Siddha Yoga

"The whole body is like a lotus which has four petals of four kinds, colours, and sizes....The first is the gross body, its colour is red. The second petal is the subtle body, in which we sleep and experience dreams. It is the size of a thumb, and its colour is white. The third petal is the causal body. It is the size of the tip of third finger, and its colour is black. The fourth petal is the supracausal body, which is as small as a sesame seed. Its colour is blue....It is very brilliant; it is the foundation of sadhana; it is the highest inner vision."

"Gradually my meditation left the gross body and entered the subtle body; it left Rakteshwari, the goddess of the red aura, for Shveteshwari, the goddess of the white flame, and this thumb-sized white flame was always before me....Without the experience of this white flame, Vedanta is a lame and second-hand philosophy: darvi pakarasam yatha - "It is like a ladle that does not know the taste of the food it serves."
"My meditation on the subtle oplane deepened....I began to have visions of future happenings - a fire breaking out somewhere, or a motor accident. A day or two after I had the seen such things, I would hear about them as events that had happened...
One day as I began to meditate, I saw a beautiful baby boy swinging on a cradle...(H)e wore a pearl necklace and a golden crown. I had never seen anyone so beautifully adorned. His cradle was also of gold and studded with the nine jewels....He was turned toward me, laughing ecstatically and beckoning me with his tiny eyes....Yjay day I went beyond Tandraloka and saw nothing for a long time - only a pure untainted state....I was convinced that the baby was Sri Hari. After seeing him, my sadhana got even better, especially for the two or three days that followed....
...Some of the things I saw were so captivating that I began to be addicted to my meditation. Afterward I would go over my visions again and again....Thus most of my days and nights were spent in meditation and in recollection of my visions.
My white mediattaion was followed by a black meditation....A black light the size of a fingertip appeared...My mind would spontaneously focus on my heart, or on the space between the eyebrows.....I would see the white flame within the red aura, and the black light within the white flame....During this period I would see in meditation a deep and terrifying darkness such as I had never seen in the outside world. This darkness made me frightened of meditating, but even so, I would remain in it for long periods at a time. Then suddenly the scene would change and the familiar red, white, and black lights would come. I rejoiced in their radiance again and again. During all thjis I began to feel a strong pain between the eyebrows, and for several days the chakras situated there...continued to ache....(M)y eyes rolled around continuously, causing me great pain....I smelled many different sweet odours, I don't know whether or not they can be found in this world of ours. Sometimes other people would smell a fragrance floating around me...
....As soon as I sat, I passed into meditation. The presiding deity of each sense organ would come and stand before me. I would see a very special kind of light made up of many colours flashing through the 72,000 nadis like lightning. Then would come the red, white, and black lights, and, for a second, the Blue Light. These lights appeared one within the other, the smaller within the larger, the one being subtle cause of the other.
...The blue akasha, an expansion of blue colour, began to appear in meditationand with it, the neela bindu, the Pearl of infinite power....(A)s I passed into meditation, Kundalini Mahamaya would appear before me in many different forms. Whatever form She took, I regarded in the same way - as the supreme Shakti, the Goddess Chiti. The blue light came and went, came and went. My eyes rolled up so that they were a little above the eyebrows....Something important was happening in the cranial region. There are some chakras there, and this process was happening to purify them.
...As soon as I sat down to meditate, there would be gentle movement in my body, and then a rsh of new energy through the nadis.....(S)ometimes I would pass into a deep....trance and would travel to other worlds....Every day I had some new experience. My body was becoming light, slim, agile, healthy and strong. I could see the central nadi, the sushumna, which is silver-coloured tinged with gold. It stands like a pillar, and all the nadis receive vibrations of power from it....Sometimes I would have a new movement in the heart, in which an egg-shaped ball of radiance would come into view...
Next, I saw a light that was different from the red, white, black and Blue lights, and as it came into view, I saw many, many worlds within it. It was a soft safron colour, and in the middle of it were thousands of soft blue sparks and a soft golden radiance....It arose within the series of four lights that I had already experienced. I saw many clairvoyant visions in this new light....Just as I had habitually passed into Tandraloka in meditation, so now I entered the place of radiant light. I shall call it Sarvajnaloka, the world of omniscience....When my mind became stabilised in Sarvajnaloka I could see far away into many different worlds. Everything I saw there was perfectly genuine. Sometimes I would see some accident in the outside world....and these things always actually happened...

Tantra : The Art of Philosophy

Tantra : The Art of Philosophy

Tantra has developed a system of thought which makes us see the universe as if it were within ourselves, and ourselves as if we were within the universe. Further the forces governing the cosmos on the macro-level are believed to govern the individual in the micro-level. According to tantra, the individual being and universal being are one. Thus all that exists in the universe must also exist in the individual body.

One of our major limitations in discovering this essential unity between the microcosm and the macrocosm is that we are accustomed to analyze the world into its separate parts, with the result that we lose sight of those parts' inter-relationship and their underlying unity. The way to fulfillment is through recognition of our wholeness linking man and the universe. This hence is the broad aim of Tantra art, achieved through visual symbols and metaphors.

Encompassing its whole pictorial range, Tantric imagery can be broadly grouped under three heads:

• Geometrical representation of deities as Yantras
• Representation of the Human Body as a Symbol of the Universe
• Iconographic images

Yantra

The Sanskrit word 'yantra' derives from the root 'yam' meaning to sustain, or hold. Hence in metaphysical terms a yantra is visualized as receptacle of the highest spiritual essence.

A Yantra is a pure geometric configuration, composed of basic primal shapes. These shapes are psychological symbols corresponding to inner states of human consciousness. This innate simplicity of composition is identified with spiritual presence. The use of such elementary shapes is not simplistic but represents the highest conception in visual terms, because the projection of the symbol is then direct and bold, so that even a small miniature can create a sense of expansiveness.

The dynamism of tantric imagery is generated by a quest for geometric order. A yantra represents a particular configuration whose power increases in proportion to the abstraction and precision of the diagram. A yantra gradually grows away from its center, in stages, until its expansion is complete. Around the center are several concentric figures which take part in this expansion. This concentric architecture defines the volume of the yantra and creates a rhythmic unity.

The predominant elementary forms of which yantras are constituted are the point, line, circle, triangle, square and the lotus symbol. All of these forms are juxtaposed, combined, intersected and repeated in various ways to produce the desired objective.

The Point or Bindu

In the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad there is the metaphor of a spider sitting at the center of its web, issuing and reabsorbing its threads in concentric circles, all held at one point. The spider's threads symmetrically expand into a visible circumference, but they can all be traced back to the central point of the web.

Like the spider in its web, the center of the yantra is the power-point from which the entire diagram expands, the radiating source of energy that generates all forms. It is the divine essence out of which proceeds the polarized world. It is called Bindu, the first drop, which spreads unfolds, and expands into the tangible realm of the universe. Indeed the optical focus of the yantra is always its center, from which the force lines radiate outwards in concentric circles and dissolve in the outer circumference. On a metaphysical level the Bindu represents the unity of the static (male, and the kinetic (female, cosmic principles, which expand to create the infinite universe of matter and spirit. A meeting-ground of subject and object, this is exactly the kind of spiritual oneness that the tantra artist strives for. A region where art and artist, creator and viewer merge into a single identity, becoming one with the cosmos as a whole. In the final meditation on the yantra, the Bindu is the region where the ultimate union of the aspirant with the divine takes place.

For the successful creation of a yantra, the artist must look beyond appearances and penetrate to the essence. The center, by virtue of being a dot of zero dimensions, is visualized as the ultimate entity beyond which a thing or energy cannot be contracted or condensed. This infinite reservoir of collective energy is the supremely creative nucleus, and therefore is the repository of all manifestation. As a center, it controls everything which is projected from it; hence it is also called MahaBindu, or the Great Point. It is indeed the starting point of the mental quest for salvation and also the ultimate point in this journey.

According to another school of logic, when a non-manifest stage of existence becomes manifest, its manifestation must begin somewhere, in some point of space, at some point of time. There must be an instant when it has not yet any extension but has begun to have location. According to this interpretation, the first instant when a thing does not yet exist and yet has already begun is adequately represented by the dimensionless point.

The Bindu thus contains within itself the two poles' (zero and infinity) and all that lies between. Its inherent energy contains all potentialities and all polarities. In the actual creative process, the Bindu evolves with the help of straight lines into the trikona (triangle).

The Straight Line

The straight line is composed of an unbroken series of points. These points, moving independently, give length (without breadth) to it. The straight line thus signifies growth and development, and like time, consists of an infinite number of discreet points.

The Triangle

The triangle is the archetype symbol of a sacred enclosure, since space cannot be bounded by fewer than three lines. The triangle is thus conceived as the first closed figure to emerge when creation emerged from chaos. In this aspect it is known as the root of all manifested nature. The rhythm of creation is crystallized in this primal form.

Tantra calls the triangle the cone of fire, a reference to its shape. This is the fire of aspiration which is ever burning in the heart of the spiritual seeker.

The threefold structure of the triangle is interpreted over multiple levels. Some of these visualizations are:

1). Creation, Preservation, and Destruction, i.e. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

2). The three tendencies: the neutral, the positive and the negative - Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.

3). The three Vedas: Rig, Yaju, and Sam.

4). Past, Present, and Future.

5). The three seasons: Spring, Summer, and Winter.

6). The three main pilgrimages: Prayag, Gaya, and Kashi.

When used in a yantra, a triangle is either inverted or upright. The inverted triangle is a symbol of feminine power, the creative essence of the universe, also known as Shakti. It is the dynamism of this Shakti that gives rise to the creative impulse in nature. This inverted triangle is generally the first enclosure surrounding the infinitesimal nucleus of most yantras.

The triangle pointing upwards is symbolic of the male principle (Purusha). When the two triangles penetrate each other forming a hexagon, it symbolizes the fusion of polarities, the union of Shiva and Shakti, male and female. This union is the cause of the manifested universe.

When the triangles part at the apex, time and space cease to exist, and all creative activity comes to a standstill. This is shown in the hourglass shape, which is the shape of the Damaru, the drum of Shiva, from which all rhythms of manifestation are said to have emerged. Here it is interesting to note that Panini's treatise on the grammar of Sanskrit, the world's most ancient grammar, states that the Sanskrit language too has proceeded from the rhythms of Shiva's drum.

The Circle

The circle occurs very frequently in yantras and is derived principally from the motion of the revolution of planets. It symbolizes wholeness or totality and represents the principle which has no beginning, and no end, for example time. A perfectly symmetrical entity, equidistant from the center at all points; it indicates the realm of radiation that proceeds from the One center. In other words, a circumscribed field of action.

When used in a yantra, a circle is normally placed within a square pattern, described next:

The Square

The square is the fundamental format of most yantras. There is a significant, well thought out logic behind it. The phenomenal world extends into four directions. These four directions represent the totality of space, and they bind the earth in order. The square too is the simplest and perfect manifestation of the number four, by virtue of the four perfect, equal lines bounding its form. Hence it is visualized as the perfect symbol to denote the terrestrial world. This mundane, physical world is the one which must be transcended by spiritual practice.

The square pattern has four gates, one in each of the cardinal directions. They are known as cosmic doors because it is through them that the aspirant symbolically enters the yantra. They represent the passage from the earthly realm to the 'inner', sacred space of the yantra. These gates are an initiatory threshold which simultaneously opposes the phenomenal and embraces the noumenal. It is further believed that these gateways themselves are guarded by divine forces which protect the sacred precinct within, from negative and disintegrating forces.

The Lotus

Potent as it is, in tantric art the lotus is a symbol of the expanding consciousness, which ultimately raises the aspirant from the dark depths of ignorance to the radiant heights of inner awakening. Because of its smooth and oily surface the lotus is not affected by the water in which it grows. Hence just as the lotus plant grows in the 'darkness of mud' and gradually blossoms out to the surface of water, unsullied by the mud and water which nourishes it, so the inner-self transcends beyond its own material limits, uncorrupted and untarnished by illusion and ignorance.

The lotus blossom is one of the principal archetypal symbols used in yantras. Generally centered on the axis with its petals unfolding towards the circumference, it is the appropriate image to illustrate the unfolding of power of the divine essence. Because of its associations with progression, development and the life-expanding quality, the lotus represents the 'out-petalling' of the soul-flower in the process of spiritual realization. Hence in ancient cosmology, the lotus is also associated with creation myths. It is, for example, often depicted as springing from Vishnu's navel, supporting and giving birth to Brahma, the creator.

Once Brahma creates the universe, Vishnu comes to the world in one of his ten forms or incarnations, to preserve order and ensure justice.

This is one of the cycles of creation. At its end, Shiva dances and the universe is destroyed.

Brahma falls asleep, and the lotus closes and goes back into Vishnu's navel. Vishnu then sleeps on the serpent's coils. The process eventually begins all over again. The lotus hence here represents the unfolding of a new age (Yuga in Sanskrit); similarly in a yantra it signifies the awakening of the inner self.

Since the earliest times, the lotus has always been a symbol of the citadel of the heart, the seat of the Self. Yogis believe that there are actual spiritual centers within us whose essential nature and luminosity can be experienced during meditation. These spiritual centers are often represented symbolically as lotuses, and their 'opening up' implies the state of complete repose when the purpose of yogic meditation is attained.

In the final analysis, though a yantra is made up of different elements, the fundamental aim of ritual and meditation is to fuse all these dimensions, and to facilitate the adept's spiritual journey, as follows:

The outermost square sanctuary has a landing before each of its four gates. This is a two dimensional representation of a low flight of steps leading up from the ground to the raised floor of the sanctuary. This sanctuary is the seat of the divinity. This is exactly the model on which the Hindu temple is built. Hence each Hindu temple is a yantra in itself.

Once the spiritual seeker enters the square enclosure, and starts moving towards the center, the symbol of the flowering lotus represents the awakening of his/her inner consciousness to its maximum potential. As the journey progresses, the adept encounters the various aspects of manifestation inherent in nature, symbolized by the male and female principles (the triangles). These are bounded within a circle. This symbolizes that all reality is confined within these concepts. The journey towards the center encompasses both distance and the course of time. This space time continuum is represented by the straight line.

Finally the devotee reaches the center, the reservoir of all knowledge and the final goal of his journey. But the spiritual awareness generated within him during his penetration to the central essence makes him realize that this point is nothing but the center of his own heart, the innermost realm of his being. This realization is the ultimate aim of the yantra.

Representation of the Human Body as a Symbol of the Universe

In Tantric thought the human body is visualized as a microcosm of the universe. It is believed that the complete drama of the universe is repeated in this very body. The whole body with its biological and psychological processes becomes an instrument through which the cosmic power reveals itself. According to tantric principles, all that exists in the universe must also exist in the individual body. If we can analyze one human being, we shall be able to analyze the entire universe. The purpose is to search for the whole truth within, so that one may realize one 's inner self, unfolding the basic reality of the universe. A Tantra text says: "He who realizes the truth of the body can then come to know the truth of the universe'. The two most important concepts associated with the human body are the chakras and Kundalini. In addition to helping realize the abstract conceptions of Tantra in visual terms, they reveal to the spiritual seeker the deepest truths of Tantric philosophy through metaphors and symbols.

Kundalini

The Sanskrit word kundalini means 'coiled-up'. The coiled Kundalini is the female energy existing in latent form, not only in every human being but in every atom of the universe. It may frequently happen that an individual's Kundalini energy lies dormant through his or her entire lifetime and he or she is unaware of its existence. The object of the tantric practice of Kundalini-yoga is to awaken this cosmic energy and cause it to unite with Shiva, the Pure Consciousness pervading the whole universe.

In the concept of the Yoga Kundalini Upanishad:

"The divine power,
Kundalini shines
Like the stem of a young lotus;
Like a snake, coiled round upon herself,
She holds her tail in her mouth
And lies resting half asleep
At the base of the body."

The static, unmanifested Kundalini is symbolized by a serpent coiled into three and a half circles, with its tail in its mouth.

In the microcosm of the human body, the Goddess Kundalini appears as a dormant energy, but able, when she wakes up, to destroy the illusion of life and lead to liberation. She can be awakened through the practice of what is known as Kundalini-Yoga, a unique branch of esoteric Tantra.

When the Kundalini is ready to unfold, she ascends from the Muladhara Chakra to unite above the head with Shiva at the Sahasra Chakra. But before this merger she must ascend and pass through each of the five remaining chakras. As Kundalini reaches each chakra, that lotus opens and lifts its flower; and as soon as she leaves for a higher chakra, the lotus closes its petals and hangs down, symbolizing the activation of the energies of the chakra and their assimilation in Kundalini. The increasing number of lotus petals, in ascending order, may be taken to indicate the rising energy of the respective chakras, each functioning as a 'transformer' of energies from one potency to another.

Iconographic Images

In tantric art, an image created must correspond to the original canonical text; any omission, error or oversight is attributed to imperfect absorption or considered a sign of slackening of attention. In such an event, the image is discarded and the process of composing is deferred.

The process of image-making is an yoga discipline in itself. It is also believed to lead to spiritual deliverance. This belief shifts the objective of art from being an end in itself to being the means of an end. The intention of the artist is to express fundamental truths which are constant for all, and not just his own 'personal' truth. His path thus is one of selfless action, where there is a total annihilation of the ego. In such an art, it comes as no surprise therefore, that the artist has always remained anonymous.

But it is not that the creative impulse of the artist is stifled. The artist while undertaking creative activity intuitively realizes that his own self-expression is part of a universal and collective expression as a whole. This underlying unity acts as an awesome catalyst, convincing him of the sacred nature of his activity, and prompts him to adopt universal symbols in his creations. The Shiva-linga for example, is a balancing of the masculine and feminine ways of the world. This archetypal symbol has been in existence even before the idea of history itself. The enduring popularity of its essential iconography is a pointer to its acceptance in the universal psychology.

Because of the vital nature of the task, ancient texts dwell at length on the qualities an artist must possess before he can embark on this spiritual journey. A tantric text for example, enumerates the following six essentials that a stone-carver must master:

• The knowledge of stones.
• The compositional diagram.
• The carving and dressing of stone.
• The arrangement of the various elements of a sculpture.
• The representation of the essential mood-character of a piece.
• The final integration of all its component parts.

The making of an iconographic image in Tantra art is considered the equivalent of the highest form of worship. This activity is seen as capable of opening up spiritual avenues for those who seek them. Accordingly the canonical texts set the highest standards for those who wish to traverse this path.

Conclusion

The art which has evolved out of tantra reveals an abundant variety of forms, varied inflections of tone and colors, graphic patterns, powerful symbols with personal and universal significance. It is especially intended to convey a knowledge evoking a higher level of perception, and tapping dormant sources of our awareness. This form of expression is not pursued like detached speculation to achieve mere aesthetic delight, but has a deeper meaning. Apart from aesthetic value, its real significance lies in its content, the meaning it conveys, and the philosophy of life it unravels. In this sense tantra art is visual metaphysics.

The Ketheric Template or Causal Body (Seventh Layer)

"The seventh level is the mental level of the spiritual plane called the ketheric template. It extends from about two and one half to three and one half feet (75 to 105 cm) from the body. When we bring our consciousness to the seventh level of the aura, we know that we are one with the Creator. The outer form is the egg shape of the aura body and contains all the auric bodies associated with the present incarnation an individual is undergoing. This body, too, is a highly structured template. It appears to my vision as composed of tiny threads of gold-silver light of very strong durability that hold the whole form of the aura together. It contains a golden grid structure of the physical body and all the chakras.

When "tuning" into the frequency level of the seventh layer, I perceive beautiful golden shimmering light that is pulsating so fast that I use the term "shimmering!' It looks like thousands of golden threads. The golden egg form extends out beyond the body some three to three and a half feet depending on the person with the smaller tip beneath the feet and the larger end about three feet above the head. It can expand even more, if the person is very energetic. The outer edge actually looks like an eggshell to me; it appears to have a thickness of about a quarter to a half inch (6 to 13 mm). This outer part of the seventh layer is very strong and resilient, resistant to penetration and protects the field just as an eggshell protects the chick. All the chakras and body forms appear to be made of golden light on this level. This is the strongest, most resilient level of the auric field.

It could be likened to a standing lightwave of intricate shape and form vibrating at an extremely high rate. One can almost hear a sound when looking at it. I'm sure a sound could be heard if one meditated on such a picture. The golden template level also contains the main power current that runs up and down the spine and is the main power current that nourishes the whole body. As this golden power current pulsates up and down the spine, it carries energies through the roots of each chakra and connects the energies that are taken in through each chakra.

The main vertical power current induces other currents at right angles to it to form golden streamers that extend directly outward from the body. These in turn induce other currents that circle around the field, so that the entire auric field and all the levels below it are surrounded and held within this basket-like network. This network shows the power of the golden light, the divine mind that holds the whole field together in its entirety and its integrity.

In addition, in the ketheric template level are also the past life bands within the eggshell. These are colored bands of light which completely encircle the aura and can be found anywhere on the eggshell surface. The band found near the head-neck area is usually the band containing the past life that you are working to clear in your present life circumstance. Jack Schwarz speaks of these bands and how to tell their meaning by their color. The ketheric level is the last auric level in the spiritual plane. It contains the life plan and is the last level directly related to this incarnation. Beyond this level is the , the plane that cannot be experienced from the limiting viewpoint of only one incarnation.

The Celestial Body (Sixth Layer)

"The sixth level is the emotional level of the spiritual plane, called the celestial body. It extends about two to two and a half feet (60 to 75 cm) from the body. It is the level through which we experience spiritual ecstasy. We can reach it through meditation and many forms of transformation work. When we reach the point of "being", where we know our connection with all the universe, when we see the light and love in everything that exists, when we are immersed in the light and feel we are of it and it is us and feel that we are one with God, then we have raised our consciousness to the sixth level of the aura.

Unconditional love flows when there is a connection between the open heart chakara and the open celestial chakra. In this connection, we combine the love of humanity, our basic human love for our fellow humans in the flesh, with the spiritual ecstasy found in the spiritual love that goes beyond the physical reality to all the realms of existence. Combining these two creates the experience of unconditional love.

The celestial body appears to me in beautiful shimmering light, composed mostly of pastel colors. This light has a gold-silver shine and opalescent quality, like mother of pearl sequins. Its form is less defined than the etheric template level in that it simply appears to be composed of light that radiates out from the body like the glow around a candle. Within this glow are also brighter, stronger beams of light.

The Etheric Template Body (Fifth Layer)

"I call the fifth layer of the aura the etheric template because it contains all the forms that exist on the physical plane in a blue-print or template form. That is, it looks rather like the negative of a photograph. It is the template form for the etheric layer which as was already stated is the template form for the physical body. The the energy field derives its structure from the etheric template layer. It is the blueprint or the perfect form for the etheric layer to take. It extends from about one and one half to two feet (45 to 60 cm) from the bodu. In disease, when the etheric layer becomes disfigured, etheric template work is needed to provide the support for the etheric layer in its original template form. It is the level at which sound creates matter. It is at this level that sounding in healing is the most effective. To my clairvoyant sight, these forms appear as clear or transparent lines on a cobalt blue background, much like an architect's blueprint, only this blueprint exists in another dimension. It is as if a form is made by completely filling in the background space, and the empty space left creates the form.

The etheric template is the template for the etheric body, which then forms the grid structure (structured energy field) upon which the physical body grows. Thus, the etheric template level of the universal energy field contains all the shapes and forms that exist on the physical plane, except on the template level. These exist in negative space, creating an empty space in which the etheric grid structure grows and upon which all physical manifestation exists.

The Astral Level (Fourth Layer)

"The astral body is amorphous and is composed of clouds of color more beautiful than those of the . The astral body tends to have the same set of colors, but they are usually infused with the rose light of love. It extends out about one half to one foot (15 to 30 cm) from the body. The the same octave of colors as the rainbow of the emotional body, but each is infused with the rose light of love. The of a loving person is full of rose light on the astral level.

When people fall in love, beautiful arcs of rose light can be seen between their hearts, and a beautiful rose color is added to the normal golden pulsations I observe in the pituitary gland. When people form relationships with each other, they grow cords out of the chakras that connect them. These cords exist on many levels of the addition to the astral. The longer and deeper the relationship, the more cords and the stronger they are. When relationships end, those cords are torn, sometimes causing a great deal of pain. The period of "getting over" a relationship is usually a period of disconnecting those cords on the lower levels of the field and rerooting them within the self.

A great deal of interaction takes place between people on the astral level. Great blobs of color of various forms whisk across the room between people. Some of it is pleasant and some not so pleasant. You can feel the difference. You may feel uneasy about someone across the room who is apparently not even aware of your presence; however on another level a lot is happening. I have seen people standing next to each other in a group pretending not to notice each other, when on the energy level there is a whole communication taking place with lots of energy forms moving between them. You have no doubt experienced this yourself, especially between men and women. It is not just body language; there is an actual energetic phenomenon that can be perceived.. For example, when a man or woman fantasize about making love with someone, say in a bar or at a party, there is an actual testing in the energy f

The Mental Body (Third Layer)

"The third aura body is the mental body. This body extends beyond the is composed of still finer substances, all of which are associated with thoughts and mental processes. This body usually appears as a bright yellow light radiating about the head and shoulders and extending around the whole body. It expands and becomes brighter when its owner is concentrating on mental processes. It extends from three to eight inches (7.5 to 20 cm) from the body

The mental body is also a structured body. It contains the structure of our ideas. This body is mostly yellow. Within this field can be seen thought forms. They appear to be blobs of varying brightness and form. These thought forms have additional colors superimposed on them, actually emanating from the The color represents the person's emotion that is connected to the thought form. The clearer and more well-formed the idea, the clearer and more well-formed is the thought form associated with that idea. We enhance these thought forms by focusing on the thoughts they represent. Habitual thoughts become very powerful well-formed forces that then affect our lives.

This body has been the hardest for me to observe. This may be partly caused by the fact that human beings are really just beginning todevelop the mental body and are just beginning to use their intellects in clear ways. For that reason we are very conscious of mental activity and consider ourselves an analytical society."

The Emotional Body (Second Layer)

The second auric body, or next finer after the , is generally called the emotional body, and is associated with feelings. It roughly follows the outline of the physical body. Its structure is much more fluid than the etheric and does not duplicate the physical body. Rather, it appears to be colored clouds of fine substance in continual fluid motion. It extends one to three inches from the body.

This body interpenetrates the denser bodies that it surrounds. Its colors vary from brilliant clear hues to dark muddy ones, depending on the clarity or confusion of the feeling or energy that produces them. Clear and highly energized feelings such as love, excitement, joy or anger are bright and clear; those feelings that are confused are dark and muddy. As these feelings become energized through personal interaction, body psychotherapy, etc., the colors separate out into their primary hue and brighten.

This body contains all the colors of the rainbow. Each like a vortex of a different color and follows the colors of the rainbow. The list below shows chakras of the emotional body and their colors.

The Etheric Body (First Layer)

"The etheric body (from "ether" the state between energy and matter) is composed of tiny energy lines "like a sparkling web of light beams" similar to the lines on a television screen. It has the same structure as the physical body including all the anatomical parts and all the organs.

The etheric body consists of a definite structure of lines of force, or energy matrix, upon which the physical matter of the body tissues is shaped and anchored. The physical tissues exist as such only because of the vital field behind them; that is, the field is prior to, not a result of, the physical body. This relationship has been supported in the observations of plant growth by Dr. John Pierrakos and myself. Through the use of High Sense Perception, we observed that an energy field matrix in the shape of a leaf is projected by the plant prior to the growth of a leaf, and then the leaf grows into that already existing form.

The web-like structure of the etheric body is in constant motion. To clairvoyant vision, sparks of bluish-white light move along its energy lines throughout the entire dense physical body. The etheric body extends from one quarter to two inches beyond the physical body and pulsates about 15-20 cycles per minute.

The color of the etheric body varies from light blue to gray. The light blue color has been connected to a finer form than the gray. That is, a more sensitive person with a sensitive body will tend to have a bluish first layer whereas a more athletic, robust type of person will tend to have a more grayish etheric body. All the of this layer are the same color as the body. That is, they will also range between blue to gray in color. The chakras look like vortices made of a net of light, just like the rest of the etheric body. One can perceive all the organs of the physical body, but they are formed of this scintillating bluish light. As in the leaf's energy system, this etheric structure sets up the matrix for the cells to grow; i.e., the cells of the body grow along the lines of energy of the etheric matrix, and that matrix is there before the cells grow. If one were to isolate the etheric body and look only at it, it would look like a man or woman made of bluish lines of light in constant scintillation, rather like Spiderman.

By observing the shoulder of someone in dim light against a plain white or plain black or dark blue background, you may be able to see the pulsations of this etheric body. The pulsation rises, say at the shoulder, and then makes its way down the arm, like a wave. If you look more closely, there appears to be a blank space between the shoulder and the blue hazy light; then there is a layer of brighter blue haze that slowly fades as it extends from the body. But be aware that as soon as you see it, it will be gone, because it moves so fast. It will have pulsated down the arm by the time you take a second look to check yourself out. Try again. You will catch the next pulsation."

Introduction to The Siddhis

A siddhi defined as "a magickal or spiritual power for the control of self, others and the forces of nature" by a Tantrik glossary. The siddhis described by occultists and yogis are in actuality supernormal perceptual states available to all human beings. These are absolutely natural abilities that can be explained in highly rational terms. There is nothing mysterious or magical about the siddhis.

Just like any other natural human ability, different people display differing abilities towards learning and/or spontaneously displaying siddhis. Some people are born with siddhis that they exercise without being aware that their particular psychic gift is unusual. In such cases, it may come as a traumatic event to the individual when they learn that their ability is not common and that they are considered a "misfit" by other people not possessing the psychic ability.

In other cases, one can practice yoga and actively develop siddhis. According to occult theory, this is the rational and desirable way to go about achieving siddhis.

Another means to trigger off siddhis in an unexpected and uncontrolled manner is by the use of certain drugs. Hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, mescaline, peyote and others stimulate siddhis in an uncontrolled fashion. This is a very dangerous way to evoke siddhis and can lead to great psychological trauma.

As well, a variety of other stimuli may cause siddhis spontaneously, such as a fall or a blow to the head.

However the siddhis are produced, the fact is that they exist. The existence of the siddhis is doubted by most people because they have no experience with them. However, the act of dreaming is considered a siddhi. Thus, any one who has dreamed has utilized a siddhi.

Our so-called normal psychological attributes bleed imperceptibly into the perceptual realms (the Planes of Nature) opened up by the awakening of the siddhis, thus it is not clear cut at all as to where "normal" psychological behaviors end, and siddhis begin.

And to further complicate the situation, though academic psychologists see many cases of people experiencing siddhis, the academic psychology community, on the whole, is completely unaware of the nature and existence of the siddhis. Often this leads to the psychologist or psychiatrist treating individuals who are experiencing siddhis in an inappropriate and damaging fashion. Often, cases of so-called insanity or psychosis are cases of people experiencing siddhis who are scared and confused, in which case the individual may be given completely inappropriate treatment that only worsens the individual's condition. Of course there are valid forms of psychosis in which confinement or institutionalization are required. Again, however, the borderline between such cases and cases of people experiencing siddhis is ambiguous and ill defined presently.

In the future, Western academic science will be forced to accept the realities of the siddhis as their nature becomes better understood.

In conclusion, it must be strongly and thoroughly stressed that the siddhis are absolutely natural abilities latent in all humans. If one takes the time to learn and practice the correct yoga exercises, then it is inevitable that one will directly experience the awakening of their own siddhis. Again, there is nothing magical or mysterious going on here, and all claims put forth regarding the siddhis stand open to any type of test of their validity that anyone wishes to pose. However, those skeptical of the siddhis and who wish to challenge the claim to the existence of the siddhis must be prepared to recognize that the nature of the siddhis will not fit easily into biased misconceptions. One who experiences siddhis operates in a greater, more expanded psychological reality than one who does not and therefore the skeptic must be prepared to expand his or her understanding in an attempt to either prove or disprove the existence of the siddhis.

A Visual Representation of the Body Mirror System of Healing

Crown Chakra

Also known as: Cosmic Consciousness Center, "I AM" Center, Sahasrara

Body Mind Associations:

Location: Top of the head

Color: Violet

Parts of the body: This Chakra is associated with the top of the head, the brain, and the entire nervous system

Endocrine Gland: Pineal Gland

Sense: Sense of empathy, unity, experiencing another person's experience as if you were inside them, being them.

Consciousness: The Crown Chakra represents that part of our consciousness concerned with perceptions of unity or separation. Just as the Root Chakra showed our connection with Mother Earth, this chakra shows our relationship with Our Father in Heaven. It represents our connection with our biological father, which becomes the model for our relationship with authority, and ultimately, with God. It's the level of the soul.

When one experiences a sense of separation from their father, they close the crown chakra, and experience a sense of isolation and aloneness, as if they are in a shell, and having difficulty with feeling contact with those around them. Thought processes tend to justify and maintain the sense of aloneness.

The view from this chakra includes seeing one's Self as the single consciousness creating all, and paradoxically, thus connected to all, like a dreamer dreaming a dream and realizing that all that is perceived is just an extension of their own consciousness.

Element: Inner Light, which is what one experiences when they are in the deepest part of their being, as a point of consciousness glowing with intelligence.

Also called White Light. Metaphysically, this is considered the most subtle element of which the entire physical universe is created.

Brow Chakra

Also known as: Consciousness Awareness Center, Third Eye, Ajna

Body Mind Associations:

Location: Center of the forehead

Color: Indigo, Midnight Blue

Parts of the body: This Chakra is associated with the forehead and temples, with the carotid plexus

Endocrine Gland: Pituitary Gland

Sense: Extra Sensory Perception, all of the inner senses corresponding to the outer senses, which together are considered spirit-to-spirit communication. These include, for example, clairvoyance (inner sense of vision), clairaudience (inner sense of hearing), clairsentience (inner sense of touch), etc.

Consciousness: This Chakra is associated with the deep inner level of Being we call the Spirit, and with what we consider spirituality and the spiritual perspective, the point of view from that deeper part of our being that western traditions consider the subconscious or unconscious. It is the place where our true motivations are found, and is the level of consciousness that directs our actions and, in fact, our lives.

It is also from this point of view that one sees events in the physical world as the manifestation of co-creation among the Beings involved in those events.

Element: Inner Sound, the sound one hears inside that does not depend upon events outside. Often considered a pathological condition by traditional medicine, it is also seen by eastern traditions as a necessary prerequisite to further spiritual growth.

Throat Chakra

Also known as: Cornucopia Center, Visuddha

Body Mind Associations:

Location: Base of the throat

Color: Sky blue

Parts of the body: This chakra controls the throat and the neck, and the arms and the hands. It is associated with the brachial or cervical plexus.

Sense: Sense of Hearing

Endocrine Gland: Thyroid Gland

Consciousness: The aspects of expressing and receiving. Expressing can be in the form of communicating what one wants and what one feels, or it can be an artistic expression, as an artist painting, a dancer dancing, a musician playing music, using a form for expressing and bringing to the outside what was within. Expressing is related to receiving, as in "Ask, and ye shall receive."

This chakra is associated with listening to one's intuition, which guides one in an optimal flow, in which one sees one's goals manifest, and it seems that the Universe provides all their needs with no effort on their part at all. It's a state of Grace. Abundance, therefore, is associated with this chakra, as is the aspect of unconditional receiving necessary to accept the abundance of the Universe.

This is the first level of consciousness in which one perceives directly another level of Intelligence, and experiences one's interaction with this other Intelligence.

Metaphysically, this chakra is related to creativity, creating, manifesting in the physical world the fulfillment of one's goals.

Element: Ether, as the crossover between the physical world and the world of Spirit. On the physical level, it corresponds to deep space as the most subtle physical element. From the point of view of the Spiritual, it represents the matrix on which physical reality manifests.

Metaphorically, it represents a person's relationship with their space, the movie that is playing around them

Heart Chakra

Also known as: Living Love Center, Anahata

Body Mind Associations:

Location: Center of the chest

Color: Emerald Green

Parts of the body: This Chakra is associated with the heart and the blood circulatory system, and the cardiac plexus, as well as the lungs and the entire chest area.

Endocrine Gland: Thymus Gland, controlling the immune system.

Sense: Sense of touch, in its aspect of relating to the person inside the body, and distinct from the sensation of the Orange Chakra, which is more about the sensation one feels from their own body. Hugging, therefore, is a Heart Chakra activity. When one hugs, one is aware of what the person inside the other body feels, and they are aware of what you feel inside your body, and there is a sense of relating to the person inside the body. Sensitivity about being touched indicates heart chakra sensitivity.

Consciousness: Perceptions of love, relationships (relating) with people close to your heart, e.g. partner, siblings, parents, children. Difficulty with breathing, or with the lungs, the organs of air, indicates tension in the Heart Chakra. A person's relationship with air reflects their relationship with love.

AIDS is a problem with the person's perceptions of love, since it is the immune system which is affected. The person feels that their lifestyle separates them from those they love, often because of societal judgment.

Element: Air

Solar Plexus Chakra

Also known as: Power Center, Manipura

Body Mind Associations:

Location: Solar plexus

Color: Yellow

Parts of the Body: The parts of the body associated with this chakra include the muscular system, the skin as a system, the solar plexus, the large intestine, stomach, liver, and other organs and glands in the region of the solar plexus. Also the eyes, as the organs of sight, and the face, representing figuratively the face one shows the world.

Endocrine Gland: The pancreas

Sense: Eyesight

Consciousness: Parts of the consciousness associated with this chakra include perceptions concerned with power, control, freedom, the ease with which one is able to be themselves - ease of being. Mental activity and the mental body is also associated with this chakra. The solar plexus chakra is also associated with the level of being we call the personality, or ego.

The relationship a person has with fire, or the sun, can be seen to have its parallels in the person’s relationship with the parts of their consciousness that this chakra represents. Someone sensitive about the sun, then, can be seen to have particular sensitivities about power, or control, or freedom.

Element: Fire, the sun.

Orange Chakra

Also known as: Sensation Center, Spleen Chakra, Hara, Svadhisthana

Body Mind Associations:

Location: The center of the abdomen

Color: Orange

Parts of the body: Reproductive system, sexual organs, lumbar plexus

Endocrine gland: Gonads

Sense: Sense of taste, appetite

Consciousness: This chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with food and sex. It is about the body's communication to the Being inside, about what the body wants and needs, and what it finds pleasurable. The person's ability to have children is also associated with this chakra. If there is not a clear relationship with the element of water, associated with this chakra, the person's relationship with water is a reflection of their relationship with the parts of their consciousness associated with this chakra, i.e. food, sex, or having children.

This chakra is also associated with the emotional body, and the person's willingness to feel their emotions.

Element: Water

Root Chakra

Also known as: Security Center, Muladhara

Body/Mind Associations:

Location: The perineum, the point between the anus and the sex organs

Color : Red

Parts of the body: Lymph system, skeleton system (teeth and bones), the prostate gland in men, the sacral plexus, the bladder and elimination system, and the lower extremities (legs - feet, ankles , etc.). Also the nose, since it is the organ of the sense of smell, and associated with survival.

Endocrine gland: Adrenal glands

Sense: Smell

Consciousness: Security, survival, trust, the relationship with money, home, job. Ability to be grounded, to be present in the here and now. Ability to allow one's self to be nourished, in the sense of allowing one's Inner Being to be satisfied. This chakra also reflects a person's connection with their mother, and with Mother Earth. How the person feels about being on the earth. Connection with the physical body.

Symptoms or tensions in the parts of the body controlled by this chakra indicate tensions in the parts of the person's consciousness related to this chakra. Tension here is experienced as insecurity as a general perceptual filter. More tension is experienced as fear. More than that is experienced as terror, or a threat to survival.

Element: Earth

Your Body Is The Mirror Of Your Life

Your Body Is The Mirror Of Your Life

Everything begins with your consciousness. Everything that happens in your life, and everything that happens in your body, begins with something happening in your consciousness.

Your consciousness is who you are, your experience of Being.

You decide what ideas to accept and which to reject. You decide what to think, and you decide what to feel. When these decisions leave you with residual stress, you experience the stress as if in your physical body. We know that stress creates symptoms. The interesting question is, "Which stress creates which symptoms?" When we are able to quantify this process, we are then able to see the body as a map of the person's consciousness, relating particular symptoms to particular stresses and particular ways of being, in the same way that Type "A" Behavior has been able to be associated with heart disease.

Everything Starts In Your Consciousness

To understand this map, we must first orient ourselves to the idea that the causes of symptoms are within. While it's true that germs cause disease and accidents cause injuries, it is also true that this happens in accord with what is happening in the consciousness of the person involved.

Germs are everywhere. Why are some people affected and not others? Something different is happening in their consciousness.

Why do some patients in hospitals respond better to treatment than others? They have different attitudes. Something different is happening in their consciousness When someone is injured in an "accident," why is it that a very specific part of the body is affected, and that it is the same part that has had habitual problems? Is that an "accident," or is there a pattern and an order to the way things happen in our bodies?

You Are A Being of Energy

Your consciousness, your experience of Being, who you really are, is energy. We can call it "Life Energy" for now. This energy does not just live in your brain; it fills your entire body. Your consciousness is connected to every cell in your body. Through your consciousness, you can communicate with every organ and every tissue, and a number of therapies are based on this communication with the organs which have been affected by some kind of symptom or disorder.

This energy which is your consciousness, and which reflects your state of consciousness, can be measured through the process known as Kirlian photography. When you take a Kirlian photograph of your hand, it shows a certain pattern of energy. If you take a second photograph while imagining that you are sending love and energy to someone you know, there will be a different pattern of energy shown on the Kirlian photograph. Thus, we can see that a change in your consciousness creates a change in the energy field that is being photographed, which we call the aura.

This energy field shown in the Kirlian photographs has been quantified, so that when there are "holes" in particular parts of the energy field, these are said to correspond to particular weaknesses in specific parts of the physical body. The interesting thing about this is that the weakness shows up in the energy field before there is ever any evidence of it on the physical level.

Thus, we have an interesting direction of manifestation shown through what we have described.

1. A change of consciousness creates a change in the energy field.

2. A change in the energy field happens before a change in the physical body.

The direction of manifestation is from the consciousness, through the energy field, to the physical body.

Consciousness--1-->Energy Field--2-->Physical Body

When we look at things in this way, we see that it is not the physical body creating the energy field, the aura, but rather the aura or energy field that is creating the physical body. What we see as the physical body is the end result of a process that begins with the consciousness.

We Each Create Our Reality

When someone makes a decision that leaves them with stress, creating a blockage in the energy field with a sufficient degree of intensity, this creates a symptom on the physical level. The symptom speaks a certain language, which reflects the idea that we each create our own reality. When the symptom is described from that point of view, the metaphoric significance of the symptom becomes clear. Thus, instead of saying, "I can't see," the person would have to say, "I have been keeping myself from seeing something." If they cannot walk, they would have to say, "I have been keeping myself from walking away from something." And so on. We must understand that there are no accidents and no coincidences. Things do happen according to a pattern and order.

The Human Directional System

We can say that we have an inner guidance system, a connection to our Higher Self, or our Inner Being, or whatever name we choose to give this Higher Intelligence. This inner guidance system functions through what we call our intuition, or our instinct. It speaks a very simple language. Either it feels good, or it doesn't. All the rest is just politics.

We are told we should move with what feels good, and do not do what doesn't feel good to us. We are told to trust this inner voice. When we don't follow this inner voice we feel tension. We feel not-good.

Then, the voice must get louder. The next level of communication is through the emotions. As we move more and more in the direction that feels not-good, we experience more and more emotions that feel not-good, and at some point we can say, "I should have listened to myself when I thought to move in the other direction." That meant that we heard the inner voice. Otherwise, we could not have said, "I should have listened." If we make the decision we know is the right one for us, and therefore change direction, there is a release of tension, we feel better, and we know we are again on the right track.

If we continue to move in the direction that feels not-good, the communication reaches the physical level. We create a symptom, and the symptom speaks a language which reflects the idea that we each create our own reality. When we describe the symptom from that point of view, we can understand the message.

If we change our way of being, we have received the message, and the symptom has no further reason for being. It is able to be released, according to whatever we allow ourselves to believe is possible.

If we created the symptom with a decision, we are also able to release it with a decision.

As an hypothesis, we can imagine that someone makes a decision that it is not a good idea to express what they want. From that moment, whenever there is something they want, they keep themselves from expressing it, and therefore from having what they want. That feels not-good. The tension grows. They feel more and more not-good as they keep themselves from expressing what they want and not having it.

Eventually, something happens to create a symptom on the physical level, and their right arm is affected. It could have happened through falling from a ladder, or in an automobile accident, or by pinching a nerve in the neck, or by "sleeping in a draft."

Something had to happen on the physical level to create the symptom, in order to give the person the message on the physical level about what they had been doing to themselves. We do to ourselves literally what we have been doing to ourselves figuratively.

The effect is that the person cannot move their arm. They are keeping themselves from reaching for something, and since it is the right arm, on the "will" side of the body, they are keeping themselves from reaching for or going for what they want. They have been giving themselves reasons to not believe that they could have what they want. When they begin to do something different in their consciousness, they notice that something different begins to happen with their arm, and the symptom is able to be released.

Chakras And The Map

To understand the map of the consciousness that the body represents, we can turn to some ancient Hindu traditions which have been studying consciousness for thousands of years, and which use the language of the chakras.

Chakra is a Sanskrit word, and it means "wheel," or "vortex," because that's what it looks like when we look at it. Each chakra is like a solid ball of energy interpenetrating the physical body, in the same way that a magnetic field can interpenetrate the physical body.

The chakras are not physical. They are aspects of consciousness in the same way that the auras are aspects of consciousness The chakras are more dense than the auras, but not as dense as the physical body, but they interact with the physical body through two major vehicles, the endocrine system and the nervous system. Each of the seven chakras is associated with one of the seven endocrine glands, and also with a particular group of nerves called a plexus. Thus, each chakra can be associated with particular parts of the body and particular functions within the body controlled by that plexus or that endocrine gland associated with that chakra.

Your consciousness, your experience of being, represents everything it is possible for you to experience. All of your senses, all of your perceptions, all of your possible states of awareness, can be divided into seven categories, and each of these categories can be associated with a particular chakra. Thus, the chakras represent not only particular parts of your physical body, but also particular parts of your consciousness. When you feel tension in your consciousness, you feel it in the chakra associated with the part of your consciousness experiencing the stress, and in the parts of the physical body associated with that chakra. Where you feel the stress depends therefore on why you feel the stress. When someone is hurt in a relationship, they feel it in their heart. When someone is nervous, their legs tremble and their bladder becomes weak.

When there is tension in a particular part of your consciousness, and therefore in the chakra associated with that part of your consciousness, the tension is detected by the nerves of the plexus associated with that chakra, and communicated to the parts of the body controlled by that plexus. When the tension continues over a period of time, or reaches a particular degree of intensity, the person creates a symptom on the physical level. Again, the symptom served to communicate to the person through their body what they had been doing to themselves in their consciousness. When the person changes something about their way of being, they are able to release the stress that had been creating the symptom, and they are then able to return to their natural state of balance and health.

Reading The Map

When we are reading the body as a map of the consciousness within, we work with the idea that the tensions in the body represent tensions in the person's consciousness concerning what was happening in the person's life at the time that the symptom developed. The person was feeling stress about something that was happening in their life at that time.

We are going to examine the map of consciousness that the chakras provide, in order to understand the language of the symptoms that are associated with each chakra. In order to complete this map, however, we also need to look at ourselves as each a polarity of yin and yang, feminine and masculine characteristics.

For most people, their right side is their yang side, their will side, their acting or active side, and the left side is their yin side, their female side, their feeling or adaptive side. For people who were born left-handed, this polarity is reversed. Thus, for a right-handed person, their right leg can be described as their will leg, or their male leg, or the foundation of their will, but for a left-handed person, their left leg would be their male leg or will leg, and so on. Thus, we can talk about the will arm, or the will eye, or the will nostril, etc., and which side it is on will depend upon whether the person is right-handed or left-handed at birth.

Each of the chakras is energy vibrating at a certain frequency, in a logical and orderly sequence of seven vibrations. As we move up the scale, the elements become more and more subtle, moving through the five physical elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether, to the spiritual elements of inner sound and inner light. The heaviest element is on the bottom, the lightest on the top. It is a logical and orderly sequence.

The colors of the spectrum also represent a series of seven vibrations in a logical and orderly sequence, as do the notes of the musical scale. Thus, we can put the heaviest vibrations or the longest wavelength on the bottom and the lightest on the top, and a particular color can be used to represent a chakra in its clear state, as can a particular musical note. Music played in a certain key vibrates a particular chakra, and we feel a particular way when we hear that music. Our relationship with a certain color says something about our relationship with the part of our consciousness that the color represents.

The Root Chakra is associated with the parts of our consciousness concerned with security, survival, or trust. For most people, this concerns the parts of their consciousness concerned with money, home, and job. When this chakra is in its clear state, the person is able to feel secure, be present in the here and now, and be grounded. When there is tension in this chakra, it is experienced as insecurity or fear. When there is more tension, it is experienced as a threat to survival.

Parts of the body controlled by the sacral plexus and this chakra include the skeleton system, the legs, and the elimination system. Symptoms in these parts of the body represent, therefore, tensions at the level of the Root Chakra, and we therefore know that the person is seeing the world through a perceptual filter of insecurity or fear. The adrenal glands are also associated with this chakra.

If one leg is affected, we can see whether it is the male leg or the female leg, and thus whether it has something to do with trust in a male or trust in a female. We can also see it as having something to do with trust in the will, or the aspects of trust in the foundations the emotional being, related to what was happening in the person's life at the time the symptom developed.

The physical sense of smell, and therefore the organ of the sense of smell, the nose, is associated with the Root Chakra. Symptoms at the level of the nose or affecting the sense of smell reflect tensions at the level of the Root Chakra.

Each chakra is associated with an element. The Root Chakra is associated with the element of earth, and reflects something about the person's association with the earth, or how they feel about being on the earth, which we call Mother Earth. This chakra is also associated with our relationship with our mother. When someone experiences a sense of separation from their mother, or not feeling loved by their mother, they cut off their roots and experience symptoms of tensions at the level of the Root Chakra until they can again open to accept their mother's love.

When a child comes into the world in the traditional family structure, the mother provides the nourishment and the father provides the direction. Thus, in the child's relationship with its mother, it makes certain decisions about the way things are. The relationship with the mother thus becomes a model for the person's relationship with everything that represents security - money, home, and job.

The Root Chakra is associated with the color red.

The Abdominal Chakra is associated with the parts of our consciousness concerned with food and sex - the communication from the body to the person within it, about what the body wants or needs, and what it finds pleasurable. It also is related to what is happening in their consciousness about having children. When this chakra is in its clear state, the person is in touch with this communication, and listening to and responding appropriately to what the body wants and needs.

Parts of the body controlled by the lumbar plexus include the reproductive system and the abdomen, and the lumbar region of the back.

The sense of taste is associated with this chakra, as is the element of water. When someone does not have a clear relationship with water (swimming, for example, or being on a boat), this reflects their attitudes about the parts of their consciousness that this chakra represents.

Tensions on the will side or the emotional side of this chakra indicate tensions in the person's consciousness as conflicts between either the will or the emotions with what the person's body is asking for.

This chakra is associated with the sense of taste, and with appetite. It is also involved with the person's willingness to feel their emotions.

The second chakra is associated with the color orange.

The Solar Plexus Chakra is associated with the parts of our consciousness having to do with perceptions of power, control, or freedom. In its clear state, it represents ease of being, and comfort with what is real for one's self - being comfortable with who you are.

Parts of the body associated with this chakra include the organs closest to the solar plexus - stomach, gall bladder, spleen, liver, etc. - as well as the skin as a system, the muscular system as a system, and the face in general.

The physical sense associated with this chakra is the sense of sight. Anyone with impaired eyesight experiences tension at the level of their solar plexus chakra about the issues of power, control, or freedom. Nearsighted people also experience tensions at the level of the Root Chakra, and experience the world through a perceptual filter of fear or insecurity. Those who are farsighted experience tension also at the level of the throat chakra, and see the world through a perceptual filter of anger or guilt. Astigmatics see through the emotional perceptual filter of confusion.

The endocrine gland associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra is the pancreas. We can say that diabetics are keeping sweetness from themselves. When someone gets too close with sweetness, they feel threatened in their power to be who they are, and an emotion comes up to create a safe distance again. The emotion is anger. Diabetes is associated with suppressed anger.

The element associated with this chakra is fire, and the person's relationship with the sun says something about their relationship with the parts of their consciousness associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra.

The color of the Solar Plexus Chakra is yellow.

The Heart Chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with relationships and our perceptions of love. The relationships we speak of here are with those people closest to our heart - partners, parents, siblings, children.

The parts of the body associated with this chakra include the heart and lungs, and the blood circulatory system as a system. This chakra is also associated with the thymus gland, which controls the immune system. When this is affected, as with AIDS, the person's lifestyle separates them from someone they love.

The physical sense associated with this chakra is the sense of touch, in its aspect of relating to the person inside the body. For example, a massage given to someone with no sensitivity to what the person is feeling inside would be an example of the sensation we associate with the Abdominal Chakra, but when the masseur seems to have a sense of what the person inside the body is experiencing, then it includes the aspect of relating we associate with the Heart Chakra. When someone experiences extreme sensitivity about being touched, we would ask what was happening at the level of the Heart Chakra.

This chakra is associated with the element of air. When someone has difficulty with air, with breathing (asthma, emphysema, tuberculosis, etc.), we say that their relationship with air reflects their relationship with love - difficulty letting it in, or letting it out, for example

The color associated with the Heart Chakra is emerald green.

The Throat Chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with expressing and receiving. Expressing can be in the form of communicating what one wants and what one feels, or it can be artistic expression, as an artist painting, a dancer dancing, a musician playing music, using a form for expressing and bringing to the outside what was within. Expression is related to receiving, as, "Ask, and ye shall receive."

The throat chakra is associated with abundance, and with the state of consciousness called, "grace," where it seems that what you want for you is also what God wants for you. Accepting what the abundant universe offers you requires a sense of unconditionally receiving.

This chakra is also associated with listening to one's intuition, and flowing in a particular way where it seems that the Universe supports you in all that you do. It is the first level of consciousness from which one perceives another level of intelligence functioning, and one's interaction with this other level of intelligence.

Parts of the body associated with this chakra include the throat, shoulders, and arms and hands. and the thyroid gland.

The sense of hearing is associated with this chakra, and the element of ether, the most subtle physical element, corresponding to what we find in deep space. The ether is the crossover between the physical and the spiritual dimensions. Someone looking at the world through this chakra watches the manifestation of their goals. The Will Arm represents manifesting what you want, and the Feeling Arm represents manifesting what makes you happy. Hopefully, the two point to the same thing.

Sky Blue is the color associated with this chakra.

The Brow Chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with the spiritual view, and the home of the Spirit, the Being within. This level of consciousness is associated with what western traditions call the unconscious or subconscious, the part of our consciousness that directs our actions and our life. From this level we are aware of the motivations behind our actions. We can watch our outer theater from an inner point of view.

This chakra is associated with the carotid plexus, and the nerves on each side of the face, and the pituitary gland. Headaches in the temples or center of the forehead are associated with tensions at this level. This chakra controls the entire endocrine system as a system, and the process of growth.

The Brow chakra, also known as the Third Eye, is associated with extra sensory perception (ESP), the set of all inner senses that correspond to the outer senses, which together comprise spirit-to-spirit communication. The element associated with this chakra is a vibration known as the Inner Sound, the sound that one hears in their ears that does not depend upon something in the physical world. Some consider it a pathological condition. In some of the eastern traditions the ability to hear this is considered a necessary prerequisite to further spiritual growth.

The color associated with this chakra is Indigo, midnight blue, the color of lapis lazuli, or the color of the night sky during a full moon.

The Crown Chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with unity or separation, and just as the Root Chakra showed our connection with Mother Earth, this chakra shows our connection with Our Father, Which Art in Heaven. At first, it is associated with our connection with our biological father. This becomes the model for our relationship with authority, and this becomes the model for our relationship with God. When there is a sense of separation from our biological father, the person closes this chakra, and the effect on the consciousness is a sense of isolation and aloneness, being in a shell, and difficult to make contact with those outside the shell.

The person feels as if they are hiding from God, or hiding from themselves, not seeing what is true for them in the deepest part of their consciousness, the part we call the soul.

This chakra is also associated with a sense of direction.

The parts of the body controlled by this chakra are the pineal gland, the brain, and the entire nervous system as a system.

The color associated with the Crown Chakra is Violet, the color of amethyst.

Using The Map

When there is tension in a particular part of the body, this represents a tension in a particular part of the consciousness, about a particular part of the person's life. Being aware of these associations helps one to see the importance of resolving the tense issues in their life.

If it were only a question of doing what is necessary for the person to be happy, that would be reason enough to motivate the person to want to change something that doesn't work for them, but here, we see that it is also a matter of health. The issues that are unresolved in a person's life are, in fact, hazardous to their health.

When we see the correspondences between the consciousness and the body, we see the degree to which we each create our reality. In fact, those words begin to take on a new meaning. We see how everything begins in our consciousness and we are able to look around us at other aspects of our lives in the same way.

When we see how the body carries out the messages and deepest wishes of the Being within the body, we can realize that the process can go in more than one direction. If our consciousness is directing how we develop symptoms, it can also direct how we release these same symptoms. If our consciousness can make our body ill, our consciousness can make our body well.