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Kundalini and the subtle body:
The Subtle Body has been explained in other texts; it is also known as the aura around the physical body. It also exists within the physical body.
This is how the Siva Samhita describes the Subtle Body as it relates to Kundalini and Tantric sexual union: "In this body, the central Great Axis, Mount Meru (*the spinal column*) is surrounded by seven islands: prana, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, and soma. There are rivers, seas, seers, sages, gods, intelligences, all the stars and planets, sacred places, shrines, and presiding deities. The sun and the moon, the agents of creation and destruction, move through the body, as do the Five Elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether. All that exists in all realms is to be found within the body surrounding the Central Great Axis. This body is called Brahmanda (*egg of Brahma, or aura of Brahma*) is the microcosm: the nectar-rayed moon, in its proper place atop the spinal column, turns her face downward and rains nectar day and night. The ambrosia from the moon sub-divides into two subtle parts. One of these nourishes the body, as sacred water, and descends as a subtle channel on the left side. The other ray, brilliant as the purest milk, enters the central nerve of the spinal column, maintaining and re-creating the moon in her proper place atop the Central Great Axis. At the lower region of the Great Axis is the sun, located within the body itself. From the inner sun, above the navel region (*solar plexus*), a subtle channel emanates to the right side and carries the solar energy upward by the power of its rays. This nerve on the right is another form of the sun and moves through the body, swallowing up vital secretions. The Lord of Creation and Destruction is the Sun, which moves through the vessel of the body. In the human body are several hundred thousand subtle channels, but the principal ones are fourteen in number. Of these, three are particularly important: the Ida, to the left, the Pingala, to the right, and Susumna (in the center). Of these three, Susumna is most beloved of Yogis, all other subtle channels are subordinate to it. Ida on the left coils around the Susumna and enters the right nostril. Pingala on the right, coils about Susumna and enters the left nostril. Who knows the microcosm of the body and understands its mysteries truly reaches the highest state."
Most eastern philosophies have similar descriptions of the Subtle Body, especially the solar/lunar symbolism and the necessity for their merger, as well as the three subtle nerves. The Subtle Body, as a celestial microcosm, serves to link this realm with the next, and the next.The Chakras; literally 'wheels,' are nerve bundles and psychic centers. They have been described as 'plasma fields' which vibrate at specific frequencies, shapes, sounds, and colors. Most modern views of the Chakras have been derived from British colonists in India, who gave misinterpreted or mistaken accounts in many cases. The modern Chakra systems often are based upon these misconceptions, rather than ancient descriptions in Yogic and Tantric texts.
The earliest Tantric texts describe the Muladhara, or root chakra, and the Swadisthan, or male/female chakra, as primarily physical, while the next four chakras are a combination of physical and subtle both, with the crown chakra, the thousand-petalled lotus, being wholly subtle/spiritual in nature. Each chakra is described as a lotus with a set number of petals. The root chakra contains four petals, facing upward, the natural way that the basic sexual/life energy is to flow. The male/female chakra has 32 petals, facing downward, connecting the two in an inalienable manner. Tantric texts state that each petal of the root chakra sub-divides into three, producing twelve petals.
The solar plexus, 'power' chakra contains 64 petals, pointing upward; again, the natural path for the flow of solar current within the body. The heart center is a downward-facing Lotus with eight petals, which sub-divide into three, to produce 24 petals. The throat chakra, relating to communication and free-flowing information, is an upward-turning, 16-petalled Lotus; the forehead, or 'third eye' chakra, relating to non-physical 'seeing' is a downward-turned 32-petalled Lotus.
Around the hairline, pointing downward, between the third eye and the crown chakras, is the moon, raining her nectar.
Meditation on the chakras causes the energy to flow harmoniously through the subtle and physical bodies. Kundalini Yoga recommends mental focus on the solar plexus, heart, moon, and crown, isolating them from the rest of the chakra system. Visualize the lotus, with appropriate number of petals; or in the case of the solar plexus, an upward pointing sun, the rays of which join with the downward-flowing nectar of the moon. Stimulate the Kundalini: contract the anal sphincter and/or vaginal muscles, practice the eye/breath movements explained above, and repeat, mentally or aloud, HAM or HOUNG. Evoke erotic sentiment within.
Now: Let Kundalini swirl, piercing the subtle barriers and entering the solar plexus chakra. Visualize Brahma, the Creative, within the petals of the Lotus, dancing astride the sun; claim the blazing, creative power for your own. Next, draw Kundalini further up, into the heart center. Her erotic energy pierces the Lotus and accesses Visnu, the Preserver, the All-Flowing, Lord of the Waters, the flow of emotions, and the flow of blood through the body. Claim the preserving power of Visnu as your own. As Kundalini passes through the lunar crescent, the unites the solar and lunar energies within the body; transforming and balancing them, so that the lunar rays will not be burned up by the sun, nor the sun drowned by the nectar of the moon.
Finally, retain the breath and make Kundalini whirl madly, enabling her to pierce the Lotus and reach the domain of Siva, the Destroyer, the Transcender. If this meditation is performed in sexual union; the urge to climax by the male Yogi must absolutely be restrained at this point. Become one with the Kundalini, as she takes the form of Sakthi and engages in ecstatic union with Siva. Thus will all dualities and limitations be cast aside.
These raw energies and powers exist naturally within every human being. It is by learning the conscious control and focus of them that one is empowered. The thousand-petalled lotus is the dwelling-place of the archetypal Siva. By focusing consciousness on this chakra, one links up with one's 'source,' whatever that may be.
Tantra is quite simple in its way: it awakens natural, dormant powers within and the self-transcendence techniques bring the individual soul into harmony with the cosmos. Through using the power of sex in its deep mystical meaning, apart from simple procreation, mysteries and delights beyond the physical realm will be invoked and claimed as one's own. The Subtle Body serves as the vehicle of the physical body, allowing the practitioner(s) to pass through the physical realm and partake of the joyous, pure delight of the spirit.
"Contemplation is of three kinds; gross, luminous and subtle. When one contemplates one's guru or Isvara, this is known as gross contemplation. It is an auspicious beginning-place, but not the Means. When Prkriti, creative nature, is contemplated, it takes the form of a mass of light and is known as luminous contemplation. Contemplation upon the Kundalini is known as subtle contemplation. This subtle contemplation is the One that lasts through Eternity." --Gheranda Samhita
"Initiated High Tantric Yogis and Yoginis become capable of taking n all vibrations, which stay and dissolve in the central pathway, the Great Axis of the Subtle Body. When the Four Omens, a Glittering, a Smoke, a Glow, and a cooling radiant Lamp Light appear, the Yogi or Yogini is resurrected."
--Naro Chos Drug
This page last updated: 02/27/2018