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KUNDALINI
CHAKRAS - THE
ENERGY CENTRES-2 |
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| According to
Gandharvatantra Kundalini moving up from muladhara to Anahata chakra,
shining like molten gold is known as Fire Kundalini; from Anahata to Visuddha,
as bright as a million suns, as Sun Kundalini; from Visuddha centre to the end
of Sushumna-nadi, lustrous as a milllion moons, as moon Kundalini. The aspect
of Kundalini which is beyond Sushumna becomes supraconscious, embracing all
forms of sound and light.
The essential, however, is not
in the complexities of the chakras, symbolism but rather in their function
within the subtle body, the role they play at the moment the Kundalini, rising
through the Sushumna channel toward the top of the head, touches each one on
her journey. The chakras represent a symbolic theory of the psyche. In
the system of chakras we find that each phase of energy is represented by an
element, in ascending order earth, water, fire, air and ether.
Each of the five vortices
signifies a new quality, and each is both an extension and a limitation of
another. Thus at the root centre Muladhara associated with the element earth
the quality is cocontent, experiencing no desire to change or to expand into
any other state. At the same time, just as the root of a tree implies the
possibility of its growth, the earth centre denotes an opportunity to expand
the awareness. Likewise the second chakra, Svadisthana, has the nature of its
corresponding element, water: an energy that tends to flow downward.
The third chakra, Manipura,
associated with the element fire, has an upward, consuming movement like
flames. The fourth chakra, Anahata, associated with air is characterized by a
tendency to revolve in different directions and to relate itself to other
possibilities. Here ‘air’ is not vital breath but the atmosphere the immensity
of soace and the conveyor of sound. The name of the chakra implies that it
emits a mysterious cosmic vibration, as of unstruck (anahata) sound that
is sound beyond the realm of the senses. The fifth chakra, Visuddha associated
with ether, is like a vessel within which all the elements mingle.
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| The process of
becoming is not unilinear that is, moving in one pushes at every level.
The Kundalini energy does not shoot up in a straight line, but at each stage of
its unfolding unties the knots of different energies. Each successive unlocking
brings transformation. In Tantric teachings the purusha is first seen at
the fourth chakra, the heart chakra Anahata. Purusha is the essence of man, the
Supreme man. In the
recognition of feelings and ideas one sees the purusha. This is the first
inkling of a being within whom one is contained greater and more important than
oneself but which has a purely psychic existence. Traditionally, the two
interlocking triangles within this chakra symbolize the union of the male
principle (the upward-pointing triangle) and the female principle (the
downward-pointing triangle), so that here they indicate a cosmic universal
value.
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| To cross from
Anahata to the fifth chakra visuddha, one must admit that all one’s psychic
‘facts’ have nothing to do with material facts. If one has reached this stage
one is beginning to leave Anahata because one has succeeded in dissolving the
‘union of material external facts with internal or psychic facts’ the element
ether related to visuddha is the one that is placed above the five others’ and
transcends them. The presence of the syllable Om within the inner triangle of
Ajna, the sixth chakra is a clear indication that the associted symbolism is
that of the origin the beginning of all things and also of their end. Om
is in equal measure the sonic vibration from which all things emerge and that
into which they must eventually be reabsorbed at the end of the cosmic
cycle.the elements and other symbols associated with the vortices must be
understood as referring to the positive and negative polarities functioning
within the personality. As kundalini ascends through the planes of the psychic
centres the initiate experiences an interplay of visionary experences, with
sensations of sound, light and colour.
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| At the level of
the sixth chakra, Ajna the centre between the eyebrows, the dialectical
functioning of the personality is constrolled by means of a power to command
that can harmonize the energies. Just as Jung’s subjects in the process of
individuation transcend the barriers of polarities interacting within their
personalities with the help of a therapist so in kundalini-yoga the initiate
learns through long apprenticeship under the guidance of a guru to balance the
dialectical processes of the lower chakras. Once a balance is attained psychic
individuation results in an entirely new awareness; so too with the adept when
all functions are equilibrated at the level of the Ajna chakra. |
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| The seventh and
last chakra Sahasrara, has no associated element, colour or sound. As a lotus
Sahasrara has a thousand petals, but there is no other specific symbolism
connected with it. The colour white, the syllable Om, and the element universal
consciousness of the Ajna chakra admit nothing beyond themselves, unless it be
the Absolute Brahman. To
attain Sahasrara is thus to attain the world of Brahaman in which liberation is
symbolically located. One ought therefore to say that this chakra is located
above the crown of the head in order to stress that it is differentiated from
the other six. The best graphic representations, indeed show it in the form of
an inverted lotus emitting a radiance that bathes the subtle body in its
entirety like the aura.
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| Terminating her
journey at Sahasrara, the Kundalini Sakti which has the brilliance of lightning
and is composed of three gunas [qualities], after piercing the unmanifest,
lustrous abode of Siva, which is in the form of Bindu [the transcendental
centre] and which is situated in the midst of eternal bliss and divine nectar,
having the brilliance of million moons and suns, returens to her resting place,
Muladhara. |
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| How long the
aspirant will have to stay at each chakra depends on his attachment and karmic
action. The root chakra Muladhara, fourth chakra Anahata and fifth chakra Ajna
are the greates obstacles to the rising of Kundalini. Three chakras are
associated with the Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra knots (granthis), and with psychic
blockages called lingas (the Svayambhu, Bana and ltara lingas respectively).
The Sanskrit word lingam is derived from the roots, if to dissolve, and gam to
go out which symbolizes dissolving and evolving again. To clear the Brahma knot
is to get established in totality ; to clear the vishnu knot to perceive the
existence of a universal life-principle ; to clear the Rudra knot to attain the
non-dual state, realization of one-ness the universal joy.
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| In tantric
symbolism the state of samadhi is the union of Siva and Sakri. If it is true
that this total union knows no end, it means that the aspirant who has achieved
this condition will not return will never again return from his free state as a
jivan-mukta as liberated while yet living’. |
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