What's the third eye?

[juice]

Hi I been skeptical about this subject because I have researched and still. lack understanding.
Iisten to all these experts on it and find myself more confused than anything.
I know it's a view inside of the spirit world, but what else?
Why Christian see it as evil to open your third eye?

Thanks for any response

 

[Beautiful]

Its a connection you develop to the spirit realm. I feel it everyday, to hear someone call it an idea is funny to me On the samadhi level of experience, you burst into the heavenly realm through the third eye. Its a part of the brain in the middle of the forehead, thats where the energy centers. This is because the head is the ruler of the body (thats why beings have one head and two legs--the head commands the lower body. The head is centered, the lower body is divided.)

Why christians or anyone would see it as evil? Well, we can fill whole libraries with 'reasons' why people are prejudice to other cultures, races, ideas...

 

[Cino]

In the context of religions that have teachings about the body's energy systems (chakras, meridians, that kind of thing) the third eye is the area roughly between your eyebrows.

"Opening" or "activating" the third eye will have a range of meanings, usually an increase in wisdom. The visual metaphor of "seeing with the third eye" then amounts to profound "I see/I understand" epiphany type experiences. Often, this is the result or consequence of having performed spiritual exercises such as meditation, contemplation, yoga (beyond the gymnastic part of yoga), Chi Gong, Occult ritusls in some esoteric school...

Which brings me to my opinion on why some denominations of Christians tend to be wary of this (I am not a Christian): it is associated with pagan traditions, magic, esotericism, eastern religions.

 

[RJM]

Why Christian see it as evil to open your third eye?

Do they? Jesus said:

"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
(Matt 6:22-23)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6&version=KJV

Perhaps these evangelical type Christians just knee-jerk reject anything that seems Eastern?

The 'We Christians' club. If only they knew how much damage they are doing to the true message of Christ, turning people away from Christ, imo.

 

[Thomas]

As RJM said ...

"And God said: Let there be light." (Genesis 1:3)
"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not." (John 1:4-5)

In the Abrahamic Traditions, the heart is the core of the person. The Traditions are all about metanoia (change of heart), the heart was a far more important organ than the head.

Cino said:
"Which brings me to my opinion on why some denominations of Christians tend to be wary of this (I am not a Christian): it is associated with pagan traditions, magic, esotericism, eastern religions."

I agree. Christianity was always on the case to prevent syncretisms — as they saw it — creeping in and watering down the wine, as it were. The evidence of heterodox ideas, theological and metaphysical errors and pseudo-Christian appropriations of the message are evident, from the Gnostics so-called of the 2nd/3rd centuries to Theosophical insights and the emergence in latter days of so called 'esoteric Christianity'.

And, of course sadly, the knee-jerk of those who don't understand ...

The Third Eye as such is a metaphorical device, an upaya, to borrow a Buddhist term (an expedience), and a vast amount of ink and paper wasted, and hot-air generated, when read too literally, and treated too simplistically.

 

[wil]

: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of ligh

Ya think that references a single eye? Or a single focus?

 

[RJM]

Ya think that references a single eye? Or a single focus?

Ah yes. That would make sense

 

[Cino]

So, @juice - were we able to add to the confusion?

 

[Craz]

Hi I been skeptical about this subject because I have researched and still. lack understanding.
Iisten to all these experts on it and find myself more confused than anything.
I know it's a view inside of the spirit world, but what else?
Why Christian see it as evil to open your third eye?

Thanks for any response

For me it is simply the term (often overused) for experiencing our senses inward.
I.e seeing inner light, hearing inner sound, there is also inner taste/smell often referred to in poetics as nectar.

In my own travels, I have met some people who experience these things naturally, others through meditation.
Theists and non-Theists.

 

[RJM]

I think the interest all started with this book, first published 1956. He turned out to be a plumber from Plymouth named Cyril Hoskins, but from the 60's and 70's his atmospheric books about life in a Tibetan monastery turned a lot of western people on to eastern mysticism, imo

 

[muhammad_isa]

..his atmospheric books about life in a Tibetan monastery turned a lot of western people on to eastern mysticism, imo

I remember that book. I had a look at astral-travel in my teens.
Not healthy, imo. When it's time to die, we will see what we will see.
..meanwhile, are we trying to "spy on others" ?
.. or maybe we will become deluded .. it's unnatural. Isolation can be detrimental.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Understanding, ..
and in Shiva's case, heralding destruction of what displeased him.
Of course, being an atheist, I do not subscribe to that view.

 

[RJM]

Ah, it's ancient stuff. But it gets taken up by the shallow 'me' society ...

 

[wil]

Shiva's case, heralding destruction of what displeased him.

Without Shiva we'd be 30' deep in carcasses, feces and undecayed matter!

Third eye to me is what you don't see ,.don't understand, but have an inkling of... Intuitional instinct... I believe it to be based on solid evidence that you cannot access in the moment.

 

[KnowSelf]

Youtube videos - Third Eye activation meditation

 

[Aupmanyav]

As the story goes, Shiva was disturbed in his meditation by Kama, Kamadeva, Cupid, the God of Love. Kama intervened at the behest of all Gods and Goddesses, as they wanted a son from Shiva who could lead the army of Gods against the demon, Tripurasura. Murugan / Kartikeya, the God with six heads (Shanmukha, since he was raised by the six sisters, Pleiades) was born after this episode and led the army of Gods to victory. After the victory, Indra gave his daughter, Devasena, in marriage to Kartikeya.

After Shiva was pacified, he blessed Kama to be born as Krishna's son, Aniruddha. Aniruddha appears in another story of the demon Banasura, whose daughter Usha, abducted the very handsome Aniruddha. Banasura was a devotee of Shiva. So to get Aniruddha released, Krishna had to fight Shiva. Of course, the mediators did not allow the fight to go out of hand.

Murugan / Kartikeya is a major God of South India, visualized both as a General and an ascetic. Here, with his consorts, Devasena and Valli, with his brother Ganesha, family portrait. Valli, incidentally, was an aboriginal princess.

 

[timtak]

Hi I been skeptical about this subject because I have researched and still. lack understanding.
Iisten to all these experts on it and find myself more confused than anything.

I think it is the visual field, as depicted by Ernst Mach and Douglas Harding,
or the "I" (rather than the "me") in Henry James. Our consciousness.
It is as Harding says, quoting Muhammad, closer than the veins in our
neck. And yet indeed, we only have an inkling of it (@wil).

In a sense, as Jesus says in (Matt 6:22-23) (thank you @RJM Corbet)
the third eye is the only eye we have.

"The guy with two eyes" in the mirror, is the guy that other people see,
and I only see my "third" eye, though I tend to forget about it,
seeing myself as, or believing myself to be, that face in the mirror.
Being evil, or vain, I lose sight of the "third eye" and see myself
from the point of view of otherS, believing myself to be that face in
the mirror. I am in a cave of darkness looking out at the world from
behind that face, "and how great is that darkness" indeed.

Ekhart describes the "third eye" as God's eye:
"The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me.
My eye and God's eye is one, and one sight, and one knowledge
and one love. "

But it is very difficult to see God's eye. I have not seen it. It can be
hidden behind a woman of sorts.

Jacob Boehme says this
"I see with my own eyes; which I boast not of, for the power is the
Mother's. I exhort thee to enter into the bosom of the Mother, and
learn also to see with thy own eyes: so long as those dost suffer
thyself to be rocked in a cradle and dost desire the eyes of others
thou art blind. But if though riseth up from the cradle and go to the
Mother, then thou shalt discern the Mother and her children. "

Here we have two eyes, but the contrast is between other
peoples' eyes and our own eyes which "the Mother" has (power
over) in some way. But I think she can cause insanity, according
to Pierre Rochat (Other's in Mind, p. 204-207) for instance, so I
will stop there.

Or end following @Aupmanyav with,
Vishnu is too scary.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Vishnu is too scary.

Really! Was he? He was branded the best of the Indian trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) because of his humbleness. That is how the story goes.

"Many great sages gathered at the bank of river Sarasvati to participate in a great sacrifice. Sage Bhrigu was arrogant and was filled with pride due to his extreme austerities. All the great saints and sages could not decide that out of the Trinity Lord Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva who is pre-eminent and whom should they make the chief recipient of the sacrfice. With the consent of all the great saints presents there, it was decided that Bhrigu will test and decide who was pre-eminent.

Upon being entrusted with the task Maharishi Bhrigu decided to test the Trinity by kicking each God. He was ignored by Brahma and threatened by Shiva, before he went to Vishnu. Vishnu was asleep and Brighu kicked him in the chest to wake him up. Vishnu sat up, got hold of Bhrigu's feet, caressed them and asked whether his feet were hurt when he kicked. Seeing the utmost humility of Vishnu, Bhrigu decided that Vishnu is the best of Gods - and at the same time lost his own arrogance. How could he be arrogant when even the God was so humble?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhrigu#Trimurti (a bit modified but still true to the legend)

 

[KnowSelf]

As the story goes, Shiva was disturbed in his meditation by Kama, Kamadeva, Cupid, the God of Love. Kama intervened at the behest of all Gods and Goddesses, as they wanted a son from Shiva who could lead the army of Gods against the demon, Tripurasura. Murugan / Kartikeya, the God with six heads (Shanmukha, since he was raised by the six sisters, Pleiades) was born after this episode and led the army of Gods to victory. After the victory, Indra gave his daughter, Devasena, in marriage to Kartikeya.

After Shiva was pacified, he blessed Kama to be born as Krishna's son, Aniruddha. Aniruddha appears in another story of the demon Banasura, whose daughter Usha, abducted the very handsome Aniruddha. Banasura was a devotee of Shiva. So to get Aniruddha released, Krishna had to fight Shiva. Of course, the mediators did not allow the fight to go out of hand.

Murugan / Kartikeya is a major God of South India, visualized both as a General and an ascetic. Here, with his consorts, Devasena and Valli, with his brother Ganesha, family portrait. Valli, incidentally, was an aboriginal princess.

All very fascinating, can you tell me the symbolic attributes in each picture?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Kartikeya/Murugan is perhaps (add 'perhaps' to many things that I say) a deity which, like many other Hindu/Aryan mixed deities, take from both cultures. His general-like avatara could show Aryan influence and ascetic-like avatara could show indigenous influence. Appropriately, he has two consorts, the fair-one (Devasena, lit. army of Gods) being Indra's daughter and the dark-one (Valli) being a princess of a forest tribe. He has 12 arms and six heads as he is supposed to have been reared for some time by the Pleiades. I may mention that Aryans changed the beginning of their year by one month around 2,250 BCE, i.e., from the appearance of the constellation of Orion to that of Pleiades. This was because of precession of equinox. Indian Aryans did this two times covering a period of some 6000 years. That may be the time when Kartikeya was first visualized by Aryans. Kartikeya's mount is a peacock. Kartikeya/Murugan's armament is a spear (Vel).

The second and the third images are family portraits. Two brothers, Ganesha being very obedient to his mother, Parvati. He is Vighnaharta, remover of obstacles for Hindus, famous for having written down Bhagawat Purana while Sage VedaVyasa composed it. Ganesha's mount is the mouse.

So Shiva's house is a veritable zoo. Bull and snakes for himself, Lion/Tiger for Mother Parvati, mouse for Ganesha and peacock for Kartikeya. All animals are each others' enemies. Bull and lion, Snake and mouse, snake and peacock. So, that is for fun.