Chakras are psychic centres that lie along the axis of the spine as consciousness potentials. The
Chakras are not materially real and are to be understood as situated, not in the gross body, but in the subtle or etheric body. Repositories of psychic energies, they govern the whole condition of being. They are usually represented as lotuses.
When
kundalini is struck, she awakens, uncoils and begin to rise upwards like a fiery serpent, breaking upon each
Chakra as she ascends, until the Shakti merges with Shiva in sahasrara chakra.
As kundalini reaches each chakra, that
lotus opens and lift its flower; and as soon as she leaves for a higher chakra, the lotus closes its petals and hangs down, symbolizing the activation of the energies of the chakra and their assimilation to kundalini.
The increasing number of lotus petals, in ascending order, may be taken to indicate the rising
energy or vibration-frequencies of the respective chakras, each functioning as a transformer of energies from one potency to another.
Each of the chakras, according to the Tantras, corresponds to one of the elements of which the known world is compounded. Muladhara represents solidity; Svadhisthana, liquidity; Manipura, the gaseous; Anahata, the aerial; Vishuddha, the etheric, or space. One can see the whole process as a progressive transformation of the elements, with an increase of volatility.
This ascent through the chakras can be viewed as an upward journey through the self which refines and subtilizes the energy that is the kundalini, until at the sixth chakra, the Ajna, centre of command, a qualitative change has taken place
Muladhara Chakra
Muladhara is the root centre of physical experience, located at the base of the spine, the sacral plexus .The square represents the earth itself, the four dimensions and the four directions. Four allows for completion, and earth embodies the elements and conditions for human completion on all levels.
Patience and greed are the attributes of this element, survival its desire, collecting and saving are its activity. Muladhara Chakra is the meeting place of the three main nadis: Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. The downward-pointing triangle indicates the downward movement of energy and the three main nadis
The seed mantra is Lam, the yellow square represents the earth element. The chakra governs the vital breath Apana. An inverted triangle in the centre of the square encloses the unmanifest Kundalini in three and a half coils around the svayambhu (self born) linga. With her mouth open, facing upward, she is connected with the path of Sushumna, the central nerve canal that runs along the spine.
In the pericarp is found the presiding deity Brahma, the lord of creation. His skin is the color of wheat, he wears a yellow dhoti (traditional Indian cloth wrapped to cover the lower body) and a
green scarf
Brahma is four-faced, four-armed, holding in his upper left hand a lotus flower (the symbol of purity). In his second left hand he holds the sacred scriptures. In one right hand he has a vase containing nectar, this is amrita the precious fluid of vital potency. The fourth hand is in Abhaya mudra, the gesture of dispelling fear.
The energy, or shakti, of Brahma is called Dakini. She is in shining pink with four arms holding a skull, a sword, a shield and a trident symbolizing the forces of the creator, the preserver and the destroyer.
The chakra''s associated animal is Ganesha, the elephant headed god. Ganesha is the lord of all beginnings and is invoked to bestow protection over all undertakings. His skin is coral orange. He wears a dhoti of lemon yellow color.
A green silk scarf drapes his shoulders. He has four arms to serve him while he acts as the destroyer of obstacles.
Ganesha is the son of shiva and parvati. He holds a ladu (a fragrant sweet symbolizing sattva, the most refined state of pure consciousness), a lotus flower, a hatchet. Tfourth hand is raised in the mudra of dispelling fear.
Svadhisthana Chakra
The second chakra has six vermillion lotus petals. The moon-shaped crescent is the yantra of this chakra
The vital relationship between water and the moon is shown bythe crescent yantra within the white circle of the water chakra
The aspects of Svadhisthana chakra are: procreation, family, fantasy. The earth
element of Muladhara chakra dissolves into the water element of Svadhisthana chakra. Fantasy enters as the person begins interrelating with family and friends. The inspiration to create begins in the second chakra
The seed mantra is Vam and the vital breath of the chakra is Prana.
Above the mantra is seated the presiding deity Vishnu, the lord of preservation,
in shining dark-blue, and he wears a dhoti of golden yellow.
A green silk scarf covers his four arms. He is seated on a pink lotus, four-armed, holding a conch, a mace, a wheel and a lotus. Vishnu is the lord of preservation, the all-pervading life-force in the universe
His energy is Rakini or Chakini Shakti, two-headed, four armed, holding an arrow, a skull, a drum, and an ax, seated on a red lotus. She wears a red sari, and jewels encircle her neck and four arms
The chakra''s associated animal is the light grey or green makara (crocodile), an emblem of the waters and the vehicle of the god Varuna, lord of the sea.
More summaries about the ancient indian science of chakras for spiritual healing