Third Eye Focus Legendary

It may be that the person who did the most to popularize the third eye and its glories was Sri Paramhansa Yogananda. Regardless of whether one likes him or not, and he is deceased, one should give him credit for whatever he achieved. His book, Autobiography of a Yogi, is legendary.

Interestingly, the guru of one of my gurus, claimed that Yogananda stole the format of Great Masters of Himalayas by Rishi Singh Gherwal, to create Autobiography of a Yogi. It should be told that in that book Yogananda did mention the assistance he got from W. Evans-Wentz.

There is a video which I saw where Yogananda from a sitting position, lay his bloated obese body on a surface, rolled his eyes up and apparently went into meditation, into what he termed to be the blissful Infinite.

That idea about rolling the eyes up into the head to get into a blissful condition with union with the Infinite, is misleading in my view.

While I was in the Philippines in 1970, I heard about focusing upward from Arthur Beverford. He explained that Rishi Singh Gherwal divulged a method to him when Beverford was in Santa Barbara years prior when Beverford was in the USA.

This was the instruction.

·       Do asana postures

·       Do some alternate breathing

·       Sit with spine straight comfortably

·       Put a bit of minted oil (embrocation) on the tip of the right middle finger

·       Rub this on the center of the eyebrows

·       With eyes closed, meditate on that spot.

This was to be done for at least thirty minutes

Beverford did not give a mantra with this.

After doing this for some months, I found that the rubbing of the embrocation, which was peppermint and camphor oil mainly, was not felt between the eyebrows. It did not help to apply it, because the attention ignored it, and the cooling feel from the embrocation disappeared quickly.

Regarding holding the attention at the center of the eyebrows, that was a struggle. In some sessions it was easy. In others, despite much mental effort, the mind’s attentive focus drifted.

The practice of alternate breathing did not work except now and again. The main reason was that the count in each stroke did not hold always. Thus, each complete stroke could not be maintained because of losing track of each count. Once I got access to an isolated basement. There I applied a tremendous inner mental pressure, and did it successfully but the positive results of that did not last for a long time, only for some minutes before the mind resumed its normal thought operations.

The alternate breathing consisted of an inhale from one side, say the left side, for a certain count, an arresting of the breath inhaled for a certain count. Then an exhale from the other nostril for a certain count. Then ceasing breathing for a certain count.

Then one does the reverse. Then one switches again. This continues for a time, with full concentration within. This should be done with the eyes closed but it may be done with eyes open, provided there is inner focus to keep the counts. The ratio of the counts is given by the teacher, who may change the ratio as the student progresses.

The problem with this process is to maintain the count. As soon as the count is fractured for some reason, the sequence must begin again. This is frustrating.

The other important feature is that when there is an inhale the breath energy which is absorbed into the lungs should be mentally directed with great care to the base of the spine. Some teachers give it as the corresponding or opposing side of the base. This would mean that some yogis inhale through say the left nostril and guide the breath down to the left side of the base of the spine while others inhale through the left and guide it down to the right of the base.

But other yogis guide it down to the center of the base chakra. This frees the yogi from having to exert much concentration to direct the infuse energy to the left or right of the base.

There is a question as to what should be the result gained from this practice. For that the answer is that there should be an accumulated charge of energy which should after some practice cause a sparking energy to arise. This is the kundalini. If this happens that student must consult with a yogi about the next achievement in the practice.

This all concerns the awakening of kundalini from the base chakra muladhar. The value of awakening of kundalini is that eventually, it rises through the spine and enters the brain where it causes astral light to sparkle at the center of the head, between the eyebrows and at the crown chakra which is at the top of the head.

That result will cause experiences of other levels of existence. Portals will open in the mind to higher levels.

If, however one does not energize the kundalini, one’s meditation will rarely cause one to enter higher levels of consciousness. This means that senior yogis who give only meditation between the eyebrows, divulge incomplete methods from which the results intended will rarely be experienced.

Beverford did divulge a method of seeing the third eye ajna chakra. This consist of pressing the closed eyes with the fingers using the corresponding fingers to do so. This will cause one to see light in the center of the forehead, at the place where the third eye is located.

On some days, this may not happen when one presses the fingers against the closed eyelids but it should happen now and again. This gives one confidence that the third eye chakra does exist at that place.

A more efficient method for this is to do kapalabhati rapid breathing while pressing the fingers and focusing in the center of the lights which one sees. This causes infusion of energy into the brow chakra. The results in a bright donut-shaped light which may increase in brilliance, changing colors as the infusion intensifies.