Organization
of Energies in Human Body |
|
| According
to Tantra, the human being is a miniature universe. All that
is found in the cosmos can be found within each individual,
and the same principle that apply to the universe apply in
the case of the individual being. In human beings the surplus
of energy that is not being used to maintain the functioning
of the organism is also symbolically described as a coiled
or resting serpent. This potential energy is said to rest
at the base of the spinal cord, at the muladhara chakra. The
potential energy is called kundalini. "Kundalini is the Divine
Cosmic Energy in bodies."
|
The dynamic energy that provides the working forces for the
body evolves from the active energy of shakti and is called
prana. Electrical energy is more subtle than mechanical energy.
Prana is a still more subtle form of energy of that is not
yet studied or understood in the mainstream of modern science. |
 |
Parna is organized and subdivided according to specific functions
in the body. It flows like an electric current through an
intricate network of subtle nerves (nadis), connecting the
body and mind and keeping the entire organism in working order.
This vital force of shakti in the body is also organized around
specific centers. These are not physical centers, although
they have physical correspondences in the various phlexes
of the body. These energy centers, called charkas, are intricate
vortices of energy that help organize the physical body, although
they cannot be perceived by it. The chakras influence, vitalize,
and control corresponding regions of the body. |
| Sl No. |
Psychic Center in
the Human Body |
Corresponding Physical
Canter |
Loka or Cosmic Plane |
|
Guna or Quality |
6. |
Ajna |
Pituitary |
Satyaloka |
 |
Sattva |
5. |
Vishuddha |
Thoraxic plexus |
Tapaloka |
4. |
Anahata |
Cardiac plexus |
Janoloka |
|
Rajas |
3. |
Manipura |
Solar plexus |
Maharloka |
2. |
Svadhisthana |
Sacral plexus |
Survarloka |
|
Tamas |
1. |
Muladhara |
Coccyx |
Bhuvarloka |
|
Although there
are many energy centers, six are traditionally considered
to be most important. These are located long the central axis
of the body in conjunction with the spinal cord. Energy is
usually focused in one or more of these centers to the relative
exclusion of others. Differences in where energy is focused
from person to person and from time help to account for differences
in the way the world is experienced from one individual to
the next, and from one moment to the next. |
a)
The two lowest centers are ground together because they represent
the most primitive expressions of energy, and states of consciousness
that are most closely tied to the physical world. They are
linked to the basic instincts for individual and species survival.
b) The second two charkas, located at the
solar and cardiac plexes, represent a turning to more subtle
relationships with the world. There is an active involvement
in trying to organize and make sense of the world, and to
interact on a less physical plane than in the case of the
first two chakras.
c) The two charkas that correspond to the
cervical and pituitary centers in the human body represent
a movement away from worldly relationships to a world of pure
form. Here one perceives and relates to the underlying forms
from which the material universe comes.
d) There is a series of still more subtle
charkas above the ajana or pituitary center, culminating in
the center of pure consciousness at the crown of the head.
This is the abode of Shiva, pure transcendent consciousness,
in each individual. This center is named "sahasrara". |
The practice
of kundalini yoga involves not only awakening this kundalini
shakti but also systematically leading her through each of
the chakras to the sahasrara or crown chakra, the abode of
Shiva. The word yoga means union, and this union can be understood
as the uniting of kundalini shakti with Shiva (pure consciousness).
When this is achieved in the individual, he becomes fully
conscious. When the static shakti becomes dynamic and travels
upward, fully energizing each of the centers along the way,
the polarization of the body gives way and one attains the
highest state of Samadhi. It is said that the union of Shiva
and shakti generates a nectar that continues to sustain the
body in this super conscious state. This union is the goal
of the aspirant, but few achieve it. |
