DISSERTATION PROPOSAL Heaps of Bones, Heaps of Ashes: The Third Eye in Hebrew and Sanskrit Sacred Texts Alan Lowenschuss The paper that has become the core of this dissertation was initially presented to Dr. Jeffrey Rubenstein to fulfill the requirements for a course in Talmud at N.Y.U. During the course of the semester I took Dr. Rubenstein’s class, I became intrigued by various Talmudic legends dealing with sages who could mete out death with a mere gaze. My interest was piqued not only because such tales seemed rather unusual, even for the aggadic genre, but also because I had been delving into Hindu mythology and I had come across what I thought was a similar motif in Sanskrit literature. The story that was the original impetus for this study is that of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son Eleazar’s flight to escape a decree of execution by the Roman authorities: They went and hid in a cave. A miracle occurred and a carob tree and water well were created for them. They would strip their garments and sit up to their necks in sand. The whole day they studied; when it was time for prayers they robed, covered themselves, prayed, and then put off their garments again, so that they should not wear out. Thus they dwelt twelve years in the cave. Then Elijah came and stood at the entrance to the cave and exclaimed, ‘Who will inform the son of Yochai that the emperor is dead and his decree is annulled? So they emerged. Seeing a man ploughing and sowing, they exclaimed, ‘They forsake life eternal and engage in life temporal!’ Whatever they cast their eyes upon was immediately burnt up. Thereupon a Heavenly Echo came forth and cried out, ‘Have you emerged to destroy my world: Return to your cave! (bTalmud Shabbat 33b) This particular passage is unique of all the rabbinic stories that contain the motif of a sage’s baneful gaze (and there are several), as this is the only one that indicates how such a power was acquired, namely via mystical askesis, in this case rigorous study of Torah. It is also one of the only such stories with an implied critique of over-zealous asceticism. In that first incarnation of this project, the austere gaze of the sage was referred to as the “evil eye,” and its wielder a jettatore (the Italian term for such an individual). As things evolved it became clearer that there are broader and even more provocative issues involved here. In the Indian myths, found largely in the Puranas, there is generally reference to a “third eye,” particularly in the cycle of stories dealing with Shiva, who is also known as Tryambaka (the “Three-Eyed One”). In those stories, it is generally Shiva’s opened third eye that reduces his foes to ashes, perhaps most famously in his destruction of Kama, the incarnation of Desire: A great flame of fire sprang up from the third eye of the infuriated Shiva. That fire originating instantaneously from the eye in the middle of His forehead blazed with flames shooting up and resembling the fire of the final dissolution in refulgence. After shooting up in the sky, it fell on the ground and rolled over the earth all around. Even before the gods had the time to say "Let him be forgiven, let him be excused" it reduced Kama to ashes. Considering the similar motif used in the legendary material in the Talmud, the question arose as to why there seems to be no trace of this concept of a third eye in the Jewish sources. Or perhaps the concept might be found in some form in the extensive Jewish esoteric literature? After all, the Talmud contains numerous instances of the notion of the ‘ayin ha-ra, or evil eye (a concept here taken to be subsumed under the more general rubric “third eye”), and as we shall see, like the evil eye, the idea of a third eye is found in the mythologies of many cultures. Notably, however, the third eye is not always referred to as such in these mythologies; in other words, it appears that the phenomenon is there, but not the noumenon, or that particular designation. There thus seems to be some justification in positing that the same might be true in the Jewish tradition -- even though the notion of a “third eye” or something similar is conspicuously absent from the sources, there does seem to be a similar if not parallel motif, beginning with the transfiguration of Moses’ face (Exodus 34:29-35), that is presented in the Jewish literature. This transfiguration, it should be added, has its parallel in Pali and Sanskrit texts in reference to the Buddha’s enlightenment, as well as earlier and later heroes and gods such as Krishna. The transfiguration of Moses suggested other possible Tanakhic sources or inspirations for the rabbinic legends. Needless to say, perhaps, there are not a few suggestive verses, beginning with Gen. 1:3, “Let there be light.” Many biblical commentators have noted that this “light” that God creates at the beginning of the creation account precedes the creation of the celestial lights by three days. What was the nature of the light that came into being on the first day? The Talmud’s proposal: “The light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, [was of such intensity] that a person could see from one end of the world to the other. But as soon as God saw the corruptness of the generation of the Flood and the generation that built the Tower of Babel, He hid it from them. And for whom did He reserve it? For the righteous ones to come” (Talmud Bavli, Chagigah 12a) The Zohar later expands on the nature of this primordial light to say “it is also the light of the eye” with which Adam could see “from one end of space to the other end of time.” To which “eye” does the Zohar refer? Could it be a non-physical organ? Even if a third or otherwise spiritual eye is not there referenced, it is noteworthy because the power of panopteia -- panoramic or “all-seeing” vision -- is a frequently attributed to the third eye in the Indian sources. Moreover, that the Zohar maintains that this light is so intense it could destroy the world and thus is necessarily “hidden and sown like a seed,” only to be barely glimpsed by the righteous ones who labor in Torah study, is a further indication that there is a possible connection between this light and the potentially baneful gaze of the transfigured sage. It also resonates with the mythology of Shiva (also called “the Destroyer”) which maintains that Shiva’s third eye must remain closed, else the world be burned up by its cosmic fire. Other Tanakhic sources dealing with the luminous and/or numinous nature of YHVH also were to be considered as a potential inspiration for the Talmudic legends of the jettatore. Theophanies in the biblical account are frequently awe-inspiring and destructive. These are only quasi-theophanies, however, if YHVH’s words to Moses -- “no man can see me and live” – are to be extrapolated to the rest of the biblical corpus. Here YHVH’s statement is strikingly similar to Krishna’s words to Arjuna in the hierophanic section of the Bhagavad Gita: “Not with these mortal eyes can you behold Me.” However, while YHVH grants Moses only the ability to see his back, as it were, Krishna (an avatar of Vishnu, or God incarnate) bestows upon Arjuna the gift of divine sight (divya chakshu): I will give thee divine sight Behold My Divine power! This concept of a divine eye is also found in Buddhist sources, which is to be expected given the shared ursprung of Buddhism and Hinduism. The phylacteries, or tefillin seem another fruitful avenue of exploration. The head tefillin is a small black box containing four passages of scripture (Ex. 13:1-10; Ex. 13:11-16; Deut. 6:4-9; Deut. 11:12-21). Most significantly, the box itself is put directly in the middle of the forehead -- at the location of the purported “third eye” and the same place that devout Hindus wear the tilak or bindi, a dot usually of sandalwood or vermillion. The tilak’s function is sometimes to awaken the ajna chakra energy center, as well as to serve as a sign or symbol of divinity. Certain Indian forms of concentration and meditation exercises require the practitioner to focus attention at this spot, or otherwise to make the mind “one-pointed” (Skt. ekagrata). The tefillin were perhaps originally meant to serve a similar function of constant remembrance and mental focus. While the motif of the baneful gaze in the rabbinic sources could have had its inspiration from outside of the biblical corpus, whether from Persian, Indian, or Greek mythology, it seems reasonable to look first for a source or sources in the Tanakh itself. Indeed, similar literary strategies are employed in the exploits of Elisha and Elijah, particularly in Elisha’s curse of the children (II Kings 2:23-25), and Elijah’s sojourn in the cave (I Kings 19ff). The latter story in particular may be something of a template for the legend of Rabbi Shimon’s cave experience, a possibility heretofore overlooked by scholars studying the bShabbat 34b. Turning next to the kabbalistic sources, and again, expecting to find more concrete evidence to support the notion of a third eye, we in fact find no outright mention of a “third eye” per se. There does seem to be suggestions of such a concept, however, particularly in the doctrine of the sefirot. In recent years there has been some tentative attempts at “mapping” the sefirot and the Indian concept of chakras on top of each other to show their correlations. Many of these comparative studies concur that the sefirah of Binah corresponds to the ajna chakra, which in many Indian traditions is the locus of the third eye, though some suggest it is the sefirah of Hokhmah, Binah’s counterpoint, or that it may reside at the midpoint between these two sefirot, possibly at the locus of the quasi-sefirah of Da’at. There are several sources, however, that suggest the third eye is associated with the sefirah of Keter, and this seems to be the implication of some of the kabbalistic sources we will be considering. The Zohar, to begin with, refers to Keter as the “skull wearing the tefillin,” and as having one, lidless and all-seeing eye that, in the words of one psalm (Ps. 121:4), ‘neither slumbers nor sleeps.’ Cordovero likewise linked this one, open, lidless, “all-right” eye to Keter, the Crown. Other kabbalists maintained that Keter is also at times described as a “supernal point,” which is suggestive of the concept of Bindu, a concept often associated with the third eye in Hindu thought. All are not in agreement with this connection between Keter and the “supernal point,” however. In its preamble, the Zohar speaks of this point through which the Eyn Sof manifests itself in the world via the medium of the sefirot. Scholem, in discussing the enigmatic preamble to the Zohar in which this “point” is mentioned, explained why this primary point was associated not with the sefirah of Keter, but rather Hokhmah: By the Zohar, as by the majority of the other Kabbalistic writers, this primordial point is identified with the wisdom of God, Hokhmah. God’s wisdom represents the ideal thought of Creation, conceived as the ideal point which itself springs from the impulse of the abysmal will. The author extends the comparison by likening it to the mystical seed which is sown into Creation, the point of comparison apparently being not only the subtlety of both but also the fact that in either the possibilities of further being are potentially, though as yet invisibly, existent. Beyond the question of whether this primordial point is to be identified with Keter or Hokhmah, the fact that there is a point from which manifestation emerges does appear to correspond to Indian concept of bindu, which is variously rendered as “drop,” “dot,” “seed,” and “source point,” it being the origin of manifestation. From the Bindu, the primordial light and sound 3~’ (AUM) emerges, and the 3~’ is also the bija, or seed sound of the ajna chakra. In other words, manifestation can be said to originate from the ajna chakra, the traditional locus of the third eye. In the practice of some forms of yoga such as Kundalini Yoga and Layayoga, the yogin uses the mantra 3~’ to reverse the process of manifestation; in doing so, some yogins have experienced a blue point of light referred to as nilabindu, often rendered as “blue pearl.” In Tantra and Hatha-Yoga, the bindu also refers to semen, and it is through drawing up (urdhva retas) the semen to the brain that the yogin acquires tejas, or lustrousness. In this study, this is examined in connection to the verse in Ecclesiastes (8:1), “Wisdom makes a man’s face shine.” It is from here we can begin to establish a connection between the light of the eye and the light of the face. It also is a segue into a discussion of eros and asceticism in Judaism and Hinduism, taking as a starting point what Doniger has referred to as the paradoxical, “erotic-ascetic” figure of Shiva. If indeed the sefirot and the chakras can be correlated at all, it seems the sefirah of Hokhmah is most parallel to the Ajna chakra. In addition to its resonance with the concept of bindu, in kabbalistic sources Hokhmah is also frequently compared to a fountain (‘eyin in Hebrew, which contains the exact letters of the Hebrew word for eye, ‘ayin) of flowing water and/or light that impregnates the sefirah of Binah. This, in addition to the possible connection of Hokhmah with the supernal point of the Zohar, with its seeming correspondence to the bindu, suggests that Hokhmah is the sefirah most comparable to the ajna chakra. Turning next to the Hasidic sources, there are echoes of the biblical and talmudic accounts of the awe-inspiring countenance of the sage, notably in regard to such figures as the son of the Maggid of Mezeritch, Rabbi Abraham Dov Baer, “the Angel,” whose appearance is sometimes unbearable to gaze upon, and which so terrifies his bride-to-be on their wedding night that she falls faint and in a fever. About the Seer of Lublin it was claimed that from birth he (like the primordial Adam) was able to gaze “from one end of the world to the other.” Another tale tells of a hidden tzaddik disguised as a pretzel vendor who, when confronted by a hasid who unmasks his true identity, angrily threatens to turn him into a “heap of bones.” In a more recent example, a story from a hagiographical account of the late admor Yistael AbuChatzerah (Baba Sali, 1890-1984) has his eyes blazing angrily in reproof of a man around whom he sees evil angels hovering due to his sinfulness. The Christian corpus of writings, which here includes both canonical and non-canonical texts, is also a point of reference even if we were not to assume the Jewishness and literacy of Jesus. In the canonical sources, there is one verse in particular that seems highly relevant to this study though with no direct parallel in any of the contemporary or later rabbinic sources. In the midst of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6ff), Jesus purportedly tells his followers: “The light of the body is the eye: If therefore your eye is single/simple/healthy [Gk. haplous], your whole body will be full of light (Matthew 6:22-23).” Luke (11:34) adds, “But when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.” This saying is not readily decipherable, nor should it be assumed that it speaks of the phenomenon in question. It is suggestive, however, and students of Eastern mysticism have often interpreted these words as a direct reference to a third and/or spiritual eye. The collected sayings of the Desert Fathers also include passages that seem to reference it, such as the following from John of Dalyutha: Cleanse the mirror of your soul And the single light will merge with you, Manifesting itself to you as trinity. Then take the light down into your heart, And there you will see the Living God. A later Christian contemplative, Meister Eckhart, famously proclaimed: The eye in which I see God is the same eye in which God sees me; my eye and God’s eye, that is one eye and one seeing and one recognizing and one loving. The Gospel of Thomas, a Gnostic collection of sayings of Jesus, further contains passages that could at the very least be expansions on the Sermon on the Mount saying. Here in several passages, Jesus seems to push his disciples towards a kind of Vedantic consciousness via transcendence of the dualism of the mundane world. In one saying, Jesus tells his followers, “When you make the two one, you will become sons of man, and when you say, “Mountain move away,” it will move away.” We also might hear echoes of the mythology of Shiva, as well as the story of Shimon Bar Yochai and his son (bTalmud Shabbat 33b) in Jesus’ words: “I have cast a fire upon the world, and lo, I keep it until it burns up.” This is the bane of the ascetic, whose intense desire for transcendence frequently causes him to scorn and spurn mundane existence, and subsequently to be in a kind of ambivalent tension with more institutionalized forms of religion. In this regard the Jewish religious experience is no more a stranger to mystical askesis and so-called “world-denial” than its Eastern counterparts; or if there is a difference, perhaps it is simply one of emphasis. Islamic sources are also to be considered, particularly those of Sufism, for two reasons. First, we do find various terms for “third eye” in Sufi sources, among them “nukta-e-saveda,” or “nukta sweda” meaning “black dot/point”; and secondly, there is a possibility that the Kabbalah was influenced by such sources. I will discuss this in more detail in the paper. In world mythology we likewise see the third eye attested to in numerous traditions, from the Babylonian Shamash, the solar deity described as an all-seeing eye; to the Indo-European Surya and the gods of the Greek pantheon, who are likewise described as possessing the power of panopteia; the Egyptian Horus and the sun god Re, whose fiery eye is capable of scorching his enemies; Odin, the one-eyed god of Norse mythology; and in a whole mythological bestiary whose ranks include the Unicorn, Cyclops, Gorgon/Medusa, Basilisk, Catoblepas, Phoenix (which reduces itself to ashes), the Celtic giant Balor whose “evil eye” destroyed all he gazed upon, as well as Al-Dajjal, the one-eyed beast/anti-Christ of Islamic eschatology. There is even reference to third eye in folklore, as in the Brothers Grimm tale, “Little One Eye, Little Two-Eyes, and Little Three-Eyes,” in contemporary literature (Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby; Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings) and mythology (Marvel Comics’ Superman, as well as the X-Men’s Cyclops), and in the Masonic “all-seeing eye” of the Great Seal of the United States. The pervasiveness of this concept in world mythology suggests an archetypal phenomenon at play. This leads to the final section of the dissertation, which confronts head-on the question as to the broader implications of this study. In this concluding section, the testimony of contemporary mystical reports and studies are adduced to argue that there may be a phenomenological (prophetic insight; extrasensory perception), as well as physiological (the pineal and/or pituitary glands) basis for the third eye. While it should be recognized that much of the hagiographical and esoteric literature patently utilizes literary structures and motifs repeatedly, even in recent reports, it also seems clear that the very universality and ubiquity of the idea of a third eye in these sources, or at the very least of an extrasensory faculty of perception and erotic-thanatosic power, not to mention the contemporary studies and reports of dedicated meditators should give us pause to consider that the third eye is more than a pious fiction. This is of course not to claim that a fiery-tempered sage ever literally reduced a person to a heap of ashes or bones, but it is to maintain, with Maloney, that Fundamental presuppositions of life [in India] are that everyone's behavior and intentions affect the surrounding universe and have long-range implications, that the qualities of one's person are projected from his mind, and that one's psychic energy can be enhanced (as in yoga) and focused through the forehead. When educated Indians admit to some belief in the powerful eye, it is these presumed qualities of the human mind they refer to. And who is to deny that research in parapsychology is veering toward the same opinion?" A discussion of contemporary literature on this subject can only aid us in better understanding and appreciating the ancient texts. I was first introduced to this designation in Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition (New York: Scribner, 1970), p. 55. See below for various Sanskrit terms to designate the third eye. The ajna or “brow” chakra, situated between the eyebrows, is generally considered in Indian metaphysics to be the site and/or seat of the third eye. In an appendix to this paper I provide numerous alternative designations for “third eye” culled from the literature on this subject. In Doniger O’Flaherty, Siva, the Erotic Ascetic (New York: Oxford University Press), 1973/1981, p. 10. See there for Puranic references. Generally the Puranic formula is “X was reduced to a heap of ashes,” which is similar to the Talmudic phrase, “X was turned into a heap of bones”; hence the title of the paper. Not all agree with the idea that the evil eye can be subsumed under the third eye. See, for instance, the entries for “Dyoya-drsti” (third eye) and “evil eye” in The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 300 and 328. These entries are particularly noteworthy as they highlight both Hinduism (for the third eye) and Judaism (evil eye), mentioning the Talmudic legend of Shimon Bar Yochai, as well as midrashic sources. I argue that the “eye” of the sage indeed has great destructive power, but also immense creative and intuitive potential as well. Moreover, in the case of Shiva, the three-eyed-one, it is difficult to distinguish between the destructive and creative aspect (or benediction-malediction power) as at the time of cosmic dissolution (or demise of the ego), for instance, space is made for re-creation. The “flash of anger” and the “flash of insight” may thus be part and parcel of the self-same phenomenon. Just to refresh the reader’s memory of the “transfiguration” passage: “And as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with Him. Aaron and all the Israelites saw that the sin of Moses’ face was radiant; and they shrank from coming near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he instructed them concerning all that the LORD had imparted to him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would leave the veil off until he came out; and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see how radiant the skin of Moses’ face was. Moses would then put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.” The words “transfiguration” and “enlightenment” both signify the phenomenal appearance of actual light that emanates from the spiritual seeker (whether Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna), and so I will use them synonymously here. Others have done the same: Radhakrishnan, for example, refers to Krishna’s hierophany in chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita as a “transfiguration.” ‘God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light…a first day… (Gen. 1.3-5); ‘God said, “Let there be lights...” and it was so…a fourth day...’ (Gen. 1.14-19) This exegesis is based upon Psalm 97:11, “Light is sown for the righteous.” Zohar1: 31b-32a; II: 148b-149a. The Zohar later seems to attribute this light to Shimon Bar Yochai’s son, Eleazar, who is called a “jewel” whose radiance “extends from the heavens down to the earth where it brightens the whole world…” Zohar II:148b-149a. Ibid. I might also mention that the rabbinic sources refer to a blind person “euphemistically” as “full of light.” Rav Sheishet, who though blind possesses both prophetic and jettaturic power is one example; see b Berakhot 58a. See Wolf Dieter Storl, Ph.D., Shiva: The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2004), p. 83. YHVH’s words to Moses come almost immediately after we are told that YHVH spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” While it is not clear whether “face to face” implies “eye to eye,” we can recall Paul’s famous words (I Corinthians 13: 4-13): “…For now we see in a mirror, dimly [Gk.: ‘in a riddle’], but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Bhagavad Gita, 11:8. Literally, a “divine eye.” At least one scholar of Hinduism uses this term synonymously with “third eye”; see Justin O’Brien, Walking With A Himalayan Master, (Saint Paul, Minnesota: Yes Publishers, 1998), pp. 85-86. Na tu maam Shakyase draSHtum/ Anenai ‘va svacakSHuSHaa Divyam/ dadaami te cakSHuhu/ PaShya me yogam aiShvaram//. (Bhagavad Gita, 11.8) According to one Buddhist tradition, upon attaining to a “fourth level of trance,” the potential Buddha acquires six abhijnaa, or “superknowledges,” one of which is a “divine eye” (again, the divya-chakshus), which enables the aspirant to “see all beings dying and being reborn according to their deeds”– something which is quite similar to what Arjuna witnesses during his theophany. Achievement of this fourth stage of meditation and its superknowledges directly precedes enlightenment, or “Buddhahood.” In my dissertation, I do discuss the conception of the third eye as presented in some Buddhist sources, as well as in Chinese philosophy (in which an “upper tan tien,” or “heavenly eye” is spoken of), but I have kept as my primary focus the Hindu texts. In Catholicism, ash is smeared at the midpoint of the forehead during their Ash Wednesday ritual, along with the recitation (based on Gen. 3:17), “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return” – a point to be discussed in the dissertation. One well-known trataka (concentration) exercise in Hatha Yoga is Shambhavi-Mudra which requires the practitioner to gaze at the point between the eyebrows (bhrumadhya) and remember Shambhu, another name for Shiva, the Great Yogin. According to Feuerstein, “the yogin who has mastered this technique is said to resemble the great God himself.” See Feuerstein, Georg, Ph.D., The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy, and Practice (Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press, 1998/2001), p. 396. I intend to probe the writings of Abraham Abulafia on this subject. See, for example, Sanford L. Drob. Kabbalistic Metaphors: Jewish Mystical Themes in Ancient and Modern Thought. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, Inc., 2000, p. 79; and Leonora Leet. The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah: Recovering the Key to Hebraic Sacred Science. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, pp. 169-70. Leet’s understanding of the subject is noteworthy here: “Any comparison of the Sefirot and the Chakras must begin by noting the most important difference between the two systems, that of number, the Chakras usually numbering seven and the Sefirot ten. But despite this difference, the similarities between the psychological aspects of these two systems are striking and should prove mutually illuminating. The parallel between the three lowest and the three highest Sefirot and Chakras is particularly strong and clear…that between the fourth or heart Chakra and the fourth through seventh Sefirot is more problematical…It should also be pointed out that the numbering of the two systems is the reverse of the other, the Chakra numbers going from bottom to top and the Sefirot numbers from top to bottom.” Sanford L. Drob, for his part, compares Sankara’s view of the Self with that of the Sefirot as follows: “Sankara was preoccupied with the question of how the Absolute could be one and yet reveal itself as a multitude of finite entities. He held that “the Self, although eternally unchanging and uniform, reveals itself as a graduated series of beings, and so appears in the form of various dignities and powers,” an idea that is quite close to the kabbalistic conception of the Sefirot. Both Sankara and the Kabbalists called upon the idea of “vessels” to resolve this metaphysical problem. Individual selves and finite entities are for Sankara like “space” contained in a jar. In general, all space remains “one,” even though it is temporarily contained in various vessels. The Kabblalists made use of similar imagery in describing the nature of the Sefirot.” See, for example, Anodea Judith, Ph.D. Wheels of Life: A User’s Guide to the Chakra System. St. Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 2002, pp. 279-80, who notes that the parallel sephira to the Ajna chakra are Hokhmah and Binah. ‘The Crown on the top (Keter) is the royal crown itself; concerning her, Isaiah 46:10 says, “foretelling the end from the beginning.” It is the skull wearing tefillin, within which are the letters of the ineffable Name of God: Yod hey vav hey” (Tikkunei Ha-Zohar, Petakh Eliyahu 17 a-b).’ “The eyes of the White Head are diverse form all other eyes. Above the eye is no eyelid, neither is there an eyebrow over it…This eye is never closed; and there are two converted into one. All is right, there is no left…” (Zohar IV, 147b). See also Charles, Ponce. Kabbalah: An Introduction and Illumination for the World Today. San Francisco, CA: Straight Arrow Books, 1973, pp. 113-15. Others have associated the seventh, or “Crown Chakra,” with the sephira of Keter. See Rosalyn L. Bruyere (Jeanne Farrens, ed.). Wheels of Light: Chakras, Auras, and the Healing Energy of the Body. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989/1994, pp. 46-47. For a discussion of Cordovero in this regard, see Wolfson, “Beyond Good and Evil: Hypernomianism, Transmorality, and Kabbalisiti Ethics,” particularly pp. 16-22. Note that in many yoga texts, the “Crown chakra” is not the Ajna but the Sahasrara, the thousand petalled lotus located at the fontanelle bone at the top of the head. Here is the passage in question: “In the beginning, when the will of the King began to take effect, he engraved signs into the divine aura. A dark flame sprang forth from the innermost recess of the mystery of the Infinite, En-Sof, like a fog which forms out of the formless, enclosed in the ring of this aura, neither white nor black, neither red nor green, and of no color whatever. But when this flame began to assume size and extension it produced radiant colors. For in the innermost center of the flame a well sprang forth from which flames poured upon everything below, hidden in the mysterious secrets of En-Sof. The well broke through, and yet did not entirely break through, the ethereal aura which surrounded it. It was entirely unrecognizable until under the impact of its break-through a hidden supernal point shone forth. Beyond this point nothing may be known or understood, and therefore it is called Reshith, that is ‘Beginning’, the first word of creation.” See George Feuerstein, Ph. D. The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga (Boston: Shambhala, 2000), pp. 58-59. Ibid. Swami Muktananda has described this experience at length in his Play of Consciousness (South Fallsburg, New York: Siddha Yoga Meditation Publications; 30th anniv ed., 2000). See also S.P. Sabharathnam, “Siddha Yoga As Mahayoga: Encompassing All Other Yogas”; in Douglas Renfrew Brooks, et. al., Meditation Revolution: A History and Theology of the Siddha Yoga Lineage (South Fallsburg, New York: Agama Press, 1997), pp. 514-515. Again, I should mention that a bindi is a dot or spot of vermillion placed at the midpoint of the forehead, often worn by Hindus during worship. As in the “putrid drop” referred to in rabbinic sources such as Pirkei Avot 3:1. Frawley renders tejas as “inner radiance,” and maintains that it is “what allows the third eye to open.” See Frawley, Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization (Twin Lakes, Wisconsin: Lotus Press, 1999), pp. 143-44. Doniger O’Flaherty, Siva, the Erotic Ascetic (New York: Oxford University Press), 1973/1981. This is also Leet’s view; see n13 above. I also take into consideration verses from the Wisdom literature, principally Ecclesiastes and Proverbs; verses such as “The wise man has eyes in his head” (Eccles. 2:14); “YHVH created me [Hokhmah] at the beginning of his course” (Proverbs 8:22); and “Wisdom has built Her house, She has hewn her seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1). Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim (New York: Schocken Books), pp. 113-115. Ibid, pp. 303-304. Buber’s title is “His Gaze.” Ibid; see the story “Of a Hidden Zaddik.” In Rabbi Alfasi, Baba Sali, Rav Yisrael Abuchatzeirah of Blessed Memory: His Life, Holiness, Teachings and Miracles, (Jerusalem: Judaica Press, 1986) pp. 50-51. There are possible Biblical parallels, however: Proverbs 13:9: “The light of the righteous is radiant; the lamp of the wicked is extinguished”; and Proverbs 6:20-23, which commands one to tie one’s father’s mitzvah and mother’s Torah “over your heart always; bind them around your throat. When you walk it will lead you; when you lie down it will watch over you; and when you are awake it will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light.” This could tie Jesus’ words (below) in with the commandment of tefillin. Parallels and comparable pericopes include HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" POxy655 24, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" Luke 11:33-36, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" Matt 5:14-16, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" John 14:2-7, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" John 8:12-16, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" John 12:27-36, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" John 1:6-13, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" DialSav 27-28, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" DialSav 60-63, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" DialSav 77-78, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" DialSav 8, HYPERLINK "http://www.gospelthomas.com/gospelthomas24.html" \l "#" DialSav 14. The dissertation considers these in more depth, particularly the parallels in the Gospel of Thomas. The “evil eye,” again, is found in the rabbinic sources, but there is no parallel to this particular saying. See Paul Brunton, The Quest of the Overself (New York: Samuel Weiser, 1972), pp. 174-75; John White, ed. Kundalini: Evolution and Enlightenment (New York: paragon House, 1979/1990), p. 418; Paramahamsa Yogananda, Journey to Self-Realization (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1997), pp. 436-37; Norman Paulsen, The Christ Consciousness (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Solar Logos Foundatin), 1994/1980), p. 115; Swami Prabhavananda, The Sermon On the Mount According to Vedanta (Hollywood, California: Vedanta Press, 1946), pp. 91-92. See John Anthony McGuckin, The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations On the Soul’s Ascent from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives (Boston: Shambhala, 2003), pp. 135-36, 120. In Alexander Roob, Alchemy and Mysticism: The Hermetic Museum (Germany: Taschen, 2001), p. 243; Meister Eckhart, Deutsche Predigten und Trakate (Munich edition, 1963). Gospel of Thomas, #106. Fire surrounds Rabbi Shimon’s house all day on his dying day (Zohar 296b). See Kapur, Daryai Lal, Call of the Great Master (Beas, Punjab, India: Radha Soami Satsang), 1964/1975; and M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh (Philadelphia, PA: The Fellowship Press, 1981), pp. 33, 37, 49. The Sikhs, as well as Muslim-Hindu poets such as Kabir referred to the third eye as the “tisra til,” or “tenth gate.” Though Scholem apparently rejected the view that Kabbalah was historically dependent on Sufism (see Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah, (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1962/1987), p.6), Moshe Idel accepted it (Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives, (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1988), pp. 15-16. Idel even suggests the possiblility that “Hindu traditions infiltrated into Kabbalah, perhaps via the intermediary of Sufi material” (ibid, p. 108). In Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Grimm’s Fairy Tales ,Elizabeth Dalton, ed., ( New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003). “As I approached [Swami Rama] I saw his face: it was red, and it seemed as if flames were about to shoot out of his eyes and reduce me to ashes.” In Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Ph.D., At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama (Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Himalayan Institute Press, 2001), p. 3. Maloney, The Evil Eye (New York: Columbia University Press, 1983), p. 146. PAGE PAGE 15