Most yoga practitioners believe in seven invisible energy centers in the body called chakras.
Adherents believe these chakras begin at the base of the spine and are positioned at various points up to the crown chakra at the top of the head.
The sixth chakra (or energy center) is in the middle of the forehead and is named “the third eye.” In Hinduism, the “third eye” is called “Ajna” or “Agya.”
The two eyes in our physical bodies enable human beings to see into the physical world. Those who believe in chakras teach that the third eye enables enlightened human beings to see into the spiritual world. An activated third eye is the sign of an awakened person.
Many New Agers and yoga advocates insist that Jesus taught His disciples about “the third eye” when He said:
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23, KJV).
To properly interpret Jesus’ words (“If therefore thine eye be single,”) they must be taken in context (seven verses: Matt. 6:19-25). This passage starts with the statement: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt. 6:19a, NKJV). It ends with the statement: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (meaning material riches) (Matt. 5:24, see verse 25 also).
Clearly, Jesus was not talking about awakening some imagined, internal psychic center in the forehead; He was urging His disciples to focus primarily on spiritual things instead of material things.
So, to answer my title question: No, Jesus did not believe in the “third eye”; neither did He teach that concept to His followers.
For more of my teaching on this topic, click here to listen to this episode of the Revealing the True Light podcast. {eoa}
