Day 8 - Inner Eye Inner Sight
“MAN OF TWO VISIONS!
Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved. ”
- Bahá’u’lláh
Yogis literally believe in an invisible organ between the eyebrows, considered as the third eye, the eye that has the potential to see into the spiritual realm. It is so real to them, they genuinely treat it like a biological organ when it is blocked, hindered or veiled in some way.
This theme of the ‘third eye’ doesn’t just run in yogic culture, it has been expressed by different cultures completely isolated from each other, from the natives, or the middle eastern amulet symbolizing the Hand of God called the khamsa, often appearing with an eye at the center on it (some without the eye in the middle of the hand), which is believed to provide defense against the evil eye by Muslims, Jews and Catholics.
From the western medical standpoint, between the eyebrows lies the region of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps you refrain from swearing, the part of the brain that is responsible for expressing compassion.
The ONLY profession, that you can tell that a person had in their lifetime simply by looking at the shape and size of their brain whilst exposed (as in when they are dead and you’re just looking at the brain without the skull) are musicians - the prefrontal cortex of musicians are protruded, more developed, enlarged.
“We, verily, have made music as a ladder for your souls”
- Bahá’u’lláh
It’s my theory, that the reason why we tend to throw ourselves to musicians, myself included ~ we love them, we worship them, we want to be their friends, sometimes more than friends, is because we feel that they are more compassionate, they get us, they understand how we feel, and can speak and direct ourselves with a ladder straight and on a highway to our souls - a place where we all ultimately want to be and get to know for ourselves.
“In this Day whatsoever serveth to reduce blindness and to increase vision is worthy of consideration. This vision acteth as the agent and guide for true knowledge. Indeed in the estimation of men of wisdom keenness of understanding is due to keenness of vision. The people of Bahá must under all circumstances observe that which is meet and seemly and exhort the people accordingly.” - Bahá’u’lláh
Meditation is that systematic practice of a single pointed focus, that helps you to build on the uniquely human faculty of meditation. Just like yesterdays example of how speech is a uniquely human quality when compared to animals, so is the faculty of meditation.
“You cannot apply the name “man” to any being void of this faculty of meditation; without it he would be a mere animal, lower than the beasts.” - ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Essentially, opening your inner sight, protects, and shelters you from evil, and makes you the human that you are meant to be.
Each of us, are given a direct opening, channel, to connect with the divine. What your channel can tell you, is different from what I might receive in mine. But what you receive in your portal is guidance for you and your life, and what I receive in my channel is specifically for me and my own life, and not for sharing or to counsel others - it’s like your own personal hotline ;)
Hence, why we EACH need to develop this faculty (a spiritual one at that) to obtain and investigate information for ourselves.
I often forgo the suggestion of doing yoga, especially the physical asanas to my clients, because I don’t think they should do it if it doesn’t bring them joy, but I do prescribe meditation to everyone who is the bearer of a soul - basically all humans, duh? Because meditation is the unique faculty of the soul, the asking of questions to the soul and needs to be developed,
“It is an axiomatic fact that while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers: the light breaks forth and the reality is revealed.” - ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Lots of people try to substitute the work of developing this faculty by asking others for this information for their own personal life, but what they don’t know is, what other people see is according to the goggles that they are wearing, for had you developed yours, you might interpret something completely differently - who knows what the other person interpret on behalf of you, with their human flaws and all - you know you have them, what makes you think another would be more able to interpret it any better than you?
Part of this misinterpretation is we don’t know how powerful we are. We use and misuse this power. And yes, other people in the past have thoroughly corrupted its understanding and made people fearful of it.
We absolutely LOVE meditation at Yoga Avec Moi, just in case you haven’t noticed! And it is literally our primary focus in developing a dedicated practice in as many people as humanly possible. If anyone is interested in developing your meditation faculty further, do do do shoot us an e-mail! We would LOVE to help you develop your practice and share with you how we can work one-on-one. To book an appointment, select the following in our Bookings Tab
Yoga Consultation - First time
or
Integrative Yoga Therapy - First Time
We also recommend you go to our YAM Blogs to type in the word “meditation” in the search tab on the right column, and read all the related free blogs posts on the subject, I can say more than half are about meditation in one way or another!
We also absolutely love love love the Paris Talks Addressed by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá at the Friends’ Meeting House, St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C. on Sunday, January 12th, 1913 related to the topic of meditation, access the full talk here. It is SO GOOD!
Podcast
This podcast is a great introduction for those who would like to know more about what meditation means exactly!
What is Meditation?
Meditation
As you may already know by now, Yoga Avec Moi has dedicated the year October 2019 - October 2020 to celebrate the Bicentenary Birth of The Báb with the Bicentenary Meditation Project, aiming at 365 meditations throughout the year to 'open the heart of a person for His sake' through a meditation or to 'strengthen faith in Him and certitude in His Reality' - Him referring to either The Báb or Bahá'u'lláh.
“For indeed if though dost open the heart of a person for His sake, better will it be for thee than every virtuous deed; since deeds are secondary to faith in Him and certitude in His Reality.” - The Báb
As of March 8th, 2022, the Bicentenary Meditation Project has 472 meditations in 21 languages.
Follow us on The Bicentenary Meditation Project Apple iTunes Podcast, Spotify and Youtube with the live link below, you can also find the recent update on Facebook @bicentenarymeditations (also our instagram name)
Read more about the Bicentenary Meditation Project on our website - linked in the "Read More" on the bottom left hand corner of this page!
Read more about the Bicentenary Meditation Project here
The Bicentenary Meditation Project Podcast
Reflection Questions
Have you ever experienced spontaneous insight in the middle of a prayer, meditation, day dream, (night) dream, where it felt way more than a random everyday thing, like information you were suppose to pay attention to?
What answer do you receive from your spirit when you pose a question that you have always wanted to ask? Do you get a response, and if so, what does it say? Write down the response so you can remember.
Have you ever had pain in the middle of your forehead because you thought too much? Describe the circumstances.
We would love to hear your responses to these reflections if you’re willing to share, just hit the reply button in the comment section and share away!
Prayer
“O my God, my Master, the Goal of my desire! This, Thy servant, seeketh to sleep in the shelter of Thy mercy, and to repose beneath the canopy of Thy grace, imploring Thy care and Thy protection.
I beg of Thee, O my Lord, by Thine eye that sleepeth not, to guard mine eyes from beholding aught beside Thee. Strengthen, then, their vision that they may discern Thy signs, and behold the Horizon of Thy Revelation. Thou art He before the revelations of Whose omnipotence the quintessence of power hath trembled.
No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Subduing, the Unconditioned.”
—Bahá’u’lláh
Tomorrows Day 9’s purification series will be focusing on our connection with the divine. Share the link below if you have friends that might enjoy these purification series and be interested in receiving updates about the Bicentenary Meditation Project.
Remainder of the 19 Days of Purifications Theme Topics
The Seven Chakras
9. Connecting with the divine [NEXT]
The Three Kriyas
10. Self Study,
11. Fortitude
12. Surrender
The Five Koshas
13. Physical
14. Energetic
15. Mental/Emotional
16. The Witness
17. Bliss Body
18. Summary
19. Maintaining purification
To receive personal updates on classes, workshops of Nahal that she doesn't share anywhere else, get on her mailing list on her website www.yogaavecmoi.com/subscribe
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Introduction to the Author
作者简介
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Nahal Haghbin's Chinese name is Chen Nana, a Canadian-born foreigner who grew up in Tianjin, China. She is an Integrative Yoga Therapist (IAYT) in training. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences from the University of British Columbia and a Master's degree in Control of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 2014, Nahal worked with the World Health Organization on the H7N9, MERS-CoV and Ebola global outbreaks whilst serving in the Assistant Director General's Office Taskforce. It was her teenage experience of SARS in 2003, that led her to choose her eventual profession and future career in the control of infectious disease outbreaks.
作者简介：Nahal Haghbin 中文名字：陈娜娜，出生于加拿大，在中国天津长大的外籍人士。她是一名在训的综合瑜伽理疗师（IAYT），她拥有英国哥伦比亚大学生命科学学士学位和伦敦卫生及热带医学院传染病控制科学硕士学位。2014年，Nahal与世界卫生组织合作处理H7N9、MERS-CoV和埃博拉全球疫情，同时在助理总干事办公室工作组任职。正是2003年她十几岁时的非典经历，让她最终选择了她未来的职业方向：控制传染病的爆发
Nahal has found that she can best be of service to mankind by combining her passions of global health and integrative yoga therapy. To her, both serve as complementary systems of knowledge to interpret the world around her. Nahal has found that by bridging the two disciplines, it broadens the availability of language and understanding that she can access, to share her interpretations of various health conditions.
Nahal发现她能结合自己对全球健康和综合瑜伽理疗的热情，为人类提供最好的服务。对她来说两者是互为补充的知识系统，可以用来帮她解读周围的世界。Nahal发现连接这两个学科拓宽了语言和理解的可用性，使她能够分享她对不同疾病的理解.