Kundalini Ushnisha

Thai ushnisha (topknot) flame spiral

Tree of Life

The Hesperides picking the forbidden Fruit for Hercules.
A serpent is seen guarding the sacred tree in the Garden of Hera


South Indian Tree of Life
growing from a vessel or kumbha
(symbol of the Kundalini)



Gustav Klimt, Tree of Life
Note the Kundalini-like spirals



Robert Fludd, (English Alchemist) Inverted Sephirothic Tree

Chakras - Menorah

The menorah, is a seven-branched candelabrum and has been a symbol of Judaism for almost 3000 years. It was used in the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people. It is said to symbolize the burning bush as seen by Moses on Mount Horeb.

During the festival of Hannukah a nine-branched menorah is used.

The original seven-branched lamp, specified by the Divine for use in the Temple, had seven flames, the seven chakras, and seven days of creation.

Visshuddhi Chakra

Temple hanging (Pichvai)
Shri Krishna entrancing the Gopis with the sound of His Flute.
National Gallery of Australia

Consciousness is associated in particular with the Visshuddhi Chakra (subtle centre located on the throat but which is also the origin of the brain). It is believed that play evolved in order to develop consciousness in living creatures. Intelligent creatures, such as dolphins and apes, tend to be playful. There are many stories about the playfulness of Shri Krishna, the aspect of the Divine who rules over the Visshuddhi Chakra, and whose life exemplified social being, the interplay of collectivity.

Interesting, Enigmatic Engravings

Robert Fludd

Giorgio Ghisi (1520-1582) Italian engraver.

The Dream of Raphael, or Allegory of Life

The meaning of this intriguing allegorical engraving has never been fully explained but perhaps represents a philosopher, weary of a rather rugged looking world (materialism?) where misfortune pursues him in the form of harrying dogs (the senses?) and falling stars (dis-aster). He leans on a dead tree (the fruitless search for materialistic knowledge?), and is preparing to cross a treacherous sea (the mind?) where sea-monsters and submerged rocks threaten. On the far shore the Goddess of Wisdom invites him to an idyllic world of idealised and ordered flora. The rainbow in the background evokes the bridge between Earth and Heaven.

Mooladhara Chakra

Amerindian sand painting. Probably Navajo or Hopi.

Traditional native cultures have a strong connection with the Mother Earth. The Swastika, though given a bad name by the nazis, is an auspicious symbol that has been around since prehistory, and is found in cultures all over the world. It's four arms represent the Holy Mooladhara Chakra, the subtle centre that connects us to our Mother the Earth. There is also a bandhan (auspicious, protective horseshoe form) around it.

Art by Sahaja Yogis

The Olgas, John Henshaw

Chakras - Wheels

Kahlil Gibran
The Divine World

This work suggests the chakras in the subtle system, which are spinning wheels of energy - energy that has consciousness, as suggested by the central eye. On the inside is the subtle; outside is the physical, represented by the circle of human figures.

The Lebanese poet and Painter Kahlil Gibran drew from various traditions of his homeland, from the ancient Goddess worshipping cultures of the region, to Gnosticism, Christianity and Islam. It is a characteristic of Self-realised souls to see the truth in all faiths. Gibran's work is in the same spirit as that of William Blake and Michelangelo.

Kundalini - William Morris

Tapestry by William Morris
Based on a design by Edward Burne Jones
.

Note the flame of the Kundalini emerging from the top of the angel's heads. William Morris, though very gifted in various arts, had great humility. He wanted society to move away from mass-production back to hand made crafts.

Kundalini - Al Buraq, Unicorn

Raphael (Self-realised painter from Renaissance Italy)
The unicorn is a symbol of purity and the virgin Kundalini Shakti.
It is often depicted with a chaste maiden.


Medieval tapestry



Like the Unicorn, Al Buraq -the winged Horse-like creature with the head of a woman desribed in the Koran - is a symbol of the sacred Kundalini energy which carries the yogi through the seven Chakras to the Heavenly realm of the Crown Chakra. She is an instance of the Feminine Divine in Islam and was the vehicle for Lord Muhammad's Nigth Journey (Miraj) throught the 7 heavens (7 chakras)
In the illustration above, the Prophet is shown surrounded by an aura of flame, and riding on Al Buraq, accompanied by angels.


Al Buraq on a record cover.

Sahasrara - Lippi

Shri Mataji has identified Lippi as a realised artist.

The Pearl at the crown of the Virgin's head is the gem associated with the Sahasrara Chakra.

Note also the spiral on the chair (reflecting the coiled Kundalini energy)

Kundalini - William Blake

River of Light

Beatrice, Illustration for Dante

Detail: spiral whorl of energy bearing the Goddess.

William Blake was a great realised soul who expressed the qualities of the Ida Nadi, left Channel.

Kundalini - The Rainbow Serpent

Australian Aboriginal painting showing a path, or songline, with rest sites shown as circles. In Aboriginal mythology, the Rainbow Serpent is the Creator, its movements forming the features of the landscape. The Kundalini awakens the qualities of the chakras as it rises through the central shushumna nadi.

Kundalini - El Greco

El Greco was a Greek realised painter who worked in Spain, and was many years ahead of his time stylistically.

He has shown the flames if the Holy Spirit on the heads of the Virgin Mary and Apostles on the Day of Pentecost, when the Breath of God was experienced as a Mighty Wind and seen as tongues of flames.

El Greco has positioned the Virgin in a central position as She was the catalyst for this event. Unlike the Pentacostalist Churches of today, there is no sense of hysteria about this scene, just a depth and peace.

Nabhi Chakra

The Renaissance period represents a time when European culture was in the centre. After that it moved into the right channel - becoming overactive and overheated. France is the part of the world that corresponds to the liver, or the right aspect of the Nabhi Chakra. The liver is very prone to irritation and over-heating, but it can be cooled down with foot soaking. I feel that the Impressionist artists, some of whom were realised souls, particularly Claude Monet, were inspired by the Kundalini to try to sooth down and cool down the over-heatedness of their culture. Monet is famous for his depiction of the moods of water: lily ponds, rivers, the sea.

His work has been over-reproduced and imitated and this has lessened the sense of how original he was at the time. The Impressionists tried to capture a fleeting moment in time but Monet, because he was a realised soul, managed to convey the sense of Eternity in the present moment. You can see some of his works, and that of other Impressionist artists, at the Art Gallery of NSW at the moment.

The work of realised souls lasts over time because it has a universality that appeals to future generations.

The Nabhi Chakra is made from the water element. It's interesting that some of the main figures in the Impressionist movement were water signs: (Renoir and Ravel were Piscean, Monet was a Scorpio, Debussy was Cancerian).

Sahasrara

William Blake, illustration for Dante's Paradiso

The White Celestial Rose
Dante, Paradiso

The colour white is associated with the Sahasrara Chakra (Crown centre) as white contains all the colours of the seven chakras.
The deities take their seats in the Sahasrara at the crown of the head. William Blake shows the Divine Mother in the centre of the Rose.

The Ushnisha, or topknot, in buddhist iconography is a symbol of the Sahasrara.

Kundalini - The Scroll of Heaven

The Scroll of Heaven.

Chora Church, Turkey

The Kundalini is like a scroll which records a person's life experiences through many incarnations. This fresco from a Byzantine church in Turkey depicts a scene from the Revelation in which an angel bears the Scroll of Heaven, opening its seven seals (the seven Chakras). The sun and moon represent the Solar (pingala) and Lunar (ida) channels of the Subtle Body.

Then one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; thus he can open the scroll
and its seven seals.

- Book of Revelation, New Testament

Agnya Chakra

Icon showing Christ making the surya mudra (ring finger touching thumb), which means 'Sun gesture' in the Sanskrit language. According to Sahaja Yoga, the ring finger corresponds to the Agnya Chakra. Jesus is the presiding deity of the Agnya Chakra, and The Sun is the heavenly body corresponding to the Agnya Chakra.
The figures in Christian icons are often shown with a frown - this is because the attention is focussed at the Agnya Chakra level.



Sculpture of the Buddha (or a Boddhisatva?) from Gandhara,
now in Afghanistan.

The Agnya Chakra is indicated by a raised spot (urna) on the forehead, the Sahasrara Chakra by the topnot at the crown of the head. The Buddha also incarnated to establish the Agnya Chakra.