found in the belly below the navel, is called svadisthana, (abode of the self), and is associated with creativity and the fertility of the great mother goddesses. It is associated with desire and sexual desire, as well as the tattva, or principle, of taste – both physical and preferential. As this chakra awakens, you are working on discrimination.
3 The third chakra is called manipura, (to shine like a jewel). It is associated with the element fire and is located in the solar plexus. It is associated with the faculty of digestion, and in a broader sense, assimilation. In this chakra you are working on assimilation.
4 The fourth chakra, called anahata (without sound) is known as the heart chakra, because the heart rather than the head is considered the bridge between the body and consciousness. Energizing this centre leads to the harmonization of the other centres in the body. For this reason it is particularly important to awaken the heart. When the heart centre is awake it gives off a subtle vibration – the sound om, which is the sound of the creative energy of the void. In this chakra you are working on the ability to surrender.
5 In the throat region is the sixth chakra, called vissudha (purified), which is connected with the feminine power of creation. Known as the throat centre, it is connected with sound (mantras) and hearing, speech and silence, inhaling and exhaling, and the divine metabolism of Shiva and Shakti. This is the chakra in which you work on balance.
6 The brow centre is called ajna (command from above), and is represented by two lotus petals connected to a lunar disc, which is positioned to receive the nectar that drips down from the thousand-petal lotus at the crown of the head. It is thought to be the bridge between our higher mind and lower mind. It is the meeting place of the three main energetic channels, and is connected to the life-force. Situated in what we call the third eye, at the root of the nose, it has the function of psychic vision, or clairvoyance.
7 The crown centre is the seventh chakra, called the sahasrara, (thousand-spoked), and is located over the fontanel. It is usually depicted as a thousand-petal lotus, representing the full flowering of the subtle body into enlightenment. Tantric practitioners see this as the seat of the divine couple Shakti and Shiva, whose unification brings about a state of bliss and enlightenment.
Tantra conceptualizes personal Shakti power, or Kundalini, as lying latent at the base of the spine until activated by Tantric practices, when she arises up into the crown chakra and unites with Shiva.
The energy body has been documented over thousands of years. The body’s energy system is considered a microcosm of the macrocosm, which is the universe. In Tantric philosophy the seven layers of cosmic energy are reflected in the seven energy centres in the body – the chakras.
The symbol for the first chakra is a square (standing for the element earth) enclosed by four fiery red petals, inside which is a downward pointing triangle (symbolizing the vulva or yoni, the primordial fount of creation). Inside the yoni is a yoni-lingam (vulva and penis), around which the Kundalini snake is coiled, and which is covered by the crescent moon, (symbol of the divine source of all energy).
Yogis hold that the flow of energy upwards is blocked in a person in whom the Kundalini energy is still sleeping. The aim of Tantric yoga practices is to awaken this Kundalini-Shakti energy and to move it through the energetic blocks within the chakra system.
John Hawken, Tantra teacher: Tantra is about empowering yourself by rejecting external systems of ideas which tell you how you should be opening the heart. The key to real wisdom lies in your heart already. You are always in contact and in harmony with the whole – Tantra is about waking up to that knowledge. It doesn’t happen through the mind, but by building up your energy and opening the chakras.
Pip, 46: I was in a stone circle with my partner. We were lying under the central stone, dozing into the energies. Everything outside the circle disappeared. We felt both connected and independent at the same time, and I was waiting with a sense of expectancy. The energy felt very high and I tried to see what would unfold by relaxing into what was already there.
I asked my partner to lie on her front, and found myself tracing quite specific designs on her back. Lines up her back which spiralled into her shoulder blades and back down again three times on each side. The thought came to me that I was unfurling the wings of an angel, and allowing energy to open up. She began to dance tentatively, exploring this fine feeling. She looked like an elf or a fairy, both innocent and raunchy, as she danced around barefoot and topless. In her dance she’d become an energy being. Then she climbed up the central stone, which leans like a giant phallus, and perched onto the tip, looking like an amazing ‘playboy of the year’ image.
I felt it was a taste of how it is to touch paradise while still being on earth. That’s how we want to live our life together.
Tantra is not particularly concerned with dry philosophical speculation, and the texts have little to add to Hindu or Buddhist philosophy, except for their emphasis on lived experience. Tantras are not concerned with splitting hairs about how to define the absolute: Tantric practices are geared towards creating a different subjectivity from the one we’re used to, a different way of experiencing ourselves and the world. The techniques can seem elaborate to us, because they’re not part of our own background cultural knowledge. They’ve been refined over thousands of years, and are firmly embedded in a particular Hindu way of looking at reality, yet in spite of this they’re simple and accessible. It’s not necessary for modern Western practitioners to learn all the subtleties of the complex body maps and cosmologies familiar to Eastern Tantric practitioners. What’s most important is developing a heart-centred modus operandi, and using some sort of meditation practice to experience these feelings of non-duality.
In meditation it is particularly important to focus on the heart area. Once this energy centre has been balanced, it will tend to harmonize the others automatically. A simple visualization for cleansing the heart chakra is to imagine your body wrapped in a ball of golden light, like a cocoon. Then, imagine a clear emerald green light in the heart area of your chest, which gradually permeates your whole body, and expands to colour the golden ball a bright emerald green. You can do this meditation with your partner as well, visualizing the cocoon around both your bodies.
Traditional Tantric practices involve purifying the body for Tantra through a vegetarian diet and through breathing techniques (known as pranayama), and working on the body’s flexibility through the physical postures of hatha yoga. Then the work of awakening and raising the Kundalini-Shakti energy through the chakras can begin. Kundalini yoga uses a range of techniques to harness the libidinal energy of the body for spiritual development, including visualizations, breathing, sound (mantra) and gestures (mudras). In order to work with the energy body, meditation and visualizations are used to influence the body’s subtle physiology as well as to deepen experience.
A traditional Tantric ritual involved investing space with sacredness through rituals: for instance, drawing the fundamental triangle mandala shape (yantra) on the ground facing north, or internally visualizing a yantra and the associated deity. Then the yogi recited lots of mantras to worship, invoke and identify with particular deities. Ritual food and drink were taken, and sometimes hemp, before finally making love while using visualizations to sanctify the ritual.
Maithuna is the traditional ritual practice of making love as the divine, recreating the moment of creation as Shakti and Shiva.
