Beyond the Mind's Eye

 

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is ^[g]good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is ^[h]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great [ is ] that darkness!

Matthew 6:22  & 23 - The Bible ( Hebrew/Greek Scriptures ) - New King James Version

At the Core of this post is the 6th chakra, that which is known in certain circles as 'The Third Eye Chakra'. Although some versions of the passage above transliterate the Greek ὀφθαλμός as 'eyes' ( plural ), it is more correctly 'eye' ( singular ). This 'eye' is metaphorical for the faculty of knowing, or what is sometimes called 'The Mind's Eye'. As we will see, though, the Mind is often part of the problem! It is with the Mind that we employ our sense ( if any ) of logic. With the Mind we think, solving the world's problems. We tend also to identify with the Mind, as well as identifying others by their mental capacity. The Mind is most definitely the most powerful tool in our biological arsenal, but when we posit ours or another's value by the strength of that person's Mind, we tend to undervalue that person, be it ourselves or the other. Again, if a Person has a strong Mind, we often place that Person on a pedestal, to whatever degree, thus identifying them with their Mind. Those with a weak Mind are often identified scurrilously as 'retarded'!

The Third Eye Chakra, as some understand it, is a spiritual center, located behind the physical eyes, between the brows, in the center of the forehead. As such, not unlike the Christian 'soul', it is not visible or substantial, though like the 'soul', it is evidentiary. It also requires a certain faith to believe in its existence, though for some, rather than having faith ( believing ), they have a Knowledge of spiritual things, such as 'chakras'. This may come off as sounding a bit uppity, but to be quite honest, anyone can 'garner' this Knowledge, which, in all Reality, isn't to be 'garnered'; this Knowledge exists within each & every human being! Most of us, unfortunately, are so preoccupied with the strength ( or weakness ) of the Mind, whether through social conditioning or what, that the overwhelming majority of us have forgotten, not only what We Know, but Who We are! Not to sound like a broken record, but as I've said in many of my recent posts, We are More than our humanity, More than this Biology ( wondrous as it is )!

The fact that We are More, although in a sense as 'unprovable' as the existence of 'chakras' or even the 'soul', is, in all actuality, fairly well-accepted, though maybe not in those terms. Being brought up Christian as I was, I 'learned' pretty quickly that, as human beings, we were part of the natural creation, though unlike the rest of creation, we were then imbued with a 'soul'. Without going into too much of a diatribe here; speaking of 'uppity', how much more uppity can we get, thinking that we ( human beings ) are the only ones with a 'soul'!? Reading the creation accounts in our English Bibles, even in a very literally wooden sense, it should be clear as day that it was the 'breath of life' that 'God' breathed into Adam which gave him life; without it, he was simply a lump of clay. Here's the question of the day; 'if the Hebrew Scriptures did not record 'God' breathing into the other animals ( created beings ) this 'breath of life', then how were they alive?' WERE they alive?! Or was the Text referring to something altogether different?

Getting back on track now, to the 'Heart' of the matter, or the 'Core' of the issue, so to speak, the Mind, with its logical capacity, should infer from the above musings that the creation accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures are indeed referring to something More than what most people have accepted for centuries. Admittedly, I used this same logic to arrive at this very conclusion! However, that was not the End of my studies: continuing to study, I soon came to realize that there was even More to it than that! The fact that the Text was, one, written to & for an Ancient Near Eastern people, maybe even more importantly, two, it was transliterated ( ordered ) by those with a western mindset, has been largely glossed over by its modern readers!

In all this, I employed my Mind & although I identified, for a time, with this garnered knowledge & with my Mind, I understand now that though, in a purely human sense, I did use my logical mind to reach this 'conclusion', I simply realized ( remembered? ) what I had always known; that I was More than my knowledge, More than my logical Mind; I AM a Spirit having a physical experience!

As Spirits having a physical ( human ) experience, we ALL thus share this Knowledge! 'As above, so below', though, the overwhelming majority of persons have forgotten this illuminating fact. Overrun by the trials & tribulations of this fleeting human experience, most are convinced that there is nothing More to Life than this human existence, that all we are is 'just another brick in the wall, to quote a famous music group. No wonder some people have no hope! Okay, so there are many that have a discombobulated hope, but is it really of any use in this Life?! 

So now, as we reach the conclusion ( of this post ), the question on our minds might be, 'How then, do we go 'Beyond the Mind's Eye'?' How would you suggest we move past the trials & tribulations of this earthly existence?' I'm glad you asked! Some people's go-to is religion. The belief in a Higher Power no doubt gives them some comfort; i.e., that Someone ( else ) is in control of things. ( I'm not saying there isn't a Higher Power ) The problem with this belief, though & with religion in general, is that it tends to take away our responsibility. We are responsible for our own actions, but far too often, we like to blame our problems ( which we create in our own mind ) on some evil entity called 'the Devil' or 'Satan'; some even blame 'God' for their problems!

Our 'problems' are all in our Mind ( at least, that's where they begin )! 'But', some might protest, 'what about when somebody else does something to us or our loved ones? Surely THAT'S not our problem!' Well, actually, it kinda is! When somebody does something to us that's beyond our control, it's still our choice as to how we respond to any given situation. What other people do is not our problem unless we make it our problem. Of course, where does the 'problem' begin, but in our Mind? We think, 'that person did this or that to me or my loved ones' & there is where Choice enters the arena. 

So religion is NOT the problem! It is what we DO with our religion! If our religion, for instance, tells us to love our neighbor & we DO, then it's all good. However if it tells us that & we do not ( love our neighbor ), it's anything but good. The religion is not at fault; WE made the choice to love or not. As I've noted previously as well, neither is belief, even faith, a bad thing. There's also nothing wrong with believing in a Higher Power. In believing though, believe in yourself as well. YOU have the power to control YOUR own life. What Christians call 'free-will', or 'Choice' is what gives us that Power.

Back to the question though & finally, 'how can we go beyond the mind's eye?' The first step is a fairly simple one; 'Remember'! Remember Who you are! 'How do we go about doing that?' Quiet your Mind. ( Now, that IS easier said than done! ) Stop dwelling on & identifying with your thoughts. Realize that you have them ( everybody does ) & there is nothing wrong with that. It is when we begin to identify with & act on those thoughts that we run into trouble. We have them; we are not them! We have a body; we are not that body!

The next step? Well, that's up to you, my friend...........

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Charles Haddon Shank