The Mystics Third Eye

"The Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind"  -  Emily Dickinson
"The eye which we look back at God will be the same eye that first looked at us" 
 -  Meister Eckhart

The ego is what keeps us blind.  It is the unobserved self.  It's many defense mechanisms and illusions keeps us in the dark.  The opposite of ego is surrender.  The Christian life is about joyful surrender to God.   It's the place where we discover who we are and that through contemplative prayer centered on Jesus Christ, we can practice entering heaven now. 

Christian mystics sometimes speak about what they call "the third eye."  This is not just a spiritual happening or "God thing" or simply awareness of God's presence although all these things happen in mystic gazing.  The third eye is where God gives new gifts and abilities like prophesy, writing poetry, and praying in the Spirit. 

The three ways of seeing could be described as follows: (1) The first eye is natural seeing (our thoughts at the moment and natural sight); (2) the second eye is reason (reflection, logic, meditation); and (3) the third eye is spiritual seeing (contemplation and spiritual intuitions).  This third way of seeing goes beyond both reason and our natural ways of seeing the world.  We enter heavenly realms and portals that show us things beyond normal sight and perception.

Sometimes we call these "third eye" people saints, seers, mystics, and poets.  This is the person humbled by the grace of God and energized by the Spirit of God.  Third eye people are comfortable with mystery, paradox, and gut intuitive ways of knowing.  This is a movement away from dualistic and dichotomous ways of thinking (either/or) toward holistic both/and ways of thinking.  This is a movement away from Christian beliefs being merely a system of doctrine to poetic moves of the Spirit that shapes our vision and lifestyle.  This is a movement away from religious rules and codes of proper behavior to liturgical moves of worship and love relationships being a key to everything.

We learn this mystic way through the Spirit of Jesus and his teachings.  His life and mystic path has been kept hidden through the ages by philosophers, scholars, and biblical professors who want to keep the Jesus way tame, accessible for modern people, and under the management of competent professionals with high academic degrees.  But the way forward is really going back first.  We need to learn the path of the early desert fathers and mothers, monastics and catholic reformers, the Hesychastic and Celtic Christians as well as the many monks, mystics, recluses, and saints who shaped Christ centered communities.  For in doing so, then we may really see that unseen reality that's been before us the whole time.