Good day to you i am looking for answers concerning the next level of after the 6th chakra has been focused upon so we just try to live our lives we know there is something there for us for we have seen many unworldly things and have experienced many things such as astro projection and lucid dreams. I want to know how fully unlock my eyes again. as the first time i did it i felt my entire body strange as though i felt godly somewhat i was vibrating fast and everything was different why
—Antonio dacosta, Guyana
Dear Antonio,
Each of us has 3 bodies: a physical body; an astral (energy) body; and a body of thought (causal). There are some people who have experiences such as you describe but it is important to keep in mind that these are not necessarily signs of spiritual growth or progress. Why is that? Because we each possess the bodies from which these experiences come.
But to speak somewhat to the point of your question, and among many things that are told to us by the masters, the sixth chakra has a negative pole at the medulla oblongata and a positive pole in the forehead (the seat of Christ Consciousness; the third eye; the spiritual eye, Kutastha, etc.).
Focusing on the spiritual eye has for its purpose that it is the doorway to enlightenment and ultimately to cosmic consciousness and the pathway out through the crown chakra (top of the head — sahasrara). Many things happen when gazing into the spiritual eye but what is most described in the yogic path is the appearance of the “spiritual eye.” It has 3 concentric circles: the outer circle is gold/yellow; the inner circle is deep blue/indigo/sometimes black/ and the very center is a white circle which emerges in the shape of a five-pointed star.
The gold/yellow is the doorway to the astral realm; the blue, into the causal realm of Christ consciousness; the five pointed star is the tunnel to cosmic consciousness beyond the three bodies and beyond the three planes of existence (physical; astral; causal).
So the “short” answer is that the next step is to await the coming of the spiritual eye. There’s a much longer answer, but too long for an email. All I’ll say in this regard is that the spiritual doesn’t come by imagination; nor by will power; nor by wanting it. Only by deep relaxation. But, once again, the spiritual eye can be seen by some who have no devotion and are not even seeking it. So, one needs to be careful NOT to pursue these subtle phenomena for their own sake as if the whole thing were some amusement ride.
Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras says such things are there for us to concentrate upon. Yogananda in his teachings goes further and suggests that we approach these things as divine manifestations and we should seek to commune with them with devotion and self-offering. Again, a rather large topic for a simple email.
In summary, I suggest that you work on developing your devotion and sense of reverence and sacredness for the very purpose and act of meditation. Never mind what comes or doesn’t come but be grateful for the opportunity to meditate and to seek God within you. Then, during daily activities seek God in others and in all circumstances.
Engaging in astral projection may be interesting, fun, exciting or even scary but the outcome has not specific goal or guaranteed result. For some people, it could even be dangerous or spiritually harmful. Again, that’s not our topic here but nonetheless we shouldn’t toy with the subtler realms. For this and many other reasons, we need a true guru to guide into the worlds that are far vaster and more varied that our physical world.
I hope this makes some sense to you and will be helpful. I recommend that you study the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, But as I do not know what you have studied, I cannot yet make a recommendation but the one that comes to mind most readily is the inspired text by Swami Kriyananda called ESSENCE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA. I don’t know how one gets books in Guyana but an internet search will certainly be helpful.
Blessings to you!
Nayaswami Hriman
Seattle WA USA
