The Third Eye
The third eye, sometimes referred to as the inner eye, has been known by a great number of spiritual traditions around the globe for thousands of years, yet it is seldom acknowledged by mainstream science. However despite this, in the pragmatic and logical world of science there can be found many examples of evidence that support its existence and the power it can wield over our lives.
Hindus view the third eye as a chakra located in the forehead between the bodys two physical eyes. The Hindu Holy Scriptures known as the Upanishads describe it as the tenth metaphorical gate in the human being that leads to higher planes of consciousness deep within the psyche. It is said to be responsible for intuition and extra sensory perception, that is the perception of events and objects not apparent to the human bodys scientifically accepted five senses.
Experiments in ESP
While extra sensory perception (ESP) has never been proved as scientific fact, numerous studies have been carried which lend credence to its existence. Some of the first experiments were carried out by Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine in the 1920s and 30s. In these experiments, which would be emulated many times in the decades to come, decks of playing cards with precise symbols on them were utilised to gauge the presence of significantly high ESP abilities within a subject. These symbols were a cross, a star, a circle, a square and a wavy line. The deck would be thoroughly shuffled whereupon the subject would then remove a card from the deck without looking at it and place it face down upon the table. He or she would then call the card and this would be recorded by the researcher, with the card remaining face down. This would be repeated up to 25 times in the same manner, whereupon the cards would be turned over and checked against the recorded calls made by the subject.
This scientific method worked by cross-referencing the number of correct guesses against the statistical probability of such results arising as a product of chance. The results were startling. One set of experimental data revealed that out of 2,400 calls, almost 500 correct guesses were recorded. The probability of these results being produced by chance were roughly a million to 1, making them particularly scientifically significant. Of the 33 sets of similar experiments which Dr. Rhine carried out over the years, 27 were noted to be statistically significant.
Despite a range of other scientific studies by other researchers which also pointed overwhelmingly to the presence of a sixth sense, extra sensory perception remained unacceptable to mainstream science. Eventually, few credible scientists were prepared to carry out research in the area for fear of jeopardising their careers and tarnishing their reputations with disbelieving colleagues and the international press.
Modern Research into the Third Eye
More recently, Beverly Rubik, an American biophysicist, has been conducting research into the biofield, an unseen energy that may be found within and around all living things. Ancient spiritual traditions have long known of the existence of this hidden life-force, and it has been known by many names.
Rubiks research is a little more modern than that of Dr Rhine, and uses sophisticated technological devices to measure brainwave activity. Subjects wear these brainwave monitors and the researchers are then given detailed readouts of the brains activity. Rubik has tested both normal individuals and highly practised meditators, and the results are no less startling than Dr Rhines findings.
She has found that those who meditate regularly are able to emit much higher frequency brainwaves than their layperson counterparts. Many of these experienced meditators were also found to constantly generate frequencies of 40 hertz in the portion of the brain where a large number of eastern traditions have located the third eye.
Science Versus Spirituality
Further research into the fields of clairvoyance, ESP, precognition and related phenomenon could well transform the common perception of the third eye as a fantastical concoction of outdated and primitive traditions, to a core part of our innate being. It could also revolutionise the way we view our place in the world as a species and a civilisation.
The problem it seems is not a lack of individuals willing to study the phenomenon using rational scientific deduction, or indeed an inability to detect the possibility of a third eye using quantitative data; and modern technological resources. It is instead perhaps the stubbornness of conventional science to consider anything that doesn’t fit in with its own tidy theories about the universe and how things work that prevents the third eye from receiving the fair hearing it rightfully deserves.
Author: Kes
