I meditated twice on my third eye, and each time I traveled down this golden tunnel diving into the deep blue. However, each time this happened a being made of air and golden swirls that were illuminated showed up. Is there any literature about this? I don’t know what this means, but each encounter was so peaceful and freeing. The second time the golden being woke up, the gray and dull beings that stood outside and around this golden circle filled with blue as if it were a bowl or portal.
—K, United States
Dear K,
There is quite a bit of information about the third eye, also known as the spiritual eye, in Yogananda’s teachings. The meditation experiences you describe sound like you are seeing, at least partially, the spiritual eye. The spiritual eye is a portal into the Divine Presence. You might enjoy reading this article on our ananda.org website called Complete Guide to the Spiritual Eye.
Yogananda for the most part did not discuss specific beings that may appear in meditation. Sometimes people will experience divine beings, but this is not universal. The indicator of whether a vision is an aspect of the divine is the level of consciousness associated with it. Visions with their origin in higher consciousness are always associated with a positive, expanded, uplifted state of awareness unlike our normal conscious state. Some qualities experienced in higher consciousness are peace, joy, love, calmness, light, sound, power and wisdom. When we touch into one of these qualities, referred to as the eight aspects of God, the experience is deep and life-changing. This is also the experience of diving into the spiritual eye. Such experiences offer strong encouragement to the spiritual aspirant. It is possible to have a vision that is associated with a lower state of consciousness in which case the quality is darkening, may be emotionally charged and more like a hallucination. It is important to distinguish between these states of consciousness.
Your meditation experiences may be taking you into more subtle realms. I wonder if you are following a spiritual path. Guidance from those who have traveled the path to Self-realization becomes essential as we go deeper. If you do not currently follow a spiritual path, you might like to take a look at the path of Kriya Yoga that Paramhansa Yogananda brought. You can learn about that at https://www.ananda.org/kriya-yoga/.
Many Blessings,
Nayaswami Mukti
