Meditation Book: Leading You To Bliss
MEDITATION BOOK: LEADING YOU TO BLISS
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
Working with Emotions
Emotions and thoughts rise from the same source – the mind. Both are functions of the mind.
They are not altogether distinct from each other. Most thoughts have an emotional component, and most emotions will carry some hidden rationale. When the mental vibration is more like a 'feeling' than a logical process, we call it an emotion, that's all!
Our emotions are in a state of constant flux. The same energy expresses itself as totally contradictory emotions at different times.
To understand the chaos created in us by our emotions, all you have to do is take an honest look at your own mood swings!
How many mood swings do you undergo in the course of a single day? In the morning, you may wake up feeling that life is beautiful – until you see your boss' face!
In the meeting, you are in one mood, at lunchtime in one mood, when you come home and see your children, your mood changes altogether. Emotions are constantly rising, playing and falling in us, like waves on an ocean. Working on our emotions is a huge challenge, because emotions cannot be understood and handled in a logical way.
Usually, after the emotion passes, we try to give some logical explanation for it! Initially, the emotions is created by a conscious and logical process of association. For instance, suppose you are repeatedly insulted or abused by a certain person.
The first time it happens, you learn to connect that person with danger or disturbance.
But if the same pattern of abuse is repeated two or three times, the fourth time you only have to see his face, and the whole negative emotion to come up! It no longer needs your conscious participation to express itself.
The emotion is no longer in your control! That is why, when working on emotions, we have to reach deep into the unconscious mind and remove the negativity by the root.
Chakras: the key to your emotions
Chakras are subtle energy centers in our body.
The word chakra literally translates as wheel or disk. Chakras are visualized as spinning wheels or flowers with different numbers of petals.
The main subtle energy channels of our body (nadis) are the ida (left), pingala (right) and sushumna (central) channel, which run along the spinal column. They correspond roughly to the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and central nervous system.
Since the nadis run in a curved path, they cross one another several times. At the points of intersection, they form strong energy centers. These are the chakras.
Chakras are subtle energy powerhouses which are responsible for spinning and drawing the universal life-force (prana) into the body. They also act as batteries to store this energy and distribute it to the surrounding areas of the body. Each chakra influences bodily functions near its region of the spine.
The chakras roughly correspond to, and influence the activity of, the important glands of the body. They interact with the body's ductless endocrine glands and lymphatic system by feeding in good bio-energies and disposing of unwanted bio-energies. They are linked to the nerve ganglia (plexus) of the body and influence nervous functions as well.
The seven major chakras also correlate with different states of consciousness, and are directly linked to the ascent of the kundalini shakti in the body.
The effort of all kundalini yoga is to awaken the tremendous kundalini shakti (the universal life-force which lies latent in us). The kundalini lies coiled and sleeping at the base of the spine. When aroused through yogic disciplines, the kundalini ascends up the spine, passing through the increasingly subtle chakras, until union with the Divine energy is achieved in the sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head.
Thus, the chakras are influential at every level of our functioning. They are responsible for keeping the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in balance.
Although they have no definite physical location, these energy centers are represented in the physical body as aligned in an ascending column from the base of the spine to the top of the head.
The seven major chakras are Mooladhara, Swadishthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Vishuddhi, Ajna and Sahasrara.
The mooladhara chakra (root center) is located in the sacral area, at the base of the spine.
The swadishthana chakra (spleen center) is located two inches above the mooladhara chakra and two inches below the navel
The manipuraka chakra (navel center) is located at the navel, two inches above the swadishthana chakra.
The anahata chakra (heart center) is located in the heat region, in the center of the chest.
The vishuddhi chakra (throat center) is located in the hollow of the throat. The ajna chakra (brow center) is located on the forehead, between the eyebrows. The sahasrara chakra (crown center) is located on the crown of the head.
Chakras – a deeper understanding
Strictly speaking, the chakras are not present in the physical body at all. They exist on the metaphysical plane, and link together our three shareeras or bodies.