Yogi: After a while, everything became light and peaceful and I saw different colors for a time. Does this experience have a place in vipassana meditation? I know that it’s not the goal, but is this the benefit of the practice?

Sayadaw: The mental colors are called nimittas. It is a sign that the stability of the mind has increased for that time; it is just a byproduct of the practice.

Some people have the experience of light shining in their eyes. 

Light and colors are concepts – they are not important to the practice of vipassana in and of itself, except that the stability of the mind/samadhi is growing. That’s what you take it to be.