Thread on Brahmacharya / Semen Retention / Nofap / Chi / Sexual Energy / Ojas Sakthi

[pastispresent]

Chakras in Yoga

Chakras, or 'plexuses of consciousness' form the major nerve ganglia of an extraordinary circuitry of nadis, energy channels that link together our animal body with our subtler bodies and their higher functions such as intelligence and love. In computer language, these chakras could be considered cosmic network hubs and the nadis as multi-gigabyte-per-second optical fiber wiring. Except, this wiring extends inside and outside the computer.



There are seven 'chakras'. 

The first is the 'muladhara', the root chakra, which is the link in each person with 'mula prakriti', with mother nature. This chakra is located at the base of the spine, and so it is understood that at the base of the spine we are all related to the physical web of the universe. The whole universe as we know it, from the atom to the star, is a web of interdependent energies, and our physical bodies are part of that web of energies. At the 'muladhara' we are linked with all the energies of the universe. As that chakra opens we become aware of this energy. Ancient people lived much more from the muladhara. They were immersed in the physical universe. This was a limitation to some extent and they had to grow out of it, but we have grown so far out of it that we have lost consciousness of it. We now have to recover that deep physical consciousness, consciousness of matter and of our integration in the material world. So we have to allow the muladhara to open and become activated. 

The next chakra is the 'svadhisthana'. This is the life consciousness, or sex consciousness, and this was a very important element in the Tantra which eventually led to its falling into disrepute and being rejected. In Tantra part of the practice was to develop sexual energy as one means of uniting with the Godhead. There is both physical energy and life energy, which is the energy which is in all the plants and animals and in all the life of nature. We also share in that energy and through this chakra we are related to, and united with, this whole life energy of the universe. The aim is to convert this energy. We do not simply let it out in its normal channel, and neither do we suppress it (which would be disastrous); rather we try to draw it within. The energy has to rise through all the chakras and in this rising it becomes an inner force, 'ojas', as it is called. This is a very practical discipline. People today are trying to find a way between suppressing sex and indulging it. The third way is to have a disciplined method for transforming the energy. This is done largely through control of the breathing but also through the mantra, the breath and the word. 

Access to the third sphere of psychic energy is through the opening up of the 'manipura chakra'. This is the level of emotional energy. Here again we are all linked emotionally, first with our mother and father, family, blood relations and so on. These are very close emotional ties, and we know now how a person's life may be conditioned by these emotional experiences which begin in the womb and develop during the first two or three years. As this chakra opens up the emotional energy has to be controlled. Normally when the chakras open the energy is not controlled; tantric yoga is precisely the control of the energy in the chakras, not letting the energies dissipate themselves but learning to bring them within. In this way the emotions are brought within this current, this force, and allowed to rise up to the deeper centre. It needs to be emphasised that to do this is to control the emotions. It is not a matter of suppressing the emotions or of indulging them, but rather of learning the middle way of control. Again the method is the same. It is done by sitting, by breathing and by concentration of the mind. To concentrate the mind, those who are religious concentrate on God, on Jesus if one is a Christian, on Shiva or Vishnu if one is a *****. One concentrates the mind at that point and then the energy is allowed to rise to that point. It is given a direction. It is not safe to awaken the chakras if one is not directing the energies which are released. It is dangerous because one may awaken powers which cannot be controlled. But, by focussing on the Supreme in one way or another, one guides the energy towards the still point. 

The fourth chakra is the 'nahata', the heart chakra. This is the chakra of affection. The emotions are unstable, affection is stable. (P.197) It is the centre of the will and of the reason, the 'manas' or lower mind. Most people live from the heart chakra; feelings, affection and practical discipline come from the heart. It is a deep centre and to focus on it is a very valid way, but it does not take one very far. This is the middle level of consciousness, the mental consciousness in its rather limited aspect and that is where many people remain. 

Next comes the 'visuddha', the throat chakra, which includes the verbal and sound-based consciousness: words, language, poetry, music and so on. All this opens up in the throat. So there is a progression as one emerges from the deep consciousness, through emotional ties with one's mother and family, through the heart where one is opening up to a wider sphere of knowledge and of practical reason and will, and now one is opening up through one's feelings, and imagination, and through music and poetry, to a wider sphere altogether. 

Then one comes to the 'jna chakra' and this corresponds to the 'buddhi', the intelligence. That is where one focusses the mind, so one is drawing all the energy up through this point. The 'buddhi' is where one opens on the transcendent and that is why in meditation one tends to concentrate on the ajna chakra. There can be concentration on the heart and this is good, but there needs also to be concentration on the mind, the intellect, the 'nous'. At that point one comes to the 'buddhi', the point of awakening and of enlightenment. The Buddha is the enlightened one. This is the point of the so-called third eye, where one is beginning to open to the transcendent. Until that eye opens one is still living in the created world, the world of the senses and the mind; one has not yet gone beyond. The ajna chakra is the passage to the transcendent. The seventh and final stage is the 'sahasrara', the thousand-petalled lotus at the crown of the head. The chakras are pictured in different ways. One way is to see them as lotuses having different numbers of petals at each level. At first the petals are turned down. Then, as the energy rises, the petals are pictured as turned up symbolising the opening of the lotus, the opening of the chakra, at that particular level until one's whole being is transformed as the energy flows through it. The chakras are also associated with colours and with sounds. There is a whole science of colour and sound and energy, and the interrelationships between them have been very profoundly studied. 

At this point, then, the energy rises to the supreme chakra, the 'sahasrara', and there one opens on the transcendent. This is the realm of what is called transpersonal psychology, which relates to the consciousness beyond the ego. Beyond the gross world, the world of the senses, is the subtle world. It has become clear that practically all Western psychology is simply concerned with the lower levels of consciousness and Western psychologists are for the most part unaware of the higher stages. There are several stages beyond. The first is the lower subtle world where the mode of experience is through the subtle senses. Instead of only relating to the outer world through the gross senses one begins to develop subtle senses. One perceives the psychic world, which is a different level of reality enfolded in the physical world. The physical world is the outer shell and beyond that is the subtle psychic world.