This is part V of kundalini series. The kundalini energy has to start it’s ascending from coccyx, the tip of our spinal cord. This is called the base chakra or, muladhara chakra. There are six chakras in our body. These chakras are visualized in the spinal cord, which traverses through our back and ends just above the neck. The spinal cord ends in medulla oblongata, which is the connecting link between the spinal nerves and nerves of the brain. Kundalini while ascending faces blocks in three areas and these are called brahma granthi, Vishnu granthi and Rudra granthi. Granthi means knots. At these blocks, she faces resistance making her ascend difficult. She has to penetrate these blocks to proceed further. When she reaches the top of the head, she conjoins with Shiva, makes us to enjoy the bliss and then returns back to her house at the perineum. Her ascending can be felt by her noise, pressure and the heat she generates in the respective areas while crossing each of the chakras. Chakras, though do not exist in the form of wheels, they do represent as bundle of nerves, muscles and glands.

Each of the chakras has distinct colour. VIBGYOR represents the basic colours. They are Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. All these chakras are identified with these colours because each colour represents a quality. When kundalini reaches a particular chakra, the qualities pertaining to the colour of that chakra will be predominant in us. The kundalini traverses through spinal cord. There are two minute nerves called vajrini and citirini running through the spinal cord. Kundalini ascends to the higher chakras from the base chakra through citirini. In medical terminology, citirini is called posterior medial sulcus or central canal. This begins from the medulla oblongata and ends at sacral area. Sacra area is the area between our hip bones. We have to consciously move the kundalini through the central canal situated in the spinal cord. There are two main nadis running parallel to the spinal cord and crisscrossing each other. They are ida and pingala. The spinal cord is called sushumna. But due to the gravitational pull, kundalini will not ascend that easily. Even if she reaches higher chakras, she tends to come back to the lower chakras due to the gravitational pull of the earth. When you throw a ball towards the sky it comes back much faster than the force with which it was thrown into the sky. In the same way the descending of the kundalini is much faster and easier than her ascending.

Dedication, practice, concentration, will power and above all perseverance are some of the important requirements for kundalini meditation. Muladhara, swadishtana, manipura, anahata, vishudhi and ajna are the six chakras from the base of the spine and they are represented by the six colours viz. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. This is in reverse order of VIBGYOR. Red colour represents our attachments, desires etc pertaining illusion or maya. The violet colour is the colour of the divine, where all earthly things are destroyed. The other colours are in between these two and accordingly manifest in the form respective qualities. There are two other important chakras, one is sahasrara or top head chakra and another is back head chakra. These two are not identified with chakras as they are beyond the levels of human perception. They are connected to the divinity of the supreme order, more so with sahasrara. Sahasrara is identified with all the colours of VIBGYOR.

Whenever kundalini moves up from one chakra to another, our nature and outlook also undergo changes. From muladhara, the earthly chakra, when kundalini moves to sahasrara the supreme place of divinity, we also become divine and enjoy the bliss. The main factor that prevents a man becoming divine is ego and this is totally destroyed when kundalini reaches sahasrara. In our regular breathing, we breathe through either left or right nostrils. Our breath will be more pronounced in any of the nostrils at a time. By controlling and regulating our breath kundalini can be awakened. Secondly, the cosmic energy that enters our body through sahasrara directly goes to the house of kundalini and wakes her up. So there are three factors that awaken the kundalini. One is our mind, two is the cosmic energy and three is prana, our breath.

Further Readings:

Theory and Practice of Kundalini Meditation

Kundalini And Karma

Kundalini And Bliss