The Chakras – Part 2
Talking with God
DESPITE the cry of materialism that has rung round the world, with its signature tune of ‘God is dead’, more people than ever are arriving at something new. In the past, God was largely ‘owned’ by the priests. The man in the street was threatened, warned, told and talked to about God, but in Western culture, neither he nor it seems the priests, seldom ever experienced what they were talking about. When religious authorities were trying to stamp out the American Indian church, the Indian priest said, ‘You go to church to talk aboutGod. We go to talk to God.’ Many ordinary people, outside any religious group, are now doing the same thing.
In the meantime, although some teachers are treating the subject of Chakras and Kundalini as if they were a huge secret and something ordinary mortals should know nothing about, hundreds of people are gaining direct experience.
Here is a letter from a woman who, when practising a form of Bhakti-Yoga in which she offers her whole life to God, describes the experience that followed:
‘This occurs at any time and any place and the beginning of it makes me feel sleepy. It seems, it begins either at the base of the spine, or at the rectum, then travels on to the sex organs accompanied by a burning feeling, and pins and needles on the surface area. From there, it ascends to the point of the navel, then upwards to the solar plexus. One can liken its ascent to a burning hand.
At the solar plexus the heat becomes more intense, it makes my middle feel sick. Still climbing it reaches my chest, around the heart. It seems here to be groping for the very inner-most centre as if the very soul resided there. This brings forth groans. I feel like pouring forth all the love in my being.
It travels on and burns my throat, then upward to the space between my eyebrows and the bridge of my nose seems prickly. For some unknown reason I burst into tears, but as it moves upwards from there and fills a circle on the crown of my head, (and rests there indefinitely) all is peace and light.
She also says, ‘I do not appear to be guiding the power with my mind, as it seems to be strongest if I try to fix my mind on something else. Eileen Garratt echoes the same opinion. She writes: ‘I have heard it said that in “supernatural” sensing, concentration and meditation are necessary. But this seems contrary to anything which I have learned from my own experience in clairvoyance telepathy and projection. I would say that an ease, a nonchalance about the process, are prerequisites to the production of such states.’
She says later that complete relaxation and surrender of the conscious self, allows the superconscious self to become dynamic and active at a conscious level. This exactly matches what the other woman does in ‘surrendering to God’.
It was said earlier that man’s body is like a radio receiver immersed in a sea of cosmic energy. The effect on the Chakras which form energy centres for the body is rather like the filaments of electric light bulbs which do not glow until the current flows.
Similarities
People may describe the Chakras in different ways, but their vision of them must be the result of their own inner experiences. Nevertheless there have been certain similarities running through many of the descriptions. The effect of the glowing of the Chakras through the so-called release of Kundalini is not the same as the direct action of cosmic energy. This situation is more like the bombardment of atoms by radiation. The atom accepts the surplus energy for a while, but then ejects it again in the form of light – hence the ‘glow’. Ultimately if the process is too accelerated, there might be what could be considered an ‘atomic blast’, which would be that uncontrolled arousal of Kundalini whose dangers have caused so much division amongst the teachers of Yoga.
Thus, the arousal of Kundalini is not the effect of outside cosmic power, but the release of cosmic power that has long been individualised within the particular person. As was already said, the creative sound was negative and positive, earth and sun. The Kundalini took the materials of earth and gradually ‘wove’ a form through which, it could realise itself as an individual being.
The cosmic mind thus becomes incarnated in a physical body, which gives it a sense of being separate and individual instead of universal. The sperm and ovum in the womb, present a pattern with which the Kundalini, also directed by our own past lives, builds a body. The body has in it, even if only ‘in embryo’, all the possibilities of expressing the qualities of the cosmic wholeness.
Just as the baby has sexual organs which it does not yet use for intercourse – so the ‘magnetic’ field, connecting with the nervous system and glands, has in it the Chakras, which only as we mature as individuals, actually become a part of our conscious experience. In order to understand this, it may be helpful to think of ourselves as a strange sort of science fiction plants, growing out of another dimension, into time and space; starting as a speck of matter in our mother’s womb.
Latent qualities flower
As this human plant grows, latent qualities in it flower. The Kundalini is the power behind the growth, we direct it by our attitudes, our desires, lust, cooperation or inhibition. But human growth goes beyond the development of the baby, and matures into the dimensions of emotion, mind, and eventually, an awareness of our cosmic being. The Chakras are like senses which are sensitive to energies, more subtle than sound, or light. But they are also organs which express energy, as do our hands, legs, genitals or larynx.
The woman originally quoted, mentioned eight points at which the Kundalini seemed to produce heat: base of the spine, sexual organs, navel, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow and crown. The Hopi Indians speak of only five centres, Indian tradition lists seven, Buddhism six, and some traditions, such as the Rosicrucians, list as many as twelve. Can all these be right?
We have to remember that a lot of books are written purely from intellectual conjecture or study, without any direct experience or insight. On the other hand, the magnetic field or aura, in which the Chakras exist, has its own network of nadis (translated as points where energy interacts or meets), which are quite different to the physical nerves.
Vortexes of activity
It has many points where vortices of activity occur – hundreds of points – and so one could list many Chakras. It is possible that different researches have determined different centres as the mainones. Also, the subtle body, or auric body, is more plastic and changeable than the physical. Just as we can develop huge biceps by special diet and exercise, so some of the Chakras might become enlarged through special activities or problems of the individual. We cannot therefore be dogmatic, as there is room enough in creation for variety of skins, of religions, of foods, of abilities and, no doubt, of Chakras.
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Perhaps the easiest way to think of the Chakras is to see them as focussed aspects of human awareness and experience. For instance one can focus solely on the sense impressions of touch or sight. This can be shifted to being lost in thought, or carried along by sexuality, or perhaps adrift in emotions. Each of these is a very different ‘world’ of experience. The Chakras are simply a way of saying, this is the part of the body where we are most aware of this aspect of experience and awareness. This is a focal point where you might discover more of your potential for life and awareness.
But let us list the main Chakras as given by various authorities. Starting from the bottom, we have the Root Chakras, or Muladhara Chakra. This is said to have four petals, or main functions.
This is why the Chakras are often called Lotuses, because of these petals, or direction of energy in the vortice. The root Chakra is described as being between the rectum and sexual organs. Remember that Chakras themselves are in our magnetic field or subtle body and are not part of the physical body. Nevertheless their roots, so to speak, connect with various parts of our physical structure. This will be dealt with later. Edgar Cayce and Yoga both list Root Chakra as being red in colour.
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The next one is the Abdominal or Swadihisthana Chakra. This traditionally has six petals, and is just above the sexual organs. Traditional Yoga gives this as vermilion. Cayce describes it as orange.
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Then comes the Naval or Manipuraka Chakra. This is above the navel in the area of the solar plexus, with ten petals. Yoga gives it as blue, Cayce as yellow.
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Above this is the Heart, or Anahata Chakra. This lies between the breasts, with twelve petals. Yoga colour is orange red, Cayce lists it as green.
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At the base of the throat is the Throat or Vishuddha Chakra. This has sixteen petals of ‘smoky purple hue’ (Yoga). Cayce gives it as blue or grey blue.
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Between the eyebrows, or in the middle of the forehead, is the Brow, or Ajna Chakra. This has two petals. Yoga gives it as white, Cayce as indigo.
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Where the baby’s fontanel appears, on the top of the head, is just above the centre of the Crown or Sahasrara Chakra. This has a thousand Petals, and is clear as light (Yoga). Cayce gives it as violet.
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A description developed by Leadbeater in the Theosophical Society, lists the positions as follows:
1 above the genitals.
2 over the navel.
3 over the spleen – ie. lower left ribs.
4 over the heart or left breast.
5 lower throat.
6 Brow.
7 Crown.
Dr. Wilhelm Reich never wrote of Chakras, but through his own line of scientific research, he defined seven body segments. Starting from a background of physics and Freudian psychiatry, he gradually came to see and demonstrate that human personality and the body were expressions of a cosmic sea of energy. (Discovery of the Orgone – Panther).
He believed that this cosmic energy, radiating from the sun, has in it latent qualities which express in matter. In the human being, these basic qualities of orgone energy express as a movement, pulsation, expansion and contraction, orgasm, emotion, consciousness and the ability for life in us to look into and respond to life in other living beings.
Self-regulating morality
Reich said that out of a harmonious relationship with our own life force, or orgonomic functioning, arose self-regulating morality, love, desire to work and create and to further understand self. But most individuals, he found, were blocking the functioning of the orgone energy in them. Through tests, he found that the energy flowed up the spine, over the head and down the front of the body. In its flow it gave rise to pleasurable ‘streaming’ throughout the body. Emotions were an expression of this streaming. That is, feelings of tenderness, love, sexuality, crying, self-realisation and insight into others, were the results of the orgone streaming freely through us.
But if we had been taught to block crying, tenderness, love, sexuality, self regulated creativity, and replace it with rigid morals, social conduct, and forced learning or working, a tension or block occurred in the muscular system, which held back the streaming. This not only changed the personality, but it also resulted in mental and physical illness and pain. Even cancer, he saw as a result of blocked orgone energy.
Relaxing the blocks
The therapy he developed as a result of his research was centred on helping the person to relax any blocks and allow the orgone energy to flow freely again. This was difficult with many people as they were terrified of crying, sexuality, love or tenderness. He also demonstrated that this cosmic energy ‘radiates’, but he did not go as far as defining an aura. The seven body segments he speaks of are:
1. Scalp and eyes – he describes each one as a circular zone around the body, so this would include ears and the back of the head.
2. Mouth
3. Neck
4. Chest
5. Diaphragm and solar plexus.
6. Abdomen below the ribs – ie abdominal muscles.
7. Pelvis, which includes sexual organs, rectum and colon.
While these do not fit in exactly with Chakra positions, what he lists as signs of blockages in these areas helps us enormously to understand personal growth, as will be seen when we deal with particular Chakras