Wheels-11

CHAKRA
Six:
Light

Opening Meditation

It is dark. Eyes closed, we lie as if asleep, dreamless, ignorant of all around us. Floating in a sea of emptiness, we are cradled in darkness—unseeing, unknowing, at peace. We breathe slowly, in and out, in and out, stretching and relaxing our bodies as we settle into the warm, peaceful darkness inside. We are home. We are safe. We are deep within ourselves, feeling, hearing, being—but not yet seeing.

Become this darkness—all-knowing, yet unknowing, empty and free. Let the dark wash over you, soothe you, as you empty your mind into the infinity of the void, the womb of darkness—the birthplace of our dreams to come.

Somewhere, in the darkness, we hear a sound—a distant note, a voice, a scuffle of movement. We feel the flutter of a breeze upon our face, feel a warmth upon our shoulders, feel the pull to rise and flow and follow but we know not where. Our bodies cannot see and dare not move. They are dark and still.

They call to us for direction, wisdom, guidance. They call to intelligence, they call to memory, they call for clarification of the pattern. They call to light.

And afraid to leave the darkness and safety of our ignorance, we hear this call.

We hear this call and our own mind, hungry for answers, quests outward. We long to see, to know, to behold at once the wonders that surround us. To fill our minds with recognition, the certain steps of knowing, the safety and the peace that light, too, can bring.

We open our mind. We open our eyes. We look about.

Images pour forth in myriad kaleidoscopic forms, tumbling inward, pattern upon pattern, endlessly interweaving.

Colors, shapes, and forms reflecting space around us, reflecting back into us, recording life in patterns that our minds can clearly see.

The mind opens and receives.

But there is too much and the light is blinding.

We call to the dark to shade us, to temper, to bind the patterns into meaning.

And the dark comes softly, hand in hand and shadow to the light,

defining, shading, intertwining, ordering.

The light comes more gently now, rainbow colors, healing, soothing, illuminating, coming at will. Active yellow, healing green, soothing blue, potent violet. All that is alive glows with light. Shape and essence in form revealed for us to see and know.

What do we wish to see? What do we call forth to our inner vision? What does the light bring?

Beauty of a thousand suns, beauty of a single Moon,

patterns of the life we’re leading, all the truth we are perceiving.

Gently now on wings of light, our petals flutter through the night,

Reaching out to worlds beyond, events forthcoming, days long gone.

Holographic matrix net escapes the boundaries by time set.

All the truth can be contained by patterns in the mind retained

Red and yellow, green and blue, interlace in varied hue.

Shape and form, insight revealed, nothing can remain concealed

From inner vision reaching out, seeing truth, removing doubt.

Inside we open, watch and wait, while wisdom’s visions spin our fate.

Illumination shows the way, our inner light turns night to day. And

though the dark shall yet return, we fear it not for we have learned

the way the dark and light combine, letting patterns be defined

Dark to light and night to day

Within our minds, we light the way.

CHAKRA SIX
SYMBOLS AND CORRESPONDENCES

Sanskrit Name:	Ajna
Meaning:	To perceive, to command
Location:	Center of the head slightly above eye level
Element:	Light
Essential Form:	Image
Function:	Seeing, intuition
Gland:	Pineal
Other Body Parts:	Eyes
Malfunction:	Blindness, headaches, nightmares, eyestrain, blurred vision
Color:	Indigo
Seed Sound:	Om
Vowel Sound:	(not really a vowel in this case) mmmm
Petals:	Two
Sephira:	Binah, Chokmah
Planets:	Jupiter, Neptune
Metal:	Silver

Foods:	Entheogens
Corresponding Verb:	I see
Yoga Path:	Yantra yoga
Herbs for Incense:	Mugwort, star anise, acacia, saffron
Minerals:	Lapis lazuli, quartz, star sapphire
Animals:	Owl
Guna:	Sattva
Lotus Symbols:	Two white petals around a circle, within which is a golden triangle pointing downward (trikuna) containing the lingam, and the seed sound om; in the pericarp, the Shakti, Hakini, with six red faces and six arms, seated on a white lotus; above her, a crescent moon, the Bindu dot of manifestation, Shiva in the form of lightning flashes.
Hindu Deities:	Shakti Hakini, Paramasiva (form of Shiva), Krishna
Other Pantheons:	Themis, Hecate, Tara, Isis, Iris, Morpheus, Belenos, Apollo

THE WINGED PERCEIVER

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

—Albert Einstein

From the dawning of ages, darkness and light have intertwined to bring us one of the greatest gifts of consciousness—the ability to see. To witness the wonders of the universe, whether light years away in the twinkling dome of stars, or blossoming in the flowers of our backyard, the gift of sight allows us to behold the beauty of creation. Seeing gives us the ability to instantaneously take in enormous amounts of information about our surroundings. Shape and form distilled into light waves create an internal map of the world around us. From our dreams, images spring from the unconscious and connect us to the soul. With intuition, we see our way through situations, gleaning wisdom to guide us in difficult moments.

It is this gift of seeing—both inner and outer—that is the essence and function of chakra six. Through seeing, we have both a means of internalizing the outer world, and a symbolic language for externalizing the inner world. Through our perception of spatial relationships, we have building blocks for both memory of the past and imagination of the future. Thus, this chakra transcends time.

The “brow chakra,” as it is often called, is located in the center of the head behind the forehead—either at eye level or slightly above, varying from person to person. It is associated with the third eye, an etheric organ of psychic perception floating between our two physical eyes. The third eye can be seen as the psychic organ of the sixth chakra, just as our physical eyes are tools of perception for the brain. The chakra itself includes the inner screen and vast storehouse of images that comprise our visual thinking process. The third eye sees beyond the physical world, bringing us added insight, just as reading between the lines of written material brings us deeper understanding.

The Sanskrit name of this chakra is ajna, which originally meant “to perceive” and later “to command.” This speaks to the twofold nature of this chakra—to take in images through perception, but also to form inner images from which we command our reality, commonly known as creative visualization. To hold an image in our mind increases the possibility that it will materialize. This image becomes like a stained glass window through which the light of consciousness shines on its way to manifestation. If there is no interference, the form on the manifested plane is just what we visualized, just like the projected image of the stained glass window if there is no furniture in the way. One reason our visualizations don’t always manifest is because so often we do encounter interference along the descent to manifestation. That interference could be someone else’s circumstances, fears from the unconscious, or simply lack of clarity in our visualization.

While our petals have been steadily increasing in number as we climb up the Sushumna, we suddenly have only two petals at the ajna chakra.1 (See Figure 7.1.) There are many possible interpretations of their meaning: the two worlds of reality—manifest and unmanifest; the intertwining nadis, Ida and Pingala, which meet at this point; and the two physical eyes that surround the third eye. The petals also resemble wings, and symbolize the ability of this chakra to transcend time and space, allowing the inner spirit to “fly” to distant times and places. It is interesting to note that if you compare the caduceus to the chakras and nadis, the two wings occur where the sixth chakra would be. One further interpretation is that the two petals, surrounding a circle, resemble the whites of the eye itself, as it surrounds the iris.

Goddess: H-akin-i

Figure 7.1

-Ajñ-a Chakra.

(from Kundalini Yoga for the West)

The corresponding element to this chakra is light. Through the sensory interpretation of light we obtain information about the world around us. How much we are able to see depends upon how open or developed this chakra is, including, to some degree, the acuity of our normal eyesight. The gamut of visual and psychic ability can run from those who are extremely observant of the physical world to those who are gifted in psychic perception, who can see auras, chakras, details of the astral plane, precognition (the “seeing” of future events) and remote viewing (seeing things in other places).

Unlike the five lower chakras, which are situated in the body, the brow chakra is located in the head. Therefore, its nature is more mental than any of the previous chakras. Our visual perceptions must become translated into other forms, such as language, actions, or emotions, before they can be tangibly shared. As we become more mental, we leave behind the limitations of time and space and enter a transpersonal dimension.

As each chakra corresponds to a gland, chakra six is related to the pineal gland, a tiny (10 x 6 mm) cone-shaped gland located in the geometric center of the head at approximately eye level. (See Figure 7.2) It is possible that this gland was, at one time, located nearer to the top of the head. In some species of reptiles it still is, forming a kind of light-sensitive perceptual organ, resembling another eye.2

Figure 7.2

Chakra Six.

The pineal gland, sometimes called the “seat of the soul,” acts as a light meter for the body, translating variations in light to hormonal messages relayed to the body through the autonomic nervous system. Over 100 body functions have daily rhythms which are influenced by exposure to light.3 The pineal reaches the height of its development at age seven, and has been thought to influence the maturation of the sex glands.4 Embryologically, the pineal gland is derived from a third eye that begins to develop early in the embryo and later degenerates.5 The pineal has some tranquilizing effect on the nervous system and removal of the pineal can predispose an animal to seizures.

Melatonin, a hormone relevant to pigment cells, has been isolated from the pineal. It is suggested that the production of melatonin is triggered by exposure of the eyes to light, even in small amounts.6 Melatonin, now widely researched as a sleeping aid, is believed to strengthen our immune system, reduce stress, and retard aging.7 Melatonin production decreases as we age, and low melatonin levels are commonly found in depression, and consequently, higher than normal levels in manic states.8

Because the pineal gland is located just above the pituitary, some people correlate the pineal to chakra seven and the pituitary to chakra six. I strongly feel that since the pituitary is the master gland that controls the other glands, this relates to the master chakra of the crown. Since the pineal is a light sensitive organ, it seems clear that the pineal is related to chakra six.

Is the immaturity of our culture at this sixth chakra level relevant to the atrophy of the pineal gland? Does this gland have a mystic function that presently lies dormant, waiting for some sort of spiritual or cultural awakening? Studies have shown that light has a definite effect on the health and behavior of plants and mammals.9 Could it be that the pineal gland plays some secret role in the link between light and the chemistry of the body?

At this point there is not enough evidence to say. Melatonin, as a sleeping aid, increases dreaming, showing that it has some relevance to inner vision. Melatonin is chemically similar to native plants known to induce visions and can cycle into a compound called 10-methoxyharmalan, which is potentially hallucinogenic. Some psychotropic drugs, such as LSD, increase melatonin synthesis.10 There may indeed be chemical properties associated with the pineal in advanced humans that trigger the phenomenon of inner vision. Now that melatonin has become so widely used as a sleeping tonic, it will be interesting to see over time what effect this may have on our pineal glands or our psychic sensitivity.

LIGHT

If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with light.

—Matthew 6:22

At the fifth chakra level of awareness, we experienced vibration as an underlying manifestation of form. At chakra six we encounter a higher, faster vibration than that of sound, though of a fundamentally different character. Here we embrace the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we perceive as visible light. Ultraviolet radiation, radio waves, x-rays, and microwaves are just a few of the many wave forms within this spectrum that are not visible to the eye. Light is the form directly perceivable by consciousness. Whereas sound is expressed through a wavelike oscillation of air molecules, light is a far finer vibrational energy, produced by radiative emission from atomic and molecular systems as they undergo energy-level transitions. In a very real sense, light is the voice of atoms and molecules, whereas sound is the voice of larger structures.11

Visible light consists of wave packets called photons, which exhibit either wave-like or particle-like properties, depending on the method of observation. Because light is wavelike, some of the principles we discussed with sound waves apply equally well to light, such as wave-forms that can be coherent. Variations in frequency give us the different colors, just as frequency in sound gave us different pitches. Since light is also particle-like, we can think of it as discreet packets or photons, each containing information that allows us to see.

Light travels the fastest of any of the elements discussed so far. Extreme wind, which may reach over 200 miles per hour, and even sound, at 720 miles per hour, are left far behind by light at 186,000 miles per second—the fastest known speed of any material phenomenon.12 Again, we step further out of the physical limitations of time and space with each new dimension, and the extreme speed of light distorts and transcends our very sense of time. Indeed, if one were to travel at the speed of light, time would cease to pass. This too becomes important at the sixth level, for as Vissudha transcended distance, the Ajna chakra transcends time. In this way, we may see a star in the sky, thousands of light years away, which may even have gone nova and disappeared — but the light of that phenomenon has not yet reached our eyes.

Light is electromagnetic energy. Though the photons are without mass, light can induce an electric current upon striking metal, a phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect. Photons, striking the metal, displace electrons in the metal, which induces a current. The interesting thing about this effect is that the lower frequencies of light—such as red light, for example—do not have enough energy to induce a current, regardless of their intensity. At higher frequencies, such as blue or violet, a current is produced, which then will vary with the intensity of the light.

This implies that in the nearly nonphysical dimension of light, quantity of light is far less important than quality, and quality is dependent upon frequency, which we experience as color. For this reason, any study of light must include an excursion into color.

COLOR

Color, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.

—Pablo Picasso13

Color is the form through which we perceive light. Vivid in experience, rich in depth, color is the very fabric of our seeing. Color is produced by different frequencies in the wavelengths of light. The “hotter” colors—such as reds, oranges, and yellows—are of a lower frequency than the “cooler” colors of green, blue and violet, and therefore the photons have less energy. (Hot and cool are our own subjective assessments, and say little about the actual energy of the light.)

Light is produced by the excitation and de-excitation of electrons within the atom. Electrons lose or gain energy by “leaping” from one energy level to another. Each leap is called a quantum jump, a discrete step and amount of energy much like the steps on a stairway. When an electron jumps to a higher level, it must absorb a certain amount of energy. When it falls back again toward the nucleus, that energy is released as a photon of light. An electron falling through two levels releases more energy than an electron falling through only one level. Therefore, the photon emits light at a higher frequency, giving us the blues and violets of the upper chakras.

Color carries very definite psychological effects. Red, which physiologically stimulates the heart and nervous system, is also associated with aggressive and initiatory energies—anger, blood, beginnings of things. Blues, by contrast, are associated with peace and tranquillity, and have exactly that effect on most people. Even wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum have an effect on our health and state of mind. Fluorescent lights, for example, which do not contain the invisible ultraviolet rays, have been shown to have a negative influence on health, both in plants and animals.14 By contrast, full sunlight, containing the complete spectrum, have in some instances helped heal arthritis, cancer, and other diseases.15

If we consider that a large percentage of our information comes to us in visual form, and that visual information is perceived as patterns of color, the subtle changes in frequency exhibited by light must have an enormous affect upon our minds and bodies.

If sound waves affect the physical arrangement of subtle energy, it would follow that color, being such a high octave of material manifestation, could influence matter in much the same way. For this reason, color has been used in healing, with remarkable success. Recent studies have shown some colors of light can be 500% more effective in stimulating certain bodily enzymes.16 This art was known by healers in the early part of the century, (before such things were scoffed upon by the medical profession) as witnessed by the following quote from a practicing physician versed in the art of color therapy :

For about six years I have given close attention to the action of colors in restoring the body functions, and I am perfectly honest in saying that, after nearly thirty-seven years of active hospital and private practice in medicine and surgery, I can produce quicker and more accurate results with colors than with any or all other methods combined—and with less strain on the patient. In many cases, the functions have been restored after the classical remedies have failed . . . . Sprains, bruises, and traumata of all sorts respond to color as to no other treatment. Septic conditions yield, regardless of the specific organism. Cardiac lesions, asthma, hay fever, pneumonia, inflammatory conditions of the eyes, corneal ulcers, glaucoma, and cataracts are relieved by the treatment.17

Various theories on the healing effects of color have been written and documented in the last century or so. Using methods such as bathing a person in sunlight passing through a stained glass of a particular color, or drinking water that collected sunlight in a colored glass, has had a remarkable healing effect in many cases. Treatments of blue light, for instance, have been known to provide permanent relief in cases of sciatica and inflammation. In one case the patient had had unrelenting symptoms for eleven years and was relieved within a week of color treatments, with no relapse.18 In other cases, yellow light has been used to bring mental clarity, red to combat physical exhaustion, and golden-orange has helped diabetics.19 If diseases begin at the subtle level, should they not be treated at a subtle level as well, using such things as color—especially in conjunction with positive visualization?

The colors of the chakras follow a logical progression through the spectrum, correlating the lowest frequency of light, which is red, to the lowest chakra, matching the rest of the chakras to the spectrum accordingly. This seems to be both the most sensible and the most universal system of coordination to the chakras, but it is by no means the only system, and should not be confused with the colors that the chakras appear to be when viewed clairvoyantly, or the colors described in Tantric texts. Some clairvoyant studies, however, such as those conducted by Valerie Hunt, completely corroborate the “rainbow” system as witnessed by the following quote:

Chakras frequently carried the colors stated in the metaphysical literature, i.e. kundalini–red; hypogastric–orange, spleen–yellow, heart–green; throat–blue, third eye–violet, crown–white. Activity in certain chakras seemed to trigger increased activity in another. The heart chakra was consistently the most active. 20

In addition, Jacob Lieberman, Ph.D., found in his research that when people were unreceptive to a particular color, it correlated nearly 100 percent of the time to stress, disease, or injury in the part of the body related to the chakra of that color.21

According to the rainbow spectrum, the colors for the chakras (according to modern systems) are as follows:

Chakra One:	Red
Chakra Two:	Orange
Chakra Three:	Yellow
Chakra Four:	Green
Chakra Five:	Blue
Chakra Six:	Indigo
Chakra Seven:	Violet

Various Tantric texts describe the chakras differently, saying the first chakra is yellow, the second white, the third red, the fourth smoky, the fifth blue, with the sixth gold and the seventh lustrous beyond color. Perhaps as we evolve, our chakra vibrations are changing frequency, and the colors are now becoming more aligned to the pure colors of the spectrum.

When viewing chakras clairvoyantly, it is equally unlikely that one would see a set of chakras exactly reflecting the above rainbow description, for these are optimum colors occurring in chakras that are fully developed and clear. (In Valerie Hunt’s study, subjects were observed throughout weeks of intense rolfing therapy—the clearer colors occurred only toward the end of therapy.)22 From my own experience, it is far more common to see many colors in each chakra, twisting in and out of the chakra and forming patterns and images that relate to that person’s life.

You can also use the associated colors as meditational or mnemonic devices to gain access to your chakras or to find out more about them. First, we can take a small reading of our own chakras through examination of the colors we tend to surround ourselves with—as in our clothing and home decor. Do you always pick the purples and blues or do you consistently go for the vibrant reds and oranges? Are you fond of dark or light colors? Is it a mere coincidence that some monks, who practice celibacy, wear saffron (pale orange) robes, a color related to the second chakra?

Secondly, we can choose colors that complement the chakras we feel are the weakest. For a long time I was aware of an absence of yellow in my auric field which was also confirmed by many friends and psychics who looked at me. Simultaneously, I had metabolic problems, and many issues related to the third chakra, such as low energy and feelings of powerlessness. I found that wearing a yellow gemstone (topaz) and yellow clothing helped my attitude considerably, to the point where other people remarked about an improvement. On a subtle level, this brought balance into my personal energy system.

Colors can also be used in visualization for self-healing. In the above case, especially on darker days, I would sit and visualize my aura as a bright yellow; or alternately, visualize golden rays of energy coming to me from the sun. What I projected outward from myself gradually became manifest around me. When Selene Vega and I teach our chakra workshops, we encourage students to wear colored clothing to match the chakra we are studying each day. In this way, we immerse ourselves in the vibrational spectrum of that particular chakra. Colors, like the sounds associated with each chakra, are another form of expression of the seven planes associated with this system.

THE HOLOGRAPHIC THEORY

In the Heaven of Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls so arranged that if you look at one you see all others reflected in it. In the same way, each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object, and in fact, IS every other object.

—Hindu Sutra 23

How do light and visual process connect to what we experience in perception? Why do so many mystics claim to see patterns of light when they meditate, eyes closed? Why do dream images seem so real? And what constitutes memory?

The most plausible theory put forth to answer these questions comes from a neuroscientist named Karl Pribram, and is based on a model of the mind as a hologram. A hologram is a three-dimensional image formed by two intersecting laser beams. This is analagous to dropping two pebbles into a pond at different locations, and quickly freezing the water. The intersections of ripples would be permanently recorded onto the ice, just as the interference of the light beams are recorded onto the holographic plate.

In the creation of a hologram, a beam of light produced by a laser is reflected from an object, and recorded on a light-sensitive plate. The plate also receives another beam of the same frequency, called the reference beam, which goes directly from the source to the plate. Looking at the plate itself, we would see only a meaningless pattern of dark and light swirls. This is the coded information of the intersection of the two beams, much as the grooves on a record are the coded representation of a sound track.

When the plate is later “reenacted” by a reference beam that contains the same frequency as the original laser, the image of the holographed object eerily jumps out at you in three dimensions. You can move to the side of the hologram and see the side of the object as if it were really there, yet since it is only light you can pass your hand right through it.

There are many remarkable things about holograms. The first is that the information is stored “omnipresently” on the plate. In other words, if the plate were to break into pieces, any piece of the plate would be capable of reproducing the whole picture, though with increasingly less detail as the pieces diminish in size. The second remarkable thing about holograms is that they are nonspatial. Many holograms can be superimposed upon one another in one “space,” or on one plate by using laser’s of different frequencies. Karl Pribram’s theory states that the brain itself functions like a hologram through constant interpretation of interference patterns between brain waves. This is fundamentally different from previous brain models, where each bit of information is stored in a particular place. This theory has shaken the foundations of physics and physiology, creating a paradigm shift in the study of consciousness. Its ramifications are far reaching in the understanding of the mind as well as the world around us. This model seems particularly relevant to the understanding of the ajna chakra. Let’s look at how this theory developed:

Pribram first began by doing brain research on rats and monkeys in 1946. Working with Karl Lashley, he dissected numerous brains, looking for the mysterious basic unit of memory, called the engram. Thinking, as many did at that time, that memories were stored in various nerve cells in the brain, they expected that certain memories would be wiped out by removing brain tissue.

Not so. Instead, they found that memory seemed to be stored omnipresently throughout the brain, much as the plate stores holographic information. When tissue was removed, memories became fuzzier but didn’t disappear. This explained why memories survived massive brain damage, why the brain can store an entire lifetime of memory, and why memories were often triggered by certain associations, or “reference beams.”

When we view an object, light is transformed into neural frequency patterns in the brain. The brain is filled with some thirteen billion neurons. The number of possible connections between these neurons numbers in the trillions. Where scientists have previously looked at the neurons themselves as significant to brain activity, they are now looking at the junctions between the neurons. While the actual cells exhibit a kind of on-off reflex action, the junctions at the nerve endings exhibit wavelike qualities when viewed as a whole. In Pribram’s own words: “If you look at a whole series of these (nerve endings) together, they constitute a wavefront. One comes this way, another that way, and they interact. And all of a sudden you’ve got your interference pattern!”24

As impulses travel through the brain, the wavelike qualities create what we experience as perception and memory. These perceptions are stored as encoded wavefront frequencies in the brain and can be activated by an appropriate stimulus, triggering the original wave forms. This could explain why a familiar face brings up recognition, even though that face may look different from the last time you saw it. It may explain why mention of roses brings to mind a particular smell, and why snakes may generate fear even when there is no particular threat.

Our perception of the world around us seems to be a reconstruction of a neural hologram within the brain. This applies to language, thought, and all the senses as well as to the perception of visual information. In the words of Pribram: “Mind isn’t located in a place. What we have is a holograph-like machinery that turns out images, which we perceive as existing somewhere outside the machinery.”25

Because this model hints at each of our brains containing access to all information, even that of other time dimensions, it can explain many things beyond the normal functions of memory and perception such as remote viewing, clairvoyance, mystic visions, and precognition.

Contemporary to Pribram’s holographic brain theory, theoretical physicist David Bohm has described a model which suggests that the universe itself may be a kind of hologram.26 His term for this is holoflux, as hologram is static and not fitting for a universe so filled with movement and change.

According to Bohm, the universe is “enfolded” or spread as a whole throughout a kind of cosmic medium, much as we would enfold egg whites into a cake batter. This enfoldment allows for an infinite number of interference capabilities, giving us the forms and energies that we experience with our holographic minds. In this context, then, the brain itself is part of a larger hologram, and would therefore contain information about the whole. Just as we perceive the world in a holographic fashion, so may the world itself be a larger hologram in which we are just small pieces. But as pieces, we each reflect the whole.

If this is true—if there is an inner and outer world, both of which mirror the entire creation in any of its parts—then we, as parts, contain the information of the whole, as does everything around us. Not only does a grain of sand describe the universe in which it occurs, but each of our minds also contains the encoded information of a greater intelligence, just waiting for the right reference beam to trigger the image. Perhaps this is why gurus can trigger shaktipat, and sympathetic vibration can trigger altered states of consciousness.

If both inner and outer worlds appear to function holographically, then the question must be asked: Is there any difference between them? Are we, ourselves, also holograms? As we slowly dissolve our self-created ego boundaries and embrace more universal states of being, are we merging our consciousness with a greater hologram? If each piece of the hologram contains information about the whole, though less clearly, is that why we gain clarity each time a new piece of information fits into the puzzle? As we grow and expand our understanding, do we not see things more and more as one interpenetrating web of energies, one picture?

At this time these questions have no definitive answers. Few could argue that what is considered “external” does influence our perceptions, thoughts, and memories, becoming “internal.” Few could argue that there is a structure inside of us which encompasses energies above and beyond the external world. Doesn’t this internal structure, in turn, influence the external world? Can the construction of our mental holograms be projected outward to take form on the material planes? Karl Pribram seems to think so, and in a most down-to-earth fashion:

Not only do we construct our perceptions of the world, but we also go out and construct those perceptions IN the world. We make tables and bicycles and musical instruments because we can think of them.27

It is this principle that best illustrates the abilities of the ajna chakra—to perceive and to command—and the psychic reception and projection of imagery with the outside world.

SEEING

All that we see are our visualizations. We see not with the eye, but with the soul.28

It has been estimated that in the sighted person ninety percent of our information comes through our eyes—more than through any other organ or sensory means. It follows then that a large portion of our memory and thought processes are also coded with visual information. This of course varies from person to person, as some people are more visually oriented than others. While the visual experience of the world may often be limited or misleading, there is no doubt that it is a fundamentally important level of consciousness.

Visual information can be defined as a pattern which communicates spatial relationships, reaching us without the necessity of physical contact (as in touch). These relationships describe form, as in size and shape, color, intensity, location, movement, and behavior.

The physical eyes see by focusing reflected rays of light onto the retina. The focusing is done by the cornea, which takes a larger pattern of light and reduces it, inverted, onto the retina. The retina is made up of rods and cones which are stimulated by varying intensities of light. When light hits these cells, a chemical reaction takes place, triggering nerve impulses. These impulses are then conducted along the optic chiasm to the cerebral cortex of the brain, in the form of electrical impulses. No actual light enters the brain.

It is not really our eyes that see, but our minds. The eyes are merely focal lenses for transcribing information from the outer world to the inner. The brain does not actually receive photons of light, but rather encoded electrical impulses. It is up to the mind/brain to interpret the electrical impulses traveling along the optic nerves into meaningful patterns. This is a learned ability. In persons blind from birth whose sight is later restored by surgery, it is found that their first perceptions are only of light and they must struggle to learn to make meaningful images of this perception.29

We also must remember that it is not matter that we perceive, but light. When we look at the world around us, we think that we see objects, but what we are really seeing is the light reflected by these objects—we see what they are not, we see the spaces between them, the spaces around them, but we cannot see into the actual objects. If we see red, then the object absorbs all frequencies except red light. We confirm its presence by touch—but our hand moves through the empty space. It too cannot feel the object, but only the edge of the object. What it feels is the textured boundaries of the empty space. From this perspective, matter can be seen as a kind of no man’s land—a world we cannot enter except perhaps in very thin slices—penetrable by light under a microscope, or through glass and crystals. We experience our world through a dimension of empty space.

CLAIRVOYANCE

In order to see, you have to stop being in the middle of the picture.

—Sri Aurobindo30

The most significant aspect of consciousness at the level of the sixth chakra is the development of psychic abilities. While psychic perception is not always visual, as in clairaudience (from chakra five), or clairsentience (chakra two), the timelessness of clairvoyant information allows it to encompass a greater scope than any psychic abilities discussed thus far.

The term clairvoyance means clear seeing. This is seeing that is not muddled by the opaque world of material objects normally defining our limited sense of space and time. The words clear and seeing quite accurately describe the processes involved: to be clairvoyant, we need to look in the spaces that are clear—to look at the fields of energy, not at the objects themselves; to look at relationships, not things; to see the world as a whole, and to reach with our minds directly and clearly for the information we want. The more clarity we have within ourselves, the better we’re able to see the subtle properties of the world around us.

To see implies a far deeper perception than to look—as exemplified by Don Juan in the Carlos Castaneda series. When Castaneda looked at a person, he only perceived a body, facial expressions, clothing. When he learned to see, he perceived a luminous egg surrounding the body—the web of interpenetrating energies we call the aura. When Don Juan looked at his brother dying, he was deeply grieved, but when he instead changed his mode to seeing, he understood the greater process involved and could learn from it.

Looking is the action of seeing, but seeing is the internalizing of the image into understanding. Take, for example, the common expression, “I see.” It generally means that someone has been able to take a small part of information and fit it into a scheme of the whole. Just as each bit of a hologram clarifies the whole picture, each new thing we look at becomes immediately incorporated into our sense of wholeness, bringing more clarity to our internal picture.

How do we do this? According to Pribram’s model of the hologram, our mind/brain acts as a kind of stage upon which our visual images play. When the proper cue is given (the holographic reference beam), the images appear on the stage. But where and what are the actors?

The actors are the slides, stored holographically, as colors, shapes, sounds, and tactile patterns. There is no carousel in the brain keeping complete and separate images, but instead portions of the brain may produce qualities such as red, warm, fast, or quiet. These qualities combine in unique ways to create the images we see.

We can think of the third eye as a mental screen upon which we cast our slides for viewing. If you close your eyes and remember your first car, you may be able to see the color, the texture of the upholstery, perhaps a small dent on one side. In your mind’s eye you can walk around the car, seeing the front and the back as you choose, just like the three-dimensional effect of a hologram. The actual car need not currently exist. The image exists apart from it. By focusing our attention, the image is retrieved.

In your mind’s eye, you can see what you choose to look at. If I ask you the color of your lover’s hair, you can mentally retrieve that “slide,” look at it, and tell me what it is. Our memories are holographic.

Can you create an equally vivid picture of a car you would like to have? Can you picture the color, the make, the vanity plate on the back? Can you visualize yourself driving it, going down a country road, the feel of the steering wheel in your hand?

That car may never be yours to own, so your visualization is called imagination, even though it may seem just as real as your memory. If, however, you won a sweepstakes, and a car such as the one you just visualized came to you, then your visualization could be considered precognitive—a form of clairvoyance. The difference lies in the result, but the process is the same. Through development of visualization and imagination, we simultaneously develop the means for clairvoyance.

The process of clairvoyance is one of specified visualization. It is a matter of systematically being able to call up relevant information on demand, regardless of whether it had been previously known. Our minds are using a self-made reference beam in the form of a question, to retrieve previously unknown data from the holographic memory bank. For instance, you may ask yourself to look at the area around someone’s heart chakra with a specific question that needs answering, such as something about their health or relationship. That question becomes the reference beam that “lights up” that particular piece of information in the holographic pattern.

We have stated that we transcend time in the sixth chakra. We need not limit accessible information to what has been learned in the past—we can also retrieve information from the future. The only difference is that we are actively creating the reference beam that will bring forth the image, rather than waiting for some point in future time where circumstance will call it forth. To quote novelist Marion Zimmer Bradley, “I don’t decide where my stories are going. I just peek into the future and write down what happened.”31

Few people believe they can see something outside ordinary knowing, something they haven’t literally seen or been told. There is no permission to have that information and no current explanation for it, so most people don’t even bother to look for it. In order to see something, one needs to know where and how to look. We look for things in places where they are likely to be. We need not have put them there ourselves—we need only understand the basic order in which those things occur. The decimal system at the library is a prime example. So is finding the appropriate item in an unfamiliar grocery store. You survey the store, noting its general layout, you know what category the item belongs in, you superimpose the two mental images and head to that section to look more closely. Voila! Your mental cross-referencing clicks in place as the sight of the item fits into your precreated mental niche.

Accessing mental information is really no different. If you tried to remember who told you a particular joke at a party, you would review the people at the party, the people you had personal conversations with, all the time keeping the joke in your mind, waiting for the right piece of data to fall into place. When you hit the correct memory, the image would “light up” in your mind—as if illuminated by a clarity that the other images did not have. In this process we look through thousands of bits of data, sorting and deciphering, until we “see” the pieces that fit.

Once we know where to look for data, we need to know how to look. How many times have you looked for something you knew was in a particular place and still been unable to find it? How many times have you looked right at something and failed to see it? How many times have you accessed your memory and failed to bring forth the information you knew was there?

Accessing memory is a process of finding the right code (the right reference beam) to bring the holographic image back to life. Just as a computer contains data that is accessible only with the right command, so do our mental images require the proper mental image to unlock them.

The development of clairvoyance depends on the development of the visual screen and the creation of an ordering system with which to access information for the screen. If we don’t label our slides, we won’t know what it is we’re looking at. The development of visualization is the ability to retrieve, create, and project images onto the mental screen. Once this is done, seeing depends largely on asking the right questions.

We are not limited to slides we have “holographed” ourselves. If the holographic model has any validity, then we have access to an infinity of images, each created by an infinity of brain wave patterns. We need only call it up by finding the correct “reference beam.”

Many people begin with Tarot cards, palmistry, or astrology to use as a structure that can provide the reference beam. The card brings up a variety of images, the person you are reading brings up another variety of images. What points seem most important? What points seem to “light up”? Where do the waves of information cross and become strongest?

To look at something clairvoyantly, we not only need a reference point with which to retrieve the data, but also a blank screen to view the information. This comes with practice, patience, and a quiet and open mind. Emptying the mind of images, through meditation, paradoxically allows one to better see what images there are. Learning to focus the mind, creating a one-pointedness, allows one to look deeper, and therefore see more. In clairvoyance there are no substitutes for a clear and quiet mind.

Because these nuances are so subtle, it is common to ignore or invalidate them. Just as we cannot hear the whispers of telepathy in a noisy world, we can’t see the subtle movements of the etheric realms if we expect them to be outlined in neon. Following is a typical exchange involving a new student of clairvoyance:

AJ: Have you ever seen an aura?

Student: I don’t think so. I don’t see auras.

AJ: Have you ever looked?

Student: I’ve tried. But I don’t see colors around the body.

AJ: What do you see when you look for an aura?

Student: I just see the body. Around the edge I see the things in the room behind the body.

AJ: You are looking through space, not at it. Close your eyes and feel the aura. Then tell me what color it feels like.

Student: It feels dark. No color. There’s a little bit of gold color over the heart, I guess. But I don’t know if I’m really seeing it. I kinda think I maybe see a little red in the legs, especially on the right. But I don’t know.

AJ: I thought you couldn’t see auras.

Student: But I don’t, really. Only with my eyes closed—I mean, it’s just my imagination isn’t it?

AJ: I don’t know. Why don’t you check it out first? Ask the person how they are feeling—if the colors fit. Reach out and test it.

Third Person: Well, I was running in the sunshine today, which I love doing, but I tripped on a root and fell. I kinda banged my knee a little and it’s still sore. I guess that’s relevant.

(enter validation!)

Student: Wow! I really did see something! Yeah, the red was around your knee. (then timidly) Did you bump your head, too?

Third Person: Yes, as a matter of fact. But not as hard.

AJ: How did you know that?

Student: Well, I didn’t really see it, but the head looked kinda sore. But there were no colors—just a feeling.

AJ: It looked sore but you didn’t see it. O.K. Now look at that other person there.

Student: (eyes half-closed) Well, I see green around the head, blue in the throat—nothing much in the stomach, but a lot of light in the hands.

AJ: And you still say you can’t see auras?

Whether a parapsychologist would consider this kind of seeing to be a “hit” or a fraud is beside the point because this exchange is not with a developed clairvoyant, but with a beginning student just learning to see. The process begins with learning to notice what you already see. This is heightened by validation of subtleties. The best way to obtain legitimate validation is to ask! The more we test our perceptions, the more we learn about our abilities and the more we can trust our strong points and develop our weak ones. In a world so bombarded with physical visual stimuli, and so ignorant of the internal images, validation is crucial.

In searching for validation, it is also important to realize that it’s O.K. to be wrong—at least while learning. Being wrong doesn’t mean that it is impossible, or that you have no psychic ability. Instead use that feedback to refine the seeing: look over what you thought you saw; search for the grain of truth; see if you can find some correlation in your mind’s eye to the objective information you’ve been given. So often when people “guess” wrongly their reaction is, “Darn! That answer was my first impression but I discarded it!” Unless you are purely shooting in the dark, there is usually some grain of truth to all honest perceptions.

Clairvoyance, then, is a matter of seeing the inner relationships of things—the fitting of the part into the whole. It is done by searching for the cross-point, or interference pattern between our question (the reference beam) and the piece of information that best fits the space we have created for it. The potency of the image that clicks into place sets it apart from the infinite number of other possible answers. Through meditation, visualization, and training, we can develop our abilities to perceive the subtle difference between the information we request and the countless other possibilities.

CHAKRA SIX EXERCISES

Yogic Eye Exercise

This is an exercise for strengthening and centering the physical eyes; also good for eyestrain, vision improvement, and general fatigue from doing a lot of paperwork or heavy reading.

Begin in a seated meditation position, spine straight. Close your eyes and bathe them in the darkness. Bring your awareness to the point between your eyes, in the center of the head. Feel the darkness there, and let yourself bask in its quiet calm.

When you feel centered, open your eyes and gaze straight ahead. Slowly look upward, stretching your eyes skyward, without moving your head. Then trace a straight line downward, gazing as low as your vision can reach, still without moving your head. Repeat upward, and then downward again, then return your eyes to center, and close them, returning to the darkness.

Open your eyes again and center them. Then repeat the above movements, going instead from corner to corner, first from upper right to lower left, two times, then from upper left to lower right, also two times. Return again to darkness.

Repeat again, moving from far right to far left, returning to darkness after two times. The final time, after centering your eyes, make half circles, first on the top, then on the bottom, and finish by rolling your eyes “around the clock,” making a complete rotation, stretching your eyes as far as they can go, both clockwise and counterclockwise.

Close your eyes again. Rub your palms together briskly, until you feel your hands become warm. When the heat feels sufficient, place your warmed palms over your eyelids and let your eyes bask in the warmth and darkness. (See Figure 7.3.) As the heat dissipates, slowly stroke your eyelids, massaging your forehead and face. From here you can either go into a deeper meditation or return to the outside world.

Figure 7.3

Palming the Eyes.

Color Meditation

This is a simple visualization for healing and cleansing the chakras, and developing the ability of the inner eye to create and perceive color.

Begin in a meditation position, preferably seated. Ground and center your energy.

When you are sufficiently grounded, imagine a bright disk of white light, floating directly above your head, from which you can draw each color.

Let the first color be red, pulling it down through your crown chakra, down through your whole spinal column and filling up the first chakra with a vibrant red color. Hold that color in your first chakra for a few moments. Notice how your body feels with this color. Does it like it? Does it feel energized or uncomfortable?

Next, return to the area above the crown chakra and pull orange light out of the white disk. Run it down through your body, noticing what effect this color has on you. Bring it down to your second chakra, and fill your belly with a vibrant, orange color.

Return to the crown and find a golden yellow light to pull through the body down to the third chakra. Imagine a warm golden glow coming out of your body at the solar plexus, with rays streaming through each part of your body, filling and warming it. As the third chakra has to do with energy distribution throughout the body, these rays are important for spreading the sense of inner fire.

Now we come to the heart, and the color green. Feel this color wash over you, bringing with it a sense of love and affinity for the world around you. See it as a warm emerald glow around your heart.

Next, we reach into our white disk for the color blue, pulling it down into the throat chakra. Allow it to soothe your throat as well as relax your arms and shoulders. Feel the blue rays extend all around your throat, communicating with all that is around you.

Next, we come to the third eye itself, usually seen as a deep indigo blue. Feel the coolness of this color as it bathes your third eye. Allow it to wash any foreign images away, cleansing and soothing your inner screen.

And lastly, the crown chakra is seen as a bright vibrant violet color. Feel this violet light streaming into your crown chakra, energizing and balancing each of the chakras.

Check all of the chakras to see if they are retaining their colors. Take a glimpse of your whole body and see if you can “see” it as a continuous rainbow. As you check over your body, notice which colors are the strongest or brightest. Notice how the different colors felt—which ones were more nourishing or energizing. The colors that felt the most welcome probably represent energies that you need most at this time. The colors that felt the least welcome represent areas that you typcially avoid or where there may be difficulty. Pale or washed-out colors represent weak areas; strong colors, places of strength and solidity. Play internally with the colors until they feel balanced to you. This helps to balance the aura as well.

Photo Blink

This exercise is a simple way to get a sense of someone’s aura if you normally don’t see auras. It also helps to improve visual observation.

Place the person you want to look at directly opposite you, about six to ten feet away. Close your eyes and clear your mental screen. Wait until you feel grounded and centered, with no particular thoughts or images running through your mind.

Very quickly open and close your eyes once—the opposite of a blink—so that you get only a quick glimpse of the person in front of you, making a sort of frozen “photographic” image imprinted in your mind. Hold that image and examine it. What characteristics do you notice? Do you see an afterimage or a glow around the body? Do certain colors or body positions stand out? As the image fades, quickly open and close your eyes again to strengthen it. See how much detail you can decipher in this “afterimage.” Which parts fade first, and which characteristics linger? All these things tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of that person’s aura.

Meditation

The most useful exercise for strengthening the third eye is simple meditation, focusing the attention on the center of the head or the point between the eyebrows. Visualizations of colors or shapes can be added, or you can simply focus on clearing the mind screen until it is clean and blank.

Once the screen is blank, visualizations can be willed in answer to questions you may have. If you want to know about someone’s health, for example, visualize a picture of their body shape, and allow black or white to show areas of health and disease. Be creative in finding a visual metaphor for your question. The limits of this system are only the limits of your imagination, and the more we open this center, the more we expand our imagination!

Another way to perceive how we feel about a certain decision is to phrase the question so that it can be answered with a simple yes or no. Then make a visualization to represent each answer—put yes on one side of your screen, no on the other. Then imagine a gauge with a needle pointing straight up, and on the count of three, let the needle point to the answer most appropriate. Don’t control the needle—let it go where it will. You may be surprised!

Note: The ability to visualize successfully depends on constant use, like a muscle. Get in the habit of imagining a face before you answer the telephone; retrace all your steps of getting to work in the morning as if you were watching from the outside; reconstruct memories of your childhood bedroom, playmates, or first sweetheart. Visualize a task completed before you begin it and find out if it makes the doing easier; visualize larger numbers in your check register; visualize meeting someone new.

Visualization is active dreaming. The more we do it, the more vivid and capable our mind’s creations. The opportunities for practice are endless. Once it becomes a habit, it develops naturally.

ENDNOTES

1. Leadbeater postulates 96 petals for the brow chakra, which is two times the sum of all the lower petals or 2 x (4 + 6 +10+ 12+16) = 96. C. W. Leadbeater, The Chakras, 14.

2. Encyclopedia Americana, s.v., “pineal gland.”

3. Jacob Lieberman, Light, Medicine of the Future, (Sante Fe, NM : Bear & Co., 1991), 32.

4. Ibid. It keeps sexual characteristics from maturing too soon.

5. Arthur C., Guyton, Textbook of Medical Physiology, 884.

6. Jacob Lieberman, Light, Medicine of the Future, (Sante Fe, NM: Bear & Co., 1991), 32.

7. Alan E Lewis, and Dallas Clouatre, Ph.D. Melatonin and Biological Clock, 7–8.

8. Ibid., 16.

9. John N. Ott, Health and Light.

10. Alan E. Lewis and Dallas Clouatre, Ph.D. Melatonin and the Biological Clock, 23.

11. Stephanie Sonnleitner, Ph.D., personal conversation.

12. There are hypothetical subatomic particles called tachyons which are believed to travel faster than light speed, but are unable to slow down to the speed of light.

13. Pablo Picasso, Conversations avec Picasso, in Cahiers d’Art, vol. 10, no 10 Paris, 1935. Translated in Picasso, Fifty Years of his Art by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., 1946.

14. John N. Ott, “Color and Light: Their Effects on Plants, Animals, and People,” Journal of Biosocial Research 7, part 1, 1985.

15. John N. Ott, Health and Light, 70 ff.

16. K. Martinek and I.V. Berezin, “Artificial Light—Sensitive Enzymatic Systems as Chemical Amplifiers of Weak Light Signals,” Photochemistry and Biology 29 (March 1979), 637–650. (as quoted by Jacob Lieberman, Light, Medicine of the Future, 9).

17. Kate W. Baldwin, M.D., F.A.C.S., “The Atlantic Medical Journal,” April, 1927, as quoted in The Ancient Art of Color Therapy, by Linda Clark, 18–19.

18. Edward W. Babbitt, The Principles of Light and Color, 40.

19. Linda Clark, The Ancient Art of Color Therapy, 112.

20. Valerie Hunt, Ph.D., “ A Study of Structural Integration from Neuromuscular, Energy Field, and Emotional Approaches.” now pub- lished in Wheels of Light: A Study of the Chakras, Rosalyn Bruyere, (Sierra Madre, CA: Bon Productions, 1989), 197 ff.

21. Jacob Lieberman, O.D., Ph.D., Light, Medicine of the Future, (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co., 1991), 189.

22. Valerie Hunt, op. cit., 197 ff.

23. As quoted in The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes, Ken Wilbur, ed., 25.

24. Karl Pribram, “Interview: Omni Magazine, October, 1982, 170.

25. Ibid., 172.

26. “The Enfolding-Unfolding Universe: A Conversation with David Bohm” conducted by Renee Weber in The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes, Ken Wilbur, ed., 44–104.

27. Ibid., 139. This is also similar to Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of morpho- genetic fields.

28. Mike Samuels, Seeing with the Mind’s Eye, xviii.

29. Ibid., 57–59.

30. Satprem, Sri Aurobindo, or the Adventures of Consciousness.

31. Marion Zimmer Bradley, personal conversation.