Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini (8 page)

Professor Seal states that the ajña chakra is the centre of command over movements. Hence, it is a motor centre. The motor centres are in the cerebral cortex. But, according to some current notions, the motor impulse originates somewhere in the higher brain stem and is radiated to the cerebral cortex. In that case, the ajña is situated below the manas in the higher brain stem. The external location-point is the space between the eyebrows, which corresponds roughly to the caudal part of the third ventricle of the brain.

Seal maintains that the soma (indu) chakra is a sixteen-lobed ganglion comprising the centres in the middle of the cerebrum, above the sensorium; it is the seat of the altruistic sentiments and volitional control. These qualities are mental and cannot be a function of any brain centre. It may be that the physical counterpart of the mental functioning is a certain brain centre or area located in the telencephalon. He identifies the sahasrara chakra with the cerebral cortex. This is a mistake. The sahasrara is not in the sushumna, but is situated extracranially. It is more correct to say that the convoluted surface of the cerebral hemispheres is the material replication of the subtle nirwana chakra, which has 100 petals.

The well-known author of the Aryashastrapradipa,
³
a scholastic work on ancient Hindu religion and thought, and a great sanskritist, has identified the muladhara, swadhisthana, manipuraka and anahata chakras with the ganglion impar or coccygeal plexus, hypogastric or pelvic plexus, solar or epigastric plexus, and cardiac plexus respectively. It is astonishing that he has also made the same mistake. The coccygeal plexus is connected with the ganglion impar, situated at the union of the two sympathetic trunks at their caudal ends. The other plexuses are sympathetic. However, these plexuses are situated outside the vertebral column, whereas the chakras are in the sushumna, which is inside the vertebral column. So these chakras cannot be identified with the nervous plexuses.

The identification has been carried out still farther. Purnananda Brahmachari
⁴
has identified the sahasradala lotus (sahasrara chakra) with the telencephalon; dwadashadala lotus (guru chakra) with the diencephalon; chandramandala (moon-circle), amakala and nirwana-kala with the upper part of the corpus callosum; samana (samani) and unmana (unmani) with the middle part of the corpus callosum; nirodhini (nirodhika) and wyapika with the lower part of the corpus callosum; and mahanada with the fornix. He also says that the seat of bindu is in the pineal gland (body) and that of the ajña in the pituitary body.

It has already been mentioned that the sahasrara is an extracranial chakra, so it cannot be identified with the telencephalon. As the dwadashadala (guru chakra) is a part of the sahasrara, and, consequently, is situated extracranially, it cannot be identified with the diencephalon. The chandramandala, amakala and nirwanakala are inside the sahasrara, hence, they cannot be identified with the upper part of the corpus callosum. Samani and unmani are two forms of subtle power roused in deep concentration, when dhyana is about to be transformed into samadhi. Therefore, they cannot be identified with the material brain structure. Nirodhika and wyapika are also power-forms operating at the lower level, and cannot be identified with the brain structures. Mahanada is the power-station where pranic motion almost stops in deep concentration. It is situated between the nirwana chakra above, and the indu chakra below. Its corresponding physical point is in the corpus callosum. Consequently, it cannot be identified with the fornix. Similarly, it is a fallacy to make bindu and ajña identical with the pineal and pituitary bodies respectively.

Dr Vasant G. Rele
⁵
has identified the muladhara chakra with the pelvic (inferior hypogastric) plexus. Similarly, the swadhisthana has been identified with the hypogastric (superior) plexus; the manipura chakra with the plexus of the coeliac-axis (coeliac plexus); the anahata chakra with the cardiac plexus; the wishuddha chakra with the pharyngeal plexus; the taluka (talu) chakra with the cavernous plexus; and the ajña chakra with the naso-ciliary extension of the cavernous plexus. We have already noted that this identification is baseless. First, the chakras are situated within the vertebral column, whereas these nervous plexuses are lying outside it, and, consequently, there cannot be any identification between them. Second, the chakras are subtle force-centres, but the nervous plexuses are gross structures. It cannot be demonstrated that the powers residing in the chakras are also in the nerve plexuses. By concentration and pranayama, these latent powers lying in the chakras can be roused; but these processes have no such effects on the nervous plexuses. So the correspondences can neither be ascertained scientifically nor are they in agreement with the technical description of the chakras.

Moreover, Dr Rele has identified the shaktis (powers) residing in the chakras with the efferent impulses exercising an inhibitory influence generated through the subsidiary nerve centres in the spinal cord. The shaktis are conscious powers; they act directly on any physical organs, and unlike the nervous impulses they never act unconsciously. They control the chakra organizations, and the yogis arouse them to develop their concentration to the dhyana level to be able to do dhyana on the deities situated in the chakras. The chakras are also the centres of pranic forces and specific sense principles. An alteration in the functions of the body can be made by pranayama and concentration. The nervous impulses are physico-chemical phenomena whereas the shaktis are subtle and conscious.

Swami Wiwekananda
⁶
has vaguely stated that the different plexuses having their centres in the spinal canal can stand for the lotuses. The chakras cannot be explained physiologically as they are subtle centres, and the nervous plexuses are gross structures. Swam Sachchidananda Saraswati
⁷
presents this in a more sensible way. He says that the nervous plexuses are not the chakras, but they are the gross indicators of the inner regions where the chakras are. According to him, the ganglion impar or the coccygeal plexus is the indicator of the muladhara chakra; the hypogastric plexus, solar plexus, cardiac plexus, carotid plexus (plexus caroticus internus), and cavernous plexus are the indicators of swadhishthana, manipura, anahata, wishuddha and ajña chakras respectively. But this is also misleading. The better method to determine the locations of the chakras has been presented in Section 12 of this book.

Arawinda
⁸
says that the centres (chakras) are in the subtle body, not in the physical body; but as the subtle body is interfused with the gross body, there is a certain correspondence between the chakras and certain centres in the physical body. So the real nature of the chakras has been disclosed by him.

Dr Gananath Sen
⁹
has used the terms ida and piṅgala to mean the two sympathetic chains of ganglia, and the sushumna for the spinal cord. He has named the spinal cord sushumnakanda, and the medulla oblongata sushumnashirshaka. Dr Rele
¹⁰
has also identified the ida piṅgala nadis with the two gangliated sympathetic trunks, one on each side of the vertebral column, and the sushumna nadi with the spinal cord. Professor Brajendranath Seal
¹¹
has identified the ida and piṅgala with the left and right gangliated sympathetic trunks, but the sushumna nadi with the central canal of the spinal cord. According to Purnananda Brahmachari
¹²
the sushumna is the spinal cord and brahmarandhra (brahma nadi) is identical with the central canal.

Wiwekananda
¹³
says that the ida and piṅgala are the sensory and motor fibres in the spinal cord through which the afferent and efferent currents travel. So the sensory and motor impulses in the spinal cord have been identified with the ida and piṅgala nadis respectively. About the sushumna, he says that it is a hollow canal, running centrally through the spinal cord, and the canal is continuous within the fine fibre which starts at the end of the spinal cord and goes downward to the lower end, situated near the sacral plexus. This fibre is clearly the filum terminale. From this description it appears that he has identified the sushumna with the central canal within which there is no nerve matter, but it contains the cerebrospinal fluid. According to him, the mind is able to send messages without any wire (that is, without passing through the nerves), and this is done when the yogi makes the current pass through the sushumna.

Now, let us first consider whether we are justified in identifying the sushumna with the spinal cord. First, the sushumna nadi has been described as extremely subtle and spiralled; but the spinal cord is a gross nervous structure, measuring in width at the level of the cervical enlargement 13–14 mm, of the lumbosacral enlargement 11–13 mm, and of the thoracic portion about 10 mm. Consequently there cannot be any identification between the two. Second, the sushumna nadi arises from the nadi centre called kanda-mula, lying just below the muladhara chakra, which corresponds approximately to the point below the inferior end of the filum terminale. It ascends through the filum terminale, central canal, fourth ventricle, cerebral aqueduct, third ventricle, telencephalon medium, anterior commissure, fornix, septum pellucidum, corpus callosum and longitudinal fissure, to reach the central point of the cerebral cortex. On the other hand, the spinal cord extends from the lower border of the first lumbar vertebra, or the upper border of the second lumbar vertebra to the upper border of the atlas, and ends in the lower part of the medulla oblongata at the level of the foramen magnum. From this it is clear that the sushumna cannot be identified with the spinal cord.

There is another important point which needs our attention. Inside the sushumna are three more nadis. Within the sushumna is wajra, within the wajra is the chitrini and within the chitrini is the brahma nadi. If the sushumna is the spinal cord, how are these three nadis to be explained? Can the wajra, chitrini and brahma nadis stand for the white matter, grey matter and central canal respectively; or, should these three nadis be identified with the meninges, white matter and grey matter? The meninges also consist of three layers, dura mater, arachnoid mater and pia mater. Here we really do not know what to think. The nadi can stand for the white or grey matter. But it cannot be identified with either the meninges or the central canal, neither of which are composed of nervous tissue.

Dr Gananath Sen
¹⁴
has exclusively used the word nadi to signify nerves. He also says that probably the Greek word neuron (a nerve) is derived from the Sanskrit word nadi. Professor Brajendranath Seal
¹⁵
appears to have the same opinion. Dr Rele
¹⁶
also has the same opinion. He says: ‘Wayu-nadis, i.e., nerves of impulse.’ He has clearly identified wayu with nervous impulse.

The Greek word neuron means sinew, cord, and nerve. Now this word is used to mean a nerve cell with its axonal and dendritic processes, and it is considered to be the structural unit of the nervous system. The word nerve has many meanings. But from the medical viewpoint, a nerve is a tubular elongated structure consisting of bundles of nerve fibres or axons of nerve cells, which convey impulses, and a connective tissue sheath, called epineurium, which encloses these bundles. The word nerve may also mean energy, force, vitality.

Now, let us consider the meaning of the word nadi. Nadi has been derived from ‘nada’ (or nala) to mean motion or regulated motion. In other words, nadi is energy in motion, or activated energy. When the energy in motion is vehicled in a material structure, nadi is a nerve. Otherwise, nadi is ‘wireless’ force-motion. The word wayu has been derived from ‘wa’ to mean motion, that is, energy in motion. So the word wayu can stand for nadi. There is another word in Sanskrit—‘snayu’ which has been used for nerves. According to Dr Gananath Sen
¹⁷
this is a mistake. He maintains that the meaning of the word snayu is fibrous tissues generally, and ligaments particularly. But it appears that the word ‘snawa’ has been used in the Atharwawedasanghita to signify very slender threadlike structures. Can they not be nerves?

Now, let us come to our point. We are not justified in using the word ‘nadi’ exclusively for the nerve. In yoga, the term nadi has been used in a technical sense. The nadi-chakra or nadi organization is not the nervous system. In the nervous system, energy is propagated through the medium of the nerves, and the energy itself appears to be electrical in nature, functioning on the physico-chemical basis. This ‘wired’ energy is restricted in its functions. There is another aspect of the energy which is free from this material bondage. This means that its function is not restricted by the nerves, and, consequently, it is conducted in a ‘wireless’ manner to produce deep effects. This energy works in a supramaterial field having unbounded potency, and it also glides into matter to reinforce the nervous energy. This field is subtle, and the energy is subtle. The word ‘subtle’ (sakshma) has been used technically to indicate what is not material. It is Patanjali’s third form of matter (bhuta). This subtle aspect of energy has been termed prana wayu which operates without nerves. This non-nervous operation is, therefore, only pranic force-motion lines of direction, technically termed nadis. To avoid confusion and make the nadis distinct from the nerves, it has also been termed yoga nadi. It is now also clear why we cannot identify wayu with nervous impulse. A nervous impulse is a wave of negative electrical force based on the chemical energy system. Its activities are limited by the nerves. Wayu is the patent form of latent prana—the basic energy. Wayu is in constant motion and creates subtle lines of direction, called nadis.

Arawinda
¹⁸
states that the pranic energy is directed through a system of numerous channels, called nadi,—the subtle nervous organization of the psychic body. The nadis, or the system of nadis, have been described as the subtle nervous organization of the psychic body. The nervous organization he mentions here is not the gross nervous system. It is the ‘subtle’ nervous system, and this is clear by his using the word ‘subtle’ nervous organization. We already know the meaning of the word subtle. To avoid confusion we would prefer to use ‘the nadi organization’ instead of the subtle nervous organization. But the nadi organization is not only of the psychic body, but essentially of the pranic body (pranamaya kosha); on the one side, the pranic body extends to the material body (annamaya kosha), and on the other, to the mental body. The ‘channels’ mentioned here are not actually some tubular substance, but the subtle lines of direction caused by the pranic energy.