Bindu Visarga

Bindu, the source of creation, is beyond the realm of all conventional experience and therefore, even in the tantric texts, there is very little written about it. It is the storehouse of all the karmas of man from his previous life. Not only are these karmas in the form of vasanas, they are also in the form of memories.

The word bindu means ‘drop or point’. It is more correctly termed bindu visarga, which literally means ‘falling of the drop’. Bindu is represented by the crescent moon and a white drop, which is the nectar dripping down to vishuddhi chakra. It is the ultimate source out of which all things manifest and into which all things return. “……(bindu) is the cause of the creation of word and meaning, now entering and now separating from one another.”

“…..from that (bindu) came ether, air, fire, water, earth and the letters of the alphabet.” Kama-Kala-Vilasa (verses 6-9) Bindu visarga is interconnected with vishuddhi chakra in the same way that the minor centers of the digestive system are connected with manipura, and those of the uro-genital and reproductive systems with swadhisthana and mooladhara chakras. Similarly, the minor centers of the respiratory and circulatory systems are integrated into anahata chakra and so on. In each case, the connection is mediated by the particular group of nerves associated with that chakra. Bindu and vishuddhi are connected via the network of nerves which flow through the interior portion of the nasal orifice, passing through lalana chakra, which is found at the uvula or palate. Therefore, when awakening takes place in vishuddhi, it simultaneously takes place in bindu and lalana. The ten paired cranial nerves which emerge along the brain stem from their associated centers or nuclei, are considered to actually have their initial origins within this tiny center, so that the whole visual, nasal, auditory and tasting systems are ultimately manifestations from bindu. The location point The seat of bindu is at the top back of the head, exactly at the spot where the Hindu brahmins leave a tuft of hair growing. Although this custom is still being followed today, its original purpose has been completely forgotten. In Sanskrit that tuft of hair is called shikha, which means ’the flame of fire’. Here, the word ‘flame’ stands for the flame of vasanas or the hidden karmas belonging to the previous life. During the period of sandhya, when the child underwent the thread ceremony and was initiated into mantra, they used to hold and tighten this tuft as much as possible and then tie it. When the tuft was tightened and the child practised mantra, he developed a powerful and continuing awareness of this bindu point alone. He felt tightness rather than pain at that point. This is one traditional way to gain contact with bindu visarga. Tantric physiology According to tantric tradition, within the higher centers of the upper cortex of the brain there is a small depression or pit which contains a minute secretion. In the center of that tiny secretion is a small elevation or point like an island in the middle of a lake. In the psychophysiological framework, this tiny point is considered to be bindu visarga. The actual isolation of such a miniscule structure within the anatomy of the brain has never been reported or verified by medical scientists. However, such a study could prove both interesting and rewarding, in the same way that modern research into the mysterious pineal gland has verified that it is the anatomical and functional concomitant of ajna chakra, as described in the tantra shastras. However, it is easy to imagine that such a delicate and minute structure as the bindu visarga would undoubtedly be disrupted during post mortem procedures. Certainly the tiny amount of fluid could hardly be expected to remain localized for easy extraction and analysis, when it is well known that other more plentiful neural and glandular transmitters and secretions degenerate and disperse into the tissues at the time of death. Nevertheless, it is certainly a possibility to be considered. Traditional symbology In the tantric scriptures, the symbol of bindu is a crescent moon on a moonlit night. This symbol is very rich in meaning. The crescent moon indicates that bindu is closely related to the kalas (phases) of the moon, as are the endocrine, emotional and mental flactuations of human beings. The immensity of sahasrara is gradually unveiled through ardent yoga practice in the same way that the full moon is progressively revealed from the time of the new moon to full moon each month. The crescent moon offers a faint and transient view of a hill in the dead of night. The background of the night sky also symbolizes the infinity of sahasrara beyond bindu. However, sahasrara cannot be fully experienced while individuality remains. The symbol of Оm also contains the representation of bindu in its uppermost part, which is a small point above a crescent moon. Actually, all the chakras are symbolized within the body of the Om symbol, as are the three gunas or qualities of the created world: tamas, rajas and sattva. These chakras exist in the realm of prakriti and its gunas. Bindu however, is placed separately from this body in the symbol to indicate that it is transcendental and beyond the fetters of nature. Bindu visarga belongs to the seventh or highest loka of satyam, the plane of truth, and it also belongs to the causal body, or anandamaya kosha. It is said that when bindu visarga awakens, the cosmic sound of Om is heard and one realizes the source of all creation, emanating from the bindu point and crescent moon above the symbol of Om. The seat of nectar In many of the tantric texts it is written that bindu, the moon, produces a very intoxicating secretion. Yogis can live on this ambrosial fluid. If its secretion is awakened and controlled in the body, then one needs nothing more for survival. The maintenance of the body’s vitality becomes independent of food. There have been many reports of people who have entered into states of hibernation or suspended animation underneath the earth. This phenomenon has been verified many times under strict scientific observation. This human hibernation has been witnessed for periods as long as forty days. Not all cases have been genuine, but when authentic, they have been carried out exactly in the following manner. Initially pranayama is practised assiduously, until kumbhaka (retention of the breath) has been perfected. At this stage, khechari mudra is performed. This is not the simple form of khechari as performed in kundalini yoga sadhana, but the practice of hatha yoga in which the root or frenulum of the under surface of the tongue is gradually cut and the tongue is slowly elongated and inserted into the nasopharynx. It blocks off the passage as a cork seals a bottle. The whole practice is perfected over a two year period. By this practice the drops from bindu fall to vishuddhi and subsequently permeate the whole bodily system. These drops of nectar maintain the nutrition and vitality of the bodily tissues while simultaneously arresting the metabolic processes of the body. When the metabolism of the cells and tissues of the body is suspended in this way, oxygen is no longer required and cellular wastes are not produced. Therefore, the person who hibernates can live without breathing for quite an extended period of time. Even the facial hair does not grow during the period of hibernation. The poison center Also, besides producing nectar, bindu is responsible for the production of poison. The poison glands and the nectar glands are almost simultaneously situated. You may wonder if by awakening bindu there is any danger in stimulating the poison glands. If bindu and vishuddhi are stimulated at the same time there is absolutely no danger, because bindu controls the nectar glands and vishuddhi has a bearing on both nectar and poison. As long as nectar is flowing, the poison can do no harm. Also, if a yogi has purified his body through hatha yoga and the practices of dhyana and raja yoga, the poison glands are utilized for the production of nectar. The origin of individuality Bindu is considered to be the origin of creation or the point where oneness first divides itself to produce the world of multiple individual forms. This aspect of bindu can be traced to the Sanskrit root bind, which means ’to split or divide’. Bindu implies a point without dimension, a dimensionless center. In some Sanskrit texts it is termed chidghana - that which has its roots in the limitless consciousness. Bindu is considered to be the gateway to shoonya, the state of void. This void should not be misinterpreted as a state of nothingness. Rather, it is the state of no-thingness - the state of pure, absolute and undifferentiated consciousness. Bindu is mysterious. It is an ineffable focal point within which the two opposites, infinity and zero, fullness and nothingness, coexist. Within bindu is contained the evolutionary potential for all the myriad objects of the universe. It contains the blueprint for creation. Evolution here refers to the vertical, transcendental process by which life, objects and organisms arise from the underlying substratum of existence. The evolution is not at all the same as the scientific concept of Darwinian evolution. This is but a historical trace of the changes over a period of time in the form, function or appearance of particular manifestations of individuality, such as the species of plants or animals. That evolution is a historical record over time, whereas the evolution and dissolution of consciousness into and out of individuality is in the realm of the timeless. There is an individuating principle that generates the myriads of objects in the universe. In Sanskrit it is called kala, that which causes the potential inherent in the underlying consciousness to accumulate at bindu. From this point or seed an object, an animal, a human being or whatever, can arise and manifest. Each and every object has a bindu as its base. This bindu lies within the hiranyagarbha,, the golden egg or womb of creation. That which was previously formless assumes shape through the bindu, and its nature is fixed by the bindu as well. The bindu is both the means of expression of consciousness and also the means of limitation. Some of the centers of manifestation from bindu possess consciousness, such as man. However, most centers are unconscious, such as the elements, stones, and so on. The potential to be conscious or unconscious depends only on the nature and structure of the individual object, and this is also determined by the bindu. Man has the apparatus that allows him to be a conscious center. Every object, conscious or unconscious, is linked to the underlying essence of consciousness through the intermediary of the bindu. Every object evolves into material existence through the medium of the bindu and every object is withdrawn back to the source via the bindu as well. Bindu is a trapdoor opening in both directions. It is the means through which conscious centers such as man can realize the totality of sahasrara. There are essentially only two types of human beings - those who are on the pravritti path and those who are on the nivritti path. A man following the pravritti (outward) path looks away from bindu towards the outside world. He is almost entirely motivated by external events. This is the path of most people today and it leads away from self- knowledge and into bondage. The other path, the nivritti (reversed) path, is the spiritual path, the path of wisdom. On this path the individual begins to face the bindu, turning in towards the source of his being. This path leads to freedom. The path of evolution is the pravritti path of manifestation and extroversion. The path of involution leads back along the path that has produced your individual being. It leads back through the bindu to sahasrara. In fact, the whole purpose of yoga practice is to help direct your awareness along the involutionary path. The power of the point There is tremendous power ensheathed within the infinitesimal point. For example, one theory about the origin of the universe suggests that an infinitely dense point of matter exploded in a ‘big bang’ to form the entire cosmos. Similarly, research in subatomic physics has revealed that vast amounts of power are found concentrated within the multitudinous different subatomic particles existing in the space/time continuum. Physics is moving into the realms of the ineffable bindu. In molecular biology, the essence of bindu can be found in the DNA and RNA molecules, each one of which contains the complete genetic blueprint for the entire organism. This is another illustration of the great intelligence and potential which can be condensed and expressed in the confines of a tiny point. In fact, the deeper science delves into nature and the structure of the universe, the greater the power and complexity it uncovers. Within the tiny dimensions of these points vast potentials of meaning are contained. The power of the point or bindu has been known to mystics throughout the history of mankind. In tantra, each bindu, each particle of manifested existence is regarded as a center of power or shakti. This shakti is an expression of the underlying substratum of static consciousness. The aim of the tantric system is to bring about a fusion of Shakti - the individual manifested power, with Shiva - the inert, underlying universal consciousness. The red and white bindu The bindu is the cosmic seed from which all things manifest and grow. It is often related to male sperm because from the tiny bindu of a single spermatozoon, joined with the minute female ovum, a new life grows. The act of conception is a perfect symbol of the principle of the bindu. In fact, bindu is explained in these terms in many of the texts of tantric kundalini yoga. In the Yogachudamani Upanishad it says: “The bindu is of two types, white and red. The white is shukla (sperm) and the red is maharaj (menses).” (verse 60) Here the white bindu symbolizes Shiva, purusha or consciousness, and the red bindu symbolizes Shakti, prakriti or the power of manifestation. The white bindu lies in the bindu visarga and the red bindu is seated in mooladhara chakra. The purpose of tantra and yoga is to unite these two principles so that Shiva and Shakti become one. The text continues: “The red bindu is established in the sun; the white bindu in the moon. Their union is difficult.” (verse 61) The sun represents pingala nadi and the moon represents ida. The two bindus symbolize the merging of the world of opposites, in terms of male and female. Out of their union results the ascent of kundalini. “When the red bindu (Shakti) moves upwards (the ascent of kundalini) by control of prana, it mixes with the white bindu (Shiva) and one becomes divine.” (verse 63) All the systems of yoga control the prana in one way or another to bring about this union. In some cases it is through direct control, as in pranayama, while in other cases it is less direct. Nevertheless, the meeting of these two polarities, Shiva and Shakti, leads to superconsciousness. “He who realizes the essential oneness of the two bindus, when the red bindu merges with the white bindu, alone knows yoga.” (verse 64)