Sun gazing, Sun meditation here described by a practicioner explains how it seems to have been done by Ancient Egyptians, which would explain much, and I seem to recall by Gnostics, such as the Cathars in the South of France in medieval times.
The process is well described and the practioner in very sunny Costa Rica mentions hearing an internal voice in his awakening process.
Completely counter-intuitive is the practicioners advice that you can gaze at the sun and it improves one's eyesight.
In sunny Australia I have internal sun damage to my eyes, verified by an eye specialist. Most Australians have it.
And springing to mind is the occasional news announcements that odd individuals sustain permanent eye damage watching lunar eclipses.All of my life I have heards news reports to this effect.
But, the practioner says we are all misinformed. A bunch of scaredy cats.
He says you start with daily 10 second intervals and work your way up.
I can only assume its done mostly thru nearly shut eyelids. Squinting thru eyelashes, briefly. One could learn that.
But then its likely one's pupils could be conditioned to close very tightly with daily practice. Simply a new physical skill the eyes can learn. There are Sea Gypsies, in Thailand, a unique ethnic minority group of boat people who can see underwater without goggles.An extraordinary skill but real.
If the practioners process description is accurate and real, and the awakening process seems quite real, then it makes a complete mockery of the many Militant Atheist dismissive claims that modern religions are simply built on primitive solar worship. Such as vatican square being really a giant sundial.The Militant Atheists pseudoscientific belief of course, is that solar worship, was done only by ignorant superstitious savages.
When in fact quite the opposite is likely true. Likely many ancients were gnostics, due to sungazing, knowledge hidden in plain sight, and the ignorant savages are the Militant Atheists on youtube. LOL.