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tantor
United Kingdom
14 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 07:11:47 AM
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Hi,
I've been practicing meditation of one sort or another for about 10 years, teaching myself, so my progress hasn't been perhaps as fast as it could have been.
I've been reading several books by Swami Saraswati Satyananda again recently ("Kundalini Tantra" and "Kriya Yoga"). In it, they give meditations and methods to "awaken" each of the chakras.
About 4 years ago I was sat in meditation, and became totally single-pointed in my awareness on the lower dan tien. My etheric body seemed to detach from my physical body, and my energy seemed to 'solidify'. Then, as golden lights flashed in my third eye, I felt something wriggle out of my perineum, up my spine and dissipate at manipura. It felt *amazing*.
A few months prior to that I'd been doing bhastrika when I could (my practise was irregular since I was travelling throughout all this time), and several nights as I lay falling asleep my body would become paralysed, and a similar feeling would wriggle out of my perineum.
Fast forward to recently, and I'm a little confused by the granthis and awakening the chakras. Do the chakras need "awakening" before each meditation, or is it more like a single memorable event that takes place, afterwhich it is from that point awakened? Is it similar with the granthis too? Do they need relaxing somehow, or is it that if they are broken once, they remain broken?
I'm feeling a little frustrated in general with my practice. I feel like I'm making slow progress, and since doing more reading, I think i've been neglecting actual meditation in favour of pranayama/chi kung. To be honest, I think I've been trying too hard - trying to send energy to certain places, trying to "awaken" chakras, etc. When I became totally single-pointed that time, I remember it was because I thought "Whatever will happen will happen. Just let my body do what it needs to do". I think that I have some preconceptions about what needs to happen before I can really meditate that I have been defeating myself a bit.
This has been a bit of a ramble, but to summarise, I'd really like to know whether:
1) Once a chakra is awakened, it's always awakened
2) Once a granthi has been broken it's always broken
3) Whether these are really just terms for warming up the energy body prior to meditation.
Thanks |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 08:24:00 AM
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Hi Tantor,
You know when chakras become activated because you can feel it. Different chakras feel different when they are activated, but they all have particular vibrational qualities. Each chakra is associated with particular emotional or spiritual states, so you can also come to recognise the activation of particular chakras by the qualities associated with them. Chakras can close as well as open, and their states of activation change over time.
The granthis refer to the rising of the kundalini energy up through the body over time. It usually takes years for the kundalini to rise from the root chakra up to the crown chakra after awakening. The piercing of the granthis are representative of stages in the transition of kundalini as this journey unfolds. The actual evolution of kundalini and the opening of the chakras is a bit more complex than the "ladder system" taught in traditional yoga. According to the ladder system, kundalini awakens at the base of the spine, rises up slowly (over several years) to the crown of the head, awakening and activating all the chakras one by one on route, piercing all three granthis in turn and finally coming to rest at the crown, at which point the practitioner is enlightened. In practice, this is a heavily simplified model, and each individual has their own road to travel. Chakras can (and do) open in different orders. The model is useful though.
Once kundalini has awakened and is making it's way up the sushumna, it can, at any point, fall asleep again. So the piercing of a granthi is not necessarily a once-and-for-all event. In some yogic texts it says that it is, but I would take that with a pinch of salt.
It is not necessary to activate chakras (or anything else) before meditation, although it can be done. In AYP, spinal breathing pranayama is used to activate the first 6 chakras before meditation.
In answer to question three, the activation of the chakras goes much further than simply warming up the energy body. It is part of the transformation to divine consciousness.
You may find this lesson helpful:
http://www.aypsite.org/47.html
and this one
http://www.aypsite.org/73.html
Christi |
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Clear White Light
USA
229 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 08:33:30 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by tantor
I'm feeling a little frustrated in general with my practice. I feel like I'm making slow progress, and since doing more reading, I think i've been neglecting actual meditation in favour of pranayama/chi kung. To be honest, I think I've been trying too hard - trying to send energy to certain places, trying to "awaken" chakras, etc. When I became totally single-pointed that time, I remember it was because I thought "Whatever will happen will happen. Just let my body do what it needs to do". I think that I have some preconceptions about what needs to happen before I can really meditate that I have been defeating myself a bit.
I can relate to your frustration. I think this is what happens when we become overly concerned with things like chakras, nadis, granthis and the like. We begin to look towards other people's experience as a benchmark for our own progress. This inevitably ends in defeat and frustration. Imagine being an amateur pianist for instance. You may idolize J.S Bach but if you looked to his ability as a benchmark for your own, think of how quickly your enthusiasm would fade.
I think you nailed it in your own post. Playing with chakras isn't meditation. Being able to "raise energy" is only one part of the equation. You also need to be established in mental stillness. In my experience this is a point that has been frequently ignored in "Kundalini" or "Kriya" literature. I have many books by Satyananda Saraswati, and I've yet to see a meditation technique presented by him that was focused on the idea of creating mental stillness.
You are absolutely being defeated by your preconceived notions. I've been there as well, and at times I can still feel the tug of these fascinating concepts like energy, chakras etc pull at my mind. However, I can say that since I've let go of my preoccupation with them, I feel as if I've made more progress.
Your chakras are OK. The more you let go of them the more OK they'll be. |
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tantor
United Kingdom
14 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 08:42:11 AM
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OK, thanks Christi. I've seen people refer to "awakening" chakras as being different to "activating them", but never really understood the distinction they were trying to make. I'd read for instance that awakening chakras can be associated with internal phenomena such as sounds, etc. I've never really experienced any of that, with few exceptions.
Thanks for the links. The impression I'm getting is that it's better to focus the mind with meditation and allow the body to do what it needs to instead of trying to micro-manage the process. If that's correct, it makes a lot of sense and explains why different traditions take different approaches - it reconciles the awareness-based forms of meditation with more energetic teachings like pranayama and chi kung.
Cheers |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 08:58:01 AM
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Hi Tantor,
quote:
OK, thanks Christi. I've seen people refer to "awakening" chakras as being different to "activating them", but never really understood the distinction they were trying to make. I'd read for instance that awakening chakras can be associated with internal phenomena such as sounds, etc. I've never really experienced any of that, with few exceptions.
Activating chakras is just another word for awakening them. And yes, it can be associated with internal phenomena, although that can be different depending on the person and the obstructions that are being released.
quote:
Thanks for the links. The impression I'm getting is that it's better to focus the mind with meditation and allow the body to do what it needs to instead of trying to micro-manage the process. If that's correct, it makes a lot of sense and explains why different traditions take different approaches - it reconciles the awareness-based forms of meditation with more energetic teachings like pranayama and chi kung.
I think a balance is needed. Too much micro-management of things like chakras doesn't always help, but at the other extreme, a path which focusses only on meditation can be a very slow one. There are a lot of spiritual systems out there which focus on activating individual chakras, one at a time. In AYP, chakras are activated in a more general way using spinal breathing. The first and sixth chakras are directly activated through this practice, whereas the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th chakras are left to become activated when they are ready, by osmosis if you like. It is a very intelligent method of chakra activation, especially with regards to the crown chakra.
This is not to say that the "ladder methods" do not work. I am sure they do, but they may not be as safe, or as effective, in the long run.
Christi |
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tantor
United Kingdom
14 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 09:32:57 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Clear White Light
Your chakras are OK. The more you let go of them the more OK they'll be.
I like that. It's a good way of putting it.
quote:
Originally posted by Christi
I think a balance is needed. Too much micro-management of things like chakras doesn't always help, but at the other extreme, a path which focusses only on meditation can be a very slow one.
That makes sense. I'll keep up with asanas, pranayama and meditation, but I'll let my meditation focus on stillness instead of trying to work on individual chakras.
Thanks again |
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How to know when a chakra is awakened?
