To All the Truth-Seekers and Readers Of The Wonderful “Shiva-yoga Pearls”.
1. In Yoga-Shastra the pineal gland is spoken of as the third eye, the function of which takes place through the middle of the forehead. This third eye or the pineal gland is atrophied in man, The whole process of Shiva-yoga is directed to the awakening of this dormant pineal gland. It is a rudimentary organ in most people but it is evolving though slowly. It is possible to quicken its evolution into a condition in which it can perform its function of apprehending events comprehensively to give personal access to wisdom.
2. Shiva-yoga is a technique of opening the third eye. The third eye is an enigmatic organ having a universal mythological history. It is the middle eye of Shiva; it is the eye of Horas of Egyptian tradition, it is the horn of the unicorn. The third eye is an organ apparently dormant but innately acquired by mankind whose awakening is the birth right of every individual. It is an organ of inner vision which embraces eternity, while the two physical eyes look before seeing neither the past nor the future.
3. Shiva-yoga is an approach as well as an attempt to dive deep into the higher dimensions of human experience. Shiva-yoga visualizes all existence as a federation of spirits united and integrated in the Absolute. Quantum theory reveals us a basic oneness of the universe. It shows that we cannot decompose the world into independently existing smaller units. This is very much like the Eastern mystic’s description of the world.
4. Three things stand out into bold relief about Shiva-yoga.
1) It is historical for it has a history of more than 5000 years. It goes as far back as the chalcolithic age. It was prevalent in the Indus valley civilization. And from there it spread to Egypt, Sumeru and other Mediterranean countries.
2) It is democratic in the sense that everybody is eligible to practise Shiva-yoga irrespective of caste,colour,creed,religion,race,rank,sex,age and position.
3) It is scientific in the sense that it is entirely based upon the laws of light and electricity.
5. Incidently we may notice the difference between Shiva-yoga and Kundalini-yoga. They differ from each other in method and aim. Kundalini is dormant, likewise, pineal is also dormant. The seat of kundalini is pelvic plexus while the seat of the pineal is the third ventricle of the brain. The process of awakening kundalini is attended with hardship, struggle and labour; the process of awakening the pineal gland is easy, simple and effective. When awakened kundalini ascends and meets the olive body which has the form of a dot O or bindu rupa in cerebrum. In Kundalini-yoga there is no descent. When the pineal is stirred, the cosmic consciousness residing in it descends to meet the individual consciousness which is situated in the pituitary gland through the nerve of the optic thalamus. The meeting takes place in the centre of the eyebrows. This meeting brings about the efflorescence of the intuitive faculties.
6. In man there are organs for hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and smelling. Similarly, there is an organ for thought and it is the pineal gland. Of course it is dormant but it is possible to galvanize it into activity. When it is stirred into activity, thought force is raised to n-th degree, and cosmic intelligence begins to function. Scientists opine that the pineal gland is a relic of the third eye, hence it is vestigial. But the adepts affirm that it is embryonical and therefore it is capable of being developed. The whole process of Shiva-yoga is designed to bring about the development of this dormant pineal gland through the steadfast look at Linga.
7. The pineal gland is a rudimentary organ in most people, but it is evolving though slowly. It is possible to quicken its evolution into a condition in which it can perform its function of apprehending events comprehensively. The full development of this organ helps the yogi to transcend mathematical time which is only an illusion produced by the succession of states of consciousness, as one travels through eternal duration.
8. In Shiva-yoga the concentrated gaze on the light reflected in the Ishtalinga is of vital importance for it generates magnetic force which helps to galvanize into activity the dormant pineal gland.
9. All nervous energy which is connected with the pituitary is electro-positive and all somatic energy, that is, cellular and humoral which is connected with the pineal is electro-negative and the balance of these two polarized electricities is maintained by the electric ions in-breathed with the atmospheric air. The pituitary is physical in nature while the pineal is spiritual in nature; to raise up the physical to the spiritual constitutes the secret of Sadhana or worship, for by the meeting of the two energies which starts from the one and produce the other is enhanced and fulfills itself. This is how the union or the harmony between the two is achieved by Shiva-yoga.
10. The ancients knew all about the third eye and indicated it on the statues of their gods by a knob on the forehead. The Egyptians trained the people in the use of this psychic centre in the temple of Maat. The god Maat was vulture-headed, because the vulture has a sight so keen as to be almost clairvoyant. When people responded to this training they became seers. They could see with the trained third eye, right through the body, as the X-ray does and diagnose a disease. All over the East and India, we find statues of historic man of wisdom with a knob or other mark upon the forehead indicating this type of achievement.
11. As physical eyesight developed, the etheric eye recessed, but although dormant as the pineal gland, it is only awaiting development and training to be reawakened. This training was a part of deliberate yogic process which was well understood and thoroughly provided for in the ancient wisdom. When the third eye is opened, the individual begins to see all the activities of the etheric plane, and he approaches much nearer to the causes and realities of life. He can see the thought-forms, entities and complex types of life which make up a vast world of teeming energies which the limited capacity of ordinary physical sight is unable to register.
12. When the pituitary and pineal glands have become fully developed and stimulated, their vibrations fuse and stir into activity the third eye, the eye of the soul. This activity provides the mind with a sensitive instrument, a transmitter by means of which vibrations of very differing types can be translated, interpreted and rearranged. This gives man personal access to the wisdom.
The above quotations and sayings are collected from various works of His Holiness Shri Kumarswamiji on ‘Shivayoga’ and ‘Veerashaivism’