. Don’t pursue it. Just practice quietly.
Looking at the ocean is quite good. Looking at the ocean and the sky is a little better than looking at other things. The ocean is simply something that exists in the Dharma Realm; what is the point of seeing it? It’s just that someone else looks with their eyes open while you look with your eyes closed—what is the point in that?
Because everything is within our self-nature. If someone’s heavenly eye opens, they may sometimes see every single thing, because when you close your eyes, these things are also within your Dharma-nature. Because our mind is vast with nothing outside it and small with nothing inside it, the mind embraces everything.
It’s just that when all we have are our physical eyes, of course, sometimes some people have certain abilities: with their eyes closed, they can see what’s on the table, they can see the ocean, and they can also… Some see things far away, while others see things nearby, you know?
Some people can close their eyes and see this cup, right there in front of them, very close; others see things very far away. It seems that what appears sometimes comes from the level of consciousness, but it is also an image within that person’s Dharma-nature.
This is neither a regression nor something being shut off; neither a regression nor progress—it is simply normal. I think that, for now, if you are practicing the Buddha-Dharma, not being able to see is actually a good thing. Or sometimes look at the ocean and the sky, look at things without becoming too attached to appearances—I think that’s quite good. Don’t look at things that go, “This appears, then that appears”; that, on the contrary, is not good.
Note: This text was prepared from a teaching video by Yang Ning. If it differs from the video, the video takes precedence. Watch the video.