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| The crown, brow (agni), and throat chakras, Rajasthan, India, 18th century (wiki) |
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| Om or aum (Themeplus/flickr.com) |
Chakras (subtle energy centers of the body) play an important role in the main surviving branch of Indian Vajrayana,
Tibetan Buddhism.
The
Vajrayana system states that the central channel (
avadhūtī) begins at the point of
the third eye like the of Lord Shiva, curves up to the crown of the head, and then goes straight down to the lower body.
There are two side channels, the
rasanā and
lalanā, which start at their respective nostrils and then travel down to the lower body. The
apāna vāyu (down-moving wind, where "wind" means the invisible power to move) governs the lower terminations of the three channels. The lower end of the central channel ends at the rectum. The lower end of the
lalanā ends in the urinary tract. The lower end of the
rasanā channel emits semen.
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| Chakra picture produced by AuraStar2000TM bio-energy sensor (William Vroman/wiki) |
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| Buddha aum (BrookeMontes/flickr) |
The side channels run parallel to the center channel, except at locations such as the navel, heart, throat, and crown (i.e., the
chakras) where the two side channels twist around the central channel. At the navel, throat, and crown, there is a twofold knot caused by each side channel twisting once around the central channel.
At the heart wheel there is a sixfold knot, where each side channel twists around three times. An important part of completion stage practice involves loosening and undoing these knots.
Within the chakras exist the "subtle drops." The white drop exists in the crown, the red drop exists in the navel, and at the heart exists the indestructible red and white drop, which leaves the body at the time of death.
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| Sanskrit characters (sriaurobindoashram.com) |
In addition, each
chakra has a number of "spokes" or "petals," which branch off into thousands of subtle channels running to every part of the body, and each contains a
Sanskrit syllable.
By focusing on a specific chakra (while often holding the breath) the subtle winds enter the central channel. The chakra at which they enter is important in order to realize specific practices.
For example, focusing on the subnavel area is important for the practice of
tummo, or inner-fire. Meditating on the heart
chakra is important for realizing clear light. Meditating on the throat
chakra is important for lucid dreaming and the practices of dream yoga. And meditating on the crown
chakra is important for consciousness projection, either to another world or into another body.
A result of energetic imbalance among the chakras is an almost continuous feeling of dissatisfaction. When the heart chakra is agitated, people lose touch with feelings and sensations, and that breeds the sense of dissatisfaction. It leads to looking outside for fulfillment. When people live in their heads, feelings are secondary. They are interpreters of mental images in a feedback loop to the individual.
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| Bon protectors of Tibet (viewzone.com) |
When awareness is focused on memories of past experiences and
mentations, the energy flow to the head
chakra increases and the energy flow to the heart
chakra lessens. Without nurturing feelings of the heart, a subtle form of anxiety arises which results in the illusory-separate-self reaching out for experience. When the throat
chakra settles and energy is distributed evenly between the head and the heart
chakras, one is able to truly contact one's senses and touch real feelings (
Tarthang Tulku, Tibetan Relaxation: The Illustrated Guide to Kum Nye Massage and Movement - A Yoga from the Tibetan Tradition, pp. 31, 33).
Bön
Chakras, according to the Himalayan pre-Buddhist shamanic
Bönpo tradition, influence the quality of experience, because movement of
vayu cannot be separated from experience. Each of the six major
chakras is linked to experiential qualities of one of the
six major realms of existence.
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