Dark Room Retreats

[BSUR]

Does anyone here have experience with dark room retreats? This is an advanced form of meditation retreat in complete darkness. Different mystical traditions such as Christian mysticism and especially Tibetan Dzogchen incorperate dark room retreats in their practices. The ancient Egyptians and Greek also had their dark rooms for contemplation.

I recently did my first 2-day solo dark retreat which was very profound. It greatly heightened overall sensitivity and at first I went through different life sequences of my past, which was a purifying experience. Many insights about one's true nature get revealed in the darkness as the retreat progresses, such as the inherent luminosity of Consiousness being the absolute reality prior to any relative light or darkness.
The longer the retreat goes the more the body produces melatonin, and it is said, that at one point the body starts to produce its own DMT. I did had visions that were visually rich but I cannot say that the production of DMT was the cause of that (that is more the case in 1 to 2 week dark retreats as far as I know). For me it isn't about such visions or altered experiences, but more a way of self-discovery in which different dimensions of oneself and reality get revealed, processed and integrated afterwards. It was a very rich experience and I am curious if people here have experience with this.
Btw, one helpful resource was Martin Lowenthal's book Dawning of Clear Light.

 

[Roma]

The subtle senses (e.g. clairsentience) develop primarily through practice. Long periods in darkness help.

 

[BSUR]

Thanks for your reply, Roma. By long periods you mean like 1 or 2 weeks, or even longer?

 

[Roma]

It takes years to develop subtle senses, but the skills carry over easily between incarnations so often we are simply reactivating previous skills

 

[BSUR]

Thanks for sharing that insight!