Symbols of the Chakras – the Art of Shakti
The chakras are powerful symbolic representations of controlling energies within the subtle body. The diagrams are a form of sacred art; artistic representations of the inner experience of yogis whose consciousness was fine enough to visualize these subtle internal forces.
By representing their experiences in the form of sacred art yogis have provided us with maps that we can use to awaken the powers latent in our own subtle body. By studying these symbols we gain access to the invisible realms within that power and nourish our normal waking state. By following the maps we awaken consciousness and release energy for physical and psychological development, and for our spiritual growth.
Yoga as Sacred Art
Art can be a form of yoga, a path of creative expression that unites us to the mysteries within the human frame and to the wonders of the world we live in. Art can nourish us at many levels, and sacred art has the power to uplift and feed our spiritual hunger.
Sacred artists, in particular, aim to consciously connect to their own internal creative process and to find ways to express their vision. They aim to create a composition that embodies their experience and which has the power to invoke that experience in the viewer. The creative power to invoke an experience is called “shakti” in Sanskrit.
If we can imbue an object with prana shakti (life force) we bring that object to life. That object shines with a luminous force, called “tejas”, brilliance. It contains the power to move us, to awaken inner knowledge and experience in us. If there is no shakti in an object or experience it is useless, dull and lifeless.
Just as the artist aims to create a “living” representation of life by putting their shakti into an object, the yogi aims to inject shakti into their own being, to awaken and bring to life the normally latent
forces within.
If we can saturate our body-mind with shakti we awaken the divine within and become more fully alive and able to have a fulfilled life. Without shakti we live a half-life and may feel powerless, at the mercy of the forces around us, or feel empty and without purpose or meaning.
Masters of Yoga Tantra
The ancient tantric masters have awakened their kundalini, the coiled shakti at the base of the spine, using combinations of mantras (sound vibrations), hatha yoga techniques and meditative practices, including evocative visualizations and heartfelt mental focus. They have saturated each and every cell of their body and mind with shakti to release the powers and abilities latent within them in order to awaken consciousness.
The masters expressed their experiences in many ways; partly to express and celebrate the beauty of their vision, partly to reveal to our mundane eyes what is usually invisible, and partly to set down maps for others to follow to achieve these exalted states. They created images and symbols that have the power to resonate the shakti within us at different levels of our being. The chakras are perhaps the best known of these symbols.
The symbolic representations of the chakras vary according to tradition and have been modified over time due to cultural forces. For example, the Theosophists in the 19th Century moved the sexual chakra and placed it in the area of the spleen. Today, many people represent the colours of the chakras with the colours of the rainbow, though this has never been seen in Indian texts on the chakras. In fact the element that is most varied is the colour of the chakra.
Elements of the Chakras
The primary elements within the chakra symbols are mantras, sound vibrations, and yantras, geometric shapes and other forms, such as petals, circles and animal metaphors. Mantras are powerful sound vibrations that release shakti through pulsatory and rhythmic force.
The mantras vibrate material elements, such a fire or water, to invoke power into and shape matter. The mantras form the shapes of the yantras.
The six main chakras have fifty petals. Contained within each petal is a letter of the Sanskrit alphabet formed into a mantra. Yogis can chant these mantras while performing other yogic practices and while visualizing the chakras. This allows them to attune themselves to the forces inherent within each chakra.
Chakra Chart
Big Shakti has produced a Chakra Chart based on the great classic Tantric text, the Shat Chakra Nirupana (a Description of the Six Chakras). Our aim was to create a chakra chart that radiates energy (shakti) and which can be used in combination with chakra meditation or any yogic practice.
Practice Hint: Use this chakra chart as a tool to enhance your meditation and inner illumination. Scan the symbols at the beginning of your meditation practice. Then focus on one chakra at a time. Starting from the base chakra move your awareness upward to the crown and then back down to the base. Simultaneously place your awareness in your spine in the region of that chakra. You can also breath into and out of this area while chanting the name of that chakra mentally or using a mantra (see Chakra CD for guided meditations).
About the Author(s):
Dr Swami Shankardev Saraswati is an eminent yoga Acharya (authority), medical doctor, yoga therapist and internationally acclaimed author. As a direct disciple of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, he lived in the Bihar School of Yoga India for 10 years (1974-1985), where he trained to teach the highest practices of yoga-tantra.
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