[Advaita-l] Meditation: eyes open or eyes closes or either

[Sanju Nath]

Chapter 6 of BG Verse 13-14 says:

Holding the body, head and neck straight, he should remain still and
steady, gazing at the tip of the nose without casting his glance in other
directions. Undisturbed, fearless and observing a vow of celibacy, he
should sit and control his mind by thinking of Me as his highest goal.

This means that we should do meditation with eyes open or at least
half-open.

But the common way is to close the eyes.  This generally helps in shutting
out the external indriyas especially for non-advanced users, and deal only
with the challenges of the mind.

The end goal is to see/feel/realize Atma at all times, whether sitting,
eating, sleeping, meditating with eyes open or close, etc..

But for a beginner, is it better to close eyes at first even though the
Lord says otherwise?

At what point, can we try meditation with eyes (half)-open?

Warm regards,
Sanju