When you were an infant, you were born with a third eye fully open to witness the power and glory of the universe. From a subatomic perspective to the infinity of the galaxies, you were able to see life fully and appreciate its wisdom and bounty. But as you grew older, you were conditioned by parents, teachers, managers, peers, and everyone else around you to cover your third eye with layer upon layer of illusion and confusion, until your third eye was closed and your inner witness was in the dark, leaving you empty to the world's wonders and the wisdom that your mystic sight could have delivered. As an example of how conditioning can close the third eye and forever affect life and the perception of the world, imagine a mother holding a stuffed teddy bear out to a child and saying, "Look at the little bear, how cute and soft he is!" The child begins to recognize that shape and associate it with the name "teddy bear," and he is introduced to other concepts such as color, size, texture, etc. Thus, begins the child's habit of replacing his own perceptions of the world with a process of labeling, reacting emotionally and physically to external suggestions, and mentally processing reactions and experiences according to how others perceive things. As he grows, the child gets farther and farther away from living life as it happens in the moment - the pure, unfiltered experience with which he was born. And upon reaching adulthood and beyond, the process of analyzing, comparing, judging, and discussing things with others results in being even less connected to the Now. When you put shutters on a window, very little light comes through and the people inside the shuttered room can only imagine what might be outside, on the other side of the shuttered window. So they are in the dark about what life is really about outside the shutters. In the same way that it is impossible to describe an orange adequately to someone who has not ever seen the color orange and has never tasted citrus, a person cannot fully understand seeing with the third eye from simply reading about it or hearing someone else describe it. You must experience it yourself in order to realize the power of perception, awareness, and vision that can enhance and enrich your life if your third eye is open to the glories of the natural universe that were open to you as a child. But now, as an adult, you have the maturity to appreciate those wonders and understand them. To begin the Third Eye meditation, settle your body into the position that you find most comfortable and relaxing for meditation. Relax your body and mind, and let go of your emotions and all outside stimuli. Instruct your mind to stop its internal chattering; command your emotions to be silent and serene, and focus your attention away from any physical discomfort or pain, and instead pay attention to the sound of your breathing, coming in and going out, cleansing you and filling you with peace. During your meditation - during any meditation - never chastise yourself for anything. For instance, if you realize that your focus is drifting away from the meditation, accept it without being critical of yourself, and continue with your meditation. Close your eyes and focus on the area right between your eyebrows. Maintain your focus and attention on that spot, and before long a point of light will appear inside your inner vision field. Keep focusing on that inner light. Some people may find it useful to raise their eyeballs - continuing to keep the eyes closed - upward at an angle of about 25 degrees. For others, simply directing their focus upward is easier and not as distracting. After experimenting and discovering which approach works best for you, use that way exclusively. For absolute beginners, it may be beneficial to put your thumb on the outside edge of one eye, and put your middle finger at the outside edge of the other eye, giving yourself a point to focus your attention on. Be silent, attentive, and let the light bring itself to you. The more you open your consciousness to being filled with the light, the more layers of shutters will be peeled away and the Now will be revealed to you. As you begin to perceive the truth and reality that is the Now, you will realize that you have been deluded by outside influences into thinking that you are a separate part of the universe. Opening your third eye to the wonder of the universe will show you that you are a part of everything, and everything is a part of you. The chattering inside your mind will eventually evaporate within the transcendent beauty of the light and love that is now within you and will always be. After you are able to free yourself from seeing reality from a single perspective that has been influenced by outside forces, you will begin feeling the freedom that comes from letting go of habits and reactions that have been learned rather than experienced. Third eye experiences allow you to realize that what you have always considered to be "real life" has actually been a performance being played out on a stage for you. Because this "real life" is just a singular story, and your real life is a partnership with the universe, the anxieties and fears with which you have been grappling will be replaced with the joy and bliss that is experienced by merging effortlessly with all of creation, and in the process, finding the true self that you were born with but lost somewhere along the way.