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XIII Enlightened Sadhaka. The<br />
opening of the Sahasrara chakra<br />
above the head indicates that the<br />
yogi has attained the peak state of<br />
enlightenment. Maharashtra,<br />
c. 19th century. Gouache on paper.<br />
XIV Priest performing nyasa<br />
with ritual ingredients during the<br />
Kali-puja on Divali, the darkest<br />
night of the year, when the festival<br />
of lights' takes place all over India.<br />
156<br />
(6) Ajna (command) Chakra, situated between the eyebrows,<br />
commands the various states of concentration realized through<br />
meditation. It is a two-petalled white lotus with the letters h and<br />
ksh. In its centre is an inverted white triangle with the white<br />
Itara-linga and the bija mantra Om. The tutelary Sakti is Hakini,<br />
and it is associated with the various cognitive faculties of the<br />
mind.<br />
(7) Sahasrara (thousand) is the 'Lotus of the Thousand Petals'<br />
located about four finger-breadths above the crown of the head;<br />
it is also called Brahmarandhra and is the meeting-place of the<br />
Kundalini Sakti with Pure Consciousness. Its petals are inscribed<br />
with all sound potentials, represented by all the letters of the<br />
Sanskrit alphabet. The tantrika Satyananda Giri explains that<br />
Kundalini has to cross further, through eighteen mahavidyas,<br />
i.e., eighteen energized subtle centres encircling the Sahasrara<br />
region, finally to unite with Siva, in an act known as maithunayoga.<br />
The Sahasrara is the centre of quintessential consciousness where<br />
the integration of all polarities is experienced. It is a centre which<br />
neutralizes all sounds and all colours, integrates all cognitive and<br />
conative functions and embraces the static and dynamic energies of<br />
the various centres into an all-pervasive unity. It is here that the<br />
Kundalini terminates her journey after having traversed the six<br />
chakras: 'It is in this centre that the rupture of plane occurs, that the<br />
paradoxical act of transcendence in passing beyond samsara,<br />
"emerging from time", is accomplished.' A man cannot stay in this<br />
state more than twenty-one days unless the Kundalini reverses her<br />
course and comes down to the relative plane. But this experience<br />
retains its spontaneity and remains an unforgettable event in one's<br />
lifetime.