The significance of the third eye, also known as the wisdom eye, has been known to Truth seekers and spiritual practitioners through the centuries, but only recently has modern science acknowledged its existence. For example, in a recent Russian study, camera film in a light-proof envelope began developing into photographic images after being placed on the foreheads of experimental subjects. According to the study’s main researcher, Vitaly Pravdivstev, “This test reveals that certain people are capable of radiating so-called ‘brain images’ from somewhere inside the forehead.”

Mr. Pravdivstev went on to point out the correlation between this ability and the brain center known as the third eye, stating, “Ancient Oriental traditions can prove our supposition: They say that the radiation comes from the energetic centers of a human being. Esoteric science calls this center the third eye.”

Also, the third eye’s existence in certain animals has been well established in the field of zoology. Many reptiles and birds have been shown to have a third eye, which correlates to the pineal gland and does not see in the same way as the physical eyes but instead senses light and heat. Moreover, the human pineal gland has been found to have light receptors and to produce melatonin, a substance whose release is determined by the amount of light the body receives (see News #133, “The Pineal Gland and Melatonin”.“The Pineal Gland and Melatonin”）

But scientists have generally downplayed the importance of the pineal gland’s function in human physiology. Although it is similar to the third eye of certain animals, humans do not use the gland to sense light directly. And a recent discovery that the physical eyes can also produce melatonin would seem to make the role of the human pineal gland even less significant. Finally, unlike in animals, the third eye of humans is buried deep within the brain and this difference in location could make the human pineal gland appear even less vital. Because in evolutionary terms, the gland would seem to be slowly disappearing rather than serving a currently vital survival function.

But findings from research such as that by Vitaly Pravdivstev discussed above might urge modern science to assume a new perspective on the topic. The ability to project photographic images implies a level of functioning that is not only much more complete than scientists previously recognized, but it also indicates that this organ can actually “see” on its own and operate beyond the level of mere physical survival. So while it may be true that for many people the third eye has fallen into disuse, the reason could be entirely different than what science has long believed. The pineal gland may only need the kind of awakening that Master refers to as “reconnecting with God” to take on its true role.

Another author, the Theosophist G. de Puruker, wrote in the 1920s about the pineal gland and the evolution of humanity from a more spiritual than biological perspective:

Even now the pineal gland is the source of intuitive awareness. Whenever we have a hunch, this gland is vibrating gently; when we have an inspiration or flash of intuitive understanding, it vibrates more strongly. Nonetheless, it has very hard going, mainly due to the work of the two [physical] eyes which overcome it. As time passes the two eyes will grow slowly more perfect in function, but will recede in importance, and the ‘first eye’ will come again into its own.

Perhaps Mr. de Puruker’s reference to the “first eye” being once again recognized for its true significance coincides with our entry into the Golden Age. If so, the Pravdivstev study could represent an early validation by science of the true importance and meaning of the wisdom eye. And since, as Master says, the wisdom eye is where we “go” to reconnect with God inside, in coming decades we should all come to appreciate more deeply the importance of our divine connection with God.♥