is known as kula, meaning “container.” Within this container is the kundalini or the dormant force of spiritual energy, the expression of cosmic energy in human form. This cosmic energy lies asleep within your psychophysical structure. All spiritual practices strive to awaken this dormant force and to elevate it to oneness with infinite consciousness—the “top” of the cycle—represented in the human structure as the top of the head, the “crown center.”
Imagine you are sleeping soundly. Perhaps you have been on a long journey and you haven’t slept in a couple of days. Your sleep is so deep you don’t notice people going in and out of the room, the sun shining in the window in the morning, the sound of the busy street outside. Then suddenly your alarm clock rings near your ear. It’s time to catch your plane home. It takes a special instrument—an alarm, a friend nudging you, a telephone ringing nearby—to awaken you from such a deep slumber.
The kundalini has been sleeping deep inside the kula for eons, since the beginning of evolution. It takes a very special instrument to awaken it. One instrument designed to awaken the kundalini is the mantra, a sound vibration repeated in the mind during meditation. It is the key that unlocks the infinite energy residing in every human being and that propels you toward the infinite bliss of self-realization.
A mantra can be especially effective if it has been invested with the tremendous experience of a teacher who has already achieved what you seek. When a mantra is given correctly at the moment of the initial instruction, its vibration awakens the kundalini. Each time it is repeated in the mind, it vibrates the primordial spiritual energy and the kundalini rises. When repetition stops, it returns again to the kula. It is said that the kundalini, when seen with the “inner eye,” is as bright as ten million flashes of lightning but as soothing to gaze upon as ten million moons.
Meditation alone, even without the guidance of a teacher, can also awaken the kundalini. It rises through a “psychic canal,” the susumna, passing through each of the subtler energy centers. The susumna is like the information superhighway, an invisible channel for energy, connecting the subtle energy centers (chakras) to the body through a vibrational relationship to the nerves and endocrine system. As the kundalini rises, the practitioner experiences profound states of blissful consciousness, until a total merger with infinite consciousness is attained when the kundalini energy reaches the topmost center, associated with the pineal gland. You may sense the movement of the kundalini, you may not. You will probably not notice anything unusual until much later, after many months or years of meditation. At that time, glimpses of the forces at work in meditation are taken in stride and are actually paid no heed. The goal of unqualified union with the infinite is firmly implanted, and the experiences along the path are merely signs, like markers on a hiking trail.
Remember, for a moment, our discussion of the cycle of creation in the previous chapter. You recall that everything in the universe is composed of the five fundamental factors—solid, liquid, luminous, aerial, and etheric. In the living being, these five factors are controlled by the vital energy, which in turn is controlled by the mind. The five factors in the body are controlled by energy centers along the route of the kundalini. These are called chakras or vortexes of psychic energy.
Yoga science links the glandular system with these subtle energy centers. There are seven main chakras, each with its own shape, color, sound vibration, and relationship to the body and mind. The chakra system is a subtle spiritual anatomy that is closely related to the physical body. It links that which is “you” to your mind and body.
The word chakra means wheel or spiral, a fundamental structure in our universe. Think of spiral galaxies, round planets, suns and moons in orbit. Think of the concentric circles of growth in tree trunks, of seashells, of the nautilus with its many-chambered spiral. Think of coiled serpents, cats circling and sleeping in spiral shapes, the opening flower in spring, spiral bales of hay at harvest time, the concentric shapes of snowflakes. The chakra is the wheel, the shape of a container, a spiral path up a mountain. The powerful forces of nature are spiral vortexes: hurricanes, tornados, cyclones, even volcanos. Chakras are fundamental structures in nature that provide the link between spirit and matter; they are multidimensional paradigms of consciousness.
The chakras regulate the subtle energy within the body. There are seven basic chakras, each associated with states of consciousness. They are the containers of psychic propensities or instincts: the longings, desires, and emotions that must be harnessed along the way. The chakras are the controlling points of all the vital elements in your being — physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. They are closely associated with the endocrine system, and thus have an impact upon your physical and emotional well-being. Spiritually, the chakras are the stepping stones to attainment. The control of each chakra brings more profound states of consciousness and corresponding control over all the forces in the universe. The chakras are the gateways to oneness with the Supreme.
Think of the significance of the number seven. The seven colors of our rainbow, seven notes in the Western musical scale, seven days in a week. The Cabalistic Tree of Life has seven levels. There are seven sacraments in the Christian tradition. Mystic traditions and astrology teach what researchers are now exploring: that human beings go through major life cycles of seven years each.
You may have seen charts that connect the chakras to the colors of the rainbow and the notes of the Western musical scale. However, the number seven may be the only thing they actually have in common. People who have not been trained or have not experienced the vibration, form, and color of the chakras have conveniently, but wrongly, made these associations. Artistically, and perhaps in the field of color therapy, an association can be made between the seven chakras and the colors of the rainbow. But the inherent “color” is quite different and can only be perceived with spiritual insight, not seen by the external eye. Each chakra also has its acoustic root or sound, again, perceived rather than heard, and within each chakra, each mental tendency has its own vibration.
Virtually every spiritual tradition refers to the chakras in some way. Saint John wrote of the “seven spirits before the throne” and the “seven seals on the back of the Book of Life.” Other early Christians are said to have used the term “seven churches in Asia.” The Tibetans call them “Khor-lo”; the Hopi, in their creation story, speak of energy centers; the early alchemists spoke of seven metals by which crude matter was transmuted into “gold.”
Clustered around each chakra are the vrttis, or the mental tendencies that are controlled by that chakra and its relationship to associated physical glands. An increase or decrease or an imbalance in glandular secretions can make the vrttis more or less active. Yoga postures can help balance and regulate the activity of the chakras and thus the glands and vrttis.
According to yoga science, the mind stores reactive “momenta” — the plural of momentum—or samskaras, a type of energy created by desire. Some people call it “karma,” though technically karma means the reaction you experience as a result of your reactive momentum. Samskaras are like deposits you make in a bank, to be withdrawn at a later date. They can be inborn, such as the child prodigy who is born with the samskara for musical genius; they can be imposed by parents or society; or they can be acquired throughout life. Everyone has a vastly different set of samskaras, constantly ripening and being expressed. What you think, say, and do, according to yoga philosophy, comes back to you.
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