THE FINDING OF THE THIRD EYE CONTENTS Preface Introduction Part One Things as They Are What Modern Science Says The Secret Knowledge How We are Made How We are Classified Male and Female Birth, Sleep and Death Secrets of Breathing Secrets of Colour Secrets of Sound The Science of Numbers Diet and Exercise Part Two The Third Eye First Steps to Mastery Meditation History of the Wisdom The Present Awakening Dangers in the Path The Summing-up PREFACE These are days in which the spirit of inquiry is perhaps more alive than at any other time in the history of humanity. They are days also in which the orientation of humanity towards spiritual realities and towards the higher values is more pronounced than ever before, in spite of many opinions of the pessimistically inclined to the contrary. The masses are becoming increasingly sensitive to the world of ideas and to the vision of truth. Hitherto it has been the advanced men and women who have so responded, but today it is the many. The spirit in man has always been divinely alive, but today men everywhere are inquiring with one voice: Which is the WAY that we should go? How far have we travelled towards our goal? This book is an attempt to trace in brief and simple language the progress man has made as he has travelled along the way of truth and thus answer that question. It seeks to penetrate behind the outer world of seeming to the world of spirit, and to find, behind the external forms, that which gives them life. The subject is necessarily so vast that it is safe to say that it can only be handled in three ways. First by the production of volumes which would embody the erudition of the ages and which would be read, therefore, only by the erudite and selective few. Secondly, by specializing in some one or other of the many aspects of the Ageless Wisdom, and writing on a chosen subject, appealing consequently only to those attracted to that subject and that particular presentation of a part of the truth. Thirdly, by writing simple bridging books which (selecting the highlights in the history of truth and the basic foundational realities) will make the teaching real to the average man in the simplest terms. In this way the man of average intelligence, busy with the affairs of everyday life, can get some understanding of that enlightenment which has ever poured forth over humanity from the heart of God Himself, and thus regain that confidence and that belief in love and immortality which is our divine heritage. This we have somewhat lost through the activity of living, the press of the economic situation, the fear and suspense engendered by the world situation, and the bewilderment aroused in many minds by the warring theologies of the great religions. As I have read this book, it has seemed to me that the intent of the author is to present to the man in the street (who is now awake and demanding such information) a picture of the two lines of continuity which the history of the past reveals to the attentive student. There is, first of all, the continuity of the Wisdom Teaching, which, down the ages, has come forth from God and thrown the needed light upon the ways of men. It has taken the form outwardly of the world religions (living or dead), but has always presented to those whose eyes were open those esoteric truths and those clear instructions whereby man can find his own soul and his way back to the centre of life. There is, secondly, the continuity of Messengers from the Most High Revealers of Divinity, culminating for us in that supreme Son of God Whom Christianity recognises. These two interwoven golden threads of light can be seen passing unbroken and untarnished down through the history of the race. They are the product of human aspiration and divine response, of human effort and divine transmission. They constitute the way to the goal. The form the Path which all must tread. The way to Those Who have journeyed ahead of us upon the selfsame Path. It is a practical way; it has the endorsement of history and the example of the foremost and the most enlightened who have walked the ways of earth. It is the history of the WAY in contradistinction to the many ways. There is need for such books as this in the world today, for bridging books which all people can read, which can evoke their interest and lead them to a closer and a more earnest search. This book should find immediately a real field of usefulness and serve and help many. The field of esoteric truth is so large and its departments so many and so varied that the neophyte is apt to be confused and bewildered by the extent of the horizon which opens up before him and the many types of knowledge which presumably he is expected to master. Mysticism, occultism, esoteric psychology, astrology, numerology, theosophical doctrines, Kabbalistic lore, Rosicrucian truth, comparative religion, symbolism and the conflicts between creeds all clamour for his attention. We need simple synthetic presentations, which eliminate the non-essentials and give a clear picture in clear outline and clear language. Such a book is this, and, as a forerunner of many more, I wish it Godspeed and a wide field of service. AUTHORS NOTE 1968 Thirty years have passed since this little book was published. During that time the book and its successors have brought me much rich experience and many friends. Together we are watching the transition from the old age into the new age, and we are offering our thought and our prayers for the expected event of the Second Coming. Time rushes by. The old civilization is burning itself up in a crescendo of confusion. But, even before its ashes are formed, the Phoenix can be seen arising, emerging as the new revolting youth of today, in every land an unprecedented event universal revolt, seeking, however instinctively, for the Will of God. If to these new crusaders everywhere could be introduced the Plan of Evolution as it has emerged from all the great Wisdom teachings, they might find an anchor and a purpose by means of which they could lead the world into a new era of both sanity and fulfilment. It is to this end that this book and its successors are dedicated. The emblem on the cover is a reminder of the instruction from Christ: Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves! INTRODUCTION Are human beings potential gods, as they have been told, or are they merely the least of worms? The world today is a seething mass of contradictions. Life does not become simpler with each new achievement, and the average man, kept busy with the urgent process of existing, has little time for thought. Yet there are moments when, looking out upon a world which appears drab, cruel, confused, and very ugly in many ways, man wonders. If there are great heights for him to attain why does he seem to know so little about them? What has man been doing all these centuries? Why do disease, difficulties and dangers appear to have increased the more civilization progresses? There comes a time in the lives of many people when they earnestly desire to find an answer to these questions. They would know why they are here, what it is all about, and if they can learn to master circumstances instead of continually being a prey to them. They begin to make an individual effort to find out for themselves if there is really any rhyme or reason, any justice in life, anything to hope for or to work for. When a man arrives at this stage in his life it marks a very important crisis in his development. It is the moment at which he changes from a puppet into an individual and joins the honoured company of the seekers. To his surprise he finds that the number of these seekers is increasing rapidly, and that, in fact, they are beginning to make their impact felt upon social consciousness. | 
