In kriya yoga you learn about the psychic passages, and how to move your awareness through them to the different centres in the body. Now, where is this experience happening? When your awareness begins to move in the psychic passages, it is not the physical body which you are aware of. It is a more subtle frame of reference which we touch by concentrating on certain areas of the physical body, and the chakras are the fundamental contact points in this more subtle body.

Chakra means 'wheel' in Sanskrit. The chakras are vortices of psychic energy and are visualized and experienced as circular movement at a particular rate of vibration. In the practices of kriya yoga you move your consciousness up and down the spine as if you are on a train and the chakras are the different stations on this transcendental railway line. Mooladhara is the most basic, fundamental chakra . Mooladhara is where we commence our evolution and sahasrara is where our evolution is completed.

Mooladhara is the highest chakra that animals have the capacity to awaken; it is their sahasrara. The higher chakras beyond mooladhara are not present in the psychic physiology of animals and their nervous systems reflect this relative deficiency. All life is evolving, and man is no exception. Human evolution, the evolution which we are undergoing relentlessly, both as individuals and as a race, is a journey through the different chakras. As we evolve towards sahasrara, outer experiences come our way in life, and inner experiences come our way in meditation, as different capacities and centres awaken progressively within the nervous system. This occurs as energy flows at higher voltages and rates of vibration through the different nadis in the psychic body.

Now, in kriya yoga, you have to know the different colours and symbols of the chakras. They are alt very beautiful and form an intrinsic part of the awakening of that chakra. Each chakra has a particular colour, mantra, situation and range of experiences associated with it.

In the male body, mooladhara is experienced as a point of awareness behind the scrotum and in front of the anus, in that area called the perineal floor. In the female, the point of awareness of this chakra in the physical body is in the posterior rim of the cervix. At these points, according to the tantric philosophy of yoga, there is an infinite power lying dormant, and this power is called kundalini. Kunda means 'pit, a deep place', and the kundalini shakti is seated right down in the deep pit of mooladhara chakra.

Although kundalini is a very great force, it is dormant. That is why the symbol of this chakra is a serpent, fast asleep. Mooladhara represents everything in its potential state, all that we could realize, express and become. That is the dormant serpent power.

The energy of kundalini is one energy, but it expresses itself differently through the individual psychic centres - first in gross, instinctive ways and then in progressively more subtle ways. Refining of the expression of this energy at higher and more subtle levels of vibration represents the ascent of human consciousness to its highest possibilities.

Kundalini is the creative energy; it is the energy of self-expression. Just as in reproduction a new life is created, in the same way someone like Einstein uses that same energy in a different, more subtle realm, to create a theory like relativity. It is the same energy that is expressed when someone composes or plays beautiful music. It is the same energy which is expressed in ail parts of life, whether it is building a business, fulfilling the family duties or reaching whatever goal you aspire to. These are all expressions of the same creative energy.

Each of the chakras can be visualized as a lotus. There are many different descriptions given in the yogic scriptures. Mooladhara chakra has four petals. This means that the rate of vibration at this chakra is at its lowest. As you move up the chakras, the number of petals and the rate of vibration increase.

Now, within mooladhara there is a red inverted triangle, encompassed by a circle which forms the centre of the four petalled lotus. The triangle is inside a yellow square, and the four corners of the square are touching the circle.

In the centre of the triangle is a smoky black shiva lingam with a sleeping serpent coiled three and a half times around it. This serpent represents the source of energy, which can be awakened by kriya and kundalini yoga. However, in most of us it is dormant. In its awakened state this centre represents our spiritual potential, but in its dormant state it represents that instinctive level of life which supports our basic existence. Both of these possibilities lie in mooladhara.

Next, we shall go straight up to ajna, located in the brain directly behind the eyebrow centre. All of the centres are important, but ajna and mooladhara are the two easiest ones to concentrate on in order to bring about the greatest awakening of energy and release the maximum possibilities and creativity in life. Initially you become aware of ajna at bhrumadhya, the eyebrow centre. This centre is also called the third eye and corresponds to the pineal gland.

The symbol of ajna chakra has some things in common with the symbol of mooladhara. It contains the same inverted triangle inscribed within a circle. Superimposed on the triangle is the symbol of the mantra Om. The lingam is also in the centre of the lotus, but its form is slightly different. In mooladhara, it is smoky and ill defined, just as when we live an instinctive life and have no real concept of ourselves or what we are. In ajna chakra the lingam is much clearer. It is deep black and the outline is very well delineated. Here the awareness of 'what I am' is becoming more sharply defined, and the various capacities are being awakened.

Now, on either side of this circle are two lotus petals, and their colour, according to the scriptures, is very pale. They are described as a light grey colour like a rainy day, not white or grey, or any distinctive colour, but an intangible colour. These two petals represent the two major nadis, ida and pingala, which correspond to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic, on the right side, known as pingala, or prana shakti, is the solar or vital force, by which we act and move. The parasympathetic, on the left, corresponds to ida, or manas shakti, the lunar force, by which we think and feel.

Ajna chakra is essentially the chakra of the mind, and in the various yoga practices we use it all the time. When we visualize, or when we dream at night, the inner vision that occurs is through this third eye. The various practices and so called superhuman powers such as telepathy, which are currently being investigated, are all powers of someone who has awakened ajna chakra. By concentrating on, or bringing the awareness to mooladhara, you are connecting ajna and mooladhara, trying to bring the infinite energy of mooladhara up into the mind.

Ajna is the chakra by which we are aware. It is the most fundamental chakra, when it comes to the awakening of consciousness. The infinite energy is at mooladhara, but we become aware of it through ajna. If I am eating, sleeping or talking, and I am not aware of it, then ajna is not operating. But if I am talking, and one area of my awareness knows that now I am talking, this knowing, this awareness, is the faculty of ajna.

So we focus on ajna chakra in kriya and kundalini yoga because it is the key. It is also called the guru chakra, the command chakra, because when you take spiritual initiation it is through ajna chakra that the contact with the guru is formed. If you are going to awaken the enormous capacities of the brain, which the psychologists tell us are lying there dormant like a huge city cut off from its power, then it is the guru's energy which is going to enable you to slowly link up the different suburbs and areas. In the awakening of kundalini, the guru plays a fundamental role. Without a guide who thoroughly knows the way, you cannot make head or tail of the path; you do not know whether you are coming or going.

Scientists have been mystified by the pineal gland for centuries. As the brain and central nervous and endocrine systems were progressively unravelled by the anatomists, physiologists and biochemists, the pineal gland resolutely refused to yield up its secrets. Until recently the scientific community regarded it as having no function in man, being but a vestigial remnant from an earlier stage in evolution. However, in the last few years interest in the gland has reached a climax when no fewer than ten national and international conferences devoted entirely to unravelling the secrets of the mysterious pineal have been held around the world.

Physically, the pineal is perhaps the smallest organ of the body. Such a minute structure has rarely, if ever, caused so much curiosity and commotion. It is a tiny grey white structure approximately ¼ inch long, weighing about 100 milligrams, and shaped like a pine-cone. It is located directly at the top of the spinal cord within the brain at the level where the head and neck are joined. It lies attached to the roof of the third ventricle (fluid filled canal) of the brain directly in line with the point between the eyebrows. It is the only structure in the brain, apart from the pituitary gland, which is not bilaterally symmetrical, lying right in the midline. This means that, except for these two glands, the two halves of the brain when it has been cut from front to back, are mirror images of each other, with each structure being duplicated, one for each half.

It is interesting to trace the scientific history of the pineal gland to the present day. The ancients attached great significance to this tiny structure. The Greek anatomist Herophilis, in the 4th century B.C. called the gland 'a sphincter which regulates the flow of thought'. This suggests that he was well aware that the pineal functions as a transducer between the mental and physical realms. The early Latin anatomists termed the pineal 'the master gland' indicating that they knew the pineal exerts a higher control over the endocrine system, including the pituitary gland. Up until very recently, modern endocrinologists have considered the pituitary to be the highest controlling gland of all the other endocrine glands of the body. The Latins termed the pineal the 'glandula superior' in distinction to the pituitary which they termed 'glandula inferior'. They clearly designated the pineal to be a 'gland', even though it was not until 1958 that modern researchers isolated melatonin from the pineal to prove conclusively that it was a glandular structure.

In 1886 two micro anatomists, H.W. De Graff and E. Baldwin Spencer, independently discovered that the pineal is a rudimentary eye, possessing all the essential features of the external eyes with pigmented, retinal cells surrounding an inner chamber filled with a globular lens like mass. Subsequent research has proved that the gland actually responds to environmental light, both directly and via the nervous pathways from the external eyes. *1 It is surely beyond a coincidence that the yogic texts of India and the mystical traditions throughout the ages have spoken of the 'eye of intuition' and the 'third eye' when referring to the pineal gland.

In recent years, two hormones, melatonin and serotonin, have been isolated from the pineal. The hormone melatonin (Greek for darkness, constricting) was isolated from the pineal gland in 1958 by Aaron B. Learner, an American dermatologist working at Yale Medical School (USA). This substance has been found to be responsible for the ability of certain frogs and fish to change colour in response to varying environmental light conditions and also to changes in emotional states such as anger and fear. It has subsequently been found to play a profound role in the onset of puberty and ongoing sexual development in human beings. It is found that the size and functional capacity of the pineal gland diminishes as children enter the pubertal years. The gland appears to hold back the onset of sexual development, and the release of this control by the pineal is the stimulus for the release of the pituitary's sexual hormones which bring about the awakening of the reproductive systems in the male and female, and precipitate the adoption of a sexual role in life.

The second hormone isolated from the pineal was serotonin. Daniel Freeman, a psychiatrist, also at Yale University, isolated this substance from the tissues of the brain, finding its greatest concentration in the pineal gland and the nearby raphe cells of the nuclei of the midbrain. The pineal appears to be the reservoir of serotonin for the brain, while the raphe cells are responsible for the distribution of the hormone to other areas of the brain via long extensions or axons. These axons reach out to many areas of the brain and control the firing of other cells in those areas.

The next contribution to the pineal puzzle came when two workers at the National Institute of Health (USA), Axelrod and Weissbach, found that serotonin is the precursor of melatonin. They found that melatonin is produced from serotonin in the pineal gland by a simple chemical pathway. *2

The central role of serotonin was established a short time after the accidental discovery of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25). Minute quantities of this substance, were found to cause profound alterations in consciousness, inducing states ranging from deeply felt religious and mystical experiences to paranoia and schizophrenia. The LSD-25 molecule was found to be structurally very similar to the serotonin molecule, so much so that it is able to antagonise or block the actions of serotonin in the brain by occupying the receptor sites where serotonin normally acts. Gaddum of Edinburgh University discovered that the alterations in consciousness induced by LSD-25 are not due to a direct effect on the brain tissues by that drug, but rather that LSD-25 deprives the brain of serotonin by blocking off its sites of action.

This means that the brain's levels of serotonin are responsible for maintenance of rational thought and that alteration in the concentration of serotonin in the brain, such as induced by LSD-25, are responsible for the unhinging of 'normal reality'.

This means that the brain's levels of serotonin profound for they show that the pineal gland is the physical medium which regulates the chemistry of altered states of consciousness. It also seems that our sexual identity and our state of consciousness are intimately related to one another. It is clear that man is imprisoned in his mundane, everyday state of consciousness. He is locked up far more effectively than the prisoner who is incarcerated in chains or behind bars. Such a prisoner is only experiencing the imprisonment of his body, and he is very aware of his condition. However, the human being is far more effectively bound and tied. His very consciousness is held prisoner. It is so effectively harnessed that he cannot even perceive the possibility of higher awareness and experience. The ropes which prevent his perception of a reality in which he is infinite seem to be the levels of serotonin within his own brain tissues!

Before the regression of the pineal gland and the subsequent onset of puberty, children have ready access to a far more diverse range of conscious experience than adult human beings. In fact, many children quite effortlessly possess many of the 'siddhis' or psychic powers associated with the awakening of ajna chakra. Children are often highly intuitive, can see into the future or know what their parents are thinking. They are uncanny in their ability to see the reality behind appearances- so much so that it is very difficult to deceive or lie to a child. When the Israeli psychic Uri Geller became famous throughout the world by demonstrating his psychokinetic abilities such as bending forks by 'thought power' and stopping the watches and clocks of his television audiences, a number of parents became alarmed because their children began to perform the same feats at home. Children play in a multidimensional world of imaginary friends and places which is largely inaccessible to their parents. They do so because their large functional pineal glands are converting serotonin to melatonin. The effect of this is twofold. Firstly, the lowered serotonin levels give them access to the other states of awareness. Secondly, the high concentration of melatonin holds the powerful influences of the pituitary gland at bay, delaying the onset of puberty. Then at about the age of seven or eight years, the pineal's function begins to diminish and the pituitary hormones are progressively released, bringing the reproductive system to maturity. Simultaneously with this awakening of the reproductive system, the child is subject to great emotional and mental turmoil as his psyche adjusts to the new sexual role. With the diminished production of melatonin, there is a progressive build up of brain serotonin concentrations and a closing off of the doors into the child's expanded world of intuitive perception, imagination and play. Tragically, these doors often remain closed for the rest of his life, and the child within him is rarely, if ever, glimpsed again.

However, we need not be prisoners of our own brain biochemistry at all. We can expand our state of consciousness by reactivating the pineal gland, awakening the ajna chakra, opening the third eye -they are all the same process. In this way we regain contact with the child within while simultaneously fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of adult life. Then work becomes play and life a game, rather than the serious and depressing business it has become for many people today.

This is the science which leads to the reawakening of the ajna chakra, reactivating the pineal gland and giving control over the powerful wayward endocrine glands of the body. It leads to a profound alteration in the hormonal secretions of the endocrine glands and a lowering of seratonin levels in the brain tissues. There is a retracing of our journey out of childhood. When Jesus Christ told his disciples "Unless you become once more like little children you cannot re-enter the kingdom of heaven" he was not speaking symbolically, but was referring to precisely this process. Rejuvenating the endocrine system allows us to regain the child's state of consciousness through the resulting alteration in brain biochemistry. This is the meaning of the awakening of kundalini -the ascent of the primal energy back up through the chakras, altering the glandular functions, until the sahasrara is awakened. This is the goal of yoga. It is the experience of cosmic consciousness or union with the divine. With the onset of puberty and the adoption of a sexual identity, the focus of attention, the seat of consciousness shifts from the large functional pineal gland. This gland is switched off and the reproductive system becomes the most powerful object of awareness. Then the doorways to higher consciousness accessible to the child close off as he or she becomes engrossed in coping with the powerful emotions and drives which are awakening within the body. Consciousness descends from ajna to mooladhara.

The science of kundalini yoga progressively re-channels the energy back upwards to its source. When the consciousness is in mooladhara, the possibility of higher awareness is forgotten and we become locked within the mundane state of awareness characteristic of the adult world. In this state, the highest bliss attainable is the momentary and fleeting loss of identity experienced in the climax of the orgasm in sexual union. This is a most powerful experience for a person locked within mundane consciousness, and that is why it is so highly valued and sought after. In fact, this experience gives man and woman the most transitory glimpse of the never ending cosmic bliss which is attained when the same kundalini shakti pierces the sahasrara at the culmination of yoga sadhana. This experience is even described in the tantras in very sexual terms, so that we will have some idea of its nature and intensity. It is described there as the eternal union of Shiva and Shakti, consciousness and energy. This is sahasrara, and this is the goal which yogis seek. It involves a progressive loss of the masculine or feminine sexual role, with the total reorganisation of the endocrine and nervous systems, and the realisation of both elements within the yogi's body and psyche. This is the symbolic meaning behind the tantric art of India in which Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna are depicted in a very beautiful childlike way, with half masculine and half feminine characteristics. It is a symbolical means of presenting this truth and symbolises that they are ever in cosmic union.

These are the implications of the current pineal gland research. It seems that the scientists and the yogis will at last meet and understand one another face to face on either side of the window of the ajna chakra/pineal gland complex. It is only fitting that this gland, which Rene Descartes, the 16th century French philosopher, termed 'the seat of the rational soul' should be the meeting place in which rational and mystical thought once more coalesce and merge. It was Descartes who created the body-mind dichotomy in western thought under which science and philosophy have laboured for the past 400 years. The ajna chakra is the doorway to higher consciousness, and the scientists are now prying open this door.

In the Āgyā Chakra the development of our wisdom and humanity is completed and we reach the bridge to Divine Consciousness. It is located at the upper end of the spinal column, at the point of transition from the spine to the brain. Its radiation is, however, primarily perceptible in the centre of the forehead between the eyebrows. Therefore, it is also known as the “Eyebrow Centre” or “Third Eye”. Another expression for the Āgyā Chakra is “Guru Chakra – the Seat of the Master”.

Who can give us orders? Whose instructions should we follow? Only an initiate can show us the correct path, for only that one has the knowledge gained through personal experience and mastery that can then be imparted to others.

In connection with this it is important to understand what an initiate, a Master (a Guru), is. Guru Tattva is the Divine Principle of the evolution of consciousness. Therefore, the Guru represents the universal, divine principle that leads us from darkness to light – which means from ignorance to knowledge, from death to immortality.

All holy incarnations have been “Gurus”. Jesus was the Master of his disciples, Krishna was the Master of Arjuna, and he himself had a Guru, Rishi Sandīpa. When disciple and Master unite, when the “Guru Principle” has been awakened in the consciousness of the disciple and the disciple begins to guide himself, the disciple then becomes his own master.

The Guru Principle is recognisable within a person as clarity, wisdom (Gyānā) and the ability to discriminate between truth and untruth, reality and unreality (Viveka).

We do not need to seek truth; it is always in front of us. But in order to recognise it a person needs an open, pure consciousness and clear thoughts. While our mind remains cloudy, like a dirty mirror, we see everything hazily and unclearly. It is only in a purified mind and mature consciousness that Gyānā – wisdom and spiritual knowledge – can be broadened.

Until we are capable of anchoring our consciousness in the Āgyā Chakra our mind oscillates constantly between the human Chakras – the Mūlādhāra, Svādhishthāna, Manipūra, Anāhata and Vishuddhi. While we are still lacking in discrimination we should listen to the advice of the Master in order to avoid mistakes. Everyone has experienced how painful it can be when we ignore the advice of an experienced person. But the more our consciousness evolves towards the Āgyā Chakra, the freer and more independent we become in choosing correctly and making the right decisions.

Srī Mahāprabhujī teaches us:

Normally our decisions are determined by selfish motives with the aim of gaining the greatest possible advantage for ourselves, and anyone we regard as belonging to us. Viveka (discrimination) is the moral authority in the Āgyā Chakra that weighs up and reviews our intentions in line with ethical and spiritual standards. Viveka filters and controls all our feelings and thoughts with a sense of responsibility and wisdom. Without this counterbalance we remain caught in the changing currents of our emotions, whose waves can one time carry us to the shore of happiness and another time to the shore of sorrow.

Until the Āgyā Chakra is awakened, we are often incapable of understanding ourself. We are unable to control the qualities and emotions that rise from the lower centres, or find an explanation for the stirrings of emotions, thoughts and dreams that suddenly surface in our mind. Why do we often feel uncertain and intimidated? Because we have no control over our inner functions and wrongly identify with the constantly changing emotions and thoughts.

In reality we are neither body nor psyche; the body, mind, thoughts and feelings, etc., do in fact belong to us, but we are something else, which is expressed very vividly by Srī Shankarāchārya, the Master of Vedanta philosophy , in the following Bhajan:

SHIVO’HAM, SHIVO’HAM, SHIVO’HAM, SHIVO’HAM
VAHĪ ĀTMĀ SAT-CHIT-ĀNANDA MAI HŪ
AMARA ĀTMĀ SAT-CHIT-ĀNANDA MAI HŪ

AKHILA VISHVĀ KĀ JO PARAMA ĀTMĀ HAI,
SABHĪ PRĀNIYO KA VAHĪ ĀTMĀ HAI

AMARA ĀTMĀ HAI MARANA SHILA KĀYĀ,
SABHĪ PRĀNIYO KE JO BHĪTAR SAMĀYĀ

JISE SHASTRA KĀTE NA AGNI JALĀVE
BUJHĀVE NA PĀNĪ NA MRITYU MITĀVE

HAI TĀRO SITĀRO ME ĀLOKA JISAKĀ
HAI CHANDA VA SURAJA ME ABHASA JISAKA

JO VYĀPAKA KAN-KAN ME HAI VĀSA JISAKĀ
NAHĪ TĪNO KĀLO ME HO NĀSHA JISAKĀ

AJARA OR AMARA JISKO VEDO NE GĀYĀ
YAHĪ GYĀNĀ ARJUNA KO HARI NE SUNĀYĀ

SHIVO’HAM, SHIVO’HAM, SHIVO’HAM, SHIVO’HAM
VAHĪ ĀTMĀ SAT-CHIT-ĀNANDA ME HŪ
AMARA ĀTMĀ SAT-CHIT-ĀNANDA ME HŪ.

The Āgyā Chakra is also described as the “Third Eye”. This is a symbol of wisdom and an attribute of Lord Shiva. When Shiva opens his Third Eye in the centre of his forehead, everything that his gaze falls upon is burnt . Everything bad is destroyed and the clouds of ignorance are dispersed, helping the light of wisdom and clarity to break through. The laser beam of knowledge sent out by the third eye cuts through the karmic chains and liberates us from everything that holds us fast and impedes our spiritual development. In this way all the Chakras are finally purified by the wisdom of the Āgyā Chakra.

When we enter a dark room for the first time we grope around on the wall with our hand to find the light switch. But when we already know where the switch is it is no longer necessary to search. One flick, the light goes on and we see everything clearly. And in the same way, as soon as the eye of wisdom in the Āgyā Chakra opens , we recognise the essence of truth.

Only wisdom and clarity of consciousness liberate us from attachment and sorrow. It is as if a curtain has suddenly been lifted away from our mind and all answers are clearly and plainly visible in front of us. This is the real awakening of the Kundalinī. It reveals itself in the growing ability to master the problems and weaknesses from which we suffer, not through some physical occurrence. To be centred in the Āgyā Chakra means to be completely clear and conscious at any time and to act appropriately with Viveka in all situations.

The gifts of clairvoyance, intuition and telepathy lie in the Āgyā Chakra. When we strengthen the power of concentration and learn to perceive all the energy assembled in the Āgyā Chakra, our mind can receive or transmit knowledge through time and space. The function of the Āgyā Chakra is comparable to a searchlight, which can, through the concentration of light, make things visible at a distance. Those whose Āgyā Chakra is opened are at home in all three worlds – past, present and future.

An important symbol in the picture of the Āgyā Chakra is the SHIVA LINGAM – this is a symbol of creative consciousness. We also encountered this astral symbol in the picture of the Mūlādhāra Chakra, indicating the close relationship between the Mūlādhāra and Āgyā Chakras. These centres represent the beginning and end of personal karma. In the Mūlādhāra Chakra the consciousness is at the level of unconsciousness, and on the path of development through the Chakras it is purified step-by-step until it reaches the Sahasrāra Chakra completely pure. We experience the journey as a process of development from ignorance and uncertainty to understanding and wisdom.

In the Mūlādhāra Chakra the Shiva Lingam is black, but in the Āgyā Chakra it has a milky-white or smoky colour. This indicates that the consciousness has to a great degree been purified, but is still not completely pure. It is still pulled in two directions. If the consciousness is led by the intellect it goes towards the lower Chakras and the ego; whereas when guided by Bhakti and Viveka it goes towards the upper Chakras, the Ātmā. If the consciousness turns towards the world it becomes cloudy and dark, but if directed towards the Ātmā it is enlightened and illuminated.

This does not mean that we should withdraw completely from external life. Quite the opposite …. continue to lead your “normal” life; work, eat, sleep, live with your partner, live with your family and enjoy the beauty of life, just like everybody else. Yet, simultaneously remain conscious of your true nature and your divine origin. Perform your spiritual practices daily, and enjoy your existence with a pure mind and clear consciousness.

To resolve a problem once and for all is certainly not easy. Day by day we create new karmic complications. New waves (Vrittis) that rise in the consciousness as emotions and thoughts develop in our mind continuously, and finally deepen into impressions, opinions, desires, habits, behaviour, etc. The source of the Vrittis lies in the Mūlādhāra Chakra. In meditation we are able to track down their causes and effects. As we know, the element of the Mūlādhāra Chakra is the earth. The roots of vegetation lie within and spread through the earth. As soon as we raise the roots to the surface and into the light they die, together with any growth coming from them. This is why the aim is to raise the roots of our problems into the light of consciousness in order to finally remove them.

Any problem, whether physical or psychic, material or spiritual, can be resolved through wisdom. Thus it is important not to suppress or reject problems, but rather to accept and deal with them. Only in this way can they be resolved. To accept means to completely accept oneself and others, and to treat oneself and others with love, understanding and forgiveness. Understanding others presupposes understanding oneself. To give freedom to others means to have freedom oneself. To make others happy means to make oneself happy, and to forgive others infers forgiving oneself. Just as the final outcome of our actions always comes back to us alone, so it is with our attitude. And just as the cause is found only within ourself, so too is the solution to our problems.

Sometimes we believe that life is no longer bearable and that we are on the brink of collapse because of the immense pressure of our internal and external problems. But it is a mistake to believe that we must manage all alone. In reality our existence is not borne by us, but by someone else. There is a very good story that epitomises this:

On occasions we also moan about the heavy burden of our cares, even though the Divine Power helps us at all times, and would take them from us completely if we were able to place them in God’s hands. But the problem is that generally we do not really want to let go of our troubles and are not prepared to completely entrust ourself to God.

I am reminded of a poster put out by Amnesty International, in which a room with a wide-open window can be seen. Sitting on the windowsill is a dove ready to fly away – but it has a chain with an iron ball attached to its foot. This is a heartrending symbol for limitation and imprisonment. The chain and the iron ball symbolise our attachment. This is the burden that oppresses us! When we release the chains of attachment we simultaneously rid ourselves of our inner burdens and can “fly away into the sky”.

But we should be careful not to misunderstand this. To free ourselves from attachments does not mean to walk away from our family or neglect our duties. It is much more about the inner removal of the fear of separation, jealousy and the desire for possessions and power. To free ourself from these ties is allied with mental discipline and work. It is hard for us to motivate ourselves, to do without something, to give up something or to forgive someone. Remove the chains of attachment! Only our ignorance keeps us trapped in dependency, sorrow and pain. It causes all the problems. Give love without attachment, because real love gives freedom!

The Lotus in the Āgyā Chakra has two petals only. They stand for GU (darkness/ignorance) and RU (light/knowledge), the two syllables from which the word GURU (master) is formed. They also bear the Mantras HAM and KSHAM which represent the sun and the moon, the “masculine” and “feminine” principles, Shiva and Shakti, Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (nature).

These principles and primal powers influence both our body and mind. When out of balance they cause psychic or physical disturbances or illness. Until the principles of Shiva and Shakti are united we live in a world of duality from which our desires, wishes and striving after happiness originate. When Shiva and Shakti become one we become whole, the feeling of separation and the emotions connected with this, eg a sense of being unfulfilled and incomplete, vanish. The union leads to balance, liberation, desirelessness and contentment.

In our world duality prevails. Every state, every expression exists as an opposite: Masculine-feminine, positive-negative, hot-cold, good-bad, big-little, long-short, light-dark, wet-dry, clever-stupid, industrious-lazy, the list can go on ad infinitum. We have learnt to think and judge according to these categories. But in reality the apparent opposites are merely manifestations of the same principle – simply extremes of the same thing. One is a lack of the other, therefore, lightness is a lack of darkness and vice versa. Both are expressions of the ruling intensity of light, therefore reflecting the same principle. This simple example may be clear, but in the complexity of life we are often unable to recognise the unity behind the duality. Through the Āgyā Chakra, however, we are able to look behind the scenes and realise that everything existing is a manifestation of God.

The Mantra syllables HAM and KSHAM also stand for Idā and Pingalā, the two main Nādīs, that are allied to the moon and sun principles in the body. The third, and central, Nādī, Sushumnā, represents the Divine Consciousness.

Every twelve years the biggest and most exalted spiritual festival in the world is celebrated at the place where the three holy rivers, Gangā, Yamunā and Saraswatī, meet – the Mahā Kumbha Melā of Prayāgrāj . Gangā and Yamunā, which symbolise Idā and Pingalā, flow above the ground whereas Sarasvatī, the symbol of wisdom and pure, divine consciousness (Sushumnā) flows beneath the earth. During a specific planetary constellation that only occurs every twelve years, the Sarasvatī rises to the surface and unites with the other two rivers. At the time of the Kumbha Melā one can actually discern a stronger current and an increased flow of water at this place. Millions of people go there and immerse themselves in the water in order to free themselves of their Karmas.

For a Yogi the true Kumbha Melā occurs in the Āgyā Chakra. Gangā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī correspond to the main Nādīs, Idā, Pingalā and Sushumnā. The Āgyā Chakra, where these three strong energy currents meet in the human body, is also known as TRIKŪTĪ TATA . Other terms for the Āgyā Chakra are TRIVENĪ TATA and BHRŪKUTĪ TATA (Eyebrow Centre).

In many older illustrations of the Chakras one can see a twisted white cord made from three threads in the Āgyā Chakra. This also symbolises the three Nādīs. In India the Brahmins wear such a cord across their chest as a sign of purity of consciousness.

When Yogis purify these three Nādīs through concentration, meditation and Prānāyāma they are able to keep their consciousness in the Āgyā Chakra. With the merging of these three currents of energy in the Sahasrāra Chakra they attain the state of Samādhi, the highest level of consciousness. Just as the Kumbha Melā only takes place every twelve years, it is also only very seldom that all three Nādīs are active simultaneously. The body and energy channels are purified by regular practice of Prānāyāma and Hatha Yoga so that ultimately all three Nādīs can be aroused at once with the assistance of concentration and meditation. With this a radiant light appears in the Trikūtī and the Yogis immerse themselves in this light just as the faithful immerse themselves in the holy rivers at the Kumbha Melā. All karmas are dissolved in this light of Divine Love and wisdom.

The following can perhaps help us to visualise this? Complete darkness ruled for millions of years in a mountain cave. One day a cave explorer found his way into the cave with a bright torchlight. What happened? Can darkness exist and remain of its own right in a place where it had prevailed for so long? No! As soon as light appears darkness gives way. And what is the essence of bad Karma? It is a violation of Divine Law that was a result of mistaken knowledge, therefore, basically, “darkness” in our consciousness.

In a Peace Mantra it is said:

All darkness disappears from our being the moment the light of knowledge and truth is ignited.

What is light? Light is Ātma Gyāna and Ātma Jyoti , the light of the Self. The Divine Flame burns constantly in our heart. When it rises and its beam penetrates the Āgyā Chakra any duality is dissolved – Shiva and Shakti, Purusha and Prakriti, are again united.

The flame of the Self is nourished by the oil of love and devotion. Its wick is formed by concentration, meditation and Guru Mantra. When it rises from the heart to the Āgyā Chakra it awakens Bhakti within us. The purer the oil of our love is, the purer and stronger the flame burns. In the Āgyā Chakra we dive into the ocean of Bhakti and attain immortality of the Ātmā.

The Āgyā Chakra is comparable to empty space – free of form, colour and qualities. It is a space of purity and unity, the site of Ānanda, bliss. Here the wings of the soul unfold. Free from the net of Māyā that held it captive, it climbs and dissolves in the light of the “Thousand-petalled Lotus” (Sahasrāra Chakra) that shines as brightly as millions of suns.

There are three aspects associated with the Āgyā Chakra – emptiness (SHŪNYATĀ), consciousness (CHIT) and bliss (ĀNANDA).

When we try to fulfil our longing for happiness in the world, we are in reality trying to catch a glimpse of the reflection of Ānanda that radiates from our own inner being. Worldly happiness shimmers seductively – and bursts like a soap bubble when we try to catch it. The joy of the Ātmā is, however, “empty”, which means that it is without properties - absolute, incomparable, infinite, unchanging and steadfast.

The Mantra of the Āgyā Chakra is OM, the original sound of creation. This Mantra is the sound of both the Āgyā Chakra and the Sahasrāra Chakra. OM is the sound of the Divine that we hear when the Ātmā expands into infinity and unites with the Supreme. God, the Supreme Self, cannot be comprehended by the intellect or described with words, but can be experienced as vibration – light, sound or energy. God exists as vibration in every atom. The vibration of the Supreme is A-U-M, or OM. This represents the beginning, middle and end; therefore, the whole of creation. When in meditation we become absorbed in this Bīja Mantra we are able to hear the omnipresent, divine vibration of creation.

In meditation concentrate on the Āgyā Chakra with the Mantra OM or your Guru Mantra and visualise a divine image or symbol there. Through Bhakti and Gyāna, devotion and wisdom can be experienced. This experience is known as Paravidyā, “complete” knowledge, because it is unchanging, unlimited and eternal. Through the intellect we merely gain Aparavidyā, “incomplete” knowledge, which is changeable, limited and bound by time.

The awakening of the Āgyā Chakra is an essential and fundamental step in our development. The abilities that lie in this Chakra help us to cope with all problems and are of great assistance for those people suffering from psychic problems such as depression, Schizophrenia or changeable emotions. Emotions, in themselves, are unbiased. They are a form of energy that can serve us positively or negatively, just as fire can be useful but also destructive. With the assistance of the Āgyā Chakra we can learn to control and guide this inherent energy positively.

VAIRĀGYA (renunciation) is a prerequisite for the attainment of true knowledge. To attain the eternal we must let go of the transitory. Vairāgya is an inner occurrence – the extinction of our wishes and desires. These always produce new karma, and when they “dry up” the river of karma runs dry by itself. Vairāgya is best developed through concentration on the Āgyā Chakra. But at the same time we should be careful of the harmony and balance between “heart and intellect”, and never ignore either. Never forget – the goal is to harmonise and unite both aspects of our being, not to suppress one of them.

In the Āgyā Chakra we dive into the ocean of knowledge and the ocean of bliss (Ānanda) in which fear and sorrow vanish without trace. But we are still not at the goal. We are still not fully united with the Self. At any time Māyā can again seize possession of us and pull our consciousness down into lower levels. We can protect ourselves from this when we read holy books, seek out spiritual company, cultivate good thoughts, never cause anyone pain and always behave with love and understanding. When your actions are filtered and purified by the Āgyā Chakra they are exemplary, pure and positive and support your spiritual development.

Many who start with Yoga are initially full of enthusiasm and practise very diligently, but after a while they give up. Why is this so? Because their resolve was not firm enough.

Mahāprabhujī said in his Golden Teachings:

Our goals in life should be as strong and firm as a tree – deeply rooted and able to withstand all storms. This is a precondition for our success in life. Nothing can succeed without firm resolution from the start. Cause and effect, as well as beginning and end, are inseparably linked to one another; but because of our dualistic perceptions we generally do not realise this.

Everyone is responsible for their own life. Consider the purpose of your existence and what you would like to achieve in life. Make your decisions with Viveka (discrimination), live consciously with love, understanding and devotion, and it is certain that you will reach your goal, God-Realisation.