Ritual

(from the root nad meaning motion, vibration), and of them the
most important ones are the lunar nadi, Ida, the solar nadi, Pingala,
and the central subtle channel, Sushumna. Though attempts have
been made to identify these subtle nerves with various parts of the
human anatomy, they arc untraceable by direct physical means. It
is mainly through the mechanism of this etheric structure that the
vital current of Kundalini is awakened.
The Muladhara (mula-root) centre at the base of the spinal
column between the anal orifice and the genital organs (sacral
plexus) is the starting place of all the main nadis. The Sushumna,
situated at the perineum, runs through the central channel of the
spinal column and extends up to the crown of the head. On either
side, and running parallel to it, are Ida on the left and Pingala on the
right. Though Ida and Pingala separate from the Sushumna at the
Muladhara Chakra, they meet the Sushumna again in the region of
Ajna Chakra, situated between the eyebrows (cavernous plexus),
and again they divide and separate into the left and right nostrils.
Along the Sushumna channel there are the six major psychic
centres also known as chakras, and one above the head and lying
outside the body; together they make the seven major psychic
vortices in the subtle body. These chakras are revealed to practising
adepts only, through yoga.
Attempts are sometimes made to identify the chakras with
several parts of the body. Rieker, however, correctly observes:
It the system of chakras were identical with the central nervous system
(CNS), then either all our academic knowledge would be wrong, or the
yoga teachings would be empty fantasies. But neither is the case. Our
knowledge about the CNS applies to the material aspect only, while
chakra theory goes to the deepest sources of all dynamic processes in man,
down to the deepest cosmic functions, to which we are undeniably
bound. 36
The chakras are figuratively referred to as lotuses, and each of
them is related to a colour; each lotus's number of petals indicates
the rate of vibrations of that particular chakra. Thus, only four
frequencies are attributed to the root centre, where energy is at its
lowest and resistance is highest, but as one ascends the scale, the
frequencies increase considerably. The letters inscribed on the
petals of the chakra lotuses should not be regarded as mere parts of
the alphabet: they indicate sound vibrations and the varying
degrees of energies working in the different centres. Similarly, the
colours which the chakras reflect are related to their frequencies.
Of the several interpretations offered for the symbolic use of
lotuses the one which explains their function is that when the veils
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