Open your 3rd eye

‘How do I break the chains, Jojen?’ Bran asked.
‘Open your third eye.’
‘They are open. Can’t you see?’
‘Two are open.’ Jojen counted. ‘One, two.’
‘I only have two.’
‘You have three. The crow gave you the third but you will not open it. With two eyes you see my face. With three you would see my heart. With two you can see that oak tree there. With three you would see the acorn the oak grew from and the stump it will become. With two you see no farther than your walls. With three you could see south to the Summer sea and North to the wall.’
George RR Martin ‘A Clash of Kings’

You wouldn’t expect the Man who wrote the ‘Red Wedding’ to so brilliantly describe the third eye, but there it is.  I look at that passage and I feel two things: understanding and jealousy.

As in I understand what he’s talking about and I’m jealous I didn’t write it.

You ever hear that the adjective most associated with Shakespeare is rage?  As in

‘What pisses people off about Shakespeare, what lies behind every controversy, is rage.  Rage over the nature, and unequal distribution of talent.  Rage that genius appears where it appears for no reason at all.’- William Monahan (The Gambler)

That goes double for me and George RR.  God I love those books.  The TV show’s ok too.

Confession: I’m an English major who doesn’t care for Shakespeare.  Some people are in awe watching Hamlet.  I’m more like Peter Griffin watching ‘Uncle Vanya’.

Where were we?  The Third eye.  Yes.  Every day I finish teaching a yoga class by saying:

‘Place your hands at your third eye, together we bow.’  We then bow.  And what happens here differs for everyone.

Let’s explore the ritual.

The third eye can refer to the pineal gland, a pinecone shaped gland in our brain which monitors our melatonin release (important for modulating sleep cycles and circadian rhythms). It is thought to have once been a functioning eye that we evolved away from.  The philosopher Descartes referred to the pineal glad as ‘the principal seat of the soul.’  He also famously said ‘Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.’   Damn!

According to yahoo answers the third eye is the ‘6th chakra’ and opening this eye allows ‘perspective in, dreams, of colors, your personal life and relationships be seen through a ‘new light.”

A kundalini yoga website concurs, ‘The third eye is a chakra that is responsible for what we call “second sight”. Intuitive perception. It is by the third eye that people see ghosts, auras and other usually non-visible phenomena. The perceptions of the third eye are not limited by time or space. The Third Eye sees energy patterns, and it is not limited by distance. It’s also not limited by time and space. So focusing on the Third Eye, you can see things that are happening on the other side of the world. You can see things that happened in the past. And you can see potential events that happen in the future.’

And all that happens when I raise my hand to my third eye is the room goes dark.

Another yahoo answers poster described the moment as, ‘Bullshit.’

The ritual is introspection.  You may see Auras, you may see nothing.

For the longest time I went through the motions during this part of class.  I bowed and that was it.  I’m not one of those pseudo, hippie crunchy yoga guys.  It was a workout and it helped me move well.

But now my concept of the third eye is changing.

I have not seen mystic visions, I have not seen energy patterns.  But I am looking.

Looking deeper into myself to understand what makes me tick.  I recently left my job of 12 years.  I was comfortable but I was not happy.  I have a feeling there is more out there if I just knew where to look.

I had to break the cycle I was stuck in.

Maybe the third eye will let me see my path.

Sometimes as I finish a class I can see how far I’ve come.  When I began every class was a struggle, every pose a challenge.  I see my present where the poses have improved and I even finish some classes thinking ‘that went by fast.’  I can see the trajectory to a deeper backbend, a steadier handstand, an effortless flow.  I see the acorn, the tree and how beautiful the tree can become.

I don’t care to see the stump just yet.

Can I see the acorn of my current path?  Can I see the tree?

Can I see the chains holding me?

Let’s break the chains on our current physical state.

Let’s break the chains on our current emotional state.

Open the third eye.

I think it’s there at the end of your next class, at the end of your next long run.  I’ll be looking more intently.  Will you?

I’ll see if I can glimpse the possible and set a path.

I’ll write down what I see.  If you write a goal down then you are 40% more likely to achieve it.

I’ll share it with friends.  You are over 70% more likely to accomplish goals you share with others.

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.’             -George Carlin

This is our work.  Let’s do it.