The Right To Perceive, To See and Be Seen

Ajna chakra - Inspiration of the Month - February

Sixth Chakra: Third Eye

Sixth Chakra – Ajna

English translation – perceiving, command, beyond wisdom

Element – Light

Colour – Indigo

Purpose – Intuition and Foresight

Location – in the middle of the forehead between the two eyebrows

Bij Mantra – OM (AUM)

Demon - Delusion

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." / Carl Jung

Ajna Chakra; It is associated with The Right To Perceive. As Anode Judith describes it: ‘to see and to be seen’.

The Ajna chakra is your center of insight and intuition, also known as the Third Eye. A balanced sixth chakra invites clairvoyance, telepathy, lucid dreaming, expanded imagination and visualization. You feel focused and steady and may feel as if you’re seeing the world through new eyes and perspective. A perspective that is beyond ego and petty worries or fears.

Seeing, scientifically explained, is a physical-chemical chain of reactions that our brain performs routinely. The light hitting our eyes turns into nerve messages our brains can decode into meaningful information about our surroundings — in color and stereo, no less.

Perceiving has to do with perception. It involves analyzing of the information, categorizing it, comparing it with previously received information and making sense of it. It is about interpreting it within our larger context.

How we Perceive what we See, creates the reality in which we live.

“The sixth chakra represents the entry into non-dual consciousness. The vibrations that we have been refining at each step as we’ve climbed up the chakras, achieve coherence and harmony in Chakra five (throat chakra). That coherence consolidates into a single wave focus at Chakra 6, refining our attention. What does this mean in reality? That we must develop single-pointed attention in order to see clearly. Just as a lake shows the perfect reflection of the mountain behind it only when the water is perfectly still, our minds perceive the reflection of the divine when we become truly still. We can pierce the veil of illusion and see the ultimate nature of reality that is behind everything. This is the true meaning of clairvoyance, or clear seeing. It is the state of realization, where we have the illumination of what is true. Realization is learning to see with real eyes.“

It is hard to verbally describe what or how you can see through your third eye. As mentioned before, it is a different way of seeing and perceiving than most of us have experienced or have been taught to know or trust. Over life we start doubting our intuitive feelings and over time lose touch with these.

Our job is to re-connect with these inner-sights, inner-knowledge, that is often not based on facts or logic, and to still trust its wisdom.

Once we find a way to deeper connect to our true self, it is easier to tap into what we are naturally designed to do: Going beyond the physical and getting in touch with a higher energy.

Working with and balancing all the other five chakras before going into the Ajna Chakra is, obviously, helpful if not essential.

So, what practices are there to help us healing and opening our third eye chakra?

Anodea Judith has given us tools (specific meditations and exercises) to cultivate balance in our sixth chakra:

1. Intuition exercises:

With natural object: Go outside and sit down, maybe in a park, forest, your favorite spot in nature and choose a natural object like a stone or a fallen of flower. I think a stone or a flower is both really powerful here. You can start with a stone. Sit still with the stone in hand for at least five minutes. Focus on the stone. Feel that you are connected with it. Connect with its history. Notice as many details as possible without putting it into words. Just sit quietly, watch, feel into your intuition. Stones have been on this earth since forever, they hold a lot of energy inside them. You can think about that while doing this exercise. Imagine how long this stone has been around. We are connected to everything that surrounds us, every stone, every plant. And second round, do the same with a fallen flower (at the same time practicing Ahimsa, Non-violence – don’t just rip a flower of unnecessarily). Now repeat the same with the flower. Feel it in your hands. Notice its beauty and all the details. Sit quietly and focus. Imagine the flowers history and think about the connection you have with it. Every tree, every plant, every flower produces the air we breathe in and in exchange we provide CO2 for all the plants which is necessary for the photosynthesis. It’s an ongoing cycle. We rely on the plants as they rely on us. How can we not feel connected to nature? After realising this it is pretty hard to deny.

For answering a question: Sit silently and bring yourself into a meditative state, gently close your eyes. Clear your “screen” and let it go dark, so that you see nothing but a blank, black space. Now ask yourself (in your mind) any question that you wish to have answered, and allow images and maybe colours to pop up in your mind and on your “screen” as in a dream. Maybe they represent a dilemma: you are not sure what’s the right answer or right thing to do. Maybe you see two choices, one left, one right. Now it’s time to trust your intuition. Visualize and zoom into the choice on your left “screen” – see how the image changes maybe colours or clarity, and notice how you feel. Then zoom out again and visualize and zoom into the choice on your right “screen” and compare. If you listen closely to your inner voice and at the same time trust your intuition, you will feel a tendency. You always have a tendency, because your soul knows what to do and where you are supposed to head. Trust it. Overcome your fear and step outside your comfort zone. Your soul may not always take the road of least resistance because of course it wants you to grow. But your soul knows when and if you are ready, so you need to trust this intuition.

2. Meditation: “Your future self”

As Anodea’s explanation for this meditation was perfect, so I didn’t want to change it:

“Start by breathing slowly and deeply, relaxing your body fully, feeling your first chakra strongly connected to the earth. Imagine a ray of light above your head. See what color it is as it invites you to rise up out of your body and be lifted up into space. Imagine you are on an airplane—seeing the houses, streets, and cars getting ever smaller.

Then continue rising up, seeing your city and the coastline or hills beneath you growing smaller and then the beautiful green and blue ball that is the earth from space. Keep going until you find yourself in the dark and stillness of outer space. Enjoy this perspective for a few moments. What can you see from this cosmic-centered self? When you feel you have shifted perspective, imagine another ray of light (a different color from the first ray) that directs you back down toward Earth. Follow this ray until you find yourself on the Earth—only it’s 20 years from now. You see before you the home of your most fulfilled future self. Take in as many details as you can about the dwelling you live in, the landscaping, and view. See the front door and walk up to it. Knock and see your Future Self as she/he answers the door. Notice the face, eyes, mouth, height, clothing, demeanor as the person invites you to the kitchen to get a refreshing drink. Now sit down on a comfortable chair and look around, seeing the interior of the dwelling. Sit with your future self and ask any questions you may have, imagining the answers. Ask he/she how they came to be themselves and if they have a gift for you. If given, receive it with gratitude, and look to see what it means for your life now. Then say goodbye and go back out to space on the first colored ray, and then back to earth and present time. You may wish to journal about what you saw and experienced.”

3. Affirmations

- My mind is open to new vision

- I expand my awareness through my higher self

- I open to the wisdom that dwells within me.

- I trust my intuition and am guided by it.

Other tips:

There is a really good guided third eye meditation from Melanie Beckler on YouTube, which I found very powerful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKh0HtyfNE0

And finally, one last quote from the book “Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation” by Harish Johari: “A yogi who has passed through the Vishuddha Chakra at the throat to the Ajna Chakra transcends the five elements and becomes freed (mukta) from the bondage of time-bound consciousness. This is where the I-consciousness is absorbed into super-consciousness.”

Overview:

When in balance: ability to self-reflect and seeing the “bigger picture”, clarity, self-awareness and strong sense of intuition and trust

Deficient third eye chakra: lacking intuition and concentration, being afraid of the unknown, feeling disconnected from the universe and rejecting spirituality

Excessive third eye chakra: lacking clarity in thoughts, being mentally overwhelmed, extreme daydreaming, “brain fog”, being judgmental and anxious