In the description of the Second Initiation which can be found in Landmarks of  Second Initiation, the sequence is clear:

“The VOID, being part of that sequence of events is described as the place where the mind cannot pass through .”

• It is described as complete stillness, darkness, silence, where identity dissolves.

“ The checkerboard is not the Void. It is not beyond the mind. It is the final visible structure of the mind as it approaches its own edge. ”

• The checkerboard is a pattern. Pattern implies structure. Structure implies cognition.
• The mind is a pattern-making instrument.
• When it is pushed toward its limit, it often expresses itself in highly ordered geometric lattices, grids, repeating wallpaper-like forms.
• These are not beyond the mind. They are the mind’s architecture becoming visible.

Now here is the key distinction:

“The checkerboard arises as the mind reaches maximum coherence.

The Mind Tunnel begins when that coherence collapses.

The Void is what remains when structure is gone.”

Progress to Second Initiation can occur without seeing any checkerboard or Red Hue.

In practise, the inner realisations of meditators vary depending on whether they orientated more towards Inner Light or Sound,

so, this is not meant to be a confirmation of any states of consciousness.

The Void, by contrast, has no geometry.

• No pattern.
• No symmetry.
• No repetition.

“The checkerboard is the mind revealing itself.
The Void is the absence of mind.”

Another way to see it:

The checkerboard is like ice.
The Mind Tunnel is melting.
The Void is water without form.

• Discipline and concentration are emphasized in the Second Initiate guidance .
• You cannot drift into the Void casually. The mind must first become stable enough to release itself.
• If it can be described, it is not the Void.
• The Void leaves almost no memory trace.

There is no need to force this. The Path unfolds exactly as it should.