Seven levels of jnAna at the cakras ascending and seven levels of prema descending.

Seven levels of jnAna at the cakras ascending and seven levels of prema descending.

As kuNDalini ascends the seven cakras, one attains jnAna (wisdom) of the seven lokas (bhU, bhuvar, svar, maha, jana, tapa and satya) and reaches the realm of Brahmaloka. En route the three granthis or knots are broken: Brahma granthi at the mUlAdhAra when kuNDalini awakens, viShNu granthi at the maNipUraka cakra and Rudra granthi at the AjnA cakra.

On this inward journey, the rAjasic, sAttvic and tAmasic aspects of the jIva's body are transcended systematically by penetrating the koshas and finally recognizing the mind itself as only composed of the three guNas.

In the sahasrAra cakra Shakti unites with Shiva and there is great bliss. Shiva has emerged from Brahma and going beyond Shivaloka one transcends tamas, the veiling power of forms in the external world. Transcending Brahma one sees beyond the primal first thought that is the emergence of thought through rajas from Pure Consciousness. That knowledge of Pure Consciousness is itself pure sAttva which is padmanAbha. Beyond ViShNu as padmanAbha the jIva having merged into each saguNa aspect of Brahman in the form of the trimUrti now rests in nirguNa Brahman.

This is the circle of Consciousness symbolized by the yajnopavIta or pooNal. jIva and Brahman are one and the same. jIva recognizes true nature as Atman. This Atman is then seen to be the same as Brahman. However, due to prior vAsanas the jIva cannot descend back to the physical plane as Ishvara. There is only one Brahma, one viShNu and one Maheshvara in each Creation or Manifestation.

The jIva's Consciousness then descends from the sahasrAra in the form of prema bhakti. Descending from the sahasrAra to the Ajna, the Yogi can now conceive of love in its true form. He can see love of anything in the world, object or human, as a reflection of Divine Love, prema. Descending to the vishuddhi cakra, he can now speak of this love to another knowing fully that this expression of personal love is nothing but the reflection of Transpersonal love. Descending to the anAhata cakra he can express love through touch. Descending to the maNipUraka cakra he can see this personal love as a reflection of the Transpersonal love in other human beings. In Kali Yuga I feel it is not possible for the Consciousness to descend below the maNipUraka cakra because the force of Ganga without the restraint of RShi Jahnu will destroy bhUloka. So the Yogi cannot engage in the karmendriya activities of the lower two cakras after samAdhi, i.e., in Kali Yuga he cannot procreate. In earlier Yugas, there was enough purity in the world that VyAsa and RShis before him such as VasiShTha could have wives. This is not possible in Kali Yuga due to the degeneration of awareness in the physical world.

But the jnAni now showers his love on the world in various forms and realizes that jnAna and bhakti are not different. This is vijnAna, or Realization stemming from jnAna, Wisdom.