In the work of creation, as occultly carried on, all these three physical centers (pineal, pituitary, medulla oblongata) have to be utilized, and from a consideration of the subject it will become apparent why it has been necessary to deal with them in this order.

By means of the pineal gland, the organ of spiritual perception, man ascertains the will and purpose of the Ego (Soul), and from thence he draws the necessary energy from the higher levels, via the head center and the sutratma (thread of the atma).

By means of the pituitary body, the second element of desire or of the form-building energy, becomes available, and under the law of attraction he can mould, and build in deva substance.

When the alta major center (medulla oblongata), the synthesis of what might be called nervous energy, is awake, it becomes possible for him to materialize and activate the desired form which, through attractive energy, he is in process of constructing.

It will be apparent, therefore, why it is that so few people ever construct thought forms which are of constructive lasting benefit to humanity, and also why it is that the Great Ones, (as They work through Their disciples) are forced to work with groups, being seldom able to find a man or woman whose three physical head centers are simultaneously active. They frequently have to work with large groups before the quota of energy supplied to Them for the accomplishment of Their ends measures up to that necessitated.

Opening of the Third Eye

Copyright ©1996, Philosophical Research Society

This painting of the head of Minerva shows, in part, the activities of the pineal gland and the pituitary body at the time of the phenomenon commonly termed "the opening of the Third Eye." The Kundalini fire is seen rising upward through the spinal canal into the pons of the medulla oblongata. The golden light radiating from the base of the brain, at the back, gradually increases in size and intensity until it forms the nimbus, or halo, of the saint. The pituitary body is here shown surrounded by an elliptic rose aura. The pineal gland - the Seat of the Soul of the Mysteries - is here depicted as blue in color and surrounded by a radiating blue aura. In reality, however, this aura includes within itself all the colors of the spectrum, but blue decidedly predominates. The tiny vibrating finger on the pineal gland points directly toward the pituitary body. This finger, vibrating at a very high rate of speed, is the actual cause of true spiritual illumination.  The combination of all three head centers when integrated is known as the "Third Eye" or Eye of Shiva. (Paraphrased from Manly P. Hall).

The relationship of the physical correspondents of the three head centers, pineal, pituitary, and medulla oblongata (alter major) to the Higher Self is shown here. The red line on this diagram labeled Antahkarana is the rainbow bridge or creative thread that is built through meditation and service. It bridges the gap between the lower concrete mind (mental unit) and the higher mind. The gap is located on the 4th subplane of the mental plane.  It builds a bridge to the Soul and to the permanent mental atom of the Spiritual Triad. This bridge eventually extends to the Monad.

The artist of the Opening of the Third Eye is Mihran K. Serailian. The poster is available for purchase on the internet from the Philosophical Research Library.

Esoteric Psychology V. 1, p. 290 by Alice A. Bailey

But in the head of man himself is also to be found a marvelous symbolic happening. In that living organism is enacted that drama whereby the purely human being merges himself in divinity. The great final drama of the mystical union between God and man, and between the soul and the personality is there enacted. According to the Eastern philosophy, there are in the head of man two great energy centers. One of them, the center between the eyebrows (ajna), blends and fuses the five types of energy which are transmitted to it and blended with it,—the energy of the three centers below the diaphragm and of the throat and heart centers. The other, the head center, is awakened through meditation, service and aspiration, and it is through this center that the soul makes its contact with the personality. This head center (crown chakra) is the symbol of the spirit or positive masculine aspect, just as the center between the eyebrows is the symbol of matter, of the negative feminine aspect. Connected with these force vortices are two physical plane organs, the pituitary body and the pineal gland. The first is negative and the second is positive. These two organs are the higher correspondences of the male and female organs of physical reproduction. As the soul becomes increasingly potent in the mental and emotional life of the aspirant, it pours in with greater power into the head center. As the man works with his personality, purifying it and bending it to the service of the spiritual will, he automatically raises the energies of the centers in the body up to the center between the eyebrows. Eventually the influence of each of the two centers increases and becomes wider and wider, until they make a contact with each other's vibratory or magnetic field, and instantly the light flashes out. Father-spirit and mother-matter unite and are at-one and the Christ is born (Krishna consciousness). "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," said the Christ. This is the second birth, and from that moment vision comes with increasing power.

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