Meditation and 7 Open Chakras

Some people can get confused about meditation and religion. Yoga meditation is a science and not a religion.  Self-realization Fellowship respects all true religions. Yogacharya Oliver said,”meditation is the bridge between religion and realization.” Paramahansa Yoganandaji’s sole purpose was to lead souls back to having a direct personal relationship with their Creator.

In the silence of our body and mind, we can speak to God, our Father, from the very depths of our souls. We can use this harnessed energy to broadcast our love and devotion to Him. Every worthwhile endeavor can be laid at His feet for His blessing.

We will be introducing the various yoga techniques that have been introduced by the Masters of this science,who have successfully made yoga available to most people around the world. It is imperative that people, who are success oriented, meditate. Meditation is concentration with the focus on realizing one’s true potential. It may start with concentrating on a candle flame, spiritual passage, or goal. The thing is that we have to slow down our racing thoughts, breathing, and other physical distractions.

To begin, lets sit in a crosslegged position on a mat or sit on a straight-backed chair. Keep your spine erect at all times. Place the palms of your hands, upturned, at the juncture of the spine and abdomen. Keep your chin parallel to the ground and relax your shoulders. If in a chair, your feet are flat on the ground. You may drape silk or a woolen blanket to insulate you from earth’s currents.

Begin to square your diaphragmatic breathing. That is breathe thru the nostrils to the count of 6, hold the breath for a count of 6, exhale through the mouth to a count of 6, hold the breath to a count of 6. And begin the cycle of squared breaths. Repeat 10 times. Finally exhale the breath through the mouth and relax. You should have a feeling of well-being.

Keep breathing in a relaxed manner. Continue your concentration. Feel yourself flowing with the breath. Keep your two physical eyes focused at the point between the eyebrows. This is the spiritual eye of man. Gently press your lids against the eyes to hold them in place and not allow them to wander.To quote Paramahansa Yogananda, “During meditative concentration at the point between the eyebrows, the spiritual eye can be seen: a brilliant white star in the center, encased within a sphere of sapphire-blue light, encircled by a radiant golden aura. The golden light is the epitome of the vibratory sphere of the Holy Ghost; the blue light is the omnipresent Intelligence of the Christ Consciousness; the star is the mystic door into the Cosmic Consciousness of God the Father.” You may see a light surrounding you or colors. Continue to meditate for at least five minutes. It is strongly suggested that your meditate morning and night and try to add five or ten minutes to your meditation timing.

First, we need to realize that we are fine tuning the physical, astral, and causal bodies when we meditate. We understand quite easily the healing of the body; however, we have a somewhat lesser understanding of the other two bodies involved. We begin to work with the energy centers in the physical and astral bodies when we perform our yoga postures and meditations. We should realize that we are sending energy to body parts and are doing spiritual work to obtain 7 open chakras (energy centers in the spine). The object of the yogi is to awaken the cerebrolspinal centers in the cerebrolspinal axis (spine).

Let me show you the location of the chakras. The seventh center, called the “thousand petal lotus,” in the brain is the seat of Infinite Consciousness and is located at the top of the head. The sixth center is called the Third Eye, the polar opposite of the Medulla Oblangata. The physical eyes of the yogi should be focused at the third eye during meditation. (The point between the eyebrows). The fifth chakra is by the throat, and represents self-expression. The fourth chakra is the heart center and the third energy center is the Solar Plexus representing fire and ego. This is a very large center of nerves and the core energy here is very strong. The second chakra is three fingers above the naval and the first chakra is the root center at the base of the spine representing self-preservation.

Now that we know the chakras ie. root, naval, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, thousand petal lotus, we can begin to do the Om Chakra Meditation.

Om represents the cosmic vibration that is within every created thing. (We will go into more detail about Om in a future discussion.) Right now, we will vocally say “OM” seven times on each chakra beginning at the root chakra and going up the spinal column. At the top of the head where the thousand petal lotus is located, we will say Om seven times and then descend the cerebrospinal column in reverse order of chakras, vocally saying Om seven times on each chakra center.

Please note, that you should not rush or uncomfortably slow down the saying of Om. Feel relaxed in a meditation posture and allow the Om to resonate throughout the room.

Some devotees find this meditation to be quite rewarding and have experienced a greater feeling of well-being in this practice.

For further Yoga instruction, please go to YouTube Yoga videos and tips.

Namaste,
Sharon Kattke