Open Your Third Eye!
The sixth chakra, also known as the “Third Eye” chakra, is where we process and interpret visual information. It controls what we visually see, imagine, and what we psychically and intuitively perceive.
A discussion on the third chakra provides me with the perfect opportunity for me to share an old Taoist tale about intuition, transcendence, and horses. Some of my favorite things!
Duke Mu of Chin said to Po Lo: You are now advanced in years – is there any member of your family who I could employ to look for horses in your stead? Po Lo replied “ a good horse can be picked by it’s general build and appearance. But the superlative horse—one that raises no dust and leaves no tracks—is something rare and fleeting , elusive as thin air. My sons can tell a good horse when they see one, but they cannot pick a superlative horse. I have a friend, Chiu-fang Kao, who when it comes to horses, has vision equal to mine. Please go and see him.
Duke Mu located the man, and sent him off to look for a superlative steed. Three months later he returned with the news that he had found one. “What kind of horse is it?” asked the Duke? “Oh, it’s a dun colored mare”, was the reply. However, when the horse arrived, the animal was not at all as described, it was a coal black stallion!
Duke went to Po Lo, complaining “Your friend knows nothing about horses, why he couldn’t even distinguish the beast’s color or sex!” Po Lo smiled, “Ah, then he is worth a thousand of me put together! What Kao keeps in view is the spiritual mechanism. In concentrating on the ethereal essentials, he loses track of the details. Intent on the inward qualities, he loses sight of the external. He sees what he wants to see, and not what he does not want to see. He looks at the things he ought to look at, and neglects those that need not be looked at. So clever a judge of horses is Kao, that he has it in him to judge something better than horses.”
When the horse arrived, it turned out indeed to be a superlative animal.
I love this story! I heard it years ago, but it still pops into my head often, always reminding me to look beyond the surface and to open my mind and trust my intuition, or my gut impressions.
I encourage you to take some time to think about the story and how it relates to the 6th Chakra and to your own spiritual practice. Sit quietly and consider these questions:
- Have you had the experience where someone became significantly more attractive (or less attractive) the more you’ve gotten to know them? What caused your perceptions to change?
- Are you open to what lies beyond the physical when meeting someone new? If not, what kinds of things distract you?
- Looking back on the people who you have known in your life, which of them have the kind of wisdom and insight that would allow you to trust them to pick out a superlative horse, friend, or partner for you?
As we evolve and move into a higher consciousness, we naturally begin to focus less on the physical and more the light or the spirit within. By connecting to that light, we can communicate at a much deeper level, and have deeper, more meaningful relationships.
When our sixth chakra is in balance, we approach life with an open mind and seek to know the truth. We listen for guidance within ourselves and rely on our perceptions, experiences and the sixth chakra’s power of discernment. Opening this chakra opens the line of communication to your higher self and so it makes your wise inner guidance much more readily available. Set the intention and make a commitment to listen within for direction and then honor the guidance you receive with your actions.