This is part XIX of kundalini series. You have now reached one of the most important chakras. We have seen that anahat chakra is the place where the soul is placed with our karmas embedded in it. This is also called jiva or jivatma. What we are currently discussing is about the Supreme Brahman. He is the ultimate authority of the entire universe. In Hinduism there is a concept called Ishta devata, about which we have discussed already. Ishta devata is the form of God whom you like most. I personally do not accept the concept of ishta devata. If you develop the concept of Ishta devata, you will continue to be associated with maya and dualism. At the same time, there is nothing wrong in having your own Ishta devata. It is like the person whom you like most. But those who believe in this, the place for your Ishta devata is just below the heart chakra. When your heart chakra expands, your love for Ishta devata also grows.

You develop a strong bondage with Ishta devata and this devata looks after you well. But please remember that Ishta devata exists only here unlike Brahman who exists everywhere. OM resides in heart chakra. Om is not here alone, but associated with the three gunas, though rajo guna is predominant in heart chakra. From this chakra onwards you can still fine tune your mind to look inwards strongly. The power of manifestation starts here. The initial symptoms of bliss are being realised in this chakra. You become emotional quite often. You are contemplating to cry and laugh in a secluded place, but you are not willing to do that. You develop gooseberry pimples frequently. An unknown person will have a second look at you. Animals do not harm you. But, you need to spend a lot of time meditating on this chakra. At this point, you must understand what meditation means. Meditation is just focusing your attention on a subject. Meditation does not mean that you should not undertake other work while you are meditating. Up to this stage your understanding of meditation could be different. But from the heart chakra, you should be in a meditative stage perpetually.

Your subconscious mind can take care of your perpetual meditation and with your conscious mind you can attend to your routine. We have already discussed about conscious and sub-conscious mind adequately. We are also going to have an advanced study about mind later. We have not made a detailed study of ida and pingala nadis with relation to the spinal cord. It is said that ida and pingala nadis wind around the spine like a snake. These two nadis cross each other encircling the chakras. These nadis originate from coccyx and end at the skull. The coccyx has three openings. One is that of the central canal of the spinal cord, through which kundalini has to ascend. The other two are ida and pingala. Central canal is in the centre and other two being on its two sides. These nadis are connected to the spinal nerves which run through the spinal cord. These nadis along with the nerves of the spinal cord form subtle centers of consciousness. These subtle centers are called chakras about which we are discussing. These subtle centers are also connected to the various glands and organs. These two nadis along with thousands of other nadis provide the vital life force to the various parts of our body. The term nadis said to include nerves, arteries and veins.

Most of them exist in physical form a miniscule of them exists in subtle form. Nervous system of our body receives information from our sensory organs and transmits answers and solutions for ultimate action. Subtle nadis though not exist in gross form, are more powerful than the physical nadis. The subtle nadis are like cell phone towers. You are not able to see the communication link between a cell phone tower and a cell phone. Still, you have a better voice clarity in your conversation. Same is the principle with these subtle nadis. Transmission of energy by the subtle nadis is very powerful. Prominent among these subtle nadis are ida and pingala. They originate from muladhara chakra and end at ajna chakra (third eye chakra). The nadi which originates from our right hand side of the coccyx end at out left nostril and the one that originates from the left side of the coccyx terminates at our right nostril. Apart from terminating at the nostrils they also join central canal of the spinal cord at ajna chakra which is called the third eye chakra. Ida nadi provides warmth to the body and pingala nadi cools our body system.

The functioning of these nadis is automatically adjusted depending upon the requirement of our body. The malfunctioning of these nadis raises the body temperature, causing fever. These two nadis control our left and right sympathetic nervous systems. The kundalini energy should ascend only through the central canal of the spinal cord, which is called sushumna. Kundalini energy should not get transmitted through the ida and pingala nadis. If it gets transmitted through ida and pingala, apart from the base chakra, none of the other chakras will be activated, causing energy congestion. The congestion of energy, not finding a proper route for going up, causes nervous breakdown. In order to prevent kundalini going up through these nadis, mula bhandha and certain types of pranayama help.