Ritual

paintings are more like instructional charts which convey, in a
visual language pregnant with symbols, the inner structure of the
subtle body as conceived and visualized by the yogi artist.
The lotus is an archaic symbol:
When the divine life substance is about to put forth the universe, the
cosmic waters grow a thousand-petalled lotus of pure gold radiant as the
sun. This is the door or gate, the opening or mouth, of the womb of the
universe. It is the first product of the creative principle, gold in token of its
incorruptible nature. l8
Chakras, or psychic centres, in the
etheric body of the yogi. The
energy centres are points of contact
between the psychic and the
physical body. Of the thirty chakras
mentioned in the texts, the
principal seven, from bottom
upwards, are: Muladhara,
Svadhisthana, Manipura,
Anahata, Vi'suddha, Ajna and
finally Sahasrara, conceived as
lying above the head. Rajasthan,
c. 18th century. Gouache on paper.
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