Reaching your potential 3rd edition pdf download

Most people sense that they aren’t living from their highest potential.

For most, this “knowing” is subconscious. That is, a part of us knows, but consciously, we don’t connect with this reality.

For some of us, however, this realization becomes more conscious as we age. (If you’re reading this, that likely includes you.)

We know the difference between when we’re operating from our higher potential and when we’re not.

But why do we often fail to operate from our innate power in the first place?

One reason is that our brains rarely function the way they’re designed to run.

The pineal gland—and many other vital glands and organs—aren’t functioning within their intended design.

Thankfully, we have the power to change that.

Today’s guide is the final segment in a 4-part series on the pineal gland.

Part 1: Decalcify Your Pineal Gland 
Part 2: Pineal Gland Detox   
Part 3: Block Blue Light

If you haven’t read these guides yet, I recommend you do so as each guide builds on the next.

Now, we’ll examine how ancient traditions viewed the pineal gland. Then, we’ll explore traditional methods for pineal gland activation, or what’s often called “opening your third eye.”

Why is Pineal Gland Activation Important?

Why invest so much time discussing a tiny gland the size of a grain of rice?

This blog is about actualizing our higher potential. When the pineal isn’t functioning properly, we can’t access our potential. It’s that simple.

Even more disconcerting, when the pineal isn’t functioning correctly, we often don’t even know there’s a problem.

In the Hindu tradition, the third eye is called the ajna chakra. Hindus believe that a blocked ajna chakra leads to:

• Uncertainty,
• Confusion,
• Jealousy,
• Cynicism, and
• Pessimism.

But when the third eye is open, we perceive reality differently. We experience more:

• Clarity,
• Intuition,
• Empathy,
• Focus, and
• Decisiveness.

Admittedly, these are qualities anyone can associate with our higher potential. These qualities are also essential for our spiritual and psychological development.

Pineal gland activation brings a more significant connection to the natural world and a willingness to let go of ego pursuits that shut out our soul.

Lucid dreaming, astral projection, and an enhanced imagination are topics related to pineal gland activation. The pineal may be a gateway to higher creativity.

The Pineal in Ancient Traditions

Although modern science and medicine have just begun to understand the critical role of the pineal gland, ancient cultures and traditions already have this knowledge.

For Buddhists, the pineal is a symbol of spiritual awakening.

In Hinduism, the pineal is the seat of intuition and clairvoyance.

For Taoists, the pineal is the mind’s eye or heavenly eye.

In ancient Egypt, we find numerous references to the third eye and the pineal region. (Here’s a fascinating article on third eye symbolism in Egyptian and Hindu mythology.)

The Eye of Ra (ancient Egypt) on the left and a cross-section of the pineal, pituitary, and corpus callosum region on the right.[Source]

In Matthew 6:22, the Bible reads:

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”

Notice how “eye” is singular and “thine eye be single.”

Ancient Greeks believed the pineal was our connection to thought itself. Herophilus described it as the “sphincter of thought.”

French mathematician and philosopher, Rene Descartes, shared this view. Speaking about the pineal, he wrote in Treatise of Man:

“My view is that this gland is the principal seat of the soul, and the place in which all thoughts are formed.”

For at least over several thousand years in both the East and West, the pineal gland has been viewed as a connecting link between the physical (3D) world and a psychic dimension beyond it.

The top portion of “Seat of the rational soul.” A sketch by Rene Descartes.

Why Is the Pineal Gland Called the Third Eye?

Cultures as far back as ancient Egypt referred to the pineal as the inner eye or the third eye. Why?

When you cut the pineal open, pinealocytes line the interior. These pinealocytes resemble the rods and cones in the retina of our eyes.

The pineal even has retinal tissue and the same physical wiring to the brain’s visual cortex.

Indeed, the pineal gland does appear to be the third eye. How ancient cultures knew this is unclear.

In Light: Medicine of the Future, Jacob Liberman explains that light stimulates the pineal in creatures like birds, lizards, and fish directly through the skull.

“In many reptiles, the pineal has all the photoreceptive elements characteristic of an eye. It is therefore referred to as a “third eye” because, in many creatures, it resembles an eye in both structure and activity.”

In mammals, however, light stimulates the pineal exclusively via the eyes.

Liberman believes humans initially received light stimulation through the top of the head (crown), as is described in many mystical and ancient traditions.

The pineal, then, represents the inward seeing eye. Meaning that activating this third eye helps us see life beyond the typical limitations of our perception, bringing clarity of vision.

How to Activate the Pineal Gland

So now, if you’re willing, together we’ll explore some interesting territory.

Each tradition has different methods for activating the third eye. It may be that different methods are appropriate for different individuals based on type, temperament, or some other factors.

In the remainder of this guide, we’ll review five pineal gland activation methods. They include:

1. Meditation
2. Sun Gazing
3. Qigong
4. Psychedelics
5. Brainwave Entrainment

Through a review of each of these methods, a curious pattern emerges. We’ll discuss the importance of this pattern in a concluding section.

A Quick Word of Caution

First, a word of caution is appropriate here.

While everyone should decalcify and detox their pineal, pineal gland activation shouldn’t be taken lightly (as it is in many New Age circles).

Researcher David Wilcock explains that if the pineal gland gets “stuck on” it can cause schizophrenia, delusions, and waking hallucinations.

Some traditions, like the Northern Reality School of Taoism, also caution against esoteric methods of altering your consciousness. So it’s advisable to exercise care and attention on this journey.

It is possible that the third eye is designed to open naturally when the conditions are appropriate for an individual.

In modern times, however, these conditions rarely arise spontaneously.

Ancient cultures had shamans and wise elders who guided such processes for the younger generations.

Today, however, each of us is responsible for our inner journeys to awakening and higher development.

Pineal Gland Activation Method #1: Meditation

Perhaps the most traditional method of opening your third eye is through formal sitting meditation.

Meditation is an essential topic for anyone interested in accessing their higher potential. (I’m working on a transformational guide that addresses many common misconceptions in our Western culture regarding meditation.)

But for our purposes here, through various meditative techniques, you can stimulate and activate your pineal gland.

How? The pineal gland is sensitive to the bioelectrical signals of light and dark in its environment.

Meditation can activate this bioelectric energy. And, with practice, you can direct this energy to the pineal gland, stimulating it and helping it open.

For your meditation to be effective, your mind must become still so the scattered energy in your body can consolidate.

We can’t, however, quiet our minds through force. Instead, we observe or watch our mind and allow it to become still without effort.

Third Eye Meditation

A “third eye meditation” might look something like this:

1. Sit in a comfortable, relaxed posture.
2. Close your eyes or lower your eyelids.
3. Allow your breath to become deep and slow. (Meaning don’t force your breath; just watch it. Detached observation will naturally cause your breathing to slow down.)
4. Rest your attention on the third eye region just above and between your two eyes. (Again, without strain or force.)

That’s it. You can also imagine that you’re breathing a golden white light through the center of your third eye.

The key is to remain relaxed and avoid trying to force the exercise. Let go of wanting or expecting any result as this will create tension that will block the flow of energy in this process.

Why This Meditation Works

By placing your attention on the pineal gland, you’re focusing your internal energy in this region.

This relaxed focus releases neuropeptides and nitric oxide, which trigger the relaxation response. These chemicals will allow you to move into deeper meditation while stimulating the third eye region.

Recall that melatonin is the main chemical produced and circulated by the pineal gland. Not surprisingly, in the brains of meditators, they find an increase in melatonin secretion.

Using functional MRI scans of individuals in a particular form of sitting meditation, researchers at Taiwan University found that meditation does trigger pineal gland activation.

You’ll know your third eye meditation is working when you begin to feel either a slight pressure in this region or a pulsating sensation. It can feel as though there’s a mini heart beating in your forehead—an unusual sensation initially.

See Also: 7 Powerful Meditation Tools to Help You Train Your Mind

Pineal Gland Activation Method #2: Sun Gazing

This next method, if you’re unfamiliar with it, will seem odd and perhaps dangerous.

We’ve all been told not that staring directly at the sun will damage our eyes.

One thing I will say with fair certainty: for those of us committed to actualizing our higher potential, we must be willing to challenge everything we think we know.

Repeatedly, I continue to learn that most of what I’ve been “taught” is either completely wrong or just severely limited. And sungazing is a perfect example.

Sun gazing is a powerful, ancient technique with tremendous benefits. The theory behind sun gazing is that you’re absorbing the energy of the sun directly through your eyes and skin.

The Man Who Eats the Sun

Hira Ratan Manek (known as HRM) is the person who brought this method to the mainstream. Through sun gazing, HRM and many others have been able to go long periods (years!) without eating and remain physically healthy.

A team of physicians from the University of Pennsylvania examined HRM 24/7 for 130 days. They confirmed his claims that he survives mostly on sunlight with a minimal amount of water.

Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and pineal gland authority George Bernard studied HRM’s brain during this 130-day period. They found that the gray cells in HRM’s brain are regenerating.

Further, the pineal gland shrinks in individuals after their mid-fifties. In HRM’s case, this 64-year-old man’s pineal gland was expanding! (His pineal measured at 8 x 11 mm compared to the maximum average size of 6 x 6 mm.)

Is this so surprising? Recall the profound impact light has on the pineal from our last guide on the pineal gland and sleep.

The research cited in that guide supports the idea that sunlight reduces the harmful effects of artificial blue light. Here, we’re learning that the sun’s support goes further: the sun can help us restore the original size and function of this all-important gland.

Note: More recently, HRM started eating. Apparently, the documentary “Eat the Sun” exposes him as a fraud, but this is more likely a consequence of an archetype possessing him. Like many so-called “gurus,” he became inflated, and now he can’t regulate his behavior. Sungazing, like all such techniques, should be used responsibly and with great care.

The Benefits of Fasting

While stopping eating isn’t the goal of pineal gland activation, many who sun gaze report that it reduces hunger.

In my personal experience with sun gazing, I can confirm these reports as well. Eating becomes a choice, but there’s no longer hunger or a physical need to eat.

This 2011 study by the Intermountain Medical Center found that periodic fasting:

• Lowers your risk of heart disease and diabetes
• Causes changes to your blood cholesterol levels
• Increases human growth hormone (HGH)

HGH is a metabolic protein that protects lean muscle and metabolic balance. HGH increased an average of 1,300 percent in women and 2,000 percent in men during a 24-hour fasting period.

As I reported in this article, most foods block the flow of energy or chi in the body. The less you eat, the more energy you can experience.

Finally, fasting also supports detoxification, which might be the most significant benefit to your pineal gland.

How to Use Sun Gazing to Activate the Pineal Gland

Why are we told that it’s dangerous to look at the sun? Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can damage the retina.

But did you know that the UV index is usually zero during sunrise and sunset?

When sun gazing, it’s important to only look at the sun within the first hour in the morning and the last hour in the evening when the sun still has an orange glow.

You don’t sun gaze during the day when the UV index is high. Sun gazing is reportedly safe whenever the UV index is less than 2. Your local weather source quotes the current UV index.

Using HRM’s method, you start within the first 15 minutes of sunlight in the morning and the last 15 minutes at the end of the day.

You only gaze into the sun for a couple of seconds at first, building up to 45 minutes per day for nine months. You can read the specifics of HRM’s method here.

Sun gazing is also done barefoot, so you get the added benefits of grounding too.

But even if you’re not interested in following this particular protocol, occasional sungazing in the early morning or late evening will support your efforts to activate your pineal gland.

Finally, ditch your sunglasses. Direct and indirect sunlight stimulates the pineal, prompting it to produce serotonin. This neurotransmitter will elevate your mood and your level of energy.

Direct sunlight will also make you more resilient to blue light.

Pineal Gland Activation Method #3: Qigong

Qigong translates to “life energy cultivation” or “energy skill.”

I briefly discussed qigong in my guide on the internal martial art practice called Zhan Zhang.

Qigong exercises are designed to increase the practitioner’s sensitivity to the flow of energy within the body, called chi (or qi).

Then, one learns how to move this energy with gentle physical motions and breathing. Finally, the practitioner learns how to move this chi with one’s mind, or intent.

Most of us have many blocked energy meridians and centers that keep the body’s chi from reaching vital glands in the endocrine system.

Circulating the body’s energy using qigong helps open these pathways, allowing this energy to reach these areas and activate the pineal gland.

In truth, the meditation practice described above is a form of qigong as you’re focusing your intention on the pineal gland to increase the energy flow in this region.

If you first develop sensitivity to your body’s energy through qigong before doing a meditative practice like this, it will be far more effective.

If you practice Zhan Zhang daily and your body opens up, you’ll experience an increased flow of energy throughout your body and brain.

Pineal Gland Qigong Using the Sun

Many forms of qigong training can influence pineal gland activation.

One particular exercise in Master Shou-Yu Liang and Wen-Ching Wu’s excellent book, Qigong Empowerment, combines qigong with another method we just discussed above—sun gazing:

“When the sun starts to rise over the horizon, extend one of your arms toward the sun, and point your index finger at the sun.

“Look at the sun from your index finger to the sun. While the sun is still red in color, focus on the sun as it rises completely above the horizon. It is said that with this training, one will open the Heavenly Eye.”

In Taoism, the Heavenly Eye is another term for the third eye.

Pineal Gland Activation Method #4: Brainwave Entrainment

Our brains operate on a range of brainwave patterns. Each pattern establishes a particular state of consciousness.

From high to low, here are the most commonly cited brainwave frequencies and their associated state of consciousness:

If you do a Google search on “third eye activation” you’ll get lots of results for “brainwave entrainment” audio programs and sound clips on Youtube. These programs are usually a combination of binaural beats and isochronic tones.

When you simultaneously hear one pure-tone sine wave in the left ear and another sine wave in the right ear, it creates an auditory illusion called a binaural beat.

An isochronic tone is merely a pure tone that’s turned on and off rapidly.

Sound engineers calibrate these tones to specific frequencies.

The goal of these programs is to induce a particular state of consciousness by entraining the brain to the frequencies of the sounds.

Although there’s a lack of controlled research studies, preliminary research suggests brainwave entrainment does facilitate a change in brainwave patterns and has a therapeutic effect.

The effects of these changes, however, are likely only temporary.

In my personal experience, I’ve found that the best benefits from brainwave entrainment come when used in conjunction with meditation.

Brainwave Frequencies for the Pineal Gland Activation

The question for us here is: Which brain wave patterns support pineal gland activation?

While there’s no clear answer, research does point us in several directions.

This study of two individuals during an ayahuasca (DMT) experience found that they produced an increase in “global EEG coherence in the 36-44 Hz and 50-64 Hz frequency bands for both subjects.” These frequency bands are known as gamma waves.

Then, we need to consider what brainwave frequencies are consistent with the production of the pineal gland’s main chemical: melatonin.

The answer is delta waves—the brain waves we experience during deep, dreamless sleep.

Finally, what frequency is active during the REM stage of sleep? Theta waves. And theta and gamma waves work together during REM sleep.

Put the above together, and to use brainwave entrainment for pineal gland activation, use binaural beats and isochronic tones that activate delta, theta, and gamma frequencies.

I’ve experimented with most of the popular brainwave entrainment programs on the market.

Out of these programs, Profound Meditation 3.0 by iAwake Technologies was the most impressive. (This is an affiliate link. Use code CEOSAGE25 to receive a 25% discount on the program.)

You can download a free sample track from this program here.

Pineal Gland Activation Method #5: DMT

In my previous guide, How to Decalcify Your Pineal Gland, we learned that the pineal synthesizes and secretes a hormone called melatonin.

But the pineal is also responsible for another chemical we didn’t discuss.

In his revolutionary book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule (audio), psychiatrist and researcher Rick Strassman theorized that the pineal gland produces another important chemical called N,N-dimethyltryptamine or DMT.

And, in 2013, Strassman along with other researchers did indeed find DMT in the pineal gland of rats. (It seems science is still unclear whether the pineal produces DMT or just regulates it.)

“Collective Vision” by Alex Grey

Dubbed the “Spirit Molecule,” DMT is a natural hallucinogen capable of producing extraordinary visions and mystical states of consciousness.

DMT is similar to the properties of lysergic acid diethylamide (known as LSD or acid) but is naturally occurring in our bodies whereas LSD is a synthetic drug.

In DMT, Strassman explains:

“DMT exists in all of our bodies and occurs throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. It is a part of the normal makeup of humans and other mammals; marine animals; grasses and peas; toads and frogs; mushrooms and molds; and barks, flowers, and roots.”

In the 1970s, Japanese scientists discovered that the brain transports DMT across the blood-brain barrier into its tissues.

Strassman continues:

“I know of no other psychedelic drug that the brain treats with such eagerness … If DMT were only an insignificant, irrelevant by-product of our metabolism, why does the brain go out of its way to draw it into its confines?”

Researcher Graham Hancock theorizes that DMT is the lens of the pineal gland that allows us to see wider areas of our reality that are usually inaccessible to us.

Ayahuasca

DMT is present in the Amazonian botanical tea called ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca is a sacred tea made from the vine of the Ayahuasca plant combined with the leaves of either chacruna or chagropanga bush.

A minimal amount of DMT is reportedly produced by the pineal gland every night while we dream.

But when you take Ayahuasca, you’re getting a massive DMT boost that may be able to break up any existing calcification in your pineal.

This “herbal medicine” is taken as part of a South American shamanic ritual that leads participants through profound experiences—both “positive” and “negative”—as content from their unconscious comes into conscious awareness.

When used with the proper mindset and environment, ayahuasca and other substances like iboga and psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”) have the potential to heal our minds and activate our pineal glands. (Too bad these substances are classified as illegal.)

However, taking these psychedelic substances in isolation—meaning without other transformational practices listed above—will likely only have a temporary effect on your pineal.

Achieving Total Brain Coherence

Ultimately, all of the pineal gland activation methods discussed above work to bring the entire brain online—not just the pineal.

In Awakening the Mind: A Guide to Mastering the Power of Your Brain Waves, researcher Anna Wise explains that in peak experiences and high-performing individuals, not one but all of the brainwave frequencies are active.

Check out this MRI image of the brain on LSD (the first of its kind):

This brain scan image represents the goal of these methods: to activate the whole brain, including the pineal gland.

In this video, a neuroscientist records an individual’s EEG while he’s sun gazing. The scientist notes how all of the various brainwave frequencies become active throughout the brain.

A Unique Digital App to Support Pineal Activation

Okay, so what I’m going to share with you now may sound like science fiction.

Eric Thompson is an inventor and former co-founder of iAwake Technologies. (He engineered Profound Meditation 3.0 I referenced above.)

A few years ago, Eric started Subtle Energy Sciences. Using quantum resonance technology, Eric engineered a method of encoding digital images with specific energy signatures.

The result is what he calls Digital Mandalas, which combines beautiful digital art with layers of various energy-related technology.

If you’re open to exploring new technologies as an aid to supporting your self-development, check out Eric’s latest release called Pineal Awakening—a digital mandala specifically designed to help awaken the pineal gland.

I recently purchased Pineal Awakening (among many other of Eric’s creations). While I can’t claim to understand how these digital mandalas work, I do feel the effects. Merely having the mandala open on my computer causes various sensations in the third eye region.

Now, if you don’t have energetic sensitivity, you may feel nothing. If that’s the case, Eric offers various ways to augment and optimize the effects.

Eric has agreed to offer my readers a $30 discount on Pineal Awakening. So if you’re interested in giving it a try, use code CEOSAGE30.

(disclaimer: affiliate links above)

Recap: How to Approach Third Eye Awakening

So again, when we speak of pineal gland activation, we’re talking about bringing the wholebrain online, integrating all the various brain regions.

While psychedelics appear to accomplish this goal temporarily, methods like meditation, sun gazing, and qigong give us the ability to change the physical structure of our consciousness over time.

As your pineal gland activates and the brain becomes more integrated, you begin to perceive your reality differently.

You’ll begin to notice more of your unconscious behavior, which helps you get to know your shadow.

You may wake up to many new realities about your life, the universe, and existence itself that were unavailable to you before.

Perhaps this process has already begun for you. If not, the door to this new adventure is now before you.

Pineal Gland Series Index

Part 1: Decalcify Your Pineal Gland
Part 2: Pineal Gland Detox  
Part 3: Restore Your Circadian Rhythm
Part 4: Activate Your Pineal Gland (You Are Here)

Book Recommendations

DMT: The Spirit Molecule
by Richard Strassman

Light: Medicine of the Future
by Jacob Liberman

Qigong Empowerment: A Guide to Medical, Taoist, Buddhist and Wushu Energy Cultivation 
by Master Shou-Yu Liang and Wen-Ching Wu

Awakening the Mind: A Guide to Mastering the Power of Your Brain Waves
by Anna Wise