The Seven Chakra Magnificent Essence of Yoga
Seven portals of an incredible energy system
The chakras are an interface of vortex-like portals between the body and the Life Force. Seven major chakras are stacked from the root of the spine, along the trunk, to the crown of the head, each chakra connected to a specific anatomical centre i.e. heart or pineal and pituitary. They are an energetic bridge between Prana and body, feeding Life Force into the endocrine-, nervous- and meridian systems. Each chakra presents a physical, mental and emotional aspect. Knowledge and understanding of this incredible aspect of the human being leads to deeper yoga and meditation practice and perspective.
Our chakras, the Life Force and our lives
Chakras are anatomical and energetic gateways that receive & radiate Prana. We don’t see this energy in the ordinary visual sense, but can observe how it expresses in the body. Feeling and body language, or state of mind, physically affects the vibrations that are felt or sensed. Prana not only enters and animate us via food and air, it also enters the body via the chakras. Anger or peace are examples of different qualities we may embody, both of which are expressions of the same energy by virtue of which we were born. “How we feel” shapes our lives, much like the quality of the food we eat, the thoughts we think, and our environment, form us.
The magnificent chakra essence of yoga
The chakras reveal the magnificent essence of yoga as a body, mind and spirit practice. A thorough understanding of the Life Force and Yoga helps us manage how Prana manifest in us, in the physical realm, to prepare for non-attachment to the ordinary world, and experience our divine essence – consciousness. Combined practice of yoga, with its material and mystical, or metaphysical aspects, is built into yoga asana, pranayama and meditation techniques. The significance of such yoga is practical and energetic: to clear, balance and charge each chakra as a part of our everyday functionality and cosmic spirituality.
In yoga meditation the mind and emotions are stilled and the body is engaged
Awareness of how the universal Life Force flows into us, and within us, awakens us to “consciousness”. Such mindfulness is entrained, like one may develop muscle by exercise. An integral connection to one’s biology, spirituality, character, characteristics, relationships, creativity, productivity, and a connection to the cosmic whole come into view with investigation of our life and being – in context of and via – the chakra system:
● 7. Sahasrara – Crown
● 6. Ajna – Third Eye
● 5. Vishudha – Throat
● 4. Anahat – Heart
● 3. Manipura – Solar Plexus
● 2. Svadhisthana – Belly
● 1. Muladhara – Root
Exploring the chakras is a journey of local and cosmic evolution, that, like all journeys, begin with a first step.
Johann Kotze,
Yours in Yoga,
Cape Town,
September 2016.
Related Chakra Blogs
● Chakra Mantra to Activate Divine Essence
● OM Potency & Your Divine Essence
● Healing the Chakras
● Chakra Workshops Cape Town
Additional comments
We rely on our “sense of consciousness” to experience consciousness. And to “sense” God. This may be what is meant by some that human beings are made in the image of God. This may in turn suggest consciousness is awareness of itself, as a Divine Reflection. Can we conclusively “think” or reason and prove this to be true? No – we don’t know any facts in this picture, we are not looking at a body that can be dissected, or a reality that can be understood by linear thinking alone.
In such metaphysics we are relying on awareness of our inner world for our navigation. Thinking is a small aspect of our capacity, in yoga we may tune in to a picture that cannot be understood by thinking alone. and of the world, just like the ordinary body is temporal, of the world. The mundane body and ordinary logic is unaware of its Divine magnificence. The super-luminal body is consciousness, rendered self-aware, in the body.
Such a light body soul is aware of spirit. This “soul” is an individual energy of an individual human being, spirit the cosmic energy of “everything”. From here we can postulate that we are alive in the body, and in conscious awareness, “bodymind”. Consciousness is the most direct connection to the Source of the Divine. Therefore meditation is the state most closely associated to awakened consciousness. We are spirit, and amongst other things, God is spirit too.
The chakra system connects the individual soul to spirit. On a gross physical plain food is second hand energy, although it is a manifestation of the Life Force (Prana), the Source of All. The breath is more ethereally connected to Prana. This is the esoteric (hidden) meaning of the chakra healing the way I understand it; opening the seven energy seals and harmonising them with another activates the bodymind in connection and perception of All That Is.
This is why the chakra system is a direct portal to Prana. In this picture “God is consciousness” and the limited mind can comprehend this as “reasonable”. It may then understand itself as a bodymind, a non-duality, that contains space-time, and not limited by space and time. ” All D”, so to speak, beyond 3D. It awakens to the Life Force, realising “as within, so without”.
This is perhaps why there is a sense of Love, Light and Eternal Peace that unfold in states of inner and outer attunement. True freedom fortunately exists within us, we only have to go there, and develop the means to go there, and surrender our self will to Greater Self. Let go, let God…
This is the path of self-realisation, not only in yoga, although yoga is particularly well suited to attain a conscious bodymind “meditation” state.
Why is this beautiful conscious reality not happening in this beautiful world?
We are simply not taught to explore this stuff in the mainstream world. Fortunately “light body ability” is programmed into our DNA. The expertise is available, but it has to be discovered, and activated by exercising free will. Liberation requires going within, inner awareness.
Mainstream education is “commercial”. It propagates mainstream science and religion, it can be clever, have a little heart or appear to have heart, but usually, or at deeper consideration, it fails to evoke self-reflection and invite objective discourse or teach originality or independence. Mainstream education “fails” to realise self because it serves the system. The system fails because it is ultimately neither intelligent in a natural sense, nor has heart, in the spiritual sense. It does not promote individuation, it is based on rationalisation, which is more about control than love; with lots of rules and principles, little caring, compassion and unconditional acceptance.
And the “current world” is based in competition. One winner; everyone else, losers, serving the system, based on commerce, the commercial value of its peoples, societies blinded by the game it is enslaved into.
There where there is a spark of the Divine, there is the grail. Kindle and nurture the spark, and follow its trail.
25 April 2017.
