CHAKRAS - Muladhara -Nepali Shakta

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Developed Shakta doctrine postulates seven chakras (see image). These

are called the Muladhara or " Root Support " at the base of the spine

with four " petals " , the Swadhishthana or " Own Abode " at the root of

the genitals with six, the Manipura or " Fullness of Jewels " at the

level of the navel with ten " petals " , the Anahata or " Unstruck Melody "

at the heart-centre with twelve, the Vishuddha or " Complete Purity " at

the throat with sixteen, and finally the Ajna or " Guru's Command " at

the brow with two " petals " . The Crown centre, the Sahasrara-Padma or

" Thousand Petalled-Lotus " , located at the very top of the head, is

technically speaking not a chakra at all, but the summation of all the

chakras.

 

The chakras are strung along the central or Sushumna channel (usually

located at the spine). In the lowest chakra, the Muladhara, at the

base of the spine, there lies the kundalini-shakti, the latent

consciousness-energy, the microcosm of the cosmic creative shakti.

When this is aroused, it can be made to ascend the sushumna, either

ac-tivating or dissolving (depending on the yogic tradition) each

chakra in turn, until it reaches the highest or crown chakra, the

Sahasrara, where dwells the Godhead or Supreme Shiva (Paramashiva).

As the Kundalini-Shakti unites with Paramashiva, the original

transcendent equilibrium is restored, and the yogi returns to the

state of oneness with the Absolute.

 

The chakras are described as stations or centres of pure consciousness

(chaitanya) and consciousness-power. They are focal points of

meditation; iconographic structures within the occult or " subtle

body " . Apart from the Sahasrara, each chakra is described by means of

a whole lot of symbolic associations or correspondences. Building

upon the initial later Upanishads speculation, each chakra, as well as

having a specific position in the physical body, element, mantra, and

deity, also has a particular number of " petals " , each associated with

one of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, a corresponding colour,

shape, animal, plane of existence, sense-organ, mantric sound, and so on.

 

As is usually the case with intellectual esoteric systems, a lot of

these correspondences are arbitrary, for example, smell and feet with

Muladhara, taste and hand with Swadhishthana, sight and anus with

Manipura, etc. These associations are all based on the Samkhyan

sequence of tattwas and their attributes.

 

In addition to the seven major chakras arranged along the spine there

are also chakras in the hands, feet, genitals, and so on. Also in

addition to the seven major chakras, there are also a number of other

chakras along the spine which are sometimes referred to. In his

exhaustively detailed and definitive work on the chakras according to

the traditional Indian understanding, Layayoga - an Advanced Method of

Concentration, Shyam Sundar Goswami, citing numerous references,

describes thirteen chakras altogether; the seven standard chakras

there are six minor ones. The following lists the chakras according

to the 13-chakra model.

 

chakra position petals tattwa element

Sahasrara above head [note] 1000 transcendent transcendent spirit

Guru above head 12

Nirvana crown 100 origin of mind mind

Indu forehead 16 buddhi

Manas forehead 6 chitta

Ajna brow 2 manas

Talu/Lalana roof of mouth 12 or 64 n/a n/a

Vishuddha throat 16 space elements

Anahata heart 12 air

Hrit heart 8 n/a

Manipura navel 10 fire

Svadhisthana genitals 6 water

Muladhara base of spine 4 earth

 

Reference is also made in all Tantric texts to the nadis or channels

of vital-force (prana). According to the traditional Tantric

teachings, the seven chakras are strung like pearls or jewels along

the brilliant thin thread of the sushumna nadi, which is the primary

nadi in the body. On either side of the sushumna are the two main

secondary nadis: the white moon-like ida on the left, containing

descending vitality (apana), and the red sun-like pingala on the

right, containing ascending vitality (prana in the narrow sense of the

term). The tantric yogi aims to direct the subtle airs from these two

primary side channels into the central sushumna nadi, and so activate

the latent Kundalini energy. This then ascends through each of the

chakras in turn, and when it reaches the top of the head, the yogi

attains Liberation

 

The understanding of the chakras and kundalini in the West derives

largely from Sir John Woodroffe's The Serpent Power, a very technical

work, first published in 1919 under the psuedonym Arthur Avalon. The

first (and still one of of the only) serious books on the chakras and

Kundalini yoga to be published in the West, it is actually a

translation of two sixteenth century Bengali texts and their

commentaries, together with Woodroffe's own long and detailed

introduction. Woodroffe's book - his own chapters cover Shakta

metaphysics and cosmology, Patanjali Yoga, and Tantric practice, as

well as the chakras themselves - is unfortunately very difficult for

the beginner, but it served as the inspiration and chief reference

text (usually without acknowledgment) for many Western occult-esoteric

writers

 

Gurus

 

Most Indian gurus incorporate the idea of chakras into their

teachings; as part of a watered-down or westernised form of tantra