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Main Index
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| | | Book Name: Yoga - The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 9 | Previous Next | |
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corresponding to five koshas, bodies, within you.
Then the third doctrine. I would like you to understand all these because they will be helpful in understanding the sutras that we will be discussing now. Then there are seven chakras. The word chakra does not really mean "center"; the word "center" cannot explain it or describe it or translate it rightly because when we say "the center," it seems something static. And chakra means something dynamic. The word chakra means "the wheel?" the moving wheel. So chakra is a dynamic center in your being, almost like a whirlpool, whirlwind, the center of the cyclone. It is dynamic; it creates an energy field around it.
Seven chakras. The first is a bridge and the last is also a bridge; the remaining five correspond to five mahabhutas, the great elements and the five seeds. Sex is a bridge, bridge between you and the grossest -- the prakriti, the nature. Sahasrar, the seventh chakra, is also a bridge, bridge between you and the abyss, the ultimate. These two are bridges. The remaining five centers correspond to five elements and five bodies.
This is the framework of Patanjali's system. Remember it is arbitrary. It has to be used as a tool, not discussed as a dogma. It is not a doctrine in any theology. It is just a utilitarian map. You go to some territory, to some strange country, unknown, and you take a map with you. The map does not really represent the territory; how can the map represent the territory? The map is so small, the territory is so big. On the map cities are just points. How can those points correspond to big cities? On the map roads are just lines. How can roads be just lines? Mountains are just marked, rivers are just marked -- and small ones are left out. Only big ones are marked. This is a map; it is not a doctrine.
There are not only five bodies, there are many bodies, because between two bodies there is another to join it, and so on and so forth. You are like an onion, layers upon layers, but these five will do. Hmm?... these are -the main bodies, the chief bodies. So don't be too much worried about it, hmm? because Buddhists say there are seven bodies and Jains say there are
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