The Spinning Wheels of Consciousness, Part 1
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: Countless worlds, Siva's infinite creation. The seven chakras, wheels, six in Tamil system. Functions of consciousness:memory, reason and willpower. Most people in the Kali Yuga live below the muladhara, lift our own consciousness through sadhana, prayer, meditation, right thought, action and love for Lord Siva the All in all. The muladhara, the svadhishthana chakras and the corresponding Shum definitions. Master Course Trilogy, Merging with Siva, Chapter 41, Lessons 281, 282.
Transcription:
Good morning everyone.
We get to start a new chapter today in "Merging with Siva" Chapter 41, entitled "Spinning Wheels of Consciousness" from the 1967 and 1970 "Master Course" plus upadeshas given at Kauai Aadheenam, July- August, 1989. Lesson 281:
"14 Regions of Consciousness
"Hindu scriptures speak of three worlds, fourteen worlds and countless worlds. These are different ways to describe Siva’s infinite creation. Of the fourteen worlds, seven are counted as rising above the Earth and seven as descending below it. Correspondingly, there are fourteen great nerve centers in the physical body, in the astral body and in the body of the soul. These centers are called chakras in Sanskrit, which means 'wheels.' These spinning vortices of energy are actually regions of mind power, each one governing certain aspects of the inner man, and together they are the subtle components of people. When inwardly perceived, they are vividly colorful and can be heard. In fact, they are quite noisy, since color, sound and energy are all the same thing in the inner realms. When awareness flows through any one or more of these regions, the various functions of consciousness operate, such as the functions of memory, reason and willpower.
"There are six chakras above the muladhara chakra, which is located at the base of the spine. When awareness is flowing through these chakras, consciousness is in the higher nature. There are seven chakras below the muladhara chakra, and when awareness is flowing through them, consciousness is in the lower nature. In this Kali Yuga most people live in the consciousness of the seven force centers below the muladhara chakra. Their beliefs and attitudes strongly reflect the animal nature, the instinctive mind. We want to lift our own consciousness and that of others into the chakras above the muladhara. This brings the mind out of the lower nature into the higher nature. We do this through personal sadhana, prayer, meditation, right thought, speech and action and love for Lord Siva, who is All in all..."
And we get my commentary.
In the Tamil language, chakra is ādhāram (ஆதாரம்) which the lexicon says means: Support, stay or prop. And the interesting point is in the Tamil system there's only six. So the six adharams get grouped, six rather than seven. So when you have six adharam, āṟātāram [ஆறாதாரம்] means six adhara the sahasrara or seventh chakra has a number of terms in Tamil. One of them used in the Tirumantiram is chandramandalam—the moon’s sphere or region.
In his song "The Yoga Path," Yogaswami calls the seventh chakra the silver step. “The six steps first you must traverse; (That's the translation of ādhāram.) then will come the silver step. If you surmount that, too, my treasure, who will be your equal?”
Then we get the Shum, Shum language for chakra as we know is kamshumalínga, quite a lengthy definition:
Any of the chakras, which are nerve plexes or centers of force and consciousness within the inner bodies of man; refers to all twenty-one chakras—the seven principal chakras, the seven chakras or nadis above the crown of the head and the seven chakras below the muladhara; through transmutation, one unfolds through the seven principal kamshumalinga maa as awareness and kundalini break the seals of these force centers; the kamshumalinga maa may also be understood as windows of mind or consciousness through which awareness looks out or in on the phenomenal world; each window has its own influence and coloring effect on the process of perception.
I like that, coloring effect.
And back to the text:
"...The muladhara chakra, the divine seat of Lord Ganesha, is the dividing point between the lower nature and the higher nature. It is the beginning of religion for everyone, entered when consciousness arrives out of the realms below Lord Ganesha’s holy feet.
"The physical body has a connection to each of the seven higher chakras through plexes of nerves along the spinal cord and in the cranium. As the kundalini force of awareness travels along the spine, it enters each of these chakras, energizing them and awakening, in turn, each function. In any one lifetime, man may be predominantly aware in two or three centers, thus setting the pattern for the way he thinks and lives. He develops a comprehension of these seven regions in a natural sequence, the perfection of one leading logically to the next. Thus, though he may not be psychically seeing spinning forces within himself, man nevertheless matures through memory, reason, willpower, cognition, universal love, divine sight and spiritual illumination.
"It may help, as we examine each of these centers individually, to visualize man as a seven-storied building, with each story being one of the chakras. Awareness travels up and down in the elevator, and as it goes higher and higher, it gains a progressively broader, more comprehensive and beautiful vista. Reaching the top floor, it views the panorama below with total understanding, not only of the landscape below, but also of the relation of the building to other buildings and of each floor to the next.
"In Sanatana Dharma another analogy is used to portray the chakras—that of a lotus flower. This flower grows in lakes and ponds, taking root in the slimy mud below the surface, where no light penetrates. Its stem grows upward toward the light until it breaks the surface into fresh air and sunshine. The energy of the sun then feeds the bud and leaves until the delicate lotus blossom opens. The first chakra is called the root chakra, muladhara. Awareness takes root in the baser instincts of human experience and then travels through the waters of the intellect, becoming more and more refined as it evolves until finally it bursts into the light of the superconscious mind, where it spiritually flowers into the 1,008-petaled lotus chakra at the top of the head. By examining the functions of these seven great force centers, we can clearly cognize our own position on the spiritual path and better understand our fellow man."
Then we get Lesson 282:
"Muladhara, the Realm of Memory
"The chakras do not awaken. They are already awakened in everyone. It only seems as if they awaken as we become aware of flowing our energy through them, because energy, willpower and awareness are one and the same thing. To become conscious of the core of energy itself, all we have to do is detach awareness from the realms of reason, memory and aggressive, intellectual will. Then, turning inward, we move from one chakra to another. The physical body changes as these more refined energies flow through it and the inner nerve system, called nadis, inwardly becomes stronger and stronger. The muladhara chakra is the memory center, located at the base of the spine, and is physically associated with the sacral or pelvic nerve plexus. Mula means 'root' and adhâra means 'support,' (Same definition as in the Tamil Lexicon, support.) so this is called the root chakra. Its color is red. It governs the realms of time and memory, creating a consciousness of time through the powers of memory. Whenever we go back in our memory patterns, we are using the forces of the muladhara.
"This chakra is associated also with human qualities of individuality, egoism, materialism and dominance. Man lives mostly in this chakra during the first seven years of life. This center has four 'petals' or aspects, one of which governs memories of past lives. The other three contain the compiled memory patterns and interrelated karmas of this life. When this chakra is developed, people are able to travel on the astral plane. It is complete within itself, but when the first two chakras are charged with gross, instinctive impulses and developed through Western education, with its values and foibles which contradict Hindu dharma, they can create together a very strong odic force which, when propelled by the worldly will of the third chakra toward outer success and power, can dominate the mind and make it nearly impossible for awareness to function in the higher force centers, so great is the material magnetism. (That's quite a long sentence.) Men living fully in these lower three chakras therefore say that God is above them, not knowing that 'above' is their own head and they are living 'below,' near the base of the spine.
"You have seen many people living totally in the past—it’s their only reality. They are always reminiscing: 'When I was a boy, we used to… Why, I remember when… It wasn’t like this a few years ago…' On and on they go, living a recollected personal history and usually unaware that they have a present to be enjoyed and a future to be created.
"On and on they go, giving their life force energies to the task of perpetuating the past. The muladhara forces are not negative forces. Used and governed positively by the higher centers, the powers of time, memory and sex are transmuted into the very fuel that propels awareness along the spinal climb and into the head. Similarly, the mature lotus blossom cannot in wisdom criticize the muddy roots far below which, after all, sustain its very life..."
Then we get the Shum for muladhara chakra
akaylisímbi
(So if you're not familiar with these definitions in the Shum Lexicon they contain a lot of information compressed into a small definition.)
The first of the primary chakras, named muladhara in Sanskrit; attribute—memory, time, space; located at the base of the spine; color—red; planet—Mercury; element—earth; sense—smell; petals—four; panchakshara mantra letter—na; the pranayama associated with this chakra is to breathe in two short breaths through the nose and out two short breaths through the mouth; this can be done in preparation for the meditation or also while walking fast and swinging the arms.
Then back to the text:
"...The center of man’s reasoning faculties lies in the second, or hypogastric, plexus, below the navel. It is termed svadhishthana, which in Sanskrit means 'one’s own place.' Its color is reddish orange. Once the ability to remember has been established, the natural consequence is reason, and from reason evolves the intellect. Reason and intellect work through this chakra. We open naturally into this chakra between the ages of seven and thirteen, when we want to know why the sky is blue and the 'whys' of everything. If very little memory exists, very little intellect is present. In other words, reason is the manipulation of memorized information. We categorize it, edit it, rearrange it and store the results. That is the essence of the limited capacity of reason. Therefore, this center controls the mûlâdhâra, and in fact, each progressively 'higher' center controls all preceding centers. That is the law. In thinking, solving problems, analyzing people or situations, we are functioning in the domain of svadhishthana. This center has six “petals” or aspects and can therefore express itself in six distinct ways: diplomacy, sensitivity, cleverness, doubt, anxiety and procrastination. These aspects or personae would seem very real to people living predominantly in this chakra. They would research, explore and wonder, 'Why? Why? Why?'
"They would propose theories and then formulate reasonable explanations. They would form a rigid intellectual mind based on opinionated knowledge and accumulated memory, reinforced by habit patterns of the instinctive mind."
Then we get in Shum, svadhishthana is:
rehnamtyevum
The second chakra, named svadhishthana in Sanskrit; attribute—reason; located at the navel; color—reddish orange; planet—Venus; element—water; sense—taste; petals—six; panchakshara mantra letter—ma.
Thank you very much. Wonderful day.