ego like line drawn on water

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After passing through the six centres, the Kundalini reaches the

Thousand-Petalled Lotus known as the Sahasrara, and the aspirant goes into

Samadhi.

 

 

According to the Vedas these centres are called 'bhumi', 'planes'. There

are seven such planes. The centre at the heart corresponds to the fourth plane

of the Vedas. According to the Tantra there is in this centre a lotus called

Anahata, with twelve petals.

 

 

The centre known as the Visuddha is the fifth plane. This centre is at the

throat and has a lotus of sixteen petals. When the Kundalini reaches this plane,

the devotee longs to talk and hear only about God. Conversation on worldly

subjects, on 'woman and gold', causes him great pain. He leaves a place where

people talk of these matters.

 

 

Then comes the sixth plane, corresponding to the centre known as Ajna. This

centre is located between the eyebrows and it has a lotus with two petals. When

the Kundalini reaches it, the aspirant sees the form of God. But still there

remains a slight barrier between the devotee and God. It is like a light inside

a lantern. You may think you have touched the light, but in reality you cannot

because of the barrier of the glass.

 

 

And last of all is the seventh plane, which, according to Tantra, is the

centre of the Thousand-Petalled Lotus. When the Kundalini arrives there, the

aspirant goes into Samadhi. In that lotus dwells Satchitananda Siva, the

Absolute. There Kundalini, the awakened Power, unites with Siva. This is known

as the union of Siva and Sakti.

 

 

When the Kundalini rises to the Sahasrara and the mind goes into samdhi,

the aspirant loses all consciousness of the outer world. He can no longer remain

in his physical body. If milk is poured into his mouth, it runs out again. In

that state the life-breath lingers for twenty-one days and then passes out.

Entering the 'black waters' of the ocean, the ship never comes back. But the

Isvarakotis, such as the Incarnations of God, can come down from this state of

samadhi. They can descend from this exalted state because they like to live in

the company of devotees and enjoy the love of God. God retains in them the 'ego

of Knowledge' or the 'ego of Devotion' so that they may teach men. Their minds

move between the sixth and the seventh planes. They run a boat race back and

forth, as it were, between these two planes.

 

 

After attaining Samadhi some souls of their own accord keep the 'ego of

Knowledge'. But that ego does not create any attachments. It is like a line

drawn on water."

 

 

 

(The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda. pp. 449-500)