The point in the center of your head is the inner equivalent of the one going out of your head from the front side. By going out merging with inner and outer on the vibratory level happens. By staying in, you remain in pure bliss awareness. By going up, awareness itself is transcended to the unspeakable of.
Sensing the inner body first lead me to the inner center, then the eyes moved forecfully out of their selves to the point between the eyebrows. Later on the eyes even looked further up to the crown. It doesn’t matter which technnique you do, every one leads to the same. Step by step the consciousness ladder is travelled. Your eyes give the hint where to put your attention next. There is also another point on your nose which redirects the energy downwards. All this happened automtically as needed.
The point you mention within the head is highly known to the kriya lineage as the kutashta or cave of brahma. The original techniques of kriya yoga put their attention first on that point, later on the eyes show you where to put your attention next.
Yogananda liked to go directly to the point between the eyebrows. And he also said that both + the medulla are connected. Concentrate on one, open all.
Lahiri Mahasay and Gurunath give also the same hint, as " Savikalpa happens within the head, nirvikalpa between the eyebrows, the point between innerbody and outerbody. Savikalpa over time leads to nirvikalpa.
But at first it starts way more down the road. When I started with the inner sensing meditation, the main areas at the beginning where sexually extatic, lot of pulsing of the perineum, immense energy flow in the belly etc. Later on this smoothed out with an automatical more pronounced heart-love energy flow. Later on as the awarness increased more to the whole space and was all-including enourmes bliss and peace at the throat spread out and penetrated everything.
Later on this everything started to melt into the brain-center. No space, no time, just pure bliss being.
In the meantime during the days, the eyes as said did their play of looking up more and more. So the realization came, pure bliss being is not the final, it goes even “upper”. The melting of inner and outer. And as the last and the first, the all transcending mystery awaits at the crown. Then the coming back, pouring out, etc. I think Yogani gave some good hints how the process goes on 
You can see it through his expression of this AYP-creation.
The kind of third eye practice Yogananda or Nathan was talking about and to which I gave some experience-output is related to the point between the eyebrows. I did the brain-center/kutashta meditation too but not as long and continueous as the other two. And just can say, it is more like the frontal third eye meditation than the whole body sensing one in its effects.
I think I know what you are seeking, the very same I did over the years. The best technique =) The funny thing is, all are too good if practiced daily. The trying out here and there is the only delaying thing. Do one, go till the end. Meeting point is the same.
SBP or an equivalent breathing technique has become a must for me to keep balance, especially on the health level. So what works for my body is more amounts SBP, less focused meditation + a big pause of 20 mins at least. Mostly it is much more. What works for you, I hope you find it without so many years of trial and error, as it was for me
Yes, for me attention is placed at the brow center. In time other centers are opened as a result, especially other centers in the head. If I’m practicing formally, I may turn the eyes upward.
Here are some related quotes:
Swami Satyananda Saraswati:
“Direct concentration on ajna chakra is very difficult, and for this reason, in tantra and yoga the mid-eyebrow center (which in fact is the kshetram of ajna), is used to awaken this chakra. This point is called bhrumadhya (‘bhru’ means eyebrow and ‘madhya’ means center), and it lies between the two eyebrows in the place where Indian ladies put a red dot and pandits and Brahmins put a mark of sandal paste. This eyebrow center can be contacted by various techniques.”
The center between the eyebrows is usually what is being referred to when speaking about the ajna chakra.
Hi Nathan and Holy
I find this all very interesting for several reasons.
For one, I’ve come to understand that there is a hierarchy of states of consciousness which consists of layers. The first layer is consciousness, that which we are aware of external objects/phenomenon through the five senses. Then there is the sub-conscious layer. Most of the time the mind (or some brain mechanism) has hidden or cloaked the sub-conscious layer so that the conscious layer is not aware of this layer. Only now and then does the consciousness become aware of the sub-conscious layer, for example when hidden fears, phobias or attractions arise seemingly from out of the blue.
I believe there is a principle that “when we focus our attention or consciousness on an internal part of the body we gradually wear down the veil or cloak that exists there and we penetrate deeper into the subconscious connection that exists between the sub-conscious and that body part.”
I believe that that is what ‘sensing the inner body’ is all about. If you think about it, when you focus your attention for long periods of time at certain body locations, such as chakras or locations on the body where there are massive nerve conglomerates, one eventually becomes aware of the underlying energy flows and finer pathways that exist there through the sub-conscious mind-body connection. This is why breath is often used as an object of meditation. There is both a conscious and sub-conscious aspect to breathing.
So, focusing one’s attention on the brow, or inside the head somewhere is like performing ‘sensing the inner body’ on a specific location. And the result is that whatever was hidden to the conscious mind eventually becomes realized through the sub-conscious connection.
There are some interesting lessons to be learned from this perpective. Focusing attention is a way of breaking down the cloak or veil. Breathing into an area should also be an effective way to use the prana and intention to break through the veils. But the interesting thing is that if you can use these methods to break through the veil between consciousness and subconsciousness, you should be able to also use the same method to break through the veils between sub-consciousness and super-subconsciousness.
I started to realize all this after reading the S.N. Goenka book called “The Discourse Summaries” wherein Goenka describes Buddha’s technique of sweeping the physical body with equanimous awareness (Vispassana). I kept wondering about ‘sensing the inner brain’. Then I started to realize that third eye meditation is really ‘sensing the inner brain’ at a specific location. Goenka says that methodically moving the awareness through each part of the body in a logical order is the best technique for realizing what the true nature of ourselves is because we are focusing on the body (a natural object, our true self) and not a mind-created construct such as a mantra or a visualization. As we watch and percieve the resultant sensation with indifference or equanimity a purification or clearing of the sensation occurs and eventually we can get to deeper layers.
A great thing to do, perhaps more powerful than third eye meditation is heart meditation. The heart supposedly has the largest magnetic field out of all the organs in the body. It is also said to be the true center of the atman (although I know it’s debatable). Yup. “Sensing the inner heart”…
Probably the best thing to do is to clear the whole body, brain, spine, limbs, everything and not just focus on one location. Right?
This also sheds some light on the practice of spinal breathing. Eventually, passing attention and prana up and down the spine wears down the veil that conceals the conscious, sub-conscious and super-sub-conscious connections in the spine. You are training your attention to remain internal, inside the body, where the sub-conscious and super-subconscious pathways exist. Gradually, as you wear down the veil, you become conscious of the unconscious.
Intuitively, I don’t see how paying equanimous attention to our natural self or any specific location of the natural self (body) could be harmful. So yes, I tend to believe that ajna meditation is beneficial and safe as a stand alone practice.
TI
Dear Nathan,
I know you had a wish. Thank you for your wise action to take it back. I still don’t have access to the book where the quote of Yogananda’s words are. But I could get the german title of the book from my dad, which is:
“Worte des Meisters” meaning “Words of the Master”. I checked up the english titles and there is only one correspondending book called: “Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda”. Most probably it is that book.
http://www.amazon.com/Sayings-Paramahansa-Yogananda/dp/0876121156
Have a nice day
Hi Holy,
Thanks for looking into that; I hope it wasn’t too much trouble. I deleted the request because I trusted that you gave the meaning of the quote.
Hi again,
I wanted to ask my original question again from a different angle. I now do DM as my regular meditation practice, and have been regular with it for a few months. I was wondering if keeping attention on Ajna outside of formal practice -attention during normal activities- would interfere with the results of DM in any way. I have found in the past that holding attention on Ajna is good for relieving depression and stress. So, besides considerations of overdoing, is there any known reason not to do this?
Thanks,
Nathan
Hi Nathan
I wouldn’t say that putting attention on the third eye outside of practices times will “interfere” with the results of DM. What I would say however, is that in my experience, putting attention on the third eye during regular activity “takes me away from myself.” For me, it is important to keep a balance between my “Divine nature” and my “human nature” and that to focus too much on “spiritual stuff” in between practice times takes me away from my “human nature.” That may not be the best way of explaining what I’m try to here, but I’m not sure how else to say it. I guess I could say that to focus on the spiritual eye during daily activity puts me “up in the clouds” and takes me away from “the here and now.” I find it more advantageous to be here, in my human body when in between practice times and to do all that “spiritual stuff” during my practice times. Just my 2 cents.
Much Love!
Hi Carson
Thanks for the response. I think I know what you mean about being “up in the clouds.” But for me putting attention on the third eye brings relaxation and a sense of well-being, and might even make me more present, because my attention and energy is less free to get lost in thoughts. It also seems to relieve stress and depression, because the energy that was going towards those gets put to a better use.
I can see though that if someone was already getting a lot of results from their sitting practice, that outside of it they might like to just focus on being grounded.
Hi Nathan,
Here is another opinion.
I love the third eye. I love the magnetic pressure. I love that it becomes active whenever I am concentrating on certain topics and that it serves as a barometer. Also, seeing the world through it is a new and exciting experience. I wish it were fully active all of the time, and that is what I strive for.
Here is a quote from Samuel Sagan’s awakening the third eye:
link: http://www.clairvision.org/ckb/ckbe/ckbl/fol_0000_0001/cat_0000_0001/SaganATE.pdf
TI
You got some good advice from both Carson and TI.
Please remember that Third Eye is not Ajana Chakra, its an extension of the Ajana chakra.
Keeping attention on third eye outside meditation/practices for long can sometimes create complexities. But if you are comfortable with it, you are gifted.
Don’t get surprised if people/things start acting strangely around you.
Hi TI
Thanks for your response and link. To clarify, there is a tingling/magnetic/energetic type of feeling between, and slightly above my eyebrows on the surface of the forehead, and it is just this sensation that I hold attention on. So for me it’s not yet associated with extrasensory or spiritual vision. But anyways, I can relate to that excerpt you included, like when he talks about putting attention into the eyebrow center instead of tension and thought. I’m going to go through that book, but does what I do sound basically like what he’s talking about in the excerpt?
Do you find that the center sometimes needs a rest? Previously, I would keep attention on the center up to hours a day outside of formal meditation, and after sometime, maybe weeks, the center wouldn’t feel as “fresh” or energetic. So I’m not sure if the area needed to rest, or the mind starts to get bored with it and needs a little break.
In your opinion, do you think this would interfere with the DM practice?
Thanks,
Nathan
Hi Manigma
Yes, I should probably just call it Ajna for now.
How might people and things act strange?
Nathan
your intention is good, but most probably it will become unstable over some weeks to months.
You can still give it a go. It will surely give great insights which will make your house-cleaning decisions wiser and wiser 
Hi Nathan,
You know, this is a wonderful thread. It contains allot of good information and insight.
If you focus just on the sensation, then you aren’t going to develop the visions or learn more about the third eye.
When I first started experiencing the magnetic pull, I would experiment with it. I tried various things with it like trying to control the pressure and direct it. I would suck in on the in breath and push out on the out breath. I learned that if you do that with very gentle breath, the magnetic pull follows. Then I learned that, when sitting in “sensing the inner body” and the dream state would present itself before my forehead, by controlling the breath, I could keep from getting sucked into a dream.
So, the next step would be to try the same exercises. Experiment. See how it relates and how slow you have to make the breath before the magentic pull follows it.
The attention on the brow, the tingling, the pressure, that is all just the first step in Samuel Sagan’s book. Well, actually, he starts by training your hands to feel the vibrations/tingles. Then he points out that when you feel that, the brow also tingles. Then he shows you how to increase the vibrations by using raspy breathing, which connects the throat chakra to the brow. After that, he explains the colored light you see and then how to bypass that to get into the astral planes. (The astral planes are a distraction, but very interesting nontheless.)
I can’t remember ever thinking that the third eye needed a rest, but I did notice that it is more sensitive on some days than others. I believe this is based on the body’s cycles, diet and other cyclical factors (time of year, time of day etc). Also, to charge the third eye up, I just inhale very slowly through the nose and feel the air as it passes by the top of the sinus cavities. Within seconds the magnetic pull is activated. The more I do that the stronger it gets.
The mind usually gets bored very easily. Isn’t just sitting in a hot sports car exciting at first, but if you don’t get to drive it, the excitement wears out? What fun is there in just feeling the steering wheel, the contour of the seat over and over and over again?
Yes and no. If you never see visions, there is less to distract you during deep meditation. However, sooner or later you are going to hit the dream world as you relax in meditation, you will see visions too, and based on the development of your witness or watcher, if you already know how to stay out of dreams and have lost interest in the visions, that is an advantage.
Also, sambhavi is a part of Spinal Breathing, and that will also develop the third eye. Actually, it will energize the third eye quite a bit. Lots, in fact. In Spinal Breathing you are taking prana from the base of your spine directly to the brow, the third eye.
If you read the “Secrets of Wilder”, you will also notice that John Wilder eventually adds sambhavi to his deep meditation practice (with the conviction of putting more emphasis on the mantra).
So, I guess what I’m saying is that I believe that as you progress, the awakening of the third eye plays an integral role in AYP.
It is not a standalone practice, but there are allot of teachings that say it can be (like Christi mentioned earlier in this thread, and the notes about Yogananda etc).
If you want to get the spiritual vision or activate the third eye sight, you have to keep going. Learn the techniques, like the repositioning of your attention to look through the third eye. Or not. It will develop on it’s own if you simply keep doing DM and Spinal Breathing. But it might take longer…
These are the new discoveries that I have found concerning the Third Eye, or ajna, or the point about 1 1/2 inches behind the brows towards the center of the head:
- Saraswati says that if you can see a black flame there, your third eye is very developed. I first started seeing the black flame there about 4 years ago. I wrote about it back then on this forum.
- If I do bhastrika just on the section from the brow to the center of the head, it is extremely ecstatic. If I breathe in very slowly from the brow to the center of the head, and then send the breath out through the top of the head, it is also extremely ecstatic. Sort of like Spinal Breathing, but with a different path.
- Just by holding my attention on the black flame, or even in the space surrounding that area, my body does the root lock all by itself. Well, it used to do just that. Now the whole lower torso also tenses, waves come up and my head starts nodding up and down. Not just a bit, it is more like my head swings back and then all the way down to my chest and then back again. Or, sometimes, my head will shake back and forth. It is a highly ecstatic experience and I’m not really comfortable with all that so I haven’t been doing it much lately. Yes (emc), I am getting kriyas. I think the head rocking is actually some kind of chin pump!
- Just by focusing on the third eye, at night, as I lay in bed before falling asleep, my breathing will stop. This has happened twice now. My whole body becomes very still and I become afraid that I will die. I have not resolved that yet. Or rather, thank God that that hasn’t happened for a while now! I still have to get the mind used to the idea that it isn’t going to die if I let that happen. Those experiences made me cool down my third eye focus for a while.
- If I suck inwards from the brow, roll my eyes up, breath like I was sleeping and pretend to be falling asleep while pulling the magnetic pull into the center of the head and then downwards towards the heart, I can see the dream world and visions within seconds. If I pull the magnetic pulse further down towards the heart, by the time I get to the base of the skull, everything goes black and it feels like I will die. Then, when I come out of that state, it makes me feel sick. I think I have to do that gradually, otherwise it shocks the system. It would be nice to read about someone else’s experience with that ‘method’. I kind of discovered it on my own so I have no confidence in it. Who knows, maybe I would really die (but probably not).
- The third eye is hole where you can send thoughts to other people’s minds through the same place (or at the back of the head). It is this phenomenon that hypnotists prey upon. Also, it is also one of the major centers through which to recieve shaktipat. It is like an open hole to the mind and inner biology.
I have a CD of Dhyanyogi singing various mantras and prayers. His instructions are to do deep breathing, focus the attention on the third eye and just listen to him singing. By performing sambhavi like that, it lets you really tune in and bathe yourself in Dhyanyogi’s vibrations. Many people go into samadhi just by listening to his songs in that way. I did that a couple weeks ago and it took 4 days to get kundalini settled back down…
Did you know that Dyhanyogi used to water-witch bodies from people’s homes? I learned this from a DVD workshop called Chakra Bhedan 1 by Sri Anandi Ma and Diljeep. Apparently, Dhyanyogi could see through objects. He trained a woman on how to look through the ground. He would bury an item in the ground and then get the woman to tell him what it was. Anyway, Dhyanyogi would get requests from people to help them with their problems. In one household, the new-borns were dying shortly after birth. Dhyanyogi went over to their place, checked out the yard and told them to dig precisely in one location. They found a set of bones, someone whom had been murdered. Once they moved the illicit grave and performed some cleasning rituals, the babies born in that house survived…
That’s it. I talk too much!
Good Luck and God Bless you.
TI
Hi Manigma
Yes, I should probably just call it Ajna for now.
How might people and things act strange?
Yes, the Third Eye is not called 'Eye' without reason. It actually feels and works like the two eyes we have on our face. Its just that the Third Eye is not visible to the physical world. When fully developed, you can actually feel the Third Eye move inside your forehead like the physical eyes do. Its like having a real eyeball inside your forehead. :slight_smile: If you keep the Third Eye open all the time without first purifying yourself fully, you might unconsciously connect with everything around you. This will effect the energy of every being/object around you in a negative or positive way depending upon on what level of purification you yourself are. And you can be affected by their energy as well. Third Eye is God's eye. Its very powerful. You can not imagine its powers. But you have it! So play with it and discover its limitless wonders. But rememebr, it will show you what you deserve, neither less, nor more. Have fun! :grin:
Hi Holy
You may be right about the combination not being sustainable, but my main concern is that the DM practice will be affected. Like if I’ve been keeping attention on Ajna for an hour and then go to practice DM, the depth or quality might be affected because the attention has to be disengaged from Ajna temporarily and it might be harder to go inside.
It would be great though if I can integrate the two and get the benefits of both.
My renewed interest in focusing on Ajna has been brought about from a desire to ease emotional pain that has been coming up, very possibly as a result of DM. I’ve been thinking of your words in another thread that if one has the time (which I do), the kriya yoga practice will be smoother. Right now, I can only sustainably do DM for 10 minutes, twice a day, and I can’t do spinal breathing, whereas I was doing about 7 minutes twice a day for months when I used Ajna as a focus for meditation. But for now I’m going to stick with DM, and see if I can integrate attention on Ajna outside of formal practice.
Hi TI
I sometimes breath in and out through the forehead also to boost the feeling.
You mentioned that attention on the brow is just the first step in Sagan’s book. That may be true, but it’s my belief that in just doing that, thing will evolve without further methods. Even so, I might try some of the methods to evolve the center faster. The purple space at the eyebrow center that he mentions sounds appealing.
Thanks for sharing some of your experiences also.
Hi again manigma
I will sometimes think of or try to feel the Ajna as an eye, and that feels good.
I’m certainly not fully purified. But according to the book TI mentioned, Ajna is a switch that can be used to make ones aura protective, hopefully keeping out the negative baggage of others.
Yes, its a great book. There is a checklist of things before using the eye to protect your aura. Its in chapter 17.
My favorite part from the book:
In one of the retreat centres of our school in the tablelands of NSW, an eagle used to come and watch us when we were working outside. When you tuned into the eagle, the eagle would stop 20 metres above your head and gaze at you. It was a complete standstill, a moment of truth. If you raised your arms towards the eagle and started turning slowly, the eagle would turn with you. Slowly, as if it was suspended in the air, the eagle followed you in a motionless dance. Then, if you ‘became’ the eagle, it was an inner explosion. There are simply no words to describe that. People who have never experienced anything of the kind may be clever and successful, nevertheless they live in nothing other than a cage.
Marvelous!