THE BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF THE THIRD EYE
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by Richard Alan Miller,
(c) 1975.
From the time of Dionysius to the time of Plato, the cultures
of the Mediterranean consented to the doctrine that claimed the
existence of an order of ultimate reality which lies beyond apparent
reality. This "paranormal" reality was accessible to
the consciousness only when the "normal" routines of
mental data processing were dislocated. It was Plato's pupil
Aristotle who changed his teacher's game, separating physics
from metaphysics. The philosophical temper of our present civilization,
being scientifically and technically oriented, is basically Aristotelian.
No such rational figure as Aristotle arose in the Orient to a
position of equal eminence. Because of this and other reasons,
Indian anatomists and zoologists, who where no doubt just as
curious as the Greeks about the origins of life, and as skilled
in dissection, did not feel compelled to set their disciplines
up in opposition to metaphysics. Physical and metaphysical philosophy
remained joined like Siamese twins. As a result, the discipline
which became medicine in the West evolved into a system known
as Kundalini Yoga in the Hindu culture. In Western terms, Kundalini
Yoga can be best understood as a biological statement contained
within the language of the poetic metaphor. The system makes
the attempt of joining the seeming disparate entities of body
and mind. It is a very complicated doctrine; in oversimplified
terms, the system encourages the practitioner to progress through
the control of a number of stages, called Chakras or mind-body
coordination. A sixth, associated with clairvoyance and telepathy,
is called the Ajna. The physiological site of this sixth Chakra,
the Ajna, is located in the center of the forehead. It is symbolized
by an eye -- the so-called third eye, the inner eye, or the eye
of the mind. When this eye is opened, a new and completely different
dimension of reality is revealed to the practitioner of yoga.
Western scholars when they first encountered this literature,
took the third eye to be an appropriately poetic metaphor and
nothing else. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century,
as the subcontinent of Australia and its surrounding territory
came to be explored, that a flurry of interest centered upon
a lizard native to the are, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatum).
This animal possessed, in addition to two perfectly ordinary
eyes located on either side of its head, a third eye buried in
the skull which was revealed through an aperture in the bone,
covered by a transparent membrane, and surrounded by a rosette
of scales. It was unmistakably a third eye but upon dissection
it proved to be non-functional. Though this eye still possessed
the structure of a lens and a retina, these were found to be
no longer in good working order: also lacking were the appropriate
neural connections to the brain. The presence of this eye in
the tuatara still posses a puzzle to present-day evolutionists,
for almost all vertebrates possess a homologous structure in
the center of their skull. It is present in many fish, all reptiles,
birds, and mammals (including man). This structure is known in
literature today as the pineal gland. The gland is shaped like
a tine pine cone situated deep in the middle of the brain between
the two hemispheres. Studies then began to determine whether
this organ was a true functioning gland or merely a vestigial
sight organ, a relic from our reptilian past. In 1959 Dr. Aaron
Lerner and his associates at Yale University found that meletonin
(1), a hormone manufactured by the pineal gland, was created
through the action of certain enzymes on a precursor chemical
which must pre-exist in the pineal in order for it to be transformed
into melatonin. This precursor chemical turned out to be serotonin
(2). It was E.J. Gaddum, a professor of pharmacology at the University
of Edinburgh, who was the first to note a connection between
serotonin and mental states of being. In a paper published in
1953, he pointed out the fact that LSD-25 was a potent antagonist
to serotonin. Serotonin is not an unusual chemical in nature;
it is found in many places -- some of them odd, like the salivary
glands of octopuses, others ordinary; it abounds in plants such
as bananas, figs, and plums. What then is its function in the
human brain? The task of exploring the role played by melatonin,
and its precursor serotonin, was undertaken by a biochemist,
Julius Axelrod. He found that melatonin suppressed physiological
sexuality in mammals. If test animals were stimulated to manufacture
excessive amounts of melatonin, their gonads and ovaries tended
to become reduced in size, to shrink, to atrophy. The estrous
or fertility cycle in females could likewise be altered experimentally
by doses of melatonin. Now two most curious functions had been
attributed to the pineal gland, the third eye of the mind: (1)
It has now been established that this organ produced a chemical
which had, indirectly at least, been associated with psychedelic
states, and (2) It also produced a chemical which suppressed
functional sexuality. The literature of religious mysticism in
all ages and all societies has viewed the mystical passion of
ecstasy as being somehow antagonistic to, or in competition with,
carnal passion. Axelrod and his co-workers also discovered another
incredible fact: the pineal gland produces its chemical according
to a regular oscillating beat, the basis of this beat being the
so-called circadian rhythm. They found that the pineal responded
somehow to light conditions, that by altering light conditions
they could extend, contract, or even stabilize the chemical production
rhythms of the pineal. The fact that the pineal responds to light,
even if this response is indirect via the central nervous system,
has some fascinating and far-reaching conceptual applications.
There are many behavioral changes which overtake animals as the
seasons change, and which can be produced out of season in the
laboratory by simulating the appropriate span of artificial daylight.
Do such seasonal changes in mood and behavior persist in humans?
The great religious holy days of all faiths tend to cluster around
the times of the solstices and equinoxes. Is it possible that
the human pineal gland responds to these alterations in length
of daylight? Changing the balance of neurohumors in the brain
may perhaps effect a greater incidence of psychedelic states
in certain susceptible individuals just at these crucial times.
This possibility provides an entirely new potential dimension
to our secular understanding of the religious experience. The
pineal gland has thus been referred to as a kind of biological
clock, one which acts as a kind of coupling system; perhaps maintaining
phase relations within a multi-oscillator system; a phase coordinator
for multiple bio-rhythms. The pineal is a "cosmic eye;"
it is aware of celestial rhythm. It "tunes" our biochemistry
to those subtle rhythms not observed by the normal eye, like
seasonal and lunar changes rather than daily ones. Serotonin
can be seen as the "intensity knob" of the brain. As
the level of serotonin increases, so does the level of activation
of the cortex. Strong suspicion has fallen now on serotonin as
being one of the principle agents of the psychedelic experience.
Studies now reveal that LSD-25 strikes like a chemical guerrilla,
entering into receptor granules in the brain cells swiftly, and
then leaving after a very short time, perhaps ten to twenty minutes
(in animals). When the bulk of LSD-25 has left the receptor granules,
it is replaced by what seems to be excessive, or super-normal
amounts of serotonin. The LSD-25 creates what is called a "bouncing
effect," like a spring pushed too tight. When the LSD-25
leaves the system, the serotonin springs back and overcompensates.
For most of us, most of the time, our world is a Darwinian environment.
We must manipulate ourselves within it, or attempt to manipulate
it in order to survive. These survival needs tend to color our
appreciation of this world, and we are continually making judgments
about it. Some of these judgements are based on prior personal
experience, others are provide by the culture. This "recognition
system" is one of the elements disrupted by the psychedelic
state. The principle question concerning psychedelic states remains:
How much disruption can the system tolerate? The problem of how
to maintain a certain madness while at the same time functioning
at peak efficiency has now captured the attention of many psychiatrists.
There seems to be a point at which Edgar Allen Poe's "creative
madness" becomes degenerative, impeding function rather
than stimulating it. In light of this analysis, a shaman can
be seen to be uncoupling his internal bio-sensor from the universal
inputs. He gets "drift" where he is rushed toward new
signal-to-noise ratios. The particular rituals are set up to
disconnect the shaman from his social and cosmic environment.
This is done through the ritual use of hallucinogens; they de-synchronize
his internal rhythms. This de-synchronization produces more noise
in his awareness. It also expands that awareness. The rituals
are so designed as to contain elements which focus or tune that
"noise" and direct the expanded awareness. Man is unique
by virtue of being possessed by intuitions concerning the scope
of the mysterious universe he inhabits. He has devised for himself
all manner of instruments to prove the nature of this universe.
The beginnings of scientific understanding of shamanistic ritual
and the function of the third eye provide man with powerful new
techniques for exploration. This will allow him to penetrate
the vast interior spaces where the history of millions of years
of memories lies entangled among the roots of the primordial
self. (1) The chemical substance melanin is the pigment which
darkens skin color. It is located in specialized cells scattered
through the topmost layer of skin. Melatonin was found to be
the substance responsible for causing the contraction of melanin-producing
cells. (2) Serotonin is of the same chemical series of indole
alkaloids which include psychedelic drugs such as LSD-25, psilocybin,
D.M.T. and bufotenine. The hormone serotonin is also known as
5-hydroxtryptamine. 06-01-92 This paper was originally written
in 1975 for several scientific publications, and was reprinted
IN THE CONTINUUM (Vol.II, No.3) in 1978. At that time, I made
a very important discovery which was added to THE HOLISTIC QABALAH
series. I thought to share that discovery at this time, to complete
my thoughts on this subject: In 1979 I was in a very serious
accident, where I was crushed between a brick wall and an out-of-control
automobile. My left knee was crushed, the parenteal nerve was
severed at the knee. I was going to loose my leg! I postponed
surgery, did some specific rituals with Kundalini and my "third
eye," and now have complete regeneration of nerve tissue
-- something now believed by mainstream medicine as physically
impossible. Here is how I did it: There is a "chill"
which runs up (Gopi Krishna) or down (Sri Aurobino) the spine
at certain times of the week. You can, in some situations, actually
induce this event. Sometimes, you can make our whole body shake.
This is the physical aspects of Kundalini. On a physical plane,
there are a series of small nerve fillia that stick out from
the spine -- almost like a "ladder." The "chill"
is an EM-wave that is traveling up (or down) the spine, as each
nerve fillia begins to oscillate. The most interesting fact about
this is that the EM-field frequency in the visible light region!
This is what most religions refer to as "The Light."
And what is a the very top end of this wave-train of light? The
pineal gland! Now, if you stimulate the pineal gland on a regular
basis -- lets do it 3 times each day, what happens next is wonderful.
The pineal gland is "light sensitive," its primary
function now understood to regulate the body for seasonal changes
(health). This so stimulates the pineal gland that it sends out
a signal down the neural cavity. The neural cavity, of course,
connects the pineal gland at one end with the thalamus at the
other.... What happens is that a resonant cavity oscillator is
set up in the neural cavity, causing it to modify the gleal cell
it normally manufactures. If there are enough trace minerals
in your diet, this stimulated neural cavity with actually create
true nerve cells, rather than those associate with sheath (gleal).
If you take a trace mineral supplement and do this exercise,
you can regenerate nerve tissue! The actual process took some
5 months of daily meditation, as the actual consistency of nerve
tissue is somewhat like that of Vitamin E -- very viscus and
slow to travel down my central nervous system to my knee. I no
longer have nerve loss of any kind. This was documented by Clinic
7 (Pain Clinic) at the University of Washington in 1980. I now
walk normally, although I still have some structural problems.
This is but one application of the principles outlined in this
paper. Serotonin can also be considered a "Gate" for
accessing other dimensions not accessible to "normal"
consciousness. If you wish to contact the author via Compuserve,
send a message as follows: INTERNET: drRam@aol.com |