It sounds to me like everyone is having exactly the right experiences for their individual situations. They will be similar, but not identical, and this is as it should be because one person may be stronger in one area than another and need "shoring up" in that area where they are less assertive, psychically or psychologically speaking.
One thing about "light": If you start seeing lights, it might be helpful to sort of "grab" them (or it) with your mind and try to hold it still. Over time, you may be able to do this, and then, watch it and "grow" it.
If you feel a "heaviness" around the third eye, also try to "hold it" and see if it is not "light trying to break through." These are just suggestions, not hard and fast rules.
As for "zoning," I think the description given in ISOTM is good, and what I learned was that, after a time, the "self-remembering" that is going on during this "zoning" period becomes more and more available to the conscious mind. That is, for a time, you won't be able to bring back the awareness of what goes on between you and the cosmos (higher self/objective consciousness), but as you continue, you will be able to bring back bits and pieces (sometimes in flashes of images, knowings, etc) and eventually, the dyke between the conscious mind and the higher self will wear away and you will be able to "walk between two worlds."
As I said, it's a process, and it will go at a sligthly different pace for each individual, or with emphasis on one area or another according to your need.
Now, let me give you a little preview of what can/may happen over the next couple of months as you continue this practice.
What you are doing is establishing a living relationship with the immeasurable force of your own higher being. Just being able to have definite experiences with this psychic or non-material existence is the first step and plays a primary part in true initiation.
Material life is the infinite or cosmic self housed in a body. The body is important only as insofar as it is that housing (though that housing is very important for a number of reasons I won't go into here). What is important for you now is understanding that the cosmic self/essence has a "house." The metaphor of the horse, cart, driver and master is useful here.
The "master," or higher self intelligence possesses a deeper faculty than material intelligence, because it exists in a state of limitlessness, which gives great breadth to its intelligence, while the brain of the body, which is what enables us to manifest "mind" is limited by material horizon. The higher intellectual center has the ability to perceive everything at one moment. This greater range of observation would obviously burn out the circuits of the physical brain which runs a lot of programs and loops that are tied to physical circuits. So this is why, mainly, zoning occurs. You simply could not handle what your higher self perceives. Not yet, anyway.
So, at present, you are being introduced to your immeasurable higher self and undergoing a process of psychic/psychological/emotional purification. You are "cleansing the temple," so to say.
Repeated practice of this process is this act of purification/cleansing and preparation for the union of the higher self and the earthly self. You are, in a sense, taking "light baths" every time you practice the meditation.
Many traditions focus on this task for years and years and years, turning it into a protracted, painful process. In many traditions, those who seek this sort of communion/purification, often spend YEARS getting to the stage that most of you have achieved after just a couple of weeks of practice. So don't be put off by the fact that it may take a couple or few months to clear away the programs and the dross of emotions that are a result of programming. You are preparing your vessel so that the higher self can actively "inhabit" or directly interact with your physical brain/mind.
The confusions and problems with most of what gets passed off as esoteric teachings in modern New Age contexts (not to mention older teachings that miss the mark) are caused by people seeking to manifest the force of the immeasureable higher self without either understanding or preparing for it. They seek to pour new wine in old bottles, as the "scriptures" say. They seek to pour into their own twisted and distorted selves (twisted and distorted by a pathological reality) the most amazing power in the Universe - the essence of their higher selves.
And so, the necessity for the cleansing.
So, what is actually happening for all of you is that your are generating the penetrating "astral light" that cleanses away all that stands between you and your true, higher self.
Even with the purest method such as we have here, this can take varying amounts of time according to what the life experiences of the individual are. In some cases, it can happen very fast. In other cases, it may take a little longer and may seem like it is going nowhere, but then, without warning, the light will break through and bathe and cleanse your entire being.
Keep in mind that the higher self does not measure time by material methods and it takes some getting used to - the manifestation of a limitless, timeless force.
Your own higher self/essence is directing the cleansing process. I suspect that some of the effects that many of you are reporting (lights, pressures, etc) are you feeling your own higher self/essence at work.
At some point, when the cleansing has proceeded to a certain point and the higher self is enabled to interact more directly - that is, take charge of the cart, driver and horse, it can begin to provide leadership and direction to your life. Now, since this is YOU doing it, don't think that it is going to feel like some stranger coming in and taking over. The only way I can describe it is like how you feel being an adult relative to having been a child. You make this leap into your true, grown-up self, and all that childish stuff just sort of falls away. You will become a being that is at once human and at the same time, divine. You will no longer identify with your body or false personality, it will, instead, become a "house" or an "instrument."
What will happen is that your self, your being, will take on a new quality of vitality and range and initiative. You will become strong in areas where you once were weak. You will experience the constant guidance of the higher self with its "eyes of the soul." This guidance will be active in the work of your hands and the words of your mouth. You will feel this guidance in the form of protection, also - you will have the ability to perceive danger. Your essence will guide you to acquire the knowledge you need on a practical level to protect the material being from unnecessary harm. The higher self, knowing the power of material attraction, helps you to be aware and strong so that you will continue to be a channel of the higher self into the material world.
So, that is just a brief outline of the initial benefits to come. There is more, of course, but let's save that for later.
