Very often, it is difficult to find the time to just be still and quiet the mind from the everyday hustle and bustle. Here is a very simple and effective meditation, which will help create this quiet space in a small amount of time.
Taken from the book Chakra Meditation, by Swami Saradananda.
"Steady Gazing," is an excellent form of meditation for purifying and strengthening your third eye. It is most commonly practiced by gazing at the flame of a candle for some time without blinking. However, you can also practice by using a visual image that stands out strongly against its background as a point of focus, such as a black dot on a white wall, or you can fix your gaze on the tip of your nose or turn your eyes upward to the space between your brow.
Mentally, the exercise promotes intense concentration. Physical advantages of gazing at one point include a strengthening of the eye muscles and of the nerve centers in the forehead. And when you inhibit the blink reflex, your eyes shed tears, which is cleansing for the eyes, tear ducts and sinuses.
Before you begin the meditation, place a candle at an arm's distance away, perhaps on a chair or a low table in front of you. The candle should be at eye-level when you are sitting. Light the candle, then turn off any electric lights or draw the curtains to darken the room. Make sure that there are not drafts in the room before you start your meditation: the flame must remain steady, not flicker.
1. Sit in a comfortable meditation position, preferably with your legs crossed, facing the candle. Make sure that your spine and head are extending upward and that your body is relaxed. Join your hands together loosely and rest them on your lap.
2. Open your eyes wide and look with a steady gaze at the flame, trying not to blink. Check your face and eye muscles for tension and consciously relax it. Do not allow your eyes to cross or to lose focus (you will know this has happened if you start to see multiple images). Look deeply into the flame. Notice that it has several rings of differing colors. Hold your gaze on them for about 1 minute.
3. Then gently close your eyes. Relax your eye muscles and visualize the flame you have been looking at. See it with your mind's eye. Do not concentrate on the "physical" image of a flame that lingers after the optic nerve has been stimulated by bright light. Instead, use your mind to draw a mental picture of the flame, including it's rings of light in various colors. Hold the mental image of the candle firmly at hte point between your eyebrows for 1 minutes to strengthen the chakra.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, this time keeping your eyes open for 3 minutes in step 2. Then, when you close your eyes in step 3, sit for 10-20 minutes, keeping the candle image firmly fixed in your mind's eye. As you become more practied athe meditation, gradually increase the time yhou gaze at the candle in step 2 to 5 or even 10 minutes.
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