Question
Hi Michael!
I wrote to you a week ago or so about an interesting energetic experience i had during meditation...it has happened again a few times but not as strong. my question now is do you have any ideas what to think about or visualize while we focus on our third eye by crossing our eyes and lifting them towards the "third eye"? i have been doing that in the beginning of my meditation practice for a few minutes before i close my eyes and focus on my breath however i wasnt sure what to do while putting my eyes in that position! sometimes i try to visualize a light coming out of my third eye but wasnt very successful and not sure what i was doing. have any ideas? or maybe some extra meditation methods you know of which you found effective to your growth on the path? thanks!
Answer
I just read this over and thought I should mention a friend I had who said that she meditated while looking at a candle flame. But some people listen to music.. I myself find that I meditate on specific things even while watching TV or listening to the stereo... or while working on images for my web site. Whether or not that kind of thing would work with you, I'm not sure..
Keep in touch if need be. Otherwise, all the best!
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Hi Nada.. good to hear from you again. I should say that my "bias", if you wish to call it that, is toward the type of spirituality where one retains a sense of individuality. The other approach, in very broad terms, is where one strives to lose their sense of individuality in the godhead. Myself, I have never met anyone who's achieved this, and don't know if it's even truly possible. So that's partly why I tend to go toward the retain-the-individuality-while-experiencing-the-godhead path. And I think my earlier comments were influenced by my own bias/approach.
As to what your path is and should be, I truly believe that this is something only you can discern. So I would suggest that you visualize whatever feels right for you now. And maybe just allow the visualization to come to you, and see what happens.
But to answer the second part of your question, I've found several different methods have been helpful over the years. I've tried almost everything (except Reiki, which I'm not too familiar with!). And I still try to incorporate different approaches into a synthesis that works for me. So I may find myself doing short Tai Chi stretches when I've been sitting at the computer for too long; whereas in my early twenties I was doing the entire Tai Chi set. Likewise with yogic practices--instead of doing a whole series of postures, I might find myself doing the odd cat-stretch or cobra when the situation demands it.
As for introspective techniques, since my "third eye" or "single eye" really began to open the challenge for me was to keep focus with the other two! It's important, I think, for modern people to strike a balance between the inner and outer life. I've seen people get absorbed in a certain type of mysticism, and when I come across bright ones, I try to encourage their use of the intellect *along* with the inner eye... sort of like keeping a rudder in place to avoid obstacles which can arise on the spiritual sea.
Having said that, there's a school of Indian philosophy where contemplation takes place while we remain active. It's called karma-yoga. This means the yoga of action. In this kind of yoga, the person keeps their mind on dharma (i.e. the godhead and doing the right thing) while actively engaged in the most worldly of affairs. So sometimes I suggest that people try to meditate while out for a walk or even while in a shopping mall! In chinese phil. there's a similar idea, called the "double aperture" approach, where one keeps an eye on the godhead/cosmic *and* on mundane things all at the same time.
So my advice would be to not get too hung up on a specific technique. Just try things, experiment, and find what works for you..!
