To: K-list
Recieved: 2002/12/04 15:06
Subject: [K-list] Third Eye/Pineal Gland Health VERY long post :-)
From: Riversoma
On 2002/12/04 15:06, Riversoma posted thus to the K-list:
The Pineal gland is a fascinating organ located in the brain directly
between and slightly above the eyes. It is acorn shaped and the size
of a pea. Unlike the rest of the brain it is not protected by the
blood/brain barrier which means that whatever is circulating through
your blood will make its way to the Pineal. In fact the only parts
of your body which circulates more blood are the kidneys.
The Pineal gland regulates all the other endocrine glands. These
glands function to regulate all the biochemical processes in your
body through hormones. Hormones that make you gain or lose weight,
cause your adrenals to get revved up and stimulate sexual behavior
among many other things.
The Pineal Gland is regulated through light. In lower vertebrates
such as some lizards and some fish, the pineal gland is light
sensitive through the skin. In human beings the Pineal Gland is
regulated through special sensors in the eyes. These sensors are
extremely sensitive and establish the body's circadian rhythm. Blind
people lose this ability and have randomized circadian rhythms.
Because the Pineal Gland is so small and processes so much blood
anything you ingest will eventually make its way there. As a result,
anything toxic will impair Pineal Gland functions. Pineal
manufactures melatonin (among other things) the hormone responsible
for allowing you to enter stage IV sleep. Stage IV sleep is when
your body grows if you are a child and heals no matter what age you
are. You do not dream during stage IV sleep. It is the only time
when all your brain activity is harmonized and working in concert.
The Pineal gland stops growing when you are seven and when you are an
adult it crystallizes with calcium and other mineral deposits. It
used to be thought that melatonin production dropped off in adults
and then fell away to almost nothing in the elderly but this has
since been disproved. In fact, what happens is that as we age we
take many more melatonin suppressive substances. Our Pineal Glands
would function till we died if we took care of them properly.
It is also thought that a high melatonin content will suppress sexual
activity and development. I am not sold on this hypothesis but it
may be true that large amounts of melatonin do short circuit sexual
activity since Stage IV sleep does not exhibit sexual arousal the way
REM (dreaming) sleep does. However stage IV sleep does include sleep
walking. In any event the only research done on melatonin and
sexuality has been performed on men so there is a strong possibility
that women may be affected differently.
The list of substances which affect melatonin production and/or
disrupt stage IV sleep is quite large.
NSAIDs Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs. These include
aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin), naproxen and any drug
which contains these.
Opiates
Hypnotics (glutethimide, benzodiazepines, pentobarbital, chloral
hydrate, secobarbital sodium, amobarbital sodium)
Nicotine
Caffeine
Alcohol
Fluoride
Artificial Light
Cannabis
The list goes on and on but you get the idea. Drugs are bad for the
Pineal gland. Of the above items on the list I found a few of them
to be particularly fascinating and so I will go into more depth about
the effects of ibuprofen, cannabis and artificial light.
Ibuprofen, the supposedly "safe" OTC drug commonly recommended for
whatever aches or pains you might have is an extremely dangerous
drug. It is a very strong anti-inflammatory which is another way of
saying that it seriously disrupts your natural blood flow. Since the
kidneys and the pineal depend on a large flow of blood any reduction
will cause problems. Its really very simple. Strong anti-
inflammatories are bad for the kidneys and pineal. They will disrupt
your sleep and cause you pain. They may also rot your liver,
ulcerate your large intestine, give you hives or kill you. Ibuprofen
will definitely kill your dog within hours so don't ever give one to
your dog. Bad bad stuff.
However there is a very interesting effect which ibuprofen also has
on your anandamides or "bliss molecules" these are the
neurochemicals responsible for feeling blissed out. When we get
these same chemicals from eating or smoking they are called
cannabinoids and are found in dark chocolate, soy, oats, hazelnuts
and cannabis. Ibuprofen has the effect of prolonging the action of
these cannabinoids within your system which has created some
difficulties for chocolate lovers that take ibuprofen and then had to
pass a drug test. What you notice is that the rush that you would
normally get from a bite of chocolate (a few minutes) can be
prolonged to a couple of hours with an ibuprofen. This is part of
what makes ibuprofen such an insidious drug. It makes you feel
really good and you don't even know why. Of course it would have the
same effect on cannabis and would prolong the bliss portion of a
cannabis high. However, compared to cannabis, ibuprofen is a very
frightening substance. Thousands of people die from ibuprofen every
year. No one dies from cannabis use.
Cannabis is a complex and powerful herb. It has been with humans
since the dawn of civilization and is unlikely to leave anytime
soon. So regardless of your personal views about the matter it makes
sense to understand how it works. The consumption of cannabis can
have many different effects. Only one of these is the "high" that is
so touted. A high which is usually only a fragment of the
experience. Most people who smoke cannabis experience a succession
of stages. Some of these can include anxiety, heightened or lowered
sex drive, appetite enhancement or suppression, lethargy, manic
babble, creative inspiration and intense introspection.
What cannabis definitely does is raise your current melatonin rate by
4000%. Hence its common use as a sleep aid and its reputation as a
strong inertial force which glues your butt to your couch. The
problem is that constant use will simply deplete your melatonin
levels and will make it difficult to sleep. Small medicinal doses at
night are probably less hazardous in that regard. It is interesting
to note that Melatonin in high amounts will lower your body
temperature. So if you or someone you know smokes cannabis take note
of how warm their hands and feet are just before and right after they
smoke.
An interesting thing to ponder is that cannabis has a strong
aphrodisiac effect on women but not men. Which leads me to wonder
about melatonin's sexual effects on women. However it is not true
that cannabis lowers sperm count. That's another one of those quasi-
medical myths based on one poorly done study that has since been
disproved. But meanwhile it has become one of those "facts" that
everyone knows. The truth is that men who smoke lots of pot are just
as likely to make you pregnant as men who don't.
Last but not least is the problem of artificial light. This topic
and how it pertains to kundalini has been of considerable interest to
me. For our pineal gland to function in a healthy way our eyes must
perceive a definite difference between day and night. Most modern
peoples spend their whole existence with a consitant level of light
from the moment they wake up till they go to bed. Many many people
are also subject to high light levels during their sleep. All sorts
of hormonal problems have been linked to this phenomenon. In fact
women's bodies are so fine-tuned that they are trained to respond not
only to the patterns of day and night but to the waxing and the
waning of the moon. Women with irregular menstrual cycles can
frequently get themselves in rhythm by simulating the phases of the
moon in their bedrooms by making it dark all month long except during
the full moon and then leaving a hall light on.
The light levels which we are accustomed to working by in the daytime
are never as bright as real sunlight. Is it any wonder our poor
bodies are so confused? This relates to the condition known as SAD
as well. This is where daytime melatonin levels are too high and
nighttime melatonin levels are too low. Creating insomnia and
depression.
Having read the above you can see it would be a miracle for anyone in
a "civilized" country to have a healthy pineal gland. According to
traditional kundalini literature the third eye opens after the throat
chakra or Vishuddha has been cleared. Vishuddha means, "purify."
Opening the throat chakra or 5th chakra typically results in a
purification process. After all my research into the 6th chakra
(pineal gland, third eye) I can understand why. The pineal is so
sensitive that if you were to open it fully without cleansing your
body of toxins you could cause lots of problems for yourself. Many
many people have a partially opened third eye. However for the full-
blown kundalini enlightenment high wattage third eye opening you have
to have a clean body free of poisons and attachments AKA addictions.
The ancient Vedic sages were not concerned about the effects of
artificial light. They knew about drugs and foods with high hormone
contents (meat) which could cause imbalances in your endocrine
glands. But it never seemed to occur to them to write about the
blessedness of the natural daylight and the need for absolute
darkness when you sleep.
So your first step in restoring your pineal gland is to create
absolute darkness when you sleep and to expose yourself to very
bright light for at least 15 to 30 minutes everyday during daylight
hours. If you sleep in a place where you cannot control the light
then you can wear an eye mask. Since we get all our light cues from
our eyes and not from our skin you do not have to have your whole
body plunged into darkness. However it is very important to maintain
that darkness for at least 8 hours. No opening the fridge, reading,
watching TV or going on the computer in the middle of the night. If
you wake up just sit in the dark and meditate. As if you were living
in a natural way. It may be that once your melatonin functions have
returned to normal that you will be able to light a candle at night.
But until you have reestablished your body's natural circadian rhythm
it would be best just to learn to love the dark at night and to
embrace the light of day.
It does not make sense to just take melatonin supplements since you
will be putting your pineal gland out of balance even more with these
added hormones from outside. In addition, melatonin is just the most
recently identified hormone secreted by the pineal. There are most
likely many other hormones which are a part of the process, which
simply haven't been discovered yet. Don't just bombard your poor
pineal with more drugs. Give it what it really needs - a healthy
life style.
The next step - which is a doozy - is releasing attachment to your
favorite poisons. All of them. If you truly want to complete your
kundalini process you must stop doing all drugs and toxins.
Otherwise you will be stuck in purification hell forever. I can't
begin to address the issues of people with serious diseases who must
use these therapeutic poisons to survive. That will take more
research to understand and know how to apply. I have no doubt that
if the Goddess wants to completely enlighten someone who is going
through chemotherapy then She can do so. I would love to hear such a
story. Meanwhile, if you are healthy in most respects and are
working on your kundalini, you must let these addictions go. Yes,
other people can drink the occasional glass of wine, have one cup of
coffee a day, smoke cigarettes and so on. However people undergoing
a kundalini awakening are not "most people." You must decide between
these poisonous pleasures and your desire for enlightenment. You
must release attachment to your habits. I do not say this lightly.
Life seems to be one long series of addictions. There is nothing
easy about it. No one ever said kundalini was the easy road.
My most recent addiction was ibuprofen. I had no idea I was even
addicted to it it is so insidious. I am currently going through
withdrawal cold-turkey and am not taking anything else for the
pain. This is not a pleasant experience. If the alternative was
not a more painful death I might not have the will power to go
through with it. As it is I have had to put my entire life on hold
until the addiction has loosened its grip. You may have to go
through something similar. All I can say is get it over with. The
sooner the better. Addictions only get harder to kick the longer you
indulge in them.
Last but not least there are traditional Ayurvedic herbs for the
third eye. These include basil, elecampne, sandalwood (applied
topically as an oil), and skullcap. It also makes sense that
drinking lots of water and taking lots heart/ blood tonics
(hawthorne, unsulphored molasses, nettle) would be very important
since the pineal needs lots and lots of healthy blood. Avoiding non-
organic commercial meats and dairy products which are heavily laden
with hormones is very important. Staying away from refined sugar and
all the rest of the evils of the modern diet will be important too.
Same old story.
The one positive thing about my latest dreadful experience with
ibuprofen is that it has lead to a much deeper understanding of the
physiological aspects of kundalini in our modern world of artificial
lights and synthetic drugs. I will be continuing to research this
fascinating subject and will make info available as I learn it. If
there is enough then I my go to the trouble of writing a book about
it. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on the matter. This
article has had minimal proof reading so I apologise about all the
errors I missed. References and links will come in a later post
after I have rested up from all this typing.
Namaste' R
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
http://www.domin8rex.com/serpent/spirit/kindex.htm
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