A comparative study of the Eye of the Heart in Islamic Sufism and the Third Eye in Yoga

Abstract Trends that have emerged in the epistemological field (of divine and non-divine origin) have commonalities due to the focus on the spiritual dimension of human existence, like the eye of the heart in Islamic Sufism that has similarities with the third eye on Yoga. The most important similarities are the effect of Zikr in the opening of the eye of the heart and the third eye, the need to get Zikr from Sheikh/Guru, solitude, the necessity of observing certain conditions before and during Zikr, steps of Zikr, and the manifestation of the unseen after the opening of the eye of the heart and the third eye. However, there are some differences, too. In Yoga, the physical location of the third eye is determined in the body, but in Islamic Sufism, the eye of the heart is a non-physical concept. In Islamic Sufism, the extent of manifestation of truths that one sees with the eye of the heart is fully described and symbolized, but in Yoga, a brief description is given.