Tomorrow's Events: Coming Home Meditation at 9am EST and The Joy of Embodiment Info Session at 6pm EST
Join me tomorrow for a meditation and discussion on the art of subtle inner and outer sight. Also, a chance to hear more about this fall's embodiment course!
Remember the tenacious magic and poisons and dreams — you wanted to see, you bound your two eyes shut so as to see, without knowing how to open the other.
–René Daumal, Memorables, 1942
Dear Friends,
Join me tomorrow morning from 9am-10:15am EST for our weekly Coming Home meditation series. We’ll be exploring another subtle sense: subtle sight.
In the eastern wisdom traditions there is an occult knowing about the third eye—Ajna Chakra—what it is, where it is, and how to open it. The tantric yoga traditions have especially developed techniques for working with this faculty of inner seeing, direct knowledge, and intuition. It is said there can be no wisdom of subtle or higher realms without it. It is also said that the third eye opens spontaneously when the masculine and feminine polarities are balanced and the kundalini energy rises through the chakras into the center of the head.
But visionary experiences are certainly not limited to the yogic traditions…all indigenous peoples, shamans, and mystery schools place great value on the ability to cultivate and refine a seeing beyond the veils, beyond the seeming impenetrability of this concrete existence. Different cultures have different techniques for activating subtle seeing, trance states and visionary experiences—plant medicine, shamanic drumming, vision quests, dark retreats, dream yoga, active imagination, breathing, hypnosis…
The third eye is the seat of this seeing. But, there are also eyes at the heart and all over the body, for that matter. Awareness is the vehicle for this capacity and awareness can be infused throughout the whole being as well as transcend space time. Remote seeing is a real gift many people have.Â
In the Bhagavad Gita, my favorite part and the pinnacle of the action happens in chapter 11 when, having heard about Krishna’s majesty, power and beauty, Arjuna requests to see his Divine Form (vishwarupa):
Thus, as you have described yourself, O supreme Lord. I desire to see your Divine form, O Supreme Spirit.
If you think it is possible for me to see this, O Lord of Yogins, then show me your imperishable self. (BG 11.3-4)
Up until now, Krishna has been disguised as Arjuna’s childhood friend and his charioteer, driving him into a battle he is reluctant to enter. Arjuna is asking to see Krishna in his full glory now. His curiosity has got hold of him. And Krishna agrees to reveal himself, but he says Arjuna cannot see this supreme form with his normal eyes. He needs a divine eye to see such splendor:
Behold now the entire universe, with everything moving and not moving, standing together here in my body, Arjuna, and whatever you desire to see…
But you are not able to see me with your own eyes. I give to you a divine eye; behold my majestic power! (BG 11.7-8)
I have always loved this scene. Because Arjuna gets more than he bargained for. Seeing a God in his complete splendor is no joke! It’s actually terrifying. Arjuna ends up begging Krishna to stop. He can’t take it. Even with the divine sunglasses!
It has also been my experience that there are vast worlds to behold with the inner eye, full dimensions. We know this from the dream worlds we visit with our eyes closed each night. And it is also the experience of people who dabble with or walk the path of psychedelics that there are many dimensions revealed on the medicine that cannot be seen or accessed with the fleshy eyes.Â
Not to demean the fleshy eyes! Subtle seeing can also be a simple matter of using these eyes better, exercising them, becoming more present to their sensing. Such beautiful and complex wiring we have. That we can see each other, navigate this material existence, make visual art…behold the wonders of the world…this is a miracle! I remember when I finally got glasses in the fourth grade. I saw the birds in the sky for the first time and was astounded that I could see the distinct leaves on the trees. This seeing had been inaccessible to me before and it truly felt like my world expanded. We see so much actually and register so little. Seeing more, to start, is a simple matter of paying more and better attention.Â
Tomorrow we will practice subtle seeing. For some of you, this will be easy. For others, it may be more challenging. I want to work with color and light and form. We will play with some inner and outer seeing practices and we will see if we can refine our vision a bit.
Like all the contractions, we limit our seeing in part because we’re trying to manage and control our reality. This can be useful to a point, but ultimately it keeps us removed from the wonders of this world. More seeing leads to more knowledge leads to more wisdom. Let’s sit in patience with ourselves and see what happens when we open our eyes wider in wonder and also when we close our two eyes and endeavor to open the other.
This is a pay-what-you-feel experience each week. Suggested donation is $10-20 for drop ins. Whatever you feel called to give is wonderful and appreciated. Paid subscribers, you are covered. If you’d like to make a monetary contribution for these meditation sessions, you can do that here: Paypal: schuyler@artofemergence.com or Venmo: ElizabethSchuyler-Brown.
Tomorrow Night at 6pm EST The Joy of Embodiment Live Info Session
This fall I will be offering a wonderfully deep course called The Joy of Embodiment. I am so excited to share this knowledge and practices to enhance your understanding. And also to work with you in the healing of the wounds that keep us from being more embodied. The course will run 12 Sundays from September 4—November 20. You can find more information about the course and sign up now here.
Tomorrow night at 6pm EST I will offer a 1-hour overview and Q&A for anyone who wants to know more about the course content and intention. Please join us! You can register for that free session here: