Payload Website Template

Kundalini-Yoga, October 1933.

The work of Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), devoted to the one of the most obscure aspects of the Hindu doctrines, has been discussed several times previously; what is called ‘Tantrism,’ because it is based on the treaties designated under the generic name tantras, and which is much more extensive and less clearly delimited than is commonly believed, has been almost entirely neglected by the Orientalists, who have been excluded both by the difficulty of understand it and by certain prejudices, which are the direct consequence of their misunderstanding. One of the principal works, entitled The Serpent Power, has recently been reissued;^[349] we do not propose to make an analysis of it, which would be almost impossible and uninteresting nonetheless (it is better for those of our readers who know English to refer to the volume itself, of which we would never give an incomplete idea), but rather to clarify the true meaning of what it deals with, without actually constraining us to follow the order in which the questions are subject.^[350]

Firstly, we must say that we cannot entirely agree with the author on the fundamental meaning of the word yoga, which, being literally that of ‘union,’ could not be understood unless it applied essentially to the supreme goal of any ‘realization;’ he objects to this, that there can be no question of a union except between two distinct beings, and that Jivatma is not really distinct from Paramatma. This is perfectly true, but the individual is in fact distinguished from the Universal in an illusory mode alone, it must not be forgotten that it is from the individual that necessarily originates all ‘realization’ (this word would not have any raison d’être otherwise), and that, from his point of view, this presents the appearance of a ‘union,’ which, to tell the truth, is not something ‘which must be done,' that is to say the 'Supreme Identity.' A term like that of yoga expresses the aspect that things take on the aspect of manifestation, and which is obviously illusory in the same way as manifestation itself; but it is the same, inevitably, of all the forms of the language, since they belong to the domain of the individual manifestation, and it is enough to be warned of not being misled by their imperfection, nor to see in their expression a real 'dualism.' It is only secondarily and by extension that this same word yoga can then be applied to all the various means imple- mented to achieve 'realization,' means which is only preparatory and to which the name 'union,' in whatever way it may be understood, can- not be properly understood; all this in no way affects the exposition of what it is about, because the word yoga is preceded by a determinative, so as to distinguish between several kinds, it is quite evident that it is used to designate the means, which alone are multiple, while the goal is necessarily one and the same in all cases. The kind of yoga we are dealing with here is related to what is called laya-yoga, which consists essentially of a process of 'dissolution' (laya), that is, resorption in the non-manifested of the different constitutive el- ements of the individual manifestation, this resorption taking place grad- ually in an order that is strictly opposite to that of the production (Srishti) or development (prapancha) of this same manifestation.^[351] The elements or principles in question are the tattwas that the Sankhya enumerates as production of Prakriti under the influence of Purusha: the 'internal sense,' that is to say the 'mind' (manas), joined to the individual con- sciousness (ahamkara), and through it to the intellect (Buddhi or Mahat); the five tanmatras or subtle elemental essences; the five faculties of sen- sation (jnanendriyas) and the five faculties of action (karmendriyas);^[352] finally, the five bhutas or bodily elements.^[353] Each bhuta, with the tan-matra to which it corresponds, and the faculties of sensation and action which proceed from it, is resorbed into the one immediately preceding it according to the order of production, so that the order of resorption is as follows: 1st the earth (prithvi), with the olfactory quality (gandha), the sense of smell (ghrana) and the faculty of locomotion (pada); 1st the water (ap), with the quality of taste (rasa), the sense of taste (rasana) and the prehension faculty (pani); 3rd the fire (tejas), with the visual quality (rupa), the sense of sight (chakshus) and the faculty of excretion (payu); 4th the air (vayu), with the tactile quality (sparsha), the sense of touch (twach) and the faculty of generation (upastha); 5th the ether (akasha), with the sound quality (shabda), the sense of hearing (shrotra) and the faculty of speech (vach); and finally, at the last stage, the whole thing is resorbed in the 'internal sense' (manas), the whole individual manifesta-tion thus being reduced to its first term, and as at a point beyond which the being passes into another domain. Such will be the six preparatory stages that will have to be traversed successively by the one who follows this path of 'dissolution,' thus gradually freeing himself from the various limiting conditions of individuality, before reaching the supra-individual state where the total union with the Supreme Self (Paramatma) can be realized, in the pure and informal Consciousness (Chit), the union of which immediately results ‘Deliverance' (Moksha).

To fully understand what will follow, it is important to never lose sight of the notion of the constitutive analogy between the ‘Macrocosm’ and the 'Microcosm,' by virtue of which all that exists in the Universe is also found in man, what the Vishwasara Tantra expresses in these terms: "What is here is there, what is not here is nowhere” (yad ihasti tad an-yatra, yan nehasti na tat kwachit). It must be added, because of the cor-respondences that exist between all states of existence, each of them con-tain in some way a reflection of all the other states, which makes it pos-sible to 'locate,' by example, in the field of gross manifestation, whether contemplated elsewhere in the cosmic ensemble or in the human body, 'regions' corresponding to various modes of subtle manifestation, and with its primitive meaning, which is that of 'power,' and also because the con-sideration of the faculty here is more essential than that of the corporeal organ, because of the pre-eminence of the subtle manifestation in relation to the gross manifestation.

even to a whole hierarchy of 'worlds' that represent so many different degrees in universal existence. That said, it is easy to conceive that there are in the human being ‘centers' corresponding respectively to each of the groups of tattwas that we have enumerated, and that these centers, although essentially belong- ing to the subtle form (sukshma-sharira), may in a certain sense be 'lo- calized' in the corporeal or gross form (sthula-sharira), or, rather, in re- lation to the different parts of it, these 'localizations' being in reality nothing more than a way of expressing correspondences which involve a very special link between a certain subtle center and this particular portion of the corporeal organism. It is thus that the six centers in ques- tion are referred to the division of the vertebral column, called Meru- danda because it constitutes the axis of the human body, as well as, from a 'macrocosmic' point of view, the Meru is the ‘axis of the world:'^[354] the first five, in the ascending direction, correspond respectively to the coc- cygeal, sacral, lumbar, dorsal, and cervical regions, and the sixth to the encephalic part of the central nervous system; it must be well understood that they are not nervous centers, in the physiological sense of the word, and we must in no way assimilate them with various plexuses, as some have claimed (which is in contradiction with their 'localization' inside the spinal column itself), because it is not an identity that is involved, but only a relation between two distinct orders of manifestation, a relation which is sufficiently justified by the fact that it is precisely by means of the nervous system that one of the most direction relations of the corpo- real state with the subtle state is established.^[355] Similarly, the subtle 'channels' (nadis) are no more nerves than they are blood vessels; these are, it may be said, 'the lines of direction which the vital forces follows.' Of these ‘channels,' the three main ones are su- shumna, which occupies the central position, ida and pingala, the two left and right nadis, the first feminine or negative, the second masculine or positive, the latter two thus corresponding to a ‘polarization' of vital currents. Sushumna is ‘located' inside the cerebrospinal axis, extending to the orifice corresponding to the crown of the head (Brahma-randhra); ida and pingala are outside this same axis, around which they cross each other by a kind of double helical winding, leading respectively to the left and right nostrils, thus being related to the alternate breathing of one to the other nostril.^[356] It is on the path of sushumna, and even more exactly in its interior (because it is described as enclosing two other concentric and more tenuous ‘channels' called vajra and chitra),^[357] what are the 'centers' of which we have spoken? As sushumna is itself 'localized' in the medullary canal, it is quite evident that it can in no way be any body organs. These centers are called ‘wheels' (chakras) and are also described as 'lotuses' (padmas), each of which has a definite number of petals (radiat- ing in the interval between vajra and chrita, which is to say, inside the first and around the second). The six chakras are: muladhara, correspond- ing to the abdominal region; manipura, to the umbilical region; anahata, to the region of the heart; vishuddha, to the region of the throat; ajna, to the region between the two eyes, which is to say the 'third eye;' finally, at the crown of the head, around the Brahma-randhra, is a seventh ‘lotus,' sahasrara or the 'thousand-petalled lotus,' which is not counted among the chakras, because, as we shall subsequently see, as a ‘center of con- sciousness,' to a state that is beyond the bounds of individuality.^[358] Ac- cording to the descriptions given for meditation (dhyana), each lotus car- ries in its pericarp the yantra or geometric symbol of the corresponding bhuta, in which is the bija-mantra of the latter, supported by its symbolic 'vehicle' (vahana); there also resides a 'deity' (devata), accompanied by a particular shakti. The ‘deities' who preside over the six chakras, and who are nothing other than the 'forms of consciousness' through which the being passes at the corresponding stages, are respectively, in ascending order, Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Isha, Sadashiva, and Shambhu, on the other hand, from the 'macrocosmic' point of view, their dwellings in the six 'worlds' (lokas) are hierarchically superimposed: Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka, Swarloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, and Maharloka; at sahasrara presides Par- amashiva, whose home is the Satyaloka; thus, all these worlds have their correspondence in the 'centers of consciousness' of the human being, following the analog principle that we have indicated previously. Finally, each of the petals of the different 'lotuses' bears one of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the petals are the very letters;^[359] but it would be of little use now to enter into more depth on this subject, and the necessary complements in this respect will find their place better in the second part of our study, fol- lowing what we have said of Kundalini, of which we have not spoken yet.

Footnotes

[349]The Serpent Power, 3rd edition review; Ganesh & Co., Madras. – This volume includes the translation of two texts: Shatchakra nirupana and Paduku-panchaka, preceded by a long and important introduction: it is the content of which our study relates.

[350]On many points, we can do not better than to reference our own work. Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta, for further explanations that are impossible for us to reproduce in the framework of an article, and that we must, therefore, suppose are already known.

[351]It is regrettable that the author frequently uses, especially to translate srishti, the word 'creation,' which, as we have often explained, is not suitable for the point of view of the Hindu doctrine; we know all too well how many difficulties give rise from the necessity of using Western terminology, as inadequate as it is with questions of expression, but we think that this word is one of those which we can easily avoid, and in fact we have never used it ourselves. – While we are on this issue of terminology, let us also mention the impropriety of translating samadhi by 'ecstasy;' this last word is all the more unfortunate because it is nor- mally used, in Western language, to designate mystic states, that is, something which is of a totally different order and with which it essentially imports to avoid any confusion; moreover, it means etymologically 'to go out of oneself (which is well suited to the case of mystic states), whereas what the term 'sa- madhi' refers to is, on the contrary, a 're-entry' of the being into his own Self.

[352]The word indriya designates both a faculty and the corresponding organ, but it is preferable to translate it generally into 'faculty,' first because it is in keeping

[353]We do not understand the objection made by the author to the use of the word, in designating the bhutas, ‘elements,' which is a traditional term of ancient physics: there is no need to worry about the oblivion in which this meaning has fallen among the modern ones, to whom any conception of what is properly 'cosmological' has become entirely foreign.

[354]It is rather astonishing that the author did not report the relationship of this with the symbolism of the Brahmanic staff (Brahma-danda), all the more because he repeatedly refers to the equivalent symbolism of the caduceus.

[355]The author rightly remarks how erroneous are the interpretations ordinarily given by Westerners, who, confusing the two orders of manifestation, wish to reduce everything to a purely anatomical and physiological point of view: Orientalists, ignorant of all traditional science, believe that this is only a more or less fantastic description of certain corporeal organs: Occultists, for their part, if they admit the distinct existence of the subtle organism, imagine it as a kind of 'double' of the body, subject to the same conditions as this one, which is scarcely more exact and can only result in grossly materialized representations: the author shows in detail this final point how far the conceptions of the Theosophists, in particular, are removed from the true Hindu doctrine.

[356]In the symbol of the caduceus, the central rod corresponds to sushumna, the two serpents to ida and pingala: these are also sometimes represented, on the Brahmanic staff, by the outline of two helical lines winding in opposite directions from each other, so as to cross at each of the nodes which represent the different centers. In cosmic correspondances, ida is related to the Moon, pingala to the Sun, and sushumna to the igneous principle; it is interesting to note the relationship this presents with the three ‘Great Lights' of Masonic symbolism.

[357]It is also said that sushumna corresponds by its nature to fire, vajra to the Sun, and chitra to the Moon: the interior of the final, forming the most central conduit, is called Brahma-nadi.

[358]The seven knots of the Brahmanic staff symbolize the seven ‘lotuses;' in the caduceus, on the contrary, it seems that the terminal ball has to be brought back only to ajna, the two alleys accompanying it then identifying with the two petals of this 'lotus.'

[359]The numbers of the petals are: 4 for muladhara, 6 for swadhishthana, 10 for manipura, 12 for anathata, 16 for vishuddha, 2 for ajna, or a total of 50, which is also the number of letters in the Sanskrit alphabet; all the letters are found in sahasrara, each of them being repeated 20 times (50 × 20 = 1000).