Practices for Ajna Chakra

No. 13: Amrit pan (the quaffing of nectar)

Sit in siddhasana, siddha yoni asana or padmasana. Keep the eyes closed throughout and practise khechari mudra. Bring your awareness to manipura chakra, where there is a storehouse of a warm, sweet liquid. Exhale fully with ujjayi. Inhale with ujjayi, drawing a quantity of this liquid up to vishuddhi chakra through the spinal passage with the suction power of your breath. Remain at vishuddhi for some seconds. The nectar which you have raised from manipura will become icy cold at vishuddhi. Then with ujjayi, exhale up to lalana chakra (at the back of the soft palate), through the nectar passage. Blow the cool nectar up to lalana with the breath. Your breath will immediately disperse by itself once you have reached lalana. Immediately return your awareness to manipura chakra. With another ujjayi inhalation, continue the upward transfer of liquid. Practise 9 times in all.

No. 14 Chakra bhedan (piercing the chakras)

Assume siddhasana, siddha yoni asana or padmasana. Keep your eyes closed throughout. Practise khechari mudra and ujjayi pranayama. Breathe without any break between inhalation and exhalation. Exhale and bring your awareness down to swadhisthana chakra at the base of the spine. Inhale and direct your consciousness first to mooladhara and then up the frontal passage. At about the level of vishuddhi kshetram, the breath will run out and you will immediately start exhalation. Exhale from vishuddhi kshetram to bindu and then down the spine from ajna to swadhisthana chakra to complete one round. This kriya should actually be practised for 59 rounds, but if introversion starts to occur before you have completed the rounds, discontinue the practice and go on to the next kriya.

Note: If desired, mental repetition of chakras and kshetram can also be done.

No. 15: Sushumna darshan (inner visualization of the chakras)

For chakra visualization, refer to the diagrams of each chakra. Sit in siddhasana, siddha yoni asana or padmasana. Close your eyes and practise normal breathing. There is no relation between the breath and awareness in this kriya. Bring your awareness to mooladhara. Imagine a pencil, and with that draw a square at mooladhara. Draw the largest possible inverted equilateral triangle within that square. Then make a circle touching all the four corners of that square. Prepare 4 petals, one for each side of the square. Bring your awareness to swadhisthana. Prepare a circle there with the same radius as the one at mooladhara. Draw 6 petals around the edge of the circle, and a crescent moon inside the bottom of the circle. Now come to manipura. Draw a circle, and then make the biggest possible inverted triangle to fit this circle. In the center draw a ball of fire. Make 10 petals around the circle. Raise the consciousness to anahata. Draw 2 triangles there, one pointing upward and the other inverted. They are interlaced, both crossing each other. Surround them with a circle having 12 petals. Then come to vishuddhi. Draw a circle, and place a smaller circle within the circle, like a drop of nectar. Make 16 petals around that circle. Rise to ajna. Make a circle and inside it write a big Sanskrit Om. Prepare 2 large petals, one on the right and one on the left side of the circle. At bindu draw a crescent moon with a very tiny circle above it. Reach sahasrara. Prepare a circle there, and make the largest possible upward pointing triangle within that circle. There are 1000 petals all around the circle. Try to see at one glance all the chakras in their proper places. If it is very difficult to see them all together, then see only 2 chakras on the first day and add one more chakra to your visualization daily until all appear together.

No. 16: Prana ahuti (infusing the divine prana)

Sit in siddhasana, siddha yoni asana or padmasana. Close your eyes and breathe normally. Feel the soft touch of a divine hand lying on your head. The hand is infusing subtle prana into your body and mind and the prana is travelling down from sahasrara through the spinal passage. You may experience it as a wave of cold, heat, energy, electric current, or as a stream of wind or liquid. Its passage will result in vibrations, shocks, jerks or tickling sensations which course through you. When the prana has reached mooladhara, then immediately go on to the next kriya without waiting to experience the prana a second time.

No. 17: Utthan (raising the kundalini)

Sit in siddhasana, siddha yoni asana or padmasana. Keep your eyes closed throughout. Again the breathing is normal in this kriya. Bring your awareness to mooladhara chakra. Try to visualize it clearly and notice all details. You will see a black shivalingam made of a smoky gaseous substance. The bottom and the top of the lingam are cut off, and circled around it is a red baby snake. This red baby snake is trying to uncoil itself so it can move upward through sushurnna. As it struggles to release itself and ascends, it makes an angry hissing sound. The tail of the snake will remain fixed at the bottom of the shivalingam, but the head and body may move upward and come back down again. Sometimes both the shivalingam and the snake may shift their position in the body, so you may even visualize them for a time at ajna or sahasrara. The head of the snake is very wide, having the same breadth as your body, but it is not a cobra. After some time you may feel your body contract. This will be followed by a sensation of bliss. When this occurs go on to the next kriya.

No. 18: Swaroopa darshan (the vision of your Self)

Remain sitting in siddhasana, siddha yoni asana or padmasana and do not open your eyes. Become aware of your physical body. Your body is completely motionless, and you maintain total awareness of this fact. Be sure that you are completely steady, like a rock. When you are absolutely sure of your bodily steadiness, you should also become aware of your natural breath. Watch the constant flow of your breath, but be sure your body remains steady. Your body will start to become stiff. As it becomes stiffer, your awareness will shift completely to your breathing; however, the body will continue to become stiffer and stiffer of its own accord. When your body has become as rigid as a stone, and it is beyond your control to move it even if you tried, then go on to the next kriya.

No.19: Linga sanchalana (astral conduction)

Remain still in your stiffened asana with the eyes closed. Due to the stiffness of your body, your breathing will have automatically become ujjayi breathing, and khechari mudra will have been formed. Be totally aware of your breathing. You will notice that with each inhalation your body seems to be expanding. And with each exhalation your body appears to be contracting. It is peculiar though, because your physical body is not moving; it is still and as stiff as a statue. It is your astral body that you experience expanding and contracting. As you observe this contraction and expansion process, it will gradually become more and more pronounced. After some time you will begin to lose awareness of the physical body, and you will only be observing the astral body directly. However, the degree of contraction will become more pronounced. Eventually you will reach a stage where, on contraction, the astral body reduces to a single point of light. When this occurs, discontinue the kriya immediately and go on to the next.

THE PRACTICE OF DHYANA

No. 20: Dhyana (meditation) You have realized your astral body as a single point of light. Now look closer at that point of light and you will see it take the form of a golden egg. As you watch this golden egg, it will begin to expand. The golden egg is luminous and glowing intensely; however, it does not give off any rays of light. As the golden egg becomes larger, it will begin to take on the same shape as that of your astral and physical bodies. This form, however, is not a material or even a subtle form. This form is glowing light. It is your causal self.