Monday, March 5, 2007
Third Eye
by Levan Gvelesiani
If you close one eye or cover it with your hand things will be visible only in two spatial dimensions: above - under and left - right. The depth of the space or the dimension simply known as “near - far” disappears. With only one eye, your vision will be restricted to a two-dimensional plane and only memory and habit will permit you to consider that things and space are not actually two-dimensional. Our brain corrects the mistake depending on its experience and tells us that some things are far away and others are close to us. One eye sees everything flat, but our sense of vision corrects this misconception.
Now open your other eye and try to look at the world with two eyes. The depth of the space reappears. You see things in three dimensions: above - under, left - right and near - faraway. Now you know not only from experience that the world is three-dimensional but you see it also. You see the three-dimensional world. Of course, the eyes are only one part of our complex optical system. Other important parts of this system responsible for integrated vision are located in the brain. Through the two inch short vision nerve, our eye sends billions of impulses each second to the brain. And there, in their depths these signals convert to a wonderfully complex picture, which we recognize as an image of the world around us.
Our eyes are able to define some 10 million degrees of the light intensity and about 7 million color tints. Human eyes see in range of waves 400-700 nm. Through our eyes, we receive more than 75 percent of all information transmitted to our brain. In a part of our brain known as cervical cortex are dislocated “neuronal structures for continual spatial perception” or simply the mechanisms which provide three-dimensional vision.
In conclusion to our experiment with one and two eyes, a mathematical formula inevitably comes to mind to express a detected but not yet scientifically proven rule. We have seen that m = n + 1, where m is the number of apprehended dimensions and n is the number of eyes. If n = 1, then m becomes 2. Simply: With one eye, we see two dimensions. If n = 2 than m, or the number of dimensions we see is 3.
By the same token I do not know how this formula would apply to other values of n. What if n = 0? Or simply, what happens when we close both eyes? According to our formula, the value of m in this case must be 1. And really, when we shut our eyes our world is restricted to one dimension: to a line from one’s self outwards. If we did not have other means of perception of the world: hearing, touch and a sense of smell we would not notice space at all.
Now let us imagine what we could see if we had a third eye.
We have known from physics for almost a century now that our world consists not of three but of four dimensions. This fourth dimension is time. We move not only in three spatial dimensions but also in time. The movement in time is not difficult to describe; if I want to define my place in the universe, I add to the coordinates of space a time coordinate. For example: if a spy wants to give a date to his courier at the exit of an underground station on the left side five feet from the door, this kind of exactness would not help him if he failed to mention also the time when he would be at this point in space. The determination of a point in time might sound like this: “from
The position of things and beings in the space-time continuum is always described with four parameters: under-above, left-right, near-far and earlier-later. We can also write down these coordinates as x, y, z and t. The first, second and third of these four are points in space and the fourth is the point in time. Of course, there are no absolute points and everything is relative regarding coordinates. We always set up scales and announce that this or another event took place at this or another local point and local time. We have no choice, because if we would not specify time the description of a subject’s trajectory in our universe would be incomplete. I don’t want to delve deeper into this area: I simply want to demonstrate, that there is the fourth dimension in the world, which we do not see, but know by experience, that it exists.
Now I would like to propose an idea that addresses the matter of the third eye. If we had a third eye, we would see the fourth dimension, the dimension of time. It should be the eye capable of perceiving the entire time line — the past, the present and the future. Similar to our two eyes seeing space, our third eye would see the time.
But what would it look like? What does it mean to “see the time”?
As I see it, this is nothing more than glimpsing the past and the future. And the most interesting thing is that we accomplish one part of this task with relative success. We remember events and things from yesterday and that occurred the day before yesterday, the year, 10 or 20 years ago. Why could we not call this ability of ours the “vision of past time”?
I am trying to explain that we already have the ideal instrument for viewing time. Our “third eye” looks in the past on the time axis and “sees” everything that has happened to us, including recalling information received from other people. We do not have to wonder if our memory has no spatial but time nature. However, not all visible phenomena and subjects on the axis of time correspond to their true position on it: many intense impressions overshadow the small and petty ones. We see them nearer than they really are and some other events seem to be far away though they happened yesterday. We also have the ability to see some bright events over time (like bright stars in the sky which seem to be nearer or farther away than they really are) and we see indistinctly the ordinary, plain, insignificant events and things. Sometimes some events, faces and things of the past escape our gaze (we forget!). Then we remember again (we look at them!) and so on. The same failure, which occurs with our spatial vision, takes place: some far things seem to be close and some nearby objects seem to be far away. In short, I suppose we have an eye aimed at the past viewing time.
Precisely this organ is the notorious “third eye” of some Asian religious and philosophical doctrines. I think here about the well-known system of Chakras or energetic centers. The ancient literature of
Our inner third eye, which looks at the time axis, is known by yogi as the sixth Chakra or the Ajna. It is placed between the eyebrows, behind the forehead bone at the intersection of optical nerves. Ajna has two petals of lotus and 96 shining spikes.
In a physical sense, it is linked to the pineal gland, hypophysis and hypothalamus. The pineal gland is a light sensitive gland that produces the hormone melatonin, which regulates the instincts of sleep and awakening. Ajna is the Chakra of time, awareness and light. According to yoga, this Chakra gives the ability to the highest forms of conscience and thinking and determines the capability of vision. It is also believed that through this Chakra spirits of invisible dimensions and gods maintain contact with men.
This Chakra is also named the “third eye” because to Ajna is ascribed the ability for supernatural vision. Through this Chakra, the invisible can be seen. Chakra Ajna means also the “order” or “destination” and is responsible for intuition and super intuition, or the ability to sense the future. Through it, we can see the past and sometimes the future. I would add that we look at the time axis mostly in one direction - backwards, but there are moments when we can also see forwards into the future. For children Ajna is linked with the ability to imagine. The sixth Chakra is responsible for our “sixth sense” and is related to the fine perception of the world.
Ajna Chakra is not only our ability to see things in their entirety, but also the talent to systemize knowledge, to provide it with the structure and to sort the experience. Sometimes this Chakra is considered as the depository of experience, though I do not absolutely agree with this belief. As a storehouse of knowledge, we use our memory. Our third eye is only the instrument that allows us to look into this “archive” and manage it. For this simple reason I think that, the third eye is the organ for timely vision.
As a whole, it is oriented to the past; it looks back in time and coordinates the experience gathered earlier. However, sometimes, when it is released from “looking-back” under certain circumstances (sometimes referred to as “Altered States of Consciousness”) our third eye looks in the future and provides images of tomorrow. I think it is reasonable when yogis consider that by the fine and developed Ajna one can precisely predict the future. This ability begins to appear only when achieving a particular level of mental development. Yogis consider also that the realm of Ajna is the space of Akasha. The word Akasha means "hidden library" in Sanskrit. Mystic space under this name is known as the secret hall of records (known as the Akasha Records) of everything that has happened and will ever happen. Simply put, this library contains the whole record of events of the universe since the beginning and thorough the end of time. Our third eye has the capability at times to look into these records and read the information not only from the past but occasionally also from the future.
There are more points relevant to the described concept of the third eye.
Precognitive dreams.
A maximalistic method dominates scientific and para-scientific approach to this topic. It is considered that either all dreams are associated with actual experience or all dreams must be precognitive. The most negative aspect in this field assumes Freudian psychoanalysis that a priori prohibits the precognitive character of dreams. However, almost everyone has prophetic dreams, but under pressure of public opinion, refuses to admit it or attributes these dreams to coincidence.
For decades now the subject of precognition has almost faded from speculative consideration and is passed over as being simply an inexplicable experience. But no one can ignore such phenomena as Vanga, Croiset, Lash Mi and many others.
If we agree that our third eye is mostly engaged in sorting memories, we can assume that we are mostly engaged in studying and sorting our past and only seldom look into the future. Our third eye resembles a person who moves to a new apartment; he has no time to arrange the new flat while there are things to be packed in the old flat.
The third eye is mainly involved in getting in order in the past and has hardly any time to arrange the future. Therefore it is obvious the untrained person mostly dreams about past experiences and seldom has precognitive visions. When the dreamer learns that “precognition does not occur because it could never occur,” he refuses to trust his own senses and thinks that he has only obsessions. He’s better off not revealing this. Many people try to explain their precognitive dreams with Freudian mumbo jumbo. There are of course people: yogis, religious persons and meditation specialists, seriously engaged with the development of their minds. These people often see precognitive dreams; learn to understand their symbols and to interpret them. Such people have no problem in distinguishing past and future visions from each other.
Déjà vu.
The aforementioned concept of the third eye is an ideal explanation for the phenomenon of “having already seen before.” When we experience Déjà vu we experience the sensation that we have already encountered something in the past (probably in a dream) and may even have wondered how it is possible. It is known that almost 80 percent of people have Déjà vu. There is not a plausible explanation for it. I like to explain this phenomenon in that with the third eye we sometimes see images from the future grasped by our third eye and then, when we encounter them in real life, wonder that everything is so familiar.
The concept of the third eye can be useful also in understanding telepathy. If a telepath can look momentarily into the future he may see things that are obscured to ordinary gaze.
Finally, I like to compare our third eye to that of the two titans of ancient Greek mythology — the two directions of its gaze are like the vision of Prometheus and Epimetheus. The first was the for-thinker or foresighted and the second the hind-thinker or hindsighted. We mostly are “epimethic” beings — oriented toward the past, but sometimes we turn to be Prometheus — we glimpse the future.
Bad Homburg, Autumn 2006
Labels: THEORY
Third eye
by Levan Gvelesiani
If you close one eye or cover it with your hand things will be visible only in two spatial dimensions: above - under and left - right. The depth of the space or the dimension simply known as “near - far” disappears. With only one eye, your vision will be restricted to a two-dimensional plane and only memory and habit will permit you to consider that things and space are not actually two-dimensional. Our brain corrects the mistake depending on its experience and tells us that some things are far away and others are close to us. One eye sees everything flat, but our sense of vision corrects this misconception.
Now open your other eye and try to look at the world with two eyes. The depth of the space reappears. You see things in three dimensions: above - under, left - right and near - faraway. Now you know not only from experience that the world is three-dimensional but you see it also. You see the three-dimensional world. Of course, the eyes are only one part of our complex optical system. Other important parts of this system responsible for integrated vision are located in the brain. Through the two inch short vision nerve, our eye sends billions of impulses each second to the brain. And there, in their depths these signals convert to a wonderfully complex picture, which we recognize as an image of the world around us.
Our eyes are able to define some 10 million degrees of the light intensity and about 7 million color tints. Human eyes see in range of waves 400-700 nm. Through our eyes, we receive more than 75 percent of all information transmitted to our brain. In a part of our brain known as cervical cortex are dislocated “neuronal structures for continual spatial perception” or simply the mechanisms which provide three-dimensional vision.
In conclusion to our experiment with one and two eyes, a mathematical formula inevitably comes to mind to express a detected but not yet scientifically proven rule. We have seen that m = n + 1, where m is the number of apprehended dimensions and n is the number of eyes. If n = 1, then m becomes 2. Simply: With one eye, we see two dimensions. If n = 2 than m, or the number of dimensions we see is 3.
By the same token I do not know how this formula would apply to other values of n. What if n = 0? Or simply, what happens when we close both eyes? According to our formula, the value of m in this case must be 1. And really, when we shut our eyes our world is restricted to one dimension: to a line from one’s self outwards. If we did not have other means of perception of the world: hearing, touch and a sense of smell we would not notice space at all.
Now let us imagine what we could see if we had a third eye.
We have known from physics for almost a century now that our world consists not of three but of four dimensions. This fourth dimension is time. We move not only in three spatial dimensions but also in time. The movement in time is not difficult to describe; if I want to define my place in the universe, I add to the coordinates of space a time coordinate. For example: if a spy wants to give a date to his courier at the exit of an underground station on the left side five feet from the door, this kind of exactness would not help him if he failed to mention also the time when he would be at this point in space. The determination of a point in time might sound like this: “from
The position of things and beings in the space-time continuum is always described with four parameters: under-above, left-right, near-far and earlier-later. We can also write down these coordinates as x, y, z and t. The first, second and third of these four are points in space and the fourth is the point in time. Of course, there are no absolute points and everything is relative regarding coordinates. We always set up scales and announce that this or another event took place at this or another local point and local time. We have no choice, because if we would not specify time the description of a subject’s trajectory in our universe would be incomplete. I don’t want to delve deeper into this area: I simply want to demonstrate, that there is the fourth dimension in the world, which we do not see, but know by experience, that it exists.
Now I would like to propose an idea that addresses the matter of the third eye. If we had a third eye, we would see the fourth dimension, the dimension of time. It should be the eye capable of perceiving the entire time line — the past, the present and the future. Similar to our two eyes seeing space, our third eye would see the time.
But what would it look like? What does it mean to “see the time”?
As I see it, this is nothing more than glimpsing the past and the future. And the most interesting thing is that we accomplish one part of this task with relative success. We remember events and things from yesterday and that occurred the day before yesterday, the year, 10 or 20 years ago. Why could we not call this ability of ours the “vision of past time”?
I am trying to explain that we already have the ideal instrument for viewing time. Our “third eye” looks in the past on the time axis and “sees” everything that has happened to us, including recalling information received from other people. We do not have to wonder if our memory has no spatial but time nature. However, not all visible phenomena and subjects on the axis of time correspond to their true position on it: many intense impressions overshadow the small and petty ones. We see them nearer than they really are and some other events seem to be far away though they happened yesterday. We also have the ability to see some bright events over time (like bright stars in the sky which seem to be nearer or farther away than they really are) and we see indistinctly the ordinary, plain, insignificant events and things. Sometimes some events, faces and things of the past escape our gaze (we forget!). Then we remember again (we look at them!) and so on. The same failure, which occurs with our spatial vision, takes place: some far things seem to be close and some nearby objects seem to be far away. In short, I suppose we have an eye aimed at the past viewing time.
Precisely this organ is the notorious “third eye” of some Asian religious and philosophical doctrines. I think here about the well-known system of Chakras or energetic centers. The ancient literature of
Our inner third eye, which looks at the time axis, is known by yogi as the sixth Chakra or the Ajna. It is placed between the eyebrows, behind the forehead bone at the intersection of optical nerves. Ajna has two petals of lotus and 96 shining spikes.
In a physical sense, it is linked to the pineal gland, hypophysis and hypothalamus. The pineal gland is a light sensitive gland that produces the hormone melatonin, which regulates the instincts of sleep and awakening. Ajna is the Chakra of time, awareness and light. According to yoga, this Chakra gives the ability to the highest forms of conscience and thinking and determines the capability of vision. It is also believed that through this Chakra spirits of invisible dimensions and gods maintain contact with men.
This Chakra is also named the “third eye” because to Ajna is ascribed the ability for supernatural vision. Through this Chakra, the invisible can be seen. Chakra Ajna means also the “order” or “destination” and is responsible for intuition and super intuition, or the ability to sense the future. Through it, we can see the past and sometimes the future. I would add that we look at the time axis mostly in one direction - backwards, but there are moments when we can also see forwards into the future. For children Ajna is linked with the ability to imagine. The sixth Chakra is responsible for our “sixth sense” and is related to the fine perception of the world.
Ajna Chakra is not only our ability to see things in their entirety, but also the talent to systemize knowledge, to provide it with the structure and to sort the experience. Sometimes this Chakra is considered as the depository of experience, though I do not absolutely agree with this belief. As a storehouse of knowledge, we use our memory. Our third eye is only the instrument that allows us to look into this “archive” and manage it. For this simple reason I think that, the third eye is the organ for timely vision.
As a whole, it is oriented to the past; it looks back in time and coordinates the experience gathered earlier. However, sometimes, when it is released from “looking-back” under certain circumstances (sometimes referred to as “Altered States of Consciousness”) our third eye looks in the future and provides images of tomorrow. I think it is reasonable when yogis consider that by the fine and developed Ajna one can precisely predict the future. This ability begins to appear only when achieving a particular level of mental development. Yogis consider also that the realm of Ajna is the space of Akasha. The word Akasha means "hidden library" in Sanskrit. Mystic space under this name is known as the secret hall of records (known as the Akasha Records) of everything that has happened and will ever happen. Simply put, this library contains the whole record of events of the universe since the beginning and thorough the end of time. Our third eye has the capability at times to look into these records and read the information not only from the past but occasionally also from the future.
There are more points relevant to the described concept of the third eye.
Precognitive dreams.
A maximalistic method dominates scientific and para-scientific approach to this topic. It is considered that either all dreams are associated with actual experience or all dreams must be precognitive. The most negative aspect in this field assumes Freudian psychoanalysis that a priori prohibits the precognitive character of dreams. However, almost everyone has prophetic dreams, but under pressure of public opinion, refuses to admit it or attributes these dreams to coincidence.
For decades now the subject of precognition has almost faded from speculative consideration and is passed over as being simply an inexplicable experience. But no one can ignore such phenomena as Vanga, Croiset, Lash Mi and many others.
If we agree that our third eye is mostly engaged in sorting memories, we can assume that we are mostly engaged in studying and sorting our past and only seldom look into the future. Our third eye resembles a person who moves to a new apartment; he has no time to arrange the new flat while there are things to be packed in the old flat.
The third eye is mainly involved in getting in order in the past and has hardly any time to arrange the future. Therefore it is obvious the untrained person mostly dreams about past experiences and seldom has precognitive visions. When the dreamer learns that “precognition does not occur because it could never occur,” he refuses to trust his own senses and thinks that he has only obsessions. He’s better off not revealing this. Many people try to explain their precognitive dreams with Freudian mumbo jumbo. There are of course people: yogis, religious persons and meditation specialists, seriously engaged with the development of their minds. These people often see precognitive dreams; learn to understand their symbols and to interpret them. Such people have no problem in distinguishing past and future visions from each other.
Déjà vu.
The aforementioned concept of the third eye is an ideal explanation for the phenomenon of “having already seen before.” When we experience Déjà vu we experience the sensation that we have already encountered something in the past (probably in a dream) and may even have wondered how it is possible. It is known that almost 80 percent of people have Déjà vu. There is not a plausible explanation for it. I like to explain this phenomenon in that with the third eye we sometimes see images from the future grasped by our third eye and then, when we encounter them in real life, wonder that everything is so familiar.
The concept of the third eye can be useful also in understanding telepathy. If a telepath can look momentarily into the future he may see things that are obscured to ordinary gaze.
Finally, I like to compare our third eye to that of the two titans of ancient Greek mythology — the two directions of its gaze are like the vision of Prometheus and Epimetheus. The first was the for-thinker or foresighted and the second the hind-thinker or hindsighted. We mostly are “epimethic” beings — oriented toward the past, but sometimes we turn to be Prometheus — we glimpse the future.
Bad Homburg, Autumn 2006
Labels: THEORY
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