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INTRODUCTION
 
răra in the head. As its name indicates, it is a lotus of a
thousand petals. It is the seat of Siva-Sakti.
 
According to the yoga system of philosophy, when
the mind is concentrated on any tattva, say, earth, water,
fire or air, the sãdhaka becomes one with it and is able
to rise through its own inner power to higher and
higher tattvas, till he gains liberation from Prakriti it-
self. The Tantra adopts this principle of discipline and
teaches that the sadhaka should by appropriate means
rouse the Kundalini Sakti which lies coiled in him like
a serpent in the mulādhāra and make it go up from one
chakra to another-that is, from one tattva to another-
piercing the three granthis inentioned above, till she
reaches the sahasrära and becomes united with Siva
there. The sadhaka thus attains self-realization, which
is the goal of the whole sādhana. ¹
 
It should be noted here that, though we call these
chakras nerve-centres, they are really psychological levels
and not physiological plexuses, for they are unknown to
modern anatomy or physiology. So what we have
to understand by the practice of Kundalini-yoga, is
that the sādhaka, by means of concentration of mind,
has to rise from one level of consciousness to another
passing through one spiritual crisis after another-for
that is the meaning of a granthi-till he reaches the
level of universal consciousness. Thus, it will be
observed, the doctrine of şat-chakra-bheda is parallel to
 
"This eternal union of the Jiva and Paramātman
in the Sahasrara is known as going into the seventh plane."
(Sri Ramakrishna.)