What does Shiva’s third eye mean?

When you imagine Lord Shiva, one aspect you can never ignore is the third eye, right? - but what’s the meaning & scientific explanation behind it? Here’s the tea.

In Hinduism, the Brahman (which is the ultimate super soul) works through the 3 basic energies, Bhrama, Vishnu & Shiva - with all 3 handling the functions of creation, preservation & destruction

Shiva is the destroyer & his third eye is granted to him as a symbol of his power to see beyond the physical, look inward & destroy anything that’s evil, harmful or unnecessary i.e. no longer needed.

There are many stories you’ll find about how he’s opened & used it in the past, such as destroying the love god Kama, or burning the 3 cities made by a demon, but all of them are symbollic to his power to detach himself from material desires, lust, or the physical world in general - and concentrate to look inward, which in simple words, is called “yoga.”

Interestingly, scholars say that we want to also have this ability & connect with Shiva or the higher reality, we’ve been given a third eye, too - in Vedic science, it’s called the ajna chakra located in between our eyebrows & in modern science, we call it the pineal gland, located in the deepest part of our brain.

Possibly as per some scholars, the best way to activate both these is to meditate by chanting any of your favourite mantras, like Om, Shiva or Krishna - whatever you like. Also if you get exposure to early sunlight everyday, it also stimulates this & there’s scientific evidence proving that it stimulates the pineal gland. And in your diet, eating high anti-oxidant foods like lemon, raw cacao or dark chocolate & garlic can have a positive effect.