The eyes we use to navigate our environment don’t show us the world as it truly is. Instead, they present a filtered interpretation—projections of colors and shapes that our minds conceive. Photons bounce back and forth, flooding through the retina to be processed by the brain, where an image forms as a mere conception of thought.
To clarify, all sensory inputs are projections of the mind, making them inherently subjective and illusory. For example, an owl doesn’t perceive the world the same way we do. Our clear daytime vision isn’t superior to the owl’s sharp night-time sight. If you were to debate with an owl about whose vision is more accurate, you’d both reach conclusions that are equally flawed.
So, is there a way to see the world as it truly is?
Yes, there is. The third eye in Hinduism, often referred to as the Ajna Chakra, is often mentioned in advanced meditation practices and the path to enlightenment. This eye, located an inch deep at the center of our eyebrows, serves as a gateway to true insight. Unlike our physical eyes, which are bound by sensory limitations, the third eye perceives the universe in its purest form—beyond light, beauty, and subjective interpretation.
What exactly is the third eye?
The third is purely non-physical. Can you imagine something that’s purely non-physical, and at the same time, not a concept or abstract idea?
The physical eyes belong to the physical body and are excellent tools to navigate in the physical environment. We can all agree that the physical eyes are enough for the survival of a living entity. Yet there exists one more eye that has manifested itself in every living being, for no particular reason. It’s just there, often referred to as consciousness.
One may argue that this self-awareness mechanism might be a consequence of the survival mechanism built into us that says, “I have to survive, which means I AM”.
Yes, the self-ness is indeed a consequence of evolution of the survival mechanism built into us through natural selection. But the third eye is not exactly the self-ness. It is a foundational quality of the universe itself, that comes under the light in the presence of the self. This means, even when the self is not, there is consciousness, but it is quality-less, and so it cannot find expression through the physicality of the creation.
When the self becomes an absolutely still reflection of itself, it is able to project this quality of creation onto the physical body, which, then draws conclusion and derive meaning from the observation.
How to see things using the third eye?
It often takes years of meditation practice and yoga to reach the state that represents the third eye. You may have heard of the word “Samadhi”. For the uninitiated, this word is made from two: “Sama”, which means balance or equanimity, and “dhi” means intellect.
When your very intelligence has been trained to negate the natural procession of animal intelligence, and has become more attuned to staying still, you attain Samadhi.
To elaborate further, stillness without reason is not an evolutionary process attained by a living entity. Therefore, stillness by its very nature, is a cosmic phenomenon. When a human becomes absolutely still, it is no more a human being, but a cosmic happening. In this state, the soul realizes that it’s not alive (as a living creature), but as the very process we call creation and the creator of creation.
The third eye awakening practice
The third eye is a gateway that allows one to see the world as it is, draw insights from it, without the evolutionary context built into our intelligence.
- Sit straight and close your eyes.
- Visualize a still image on your forehead.
- Make the image and the mind-stuff still.
- Notice that the image may be still, but the mind still has subtle background noises.
- Practice this every day until the image has become so still that you become that image (or see nothing else besides that image).
- When this has happened, you’re looking at the image with your third eye.
I recommend checking out the Bhairava tantra. It contains over a hundred ways you can achieve such state and awaken the third eye.The Third eye is the highest possibility of the human mind
This doesn’t mean your intelligence and IQ will increase. It means that you’ve reached the highest maturity of thought. You will be able to increase your intelligence if you devote your thoughts in that direction, but an awakened Ajna doesn’t necessarily make you an academic genius by itself.
Such heightened state magnifies the possibilities of having a mind. The greatest ones, in my opinion, are clarity of thought and freedom from suffering.
What things does the Third Eye bring with it?
After awakening the third eye, you’ll begin to live in two parallel realities, the proclaimed physical — and the psychic world which takes time to make sense of — because it’s subtle. Your ability to see the parallel world depends totally on your ability to concentrate on a thing.
For instance, have you ever had a premonition? Or maybe sometimes you dream so vividly, it seems more real than real? When you dream of places you’ve never been to or you see extremely complex and detailed terrain, you’re actually having experiences from an unclear and undertrained Ajna Chakra.
Humans have the latent ability to see everything in this universe. You can see how the universe came into being, how physical manifestation and subtler manifestations structure the universe, and why visualizing and believing manifests and bring things into your living experience (The law of attraction).
Powers of the Ajna Chakra
You can also understand and see how and why ancient mystics used the occult (tantra or witchcraft) for various purposes. Many of supernatural abilities have already been mentioned in the Indian culture:
- Clairvoyance
- Astral travel
- Ability to see the past and future
- Experiential Non-duality
- Wish fulfilment and mind control
- Self-realization (A potential to reach there)
- hypnotism on the self
- Being able to construct manifestations of kundalini
Many people do Ajna sadhana just for the sake of these benefits, but fortunately, it doesn’t come to those who do it for anything else besides self-realization. If you are a devotee of a god or a curious person who wants to know and understand God (reality + unreality), it will be comparatively easier to awaken.
Warnings and precautions
The method mentioned above is a powerful one. As your attention gets deeper and deeper, you may start seeing things from your past and your past lives (if you believe). If you don’t believe, just know that you may encounter weird and probably horrific memories. Let everything pass by and slowly, your awareness will become more and more untainted.
You’ll become like a pure reflection of awareness. Once this has happened, your kundalini will begin to rise up quickly. Moreover, shift your attention to your heart or any one of the 6 lower chakras, unless you want to amplify your thoughts. This means, if you are often surrounded by negative thoughts, you will begin to go crazy. So, these practices should always be done under a trained master or Guru.
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