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Chapter 3 PSYCHIC & MYSTIC CONCEPTIONE Ajna chakra is the command centre of the psychic body Like all lower chakras it is controlled by sahasrar in the metacortex, or higher brain and has two points of physical mani festation. It is most readily perceived directly behind the eyebrow centre in the region of the frontal sinuses and its second centre is in the medulla oblongata at the top of the spinal column, in the exact centre of the brain. Connecting these two centres is a psychic nerve called mahanadi, through which subtle current flow. When a sadhak enters into meditation the force of his will power brings these particles into motion and, when contacted with the mind's awareness they appear in the form of light. This light in meditation is first seen in a circular form and sometimes like the flame of a candle. This light of ajna chakra is a sign of an aspirant advancing on the path. Often, people interpret the vision of light in the ajna chakra as a very signifigant sign bestowing wisdom, knowledge, blissand greatness; but this interpretation is incorrect. The true light of knowledge, called samadhi, is beyond all experience. It is of the highest spiritual order and is the aim of all true yogis. In this state there is no beginning or end, just infinite truth, consciousness and bliss. The light of ajna, however, is an experience which marks the beginning of psychic life, and the light of knowledge, once dawned, is an experience from which there is no return. When it comes about the sadhak is advised to practice his meditation, with awareness on this point, until his consciousness merges with the light. The more accomplished sadhak often sees the two charged particles of ajna as two petals of the ajna padma (Padma) the reason for the appearance of the two petals surrounding a circular form is that this chakra is the meeting ppint of the three principal nadis, ida, pingala and sushumna. These three nadis terminate near the brahma randra at the top of the skull, a little above ajna. These nadis are the psychic equivalents of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems which, in the physical body, control all the involuntary functions such as heartbeat, digestion, glandular secretion and peristalsis. In general the parasyiiipathetic system is the inhibitor of these functions, slowing down metabolism, and the sympathetic is the stimulator, speeding these functions up. When a greater amount of air flows through the right nostril pingala tends towards stimulation. This has a heating effect on the body, with the sympathetic nervous system speeding up metabolism. When more air flows through the left nostril ida tends towards stimulation with a resultant cooling effect and metabolic slowdown. Pingala is related to the physical aspect of man's existence and ida to the mental aspect. In most people there is a daily cycle of alternate stimulation of ida and pingala, with each cycle lasting anywhere between one and four hours, In well balanced individuals there is an equal flow of both during a day and the changes correspond to daily cycles of moods and activities. Sick or mentally disturbed persons generally have this system out of balance, as can be noted in the case of high-strung neurotics whose right nostrils are always more open, or of severely depressed persons whose left nostrils tend to flow. The connecting link between the breath, the mind and the psychic body is the olfactory bulb and the hmbic tormation of the brain, which is connected to the pineal gland. This olfactory bulb, which also is the organ of smell, senses which nostril is flowing and relays this information to the rest of the brain. It is a very complex organ, with thousands of nerve connections leading to all parts of thc nervous system, for which neurologists cannot find any functional purpose. It has two lobes, one directly over each nostril. The science of swara yoga deals directly with this alternating flow of forces. In its practice the flow is noted by the aspirant, who is able to balance it or change it from ida to pingala or vice versa, often by means of the exertion of physical pressure at a point directly below the armpit, opposite to the side of the body in which the flow is to be increased. This is often done in conjunction with pranayama practices in which the breath is forced to alternate between the two nostrils by alternately blocking them with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. This is done in certain prescribed timing ratios based on the time unit matra of approximately one second. An advanced example of a pranayama ratio is given in chapter 5 of this text. It is through these nadis that the prana can be drawn up from manipur to ajna and then distributed to any part of the body or to other bodies. It is through them that the vital energy flows which is so necessary for mental and physical work. Through the practice of pranayama and ajapa japa these nadis can be purified so that the prana flows easily. By virtue of special sadhanas spiritual aspirants can awaken the prana shakti in the body, and it is on this energy alone that they can find strength to combat disease, to live on poor diets, to maintain long hours of sad hana and to work hard for years and years without rest. Yogis who have tapped this infinite source of energy never suffer from lack of energy and can perform miraculous feats of healing, curing and continual mental and physical work for the whole of their very long lives. The mind is controller of the prana; the body is the motor and the prana is its driving force. The energy which lifts the giant jumbo jet into the air, the energy a man uses to carry one quintal bags of rice on his back, to move the stool through the intestines, to inhale and exhale, or to pump the blood around the body is all the same energy. This energy, in yogic terminology, is prana. Prana is connected with the sun and mind with the moon. The prana is the body is stored in manipur chakra and the seat of the cosmic mind is ajna chakra. In psychic healing processes, the prana is drawn up from manipur to ajna and it is then directed to the required point. It is through the power of will that mind has the capacity to direct the prana, the prana store always being replenished by an involuntary process. As prana is connected with the sun and mind with the moon, action on the physical plane which functions reflexively is soloar. sun is said to be in the navel region, with face downwards, emitting poisons. this is the third chakra called manipur. by yoga practices it can be turned upward to emit soma. Soma rises up to ajna chakra, the seat of the moon, where it is converted into astral fluid. Chapter 5, Slokas 32 & 33 "The potential energy 'of the universe is the energy which has its aspect in man. The fire in the sky, which is the sun, corresponds to the fire in the navel region of man in the navel the sun is poison, but when it is directed upwards, it begins to produce nectar. The moon is at the root of the palate, which drops nectar downwards." CHAPTER 3, SLOKAS 28-31
"Sun is located in the root of the navel and moon is located in the root of the palate. The nectar coming out of the moon absorbed by the sun and so do men die. Direct the Sun upwards and bring the moon downwards. This is vipreetkari mudra, the secret of all Tantras. Place the head on the ground along with both the arms. Direct the legs upward keeping the head fixed on the floor. It is vipreetkari mudra as opined by the yogins. Daily practice of vipareet karini mudra keeps death of old age away, and even disturbances of nature never affect him. He becomes a siddha of all worlds." This is due to the secretions of the thyroid, pituitary, pineal and adrenal glands which are controlled through this practice. Most important is that the soma is the most precious bodily product and yogis practice kecheri mudra as well as vipareet karani mudra in order to preserve the secretion. Yogis who make the fluid drop down the nasal roof by raising the tongue in the palatal cavity above the soft palate, thus tasting it, are immune to poisons and snake bites. Actually the moon centre is above the palate, which corresponds to the physiological site of the glands. The secretion coming out of the palatal gland is absorbed and dried by the heat of the glands in the lower region. If the secretion coming out of the palate is preserved somehow, the tissues of the body will not undergo a speedy decay. Mind, soma and astral fluid are all associated with the moon centre of ajna chakra. Soma and astral fluid give strength to the mind. This strength is required for bearing the austerities of spiritual life. By conversion of the precious fluids from manipur into soma, the nectar can be tasted in the back of the mouth from the root of the palate. This effect changes the entire structure of the body. Many yogis who have perfected this practice reach very high levels of consciousness, attain maiiy siddhis and live very long. They enjoy perfect health and great strength to bear and enjoy the severe austerities of ascetic life. These men often live high in the mountains under severe conditions of cold without clothial living quarters or fire for warmth, eating only two or three roti and some dal water daily. Many yogis living in isolation, unde these conditions, have reached ages of 200 and 300 years. These practices which preserve the secretion of soma ar difficult to perfect quickly and must be practiced regularly ove a period of time in order to achieve perfection. These practice must be done in conjunction with other kinds of sadhana. Th combined effect of these sadhanas will keep the mind fresh am alert so that much energy can be directed towards the ajna chakra The awakened chakra supplements the other sadhanas. The menta power of such a mind is great, and progress in sadhana is fast. ThI light of ama is awakened and burns with increasing brilliance unti it acquires the brilliance of a thousand suns. The white light of ajna chakra is infinitely powerful. By force of will one can take his consciousness to distant places and thus obtain knowledge of other objects. This is the divine lighi through which religious seekers see visions of their Gods. Many siddhis function through this centre. By awakening ajna chakra the actual forms of the astral bodies can be perceived. Telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience and intuition also function through this chakra. By meditation on ajna chakra one gets the siddhi to satisfy any desire and the command made through ajna must be fulfilled. For this reason it is called ajna ia meaning command. It is through ajna chakra that the guru communicates with his disciples on the psychic plane and issues his commands to them, thus it is often called the guru chakra. The light arising from ajna chakra during meditation is known as prana loka in yogic terminology. This light arises from the power of the mind and is focussed through the ajna. Similarly, when will arises from chitta and enters the intellect, the desire for knowledge follows. Thus, from the ajna chakra the will sends its vibrations out into the cosmos and comes into contact with the required object, giving the man the satisfaction of his desire in the knowledge about the object. The intellectual will operates through ajna chakra, thus those who have opened this passage by awakening the chakra are truly great men who can build missions and can win battles. This ajna chakra is the channel of sankalpa shakti, the resolve power of a man. Here yogis make their sankalpa and achieve their aims; great yogis can give blessings to humanity, send out messages for universal peace and good-will. Their success is not born out of extraordinarily strong will power but because the ajna chakra is awakened, offering a channel for the will to operate throughout the universe. This power can be used destructively as well as creatively. The performance of many of the black tantric rituals can bring sickness, death, destruction of crops due to floods or hail-storms, financial ruin and so on. This is the same power which operates through the ajna chakra. Another example of will operating through ajna chakra is depicted in pictures showing the cupid God, Madana, being burnt into ashes and Lord Siva sending out his will through the eyebrow centre. This stress of importance on the ajna chakra area is recognized by most religious civilizations even today, and this is the result of prehistoric eras when ajna chakra had the role of psychic sensing and the pineal gland was the third eye on the physical plane. It is said that in early man the third eye functioned, being a characteristic of lower levels of evolution. There still exists evidence in the 20th century species of these earlier functions. In frogs, the pineal gland is an organ made up of cells which are peculiar to the eye, and this third eye of frogs is a light sensing organ. In Australia there is a species of snake which has an arrangement of scales on his head indicative of a third eye. When these scales are cut away, a complete physical eye can be found. Also, earlier research on the pineal gland in man showed that the pineal gland in man showed that the pineal cells were ocular in nature. As man evolved, the thired eye ceased to function as a physical eye and the brain developed around it to form what is now known as the pineal gland. Early man was not intellectually developed and his livelihood depended mainly on instinct and intuition, both of which operate through the ajna chakra is connected with the pineal gland which in turn is connected with the sypathetic nervious system which controlled most of early man's movements, as his central nervous system had not been adequately developed. Thus the sympathetic nervous system and the life of early man was largely affected by surgings of the astral body. As man evolved, the functions of the sympathetic nervous system became subordinate and the central nervous system greatly developed. In this way the astral body became subordinate although it still continues to function by sending its impulses through the physical terminal of the chakra, pineal gland, into the brain. Modern man can now, with his well-proportioned brain and evolved state, be ready to take advantage of the astral knowledge. Because the intellectual processes and the central nervous system became dominant, the psychi functioning of man suffered, or underwent a process of involution. Knowledge gained on higher planes appears in the mind from the astral or mental, and reaches the brain by using the astral body as an efficient transmitter to the physical brain. The pineal gland, connected with ajna chaka which, in turn, is linked with the mental body, serves as a physical organ for the trammission of thought from one brain to another or from higher level to the brain. But the awareness of this knowledge and the awarc ness of its mode of communication is often lacking because most people are not aware of these higher levels of consciousness an their faculties are engaged with mental processes and emotions. Many people are sensitive to the phenomena of higher planes, but their lack of awareness is due to the absence of the connectin links with the sympathetic nervous system. A person may be awake on the astral plane and functioning actively thereon, but the connections between the physical and the astral systems hay not been made there is a break in consciousness. However vivid may be the consciousness on the astral plane, it cannot, until the links are functioning, bring through and impress on the physical brain the memory of hight consciousness experiences. The evidence of the third eye used as a psycic eye is not rare but is universally accepted by most cultures ancient and modern. Most prominent significance must be attributed to Hindu who perform a ritual, at least once a day, which includes placing spot of coloured powder at the eyebrow centre. Hindi women wear this mark at all times to indicate marriage. Hindi sadhus often mark their eyebrow centre with the trident of Lord Siva, indicating that this ajna chakra is the home of Siva. Siva the symbol of cosmic consciousness in man, which has its seat in ajna chakra. In Hindu scriptures there is much written about thi centre. The most interesting fact is that ajna is the trikuti (e.g the meeting point of three lines) of Ganga,Jamuna and Saraswati These are three sacred rivers in India, symbolic of ida, pingala and sushumna. When the Roman Catholic sect of Christians genuflect before the cross they always make the sign of the cross with their fingers; the top of the cross is always at ajna chakra. Buddhists signify their reverence to ajna chakra by placing a precious jewel or ornament at the eyebrow centre on the statue of Lord Buddha. The intricate arrangement of headress worn by the American Indians consists of multi-coloured feathers attached to an ornamented headband. The arrangement and ornamentation of the band is symmetric about the eyebrow centre. Those members of tile community who develop greater psychic faculties are entitled to wear larger headresses with more dazzling arrangements. The colours represent the aura that emanates from this chakra. The ancient Egyptian headress has an upraised serpent at the site of the eyebrow centre. The serpent itself has a spiritual significance and, being in the place of ajna chakra, emphasizes this point. Introduction | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Appendix |