Swami Vivekananda, among the foremost
disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, was of the view that each soul
is potentially divine and the purpose of meditation is to manifest this
divinity within through awakening of the dormant Shakti or power,
kundalini. In his ‘Raja Yoga’, Swami says, “Rousing of kundalini is the
one and only way to attain divine wisdom, super conscious perception,
realisation of the spirit”. Why did he attach so much importance to
rousing of kundalini to attain Self-realisation?
Shakti, in the process of manifesting as
Brahmanda or Universe, divides herself into two polar aspects -- static
and dynamic. This implies that any given sphere of activity would have
its corresponding static background. In the human body too, which is
referred to as kshudrabrahmanda or microcosm, the same polarisation can
be observed. Mahakundalini, in Supreme form is at rest in the highest
spiritual centre in the sahasrara or brain, coiled around and one with
Shiva-bindu. Then, by her own free will, she begins to uncoil herself
in order to manifest. As she continues to uncoil, the tattvas and the
matrikas emanate from her. She first creates mind and then matter and
goes on uncoiling until earth or prithvi, the last of the tattvas, has
been evolved.
After having created prithvi, earth,
Shakti again assumes static form, meaning thereby that at muladhara or
root-support, the seat of prithvi tattva, Kundalini is at rest as the
residual power -- the power that is left over after the process of
creation has been completed. Just as mahakundalini coiled around Shiva
(before manifestation) is static potential, similarly, the kundalini
power in each body is the power at rest or the static centre round
which every form of existence as moving power, revolves.
The tattvas mentioned above are embedded
in the body in a subtle form, within the sushumna which in yogic
terminology are referred to as chakras. The first five chakras, namely,
muladhara, swadhishthana, manipura, anahata and vishuddha, are centres
of the five tattvas -- earth, water, fire, air and ether respectively.
The sixth chakra, ajna, is the seat of the mind. From each of these
radiate thousands of yoga nadis, conduits of pranic force, in different
directions. Swami Vivekananda says that among these, only three nadis
are of prime importance, namely
ida associated with moon that ends up in
the left nostril, pingala associated with sun that ends up in right
nostril and sushumna, the hollow passage that runs through the spinal
cord and ends in brahmarandhra, the tenth opening in the brain. At the
lower end of the hollow canal is what Swamiji calls ‘Lotus of the
Kundalini’.
The purpose of arousing the dormant
kundalini, says Swamiji, is to get the prana out of ida and pingala and
make it enter sushumna, the hollow passage. Through regular practice of
meditation and pranayama and by leading a chaste life, the mass of
energy stored in muladhara begins to travel along the sushumna with
tremendous force, being drawn to the other static centre in the
sahasrara. In the process, the chakras get pierced and considerable
amount of ‘ojas’ or sexual energy gets transmuted into spiritual
energy and gets stored in the brain, enabling the seeker to experience
the vision.
Finally, says Swamiji, when the awakened
kundalini unites with Consciousness at sahasrara, the summit, the seeker
enters the sublime state of nirvikalpa samadhi wherein he experiences
infinite bliss and “the full blaze of illumination, the perception of
the Self”.
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