3 Kuṇḍalinī Yoga

WE have already, on several occasions, mentioned here the works of Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), devoted to one of the least known aspects of Hindu doctrine. What one calls ‘tantrism’, because it is based on treatises designated by the generic term tantras, and which is, moreover, much more widespread and less clearly delimited than one ordinarily believes, has always been, if fact, almost completely left to one side by Orientalists, who have been put off it, both by the difficulty of its comprehension and by certain prejudices, the latter being, moreover, but the direct consequence of their incomprehension. One of the principal works, entitled, The Serpent Power, has recently been republished.^[2] We do not intend to develop its analysis here, which would be almost impossible and, moreover, of little interest. (Much better, for those of our readers who know English, to refer to the volume itself, of which we could only ever give but an incomplete idea.) We would rather make explicit the true significance of what is treated there, without tying ourselves down, moreover, to the order in which the questions have been expounded.^[3]

We must say, first of all, that we cannot completely agree with the author on the fundamental meaning of the word yoga, which literally meaning ‘union’, could not be understood if it did not apply essentially to the supreme goal of all 'realisations'. To this he objects that there can be no question of union except between two distinct beings, and that jīvātmā is not at all really distinct from paramātmā. This is perfectly correct, but, though the individual is itself only, in fact, distinguished from the Universal in illusory mode, we must not forget that it is the individual from which all 'realisation' flows perforce—the word itself would otherwise have no raison d'être; and that, from this point of view, the latter gives the appearance of a 'union', which, truth to tell, is in no way something 'that must be accomplished', but only a conscious grasping of 'what is', that is to say of the 'Supreme Identity'. A term such as yoga, therefore, expresses the aspect taken by things seen from the side of manifestation, and which is as obviously and equally illusory as this manifestation itself. But it is the same, inevitably, for all forms of language, since they belong to the domain of individual manifestation, and it suffices to be warned of this not to be led into error by their imperfection, nor tempted to see there the expression of a real 'dualism'. It is only secondarily and by extension that this same word yoga can then be applied to a collection of different means employed in attaining 'realisation', means that are only preparatory and to which the name 'union', in whatever way this may be understood, does not properly fit. But all this, moreover, does not affect at all the account of what is in question, for, as soon as the word yoga is preceded by a qualifier, so as to distinguish several sorts, it is very evident that it is used to designate means, which alone are multiple, while the goal is necessarily one and the same in all cases. The type of yoga in question here connects with what is called laya-yoga, and which consists essentially in a process of 'dissolution' (laya), that is to say, reabsorption in the non-manifested, of the different elements constitutive of individual manifestation, this reabsorption taking place gradually following an order that is strictly inverse to the order of production (sṛṣṭi) or development (prapañca) of this manifestation.^[4] The elements or principles in question are the tattvas which Sāṃkhya enumerates as a production of prakṛti under the influence of puruṣa: the 'inner sense', that is to say the 'mental' (manas), joins with individual consciousness (ahaṃkāra), and by its intermediation, with the intellect (buddhi or mahat); the five tanmātras or elementary subtle essences; the five faculties of sensation (jñānendriyas), and the five faculties of action (karmendriyas)^[5]; finally, the five bhūtas or corporeal elements.^[6] Every bhūta, with the tanmātra to which it corresponds and the faculties of sensation and action which proceed from the latter, is reabsorbed in the one immediately preceding it in the order of production, so that the order of reabsorption is as follows: first, earth (pṛthvī), with the olfactory quality (gandha), the sense of smell (ghrāṇa) and the faculty of locomotion (pāda); second, water (ap), with the palatable quality (rasa), the sense of taste (rasanā) and the faculty of prehension (pāṇi); third, fire (tejas), with the visual quality (rūpa), the sense of vision (cakṣus) and the faculty of excretion (pāyu); fourth, air (vāyu), with the tactile quality (sparśa), the sense of touch (tvac), and the faculty of generation (upastha); fifth, ether (ākāśa), with the sonorous quality (śabda), the sense of hearing (śrotra), and the faculty of speech (vāc); and finally, at the last stage, all is reabsorbed in the 'inner sense' (manas). All individual manifestation is, thus, found reduced to its first term, as if concentrated at a point beyond which the being passes into another domain. Such, then, will be the six preparatory phases that must be successively traversed by the man who follows this way of 'dissolution', thus, ridding himself gradually of the different conditions limiting individuality, before reaching the supra-individual state where may be realised, in Pure Consciousness (cit), whole and unformed, total and informal, effective union with the Supreme Self (paramātmā), a union from which Deliverance (mokṣa) immediately results.

To understand clearly what is to follow, it is important never to lose from view, the notion of the analogy constitutive of 'macrocosm' by virtue of which all that exists in the Universe is also found in a certain fashion in man, that which the Viśvasāra Tantra expresses in these terms: 'What is here is there, what is not here is nowhere' (yad ihāsti tad anyatra, yan nehāsti na tat kvacit). It should be added that, by virtue of the correspondence existing between all states of existence, each of them contains in some way in itself a sort of reflection of all others, which allows us 'to situate' (for example, in the domain of gross manifestation whether one views it in the cosmic whole or in the human body), 'regions' corresponding to different modalities of subtle manifestation, and even to a whole hierarchy of 'worlds' which represent so many different phases in universal existence. This said, it is easy to grasp that there are 'centres' in the human being corresponding respectively to each of the groups of tattvas enumerated by us, and that these centres, although belonging essentially to the subtle form (sūkṣma-śarīra), may in a certain sense be 'localized' in the corporeal or gross form (sthūla-śarīra), or, to say it better, in relation to different parts of the latter, these 'localisations' in reality being but another way of expressing those correspondences of which we have just spoken, correspondences, moreover, which imply a very real and special link between such a subtle centre and each such determinate part of the corporeal organism. It is, thus, that the six centres in question are related to the divisions of the vertebral column, called meru-daṇḍa because it constitutes the axis of the human body, just as, from the 'macrocosmic' point of view, meru is the 'axis of the world'^[7]: the first five, in ascending sense, correspond respectively to the coccyginal, sacral, lumbar, torsal and cervical regions, and the sixth to the encephalic part of the central nervous system. But it must be clearly understood that they are not at all nervous centres, in the physiological sense of this word, and that one must in no way assimilate them to different plexuses as some have claimed (which is, moreover, in formal contradiction with their 'localisation' inside the vertebral column itself), for it is not at all here a question of an identity but only of a relation between two distinct orders of manifestation, a relation furthermore that is sufficiently justified by the fact that it is precisely by means of the nervous system that one of the most direct liaisons of the corporeal state and subtle state is established.^[8] Similarly, the subtle 'channels' (nāḍīs) are no more nerves than they are blood vessels; they are, one may say, 'the lines of direction that the vital forces follow'. Of these 'channels', the three principal ones are suṣumnā, which occupies the central position, iḍā and piṅgalā, the two nāḍīs on the left and right, the former feminine or negative, the latter masculine or positive, these last two accordingly corresponding to a 'polarisation' of vital currents. Suṣumnā is 'situated' inside the cerebro-spinal axis, extending to the orifice that corresponds to the coronal of the head (brahma-randhra). Iḍā and piṅgalā are outside this same axis, around which they criss-cross in a sort of double helical coil, to end respectively at the two nostrils left and right, being thus connected with the alternated respiration of one then the other nostril.^[9] It is along the course of the suṣumnā, and still more exactly, inside it (for it is described as enclosing two other concentric and more slender 'channels' called vajra and cita),^[10] that are placed the 'centres' we have mentioned. And as suṣumnā is itself—'localised' in the medullary channel, it is quite obvious that there can be no question here at all of any corporeal organs. These centres are called 'wheels' (cakras), and are also described as 'lotuses' (padmas), each of which has a determinate number of petals (radiating in the interval comprised between vajra and cita, that is to say, inside the first and around the second). The six cakras are: mūlādhāra, at the base of the vertebral column; svādhiṣṭhāna, corresponding to the abdominal region; maṇipūra, to the umbilical region; anāhata, to the region of the heart; viśuddha, to the region of the throat; ājñā, to the region situated between the two eyes, that is to say, to the 'third eye';^[11] and finally, at the summit of the head, around the brahma-randhara is a seventh 'lotus', sahasrāra or the 'lotus of a thousand petals', which is not counted among the cakras, because, as we will see later, it relates, as the 'centre of consciousness', to a state that is beyond the limits of individuality. According to the description given of meditation (dhyāna), each lotus carries in its pericarp the yantra or geometric symbol of the corresponding bhūta, in which is the latter's bīja-mantra, supported by its symbolic vehicle (vāhana). There also resides a 'deity' (devatā) accompanied by a particular śakti. The 'deities' who preside over the six cakras, and who are nothing but the 'forms of consciousness' through which the being passes to the corresponding stages, are respectively, in ascending order, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Īśa, Sadāśiva, and Śambhu, who have on the other hand, from the 'macrocosmic' point of view, their abodes in the six 'world' (lokas) hierarchically superimposed: bhūrloka, bhuvarloka, svarloka, janaloka, tapoloka, and maharloka. At sahasrāra presides Paramaśiva, whose abode is the satyaloka. Thus, all these worlds have their correspondences in the 'centre of consciousness' of the human being, following the analogical principle we have previously indicated. Finally, everyone of the petals of the different 'lotuses' carries one of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, or it would be more accurate to say that the petals are the letters themselves.^[12] But it would be of little use now to go into more detail on this subject, and the necessary complements regarding this will be better placed in the second part of our study, when kuṇḍalinī, of which we have as yet not spoken, will have been explained.

Kuṇḍalinī is an aspect of śakti considered as cosmic force: it is, one might say, this force itself in so far as it resides in the human being, where it acts as vital force; and this name kuṇḍalinī signifies that it is represented as coiled about itself in the fashion of a serpent. Its most general manifestations, moreover, occur in the form of a spiral movement developing from a central point which is its 'pole'.^[13] The 'coiling' symbolises a state of rest, that of a 'static' energy from which proceed all forms of manifest activity. In other words, all vital forces more or less specialised, which are constant in action in human individuality, under its double subtle and corporeal modality, are only secondary aspects of this same śakti which in itself, as kuṇḍalinī, remains immobile in the 'centre-root' (mūlādhāra), as base and support of all individual manifestation. When it is 'awaken', it unwinds and moves following an upward direction, reabsorbing into itself these diverse secondary śaktis as it crosses the different centres of which we have previously spoken, until it finally unites with the Paramaśiva in the 'lotus of a thousand petals' (sahasrāra).

The nature of kuṇḍalinī is described as being at once luminous (jyotirmayī) and sonorous (śabdamayī or mantramayī). We know that 'luminosity' is considered as properly characterising the subtle state; and also know the primordial role of sound in the cosmogonic process. There would also be much to say from the same cosmogonic point of view, about the close connection that exists between sound and light.^[14] We cannot expatiate here on the very complex theory of sound (śabda) and its different modalities, parā or non-manifested paśyantī and madhyamā, both belonging to the subtle order, and finally vaikharī (which is articulated speech), a theory on which the whole science of mantra (mantra-vidyā) rests; but we would remark that it is this that explains, not only the presence of the bīja-mantras of the elements inside the 'lotuses', but also the presence of the letters on their petals. It must be clearly understood, in fact, that it is not a question here of letters as written characters, nor even of articulated sounds perceived by the ear. But these letters are seen as the bīja-mantras or 'natural names' of all the activities (kriyā) connected with the tattva of the corresponding centre, or as the expressions in gross sound (vaikharī-śabda) of the subtle sounds produced by the forces that constitute these activities.

Kuṇḍalinī, as long as it remains in its state of rest, resides in the mūlādhāra-cakra, which is, as we have said, the centre ‘localised’ at the base of the vertebral column, and which is the root (mūla) of suṣumnā and all the nāḍīs. Here is found the triangle (trikoṇa) called traipura,^[15] which is the seat of the śakti (śakti-pīṭha). The latter is coiled there three and half times^[16] around the symbolic liṅga of Śiva, designated as Svayambhu, covering with his head the brahmadvāra, that is to say the entrance to suṣumnā.^[17] There are two other liṅgas, one (bana) in the anāhata-cakra, and the other (hara) in the ājñā-cakra. They correspond to the principal ‘vital knots’ (granthis), whose passage constitutes what one may call the ‘critical points’ in the process of kuṇḍalinī-yoga.^[18] And there is finally a fourth (para) in sahasrāra abode of Paramaśiva.

When the kuṇḍalinī is ‘awakened’ by the appropriate practices, whose description we will not go into, it penetrates inside the suṣumnā, and, during its ascent, successively ‘pierces’ the different ‘lotuses’, that blossom with its passing. And as it successively reaches each centre, it reabsorbs in it, as we have already said, the different principles of individual manifestation which are specially linked to this centre, and which brought, thus, to the potential state, are drawn with it into its movement towards the superior centre. These are so many stages of laya-yoga. To each of these stages is related also the obtaining of certain particular ‘powers’ (siddhis), but it is important to note that this is not at all what constitutes its essential, and one cannot insist too much on this, for the general tendency of Westerners is to attribute to these sorts of things, as indeed to all that is ‘phenomenal’, an importance they do not and cannot possess in reality. As the author very correctly points out, the yogī (or, to speak more accurately, he who is on the way to becoming one) does not aspire to possess any conditioned state, even a superior or ‘celestial’ state, so elevated even as that may be, but aspires only after ‘deliverance’. All the greater reason then for him not to become attached to ‘powers’ whose exercise emerges entirely from the domain of the most exterior manifestation. He who seeks these ‘powers’ for themselves and who makes of them the goal of his development, instead of seeing in them only simple accidental results, will never be a true yogi, for they will constitute for him insurmountable obstacles, hindering him from continuing to follow the ascending path to its final end. His whole ‘realisation’ will only, therefore, consist of certain extensions of human individuality, a result whose value is strictly zero in light of the supreme goal. Normally the ‘powers’ in question must only be regarded as signs indicating that the being has effectively reached such and such a stage. It is, if one wishes, and external means of control. But what really matters, at whatever stage it may be, is a certain ‘state of consciousness’ represented, as we have said, by a ‘deity’ (devatā) with which the being identifies at this level of ‘realisation’. And these states themselves have value only as a gradual preparation for the supreme ‘union’, which has no common measure with them, for there can be none between the conditioned and the unconditioned.

We will not repeat here the enumeration, which we have already given in the first part of this study, of the centres corresponding to the five bhūtas and their respective ‘localisations’.^[19] They relate to the different degrees of corporeal manifestation, and in the passage from one to the next, each group of tattvas is ‘dissolved’ in the group immediately above, the more gross always being reabsorbed into the more subtle (sthūlānāṃ sūkṣme layaḥ). In the last place comes the ājñā-cakra, where one found the subtle tattvas of the ‘mental’ order, and in the pericap whose sacred monosyllable is Oṃ. This centre is so-called because it is here that is received from above (that is from the supra-individual domain) the command (ājñā) of the internal guru, who is Paramaśiva, with whom the ‘Self’ is identical in reality.^[20] The ‘localisation’ of this cakra is in direct relation with the ‘third eye’, which is the ‘eye of knowledge’ (jñāna-cakṣus). The corres- ponding cerebral centre is the pineal gland, which is not at all the 'seat of the soul' according to the truly absurd conception of Descartes, but which has nonetheless a particularly important role as organ of connection with the extracorporeal modalities of the human being. As we have explained elsewhere, the function of the 'third eye' essentially refers to the 'sense of eternity' and the restoration of the 'primordial state' (whose relation with haṃsa we have also indicated on several occasions, under whose from Paramaśiva is said to manifest Himself in this centre). The stage of 'realisation' corresponding to ājñā-cakra implies, therefore, the perfection of the human state, and this is the point of contact with the higher states, to which all that is beyond this stage relates.^[21] Above the ājñā are two secondary cakras called manas and soma.^[22] And in the very pericarp of sahasrāra is again a 'lotus' with twelve petals, containing the supreme triangle kāmakalā, which is the 'root' (mūla) of all the mantras, and which has its lower correspondence (which can be regarded as its reflection in relation to gross manifestation) in the triangle traipura of mūlādhāra. We cannot think of entering into detail of the very complex descriptions which are given of these different centres of meditation, and which relate for the main part to the mantra-vidyā, nor of the enumeration of the different particular śaktis which have their levels between ājñā and sahasrāra.^[23] Finally, sahasrāra is called Śivasthāna, because it is the residence of Paramaśiva, in union with the supreme nirvāṇa śakti, the 'Mother of the three worlds'. It is the 'abode of beatitude' where the 'Self' (ātmā) is realised. He who really and fully knows sahasrāra is liberated from 'transmigration' (saṃsāra), for he has broken, by this knowledge itself, all the bonds that held him attached to it, and he has arrived thereafter at the state of jīvanmukta. We shall conclude with a remark, that we believe has never been made anywhere, on the concordance of the centres in question here with the Sephiroth of the Kabbala, which indeed, must necessarily have, as all things, their correspondence in the human being. One could object that the Sephiroth number ten, while the six cakras and sahasrāra only make a total of seven. But this objection falls if one observes that, in the disposition of the 'sephirothic tree' there are three couples placed symmetrically on the 'columns' on right and left, so that all the Sephiroth are distributed on seven different levels only. Viewing their projections on the central axis or 'central column', which corresponds to the suṣumnā (the two lateral columns being in relation to iḍā and piṅgalā), one finds oneself, therefore, brought back to the number seven.^[24] Beginning at the top, there is initially no difficulty in what concerns the assimilation of sahasrāra, 'localised' at the crown of the head, with the supreme sephirah, kether, whose very name precisely means the 'crown'. Then comes the composite hokmah and binah, which must correspond to ājñā, and whose duality could even be represented by the two petals of this 'lotus'. Moreover, they have for 'resultant' daath, that is 'knowledge', and we have seen that the 'localisation' of ājñā refers also to the 'eye of knowledge'.^[25] The following couple, that is hesed and geburah, can, according to a very general symbolism concerning the attributes of 'Mercy' and 'Justice', be placed in man, in relation to the two arms.^[26] These two Sephiroth will be placed, therefore, at the shoulders, and consequently at the level of the guttural region, corresponding thus to viśuddha.^[27] As for Thiphereth, its central position relates manifestly to the heart, which immediately brings its correspondence to anāhata. The couple netsah and hod will be placed at the hips, points of contact with the lower limbs, as the hesed and geburah at the shoulders, points of contact with the higher. Now, the hips are at the level of the umbilical region, thus, of maṇipūra. Finally, for the last two Sephiroth, there seems to be a reason to make an inversion, for tesod, by the very significance of its name, is the 'basis', which precisely answers to mūlādhāra. One must then assimilate malkuth to svādhiṣṭhāna, which, moreover, the significance of the names seems to justify, for malkuth is the 'kingdom', and svādhiṣṭhāna literally means 'the proper abode' of the śakti.

Despite the length of this account, we have only outlined some of the aspects of a subject that is truly inexhaustible, hoping only to have, thus, brought some useful clarifications for those who would wish to take its study further.