I will be the first to admit that I’m a newbie in the practice of meditation. During the course of my early morning practice, in addition to dodging frantically my monkey mind, one of the techniques I try to employ is that of focusing on my ‘third eye’.
The ‘third eye’ , also referred to as the ‘inner eye’… the seat of intuition.
In yogic, or esoteric, terms the ‘third eye’ leads within towards a higher consciousness. It is also the sixth chakra, ‘Aagya chakra‘, lying between the eyebrows.
At a recent retreat a young woman broke down near the end of the meditation, and through her tears, orgasmically exclaimed that she’d managed not only to quiet her mind like never before, but in her tranquil focus, was able actually not only to identify her ‘third eye’ but ‘see into it’ and had, in fact, witnessed colours!
Huh?! How did I manage to miss out on that? Those of us who had yet to get even close to quieting our minds were intensely intrigued as the whole colour thing was yet just another dimension to meditation of which we were pitifully unaware.
And, upon further discussion it was mentioned that a developed capacity to draw upon the energy, direct one’s focus upon the ‘third eye’ can be attributed to clairvoyance and precognition. Wow! That was something I wanted to explore!
And I’m still exploring. In my own independent searches to develop my technique, I’ve come up with some some simple instructions to help in achieving a little sight through that pesky ‘third eye’!
1. Take a comfortable seated position
2. Start by inhaling deeply, use a slow count to three or four on the inhalation and exhalation. Continue for several breaths until you feel yourself relaxing into the breath.
3. Once you are feeling a lessening in tension with your breath, direct your focus, eyes closed, actually physically focus the eyes, upon the space in the centre of your brow. You may find this a little uncomfortable but try to soften the gaze behind your eyelids, just as you would during yoga practice with your eyes open. The beauty is, this focus, both mentally and physically, works to minimize the activity of the monkey mind. Very helpful.
Undoubtedly, focus will be distracted. It’s inevitable. But bring your attention back to the present and gently back to the space between the eyebrows. As you concentrate between your eyebrows, try to move your attention upwards. With focus- and practice- you will feel a presence of consciousness here.
Focus deeply on this presence. You will observe a light radiating from it. This is the third eye.
Aaaahhh…. Uh huh. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? I’ve actually had some glimmers of my ‘third eye’. But, the sad fact is, there’s more than one monkey dancing around in the old attic demanding- no, hijacking!- my attention, so it’s a challenge. But I’ve had a taste and it’s enough to keep me on the path. Besides, as with anything the journey is certainly wonderful, in and of, itself.
