The capacity to witness life from the standpoint of the “observer” is a skill that sets apart the novice from the expert, especially in terms of spiritual advancement. To the ancients, this ability is deemed a technique used to classify the beginner from the advanced human and is given the name drashta in Sanskrit – which translates as “the witness.” When one has cultivated this witnessing attitude and can maintain it through all layers of evolutionary unfoldment, this state signifies an awakened and functioning third eye center, or at least the beginning stages of such.
As humans, we are largely influenced by emotional experiences as well as likes and dislikes and all the many sways of duality. It is not uncommon to be high on life one day, in the throws of bliss and joy, and then suddenly find oneself plummeted into despair or discord by news of something tragic or disheartening. However, in order to navigate the ascension process – which requires inner strength, equanimity of spirit, and fortitude – one must be able to confront the entire spectrum of experiences with a similar gaze. This is the function of an awakened third eye center.
In the process of opening the energy vortexes situated along the spinal cord (chakras), it is essential to begin by working directly to open the third eye center, also known as Anja chakra. The reason for this is the observer attitude, which allows one to take the stance of “the witness” as each of the other centers blows out years and lifetimes of accumulated debris. Without the capacity to stand as a detached witness, the awakening process can suck one into an emotional engagement that only cycles one through repeating patterns instead of allowing for the graceful release of that which is surfacing.
The awakening of dormant spinal centers is no joke and no light matter. When correctly understood, one may stand in awe of how these spinal plexuses have stored lifetimes and generations of karmic stories and debris, and how they are the energetic gateways through which cosmic energy is perched to enter in through and evolve the human. Only then will it become apparent why the necessity for awakening the third eye center first has always been a spiritual requirement in the mystery schools. For without awakening this vital center first, which is the key to higher vision and the gateway to cosmic understanding, the lower mind and therefore bodily “kingdom” becomes subject to what feels like the “torments of the soul.”
When gracefully approached, one would open the third eye center through meditation, chanting, visualization, yoga and dedicated practice before approaching the material offered up from the other awakening spinal centers. For on the first round (or few successive rounds) of kundalini activation, the body is being prepared by showing a “slide show” (if you will) of previews of what is to come when the chakras fully awaken. By focusing on the pineal gland and the opening of this center it prepares one for the impending release of lifetimes of “garbage” (aka information) flooding the consciousness.
What happens when the kundalini awakens and why is having an open third eye center so important?
Each chakra governs a specific layer of consciousness as well as certain bodily functions. For example, the first chakra is the rooting agent; it connects humans to the earth and to feelings of belonging and security in their bodies and on the earth. (This is different from the “earth chakra” which is a specific chakra located approximately 2 feet below the root which supplies an actual grounding cord to an individual, reinforcing earth connection and supplying nourishment directly to the being from the planet.) The root chakra is also supportive to the intestinal tract and other organs of elimination as well as to the feet and legs. It nourishes ideas and actions of forward movement and release as well as assisting one in feeling full and abundant and able to endure.
When the first chakra (Moolandhara) first starts to awaken it will “push out” any memories or ancestral patterns which challenge the transcendent version of first chakra awareness. It will purify by “making known” all that is out of alignment in the body/mind so that the person can re-calibrate and make the adjustments necessary to carry the cosmic understanding of abundance and infinite support. The awakening root chakra must learn to surrender in order to access the eternal ease of “assimilating the necessary” and “purging the excess.” An open third eye center will assist the individual in not attaching to any stories of lack or insecurity which may come up during a first chakra cleanse. Doesn't that sound smart?
Look at it like this - Would you rather:
1- Stir ancestral issues from the DNA of lack and fear-of-safety and suddenly feel that you yourself struggle with lack and don't feel safe in life whilst you falsely identify with the first chakra awakening symptoms, unable to detach yourself from them and thereby struggle unnecessarily by “carrying on” the ancestral burden as a reality (and often living hell) in your life until you can see you are doing this and stop?
Or
2- Stand as the witness of a first chakra awakening and notice how you see, subtly over time (or sometimes powerfully all at once) your ancestral patterns of lack and fear-of-safety rise up in you, yet you are able to stand and observe – with interest and skill – how they struggle for place in your reality and yet you have the ability to let them rise and release without attachment, due to opening your third eye center prior to their visit to your consciousness.
The second chakra (sacral) can be an even more “treacherous” passage than the first, if awakened without the witness of the third eye. This is the center that efficiently and effectively brings one through the portal of the “dark night of the soul.” The difference in accessing the debris in this center with “eye- open” or eye-closed” means choosing to walk through the depths of karmic and ancestral “muck” with or without potential suicidal tendencies, such can be the intensity of the information stored in this karmic center.
Taking time each day to focus on the third eye center, incorporating such practices as Trataka (candle gazing) and Shambhavi mudra can make all the difference in the awakening of one’s kundalini and the opening of the dormant spinal centers. An awakened third eye allows for the opening of every other center to occur with a sense of purpose, despite the “ghosts” which might be hiding behind each and every psychic gateway.
As we move deeper and deeper through the cycles of cosmic awakening there has never been a more crucial time to maintain an open Anja chakra. If you find yourself struggling with cyclical or repeating issues, it may just be a clue that you are dancing with chakra debris and it is time to rise above such experiences by refocusing the lens. The third eye center helps one keep an eye above the storms of life and remember the bigger picture – where all is One and everything has a purpose.
