Dark retreat

Dark retreat is an extended contemplative practice conducted in complete darkness. It is especially associated with Tibetan Buddhist traditions and advanced meditation.

Dzogchen: A Tibetan Buddhist tradition that emphasizes recognizing the nature of mind through direct awareness. Dark retreat is especially associated with Dzogchen contemplative practice.
Tibetan Buddhism: A form of Buddhism shaped by Tibetan religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions. Dark retreat is most closely associated with Tibetan Buddhist lineages.
Longchenpa: A fourteenth-century Tibetan Buddhist master and major Dzogchen scholar. His writings are central to the Dzogchen tradition associated with dark retreat.
Darkness therapy: The use of prolonged darkness as a therapeutic intervention, often outside established clinical practice. It resembles dark retreat in conditions but makes different claims and may lack religious framing.
Ganzfeld effect: Perceptual effects produced by exposure to a uniform, unstructured sensory field. It offers a research comparison for perception under reduced visual stimulation.
Thögal: A Dzogchen practice involving visionary experiences associated with the nature of awareness. Some Dzogchen accounts place visions arising in darkness within Thögal practice.
Bardo: An intermediate state or transitional interval in Tibetan Buddhist thought and practice. Some explanations connect darkness retreat to contemplations of visionary states and transition.
Nyingma: The oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Dark retreat is particularly associated with practices transmitted in Nyingma contexts.
Floatation tank: A lightproof tank used for floating in warm, highly saline water with reduced sensory input. It offers a modern sensory-reduction comparison without the same contemplative lineage.
Visual hallucination: A visual experience occurring without an external stimulus that adequately explains it. Reported light and form experiences in darkness raise questions about perception and interpretation.

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