Cultivation and development of any yama and niyama can be related to main chakras. Some are obvious and some I can not come up with… can you help me please?
Ahimsa - Anahata
Satya - Vishudha
Asteya - Muladhara?
Brahmacharya - Svadhistana?
Aparigraha - ?
Shaucha -?
Santosha - manipura?
Tapas - svadhistana?
Svādhyāya -?
Ishvarapranidhana - sahasrara?
any thoughts?
aprigraha, abstention from greed, I would say would be most connected to muladhara and our connection to possessions and feelings towards ours and others physical things…
CityMonk,
One should not be drawing correspondences between the chakras and the yamas and niyamas, for the simple reason that it can be seen in a million and one different ways. In some ways, “brahmacharya” may be corresponding to swadissthana, in other ways, it can correspond with manipura, or mooladhara, sahasrara, or ajna, they cannot be fit into fixed and tight categories. And beyond this, everything in our system is interconnected in such a complex way, that it is really impossible for things to function separately from one another. These intellectual models, such as the chakra system, or the yamas and niyamas, are just intended as skillful means which may be useful in the expansion of consciousness, they are simply fingers pointing to the moon. And as one comes closer and closer to one’s awakening, one’s whole understanding of the so called “yamas” and “niyamas” is going to be entirely different depending on your state of being. These models did not simply arise out of intellectual conceptions, they were expressed by those who had come to a certain direct experience, and the transformation that arises out of direct experience.
The problem is that everything in existence can be seen from almost infinite number of angles and perspectives, one should be careful to cling to these models as though they are an accurate representation of the reality. And one who may be following the yamas and niyamas need not necessarily have awakened and penetrated through the energy centers either. And something like being outwardly non-violent is one thing, but one who is outwardly non-violent need not necessarily be compassionate - and non-violence is something which is only possible out of compassion. There are many yogis who think they are non-violent simply because they are not harming anybody and mistake this to be non-violent, but authentic non-violence is something which arises once compassion becomes one’s very nature.
It may be far more useful to set aside all of one’s thinking of the matter and focus more on one’s sadhana.
It will be interesting to know, why connect chakra and yama-niyamas as one-to-one? Is it assumed that concentrating on a chakra will automatically enable respective behavior?
Even if any equations are painstakingly arrived at, the result will be misleading. Chakras are like mini-brains and yama-niyama are behavioral at the mundane level. Of course there is connection between the two; but not as those equations. Yoga sadhana brings us to a point where the chakras appear activated, awareness stands elevated and we see yama-niyamas in a deeper and enlarged perspective.
Yama-niyamas are evolutionary. It takes long and hard sadhana to realise that abstinence from sex is such a poor translation of ‘brahmacharya’. Or niyama like ‘Ishwar pranidhan’ is a practice to a large extent, but ultimately happens with Ishvara’s grace. Or that ‘reading scriptures’ is such a kindergarten version of ‘Svadhaya’ and what it really means is earning an ability of ‘reading the whole universe spiritually’.
It is true that a need for equations, bounded shapes, concise definitions, the “clarity” in black and white has been part of our education. We have embraced knowledge only thus. Constructs and models give us comfort in place of nebulous concepts, but in making them rigid a large abstract component is sacrificed; and we forget that. The only part of us that can effectively deal with concepts as they are, is the spiritual intelligence. That is why, the urge to form simple equations is understandable, but the outcome will always be defective, if not misleading.
Thank you a lot for a good insights! very interesting thoughts.
I was thinking that these “equations”, “attachments” if you will:), would be helpful for students to remember things… clinging to the models is such a part of “education”…
CityMonk,
Yes, these models are very helpful. But they can also be misleading. Even if limited simply to theoretical information, it can be misleading because people often think that through awakening the chakras, various “good” qualities will be awakened. But it is also possible through awakening the chakras to awaken the opposite polarities, which will have opposite qualities. It is even possible for one’s kundalini to travel in the reverse direction, moving downwards rather than ascending through the sushumna, and out of this various severe psychological and physical sicknesses can arise.
The chakras are in many ways multidimensional, and one should be careful to cling to any words and descriptions about them, however useful they may be.