I’ve written before about our chakras or energy centres. The main 7 are introduced in the bliss body, bringing life to some forms. This means all beings in our universe share the same fundamental 7. And without them, the form remains inert. This is why artificial sentience will never happen although it may be approximated. Technology is missing life force.
The first 7 chakras are mirrored on each side of the body for a total of 21 major and secondary chakras.
The high heart (soul thrill) chakra at the clavicle (between heart and throat) seems unique. It appears to be a “committee” with representatives from the other chakras. And of course there’s more smaller chakras.
The devata body is an expression of the cosmic body – the one body of all bodies. These devata manage the functioning of all bodies in all time simultaneously. More manifest, and each of the chakras is given 50 devata. They are clustered together in a sphere around each energy centre and manage the flow of energy and intelligence, primarily through the nadi system. (this also relates to the 50 sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet, 7×7+1)
Hierarchically, the crown chakra manages the other chakras. 50 devata per chakra x 20 other chakras = the 1,000 “petals” of the crown chakra. That also means 2,000 devata managing the primary energy system.
Key is the devata work together through relationship. Their harmonies bring us a fuller, smoother experience of life.
The chakra databanks radiate from each devata. When they’re in harmony, the databanks are vibrant, even and smooth and free of crud. But for many people, some databanks are in a more inertial or repressed state. Others are more agitated which can lead to those they’re connected with also being repressed or agitated. This shifts out of smooth flow, creating eddies.
This is analogous to a social group. If you’re at a party with 50 people and someone gets agitated, it’s common for several others to react to that. Soothe the one and all are soothed.
Part of the healing process in group consciousness is to bring these devata all back into aliveness and harmony. This is happening in layers, so a relationship can seem to be healed, then another value comes to the surface. This is much like peeling the onion of our personal resistances.
The equanimity of awakening gives a stable platform to soothe and harmonize. What can then arise is the magic of soma, the refined substance that feeds and empowers the devata. Then things can get really juicy.
Davidya
Last Updated on December 13, 2019 by Davidya
It’s worth noting that the described chakra counts are not “facts” in the same way something physical is. The mechanics of the devata are not the same as the mechanics of the energy body. And there are differences in appearances based on perspective.
For example, if you count the energy centers down the limbs (joints, hands and feet), you get 8 each side. But the devata apparently share 2 of them, leading to a total count of 7 per side of the devata. (still testing this)
The process gets profoundly complex rather quickly.
Thank you!
Wow, really like this. And there’s still the links within the article to further explore.
How come people don’t run to sit at your feet and listen to you speak?
Hi Jnana
Yes, the observations grow over time, so I link to related content to serve a larger picture.
Because if they did that, I’d shoo them off with a stick. (laughs) We’re past that paternalistic age. Now we’re in a time of equals sharing, each blossoming their own perspective of the whole. That unfolding brings totality to the surface in ways we cannot yet imagine.
That happens when we’ve not only woken to our wholeness and gifts but also to how those relate to others, much as the devata work together described in the article. That means embodying the fundamental laws of nature.
Once again, this points to the closing verses of the Rig Veda:
“Go together, speak together, know your minds to be functioning together from a common source, in the same manner as the devas [celestial beings], in the beginning, remain together united near the source.
Integrated is the expression of knowledge, an assembly is significant in unity, united are their minds while full of desires. For you I make use of the integrated expression of knowledge. By virtue of unitedness and by means of that which remains to be united, I perform action to generate wholeness of life.
United be your purpose, harmonious be your feelings, collected be your mind, in the same way as all the various aspects of the universe exist together in wholeness.”
🙂
Hi David,
One of the most fascinating developments (retrievals?) in recent decades about the chakras, Steve Gallegos’ Totempole Process.
The shift you talk about – from renunciate to householder spirituality, that I prefer to frame as “from patriarchy to holarchy” (see “Healing Civilization”, Claudio Naranjo and “The Dream of the Cosmos”, Anne Baring) – manifesting as the ancient/future paradigm of RELATIONSHIP. Relationship with everything, the archetypal attitude of the Femenine…
An imaginal (not “imaginary”) relationship with the chakra animals, balancing each other…
“While in Oregon, Steve Gallegos underwent a spiritual experience that changed him profoundly. This experience is described in “The Personal Totem Pole Process’. He describes the experience as ‘spontaneously meeting the alivenesses that were rooted in my energy centers and that presented themselves primarily as animals, but they had to be approached through the knowing of the deep imagination. I realized that the teacher I had sought for my entire life was in fact deep within my imagination and had always been there.’ ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d7xlVEGHro
Hi Uli
Well – there’s several threads there. A shift to balance in lifestyle. A shift to balance in Yin-Yang. A shift to a heart-mind balance. There is a bit of necessary overemphasis of the feminine going on but that should center over time as that’s integrated and balanced.
But yes, relationship is key as we’re not in this alone.
Interesting modality. That relates to what I call personalization and a way for the subconscious to speak to the conscious via archetypes. Jung also presented some but I can see why animals may be more suitable than cultural symbols. Of course, how a person relates to animals is also cultural. The Chinese don’t see dragons the way we do, for example.
As we get more comfortable with ourselves, then the communication can be more direct and less imaginal, although I imagine some may stick with that.
Reading experiences of Gallegos, it seems that at some point, after much healing, one is introduced to a chakra above the head…and much,much more…
paraphrasing Star Trek, subconscious..and beyond! ; )
A genuine spiritual path….
“..I then felt myself being whisked off into the cosmos, further and further, beyond the sun, beyond our solar system, beyond the Milky Way. And even further until I was in the edge of the universe, and still further until I was at such vantage point that I could see the universe in its entirety. I was stunned by what I saw: the universe was alive! And it was a single organism of awesome complexity, but whole and totally integrated. I recognized that it was still in the stage of its early development, comparable to a fetus, still differentiating the various aspects of itself. I saw how everything that exists, including me and every being was a part of that awesome being. We were aspects of its components just like the various parts of own our being are aspects of who we are. I saw that everything that exists is part of a greater whole and that the whole requires every part in order to be fully who it is. Every part is essential. And out of this a harmony ensues. (…)
The profound and mysterious complexity of the Universe accompanies me to this day, its unity, its aliveness, and the impossibility of ever expressing in words haunts me. Every aspect of the Universe, including us, has a place of relationship with it. We are perhaps the only beings who think that we are somehow independent, not realizing that our most profound task is to remain aligned with the Universe, in relationship with this awesome, vast being. And that our own wholeness is vital for the wholeness of the Universe. And only in this way do we ultimately come to experience our own place of belonging in the Universe.”
Eligio Stephen Gallegos PhD, Into Wholeness: The Path of Deep Imagery
I’d love to know your take about what you call “personalization”
Hi Uli
OK – theres a few things here. Firstly, the described experience is beautiful and can be life-changing. I’ve had similar. But this is subtle perception, not spiritual. Mystical, we might say. Confusing the two can get us really side-tracked, distracted by “flash” from what is beyond all this.
The quote I have at the bottom of the blog is a reference to this. The gold is sattva, the glow of the celestial. Thats a little deeper than the above experience.
On chakras above the head. That is a different way of experiencing higher octaves of the existing 7. As I describe elsewhere, a typical process is kundalini Shakti rising to the crown and awakening, then a descent of the divine into the chakras. What Adyashanti called head, heart, gut.
As mentioned, the chakras function on multiple levels. We first usually experience them energetically. But in the above descent, we experience higher more universal values. The heart is the one most talked about. Anahata is the name for the heart energy chakra. Hridaya is the name of the higher value. I wrote a post about the various “hearts”.
Big subject I’ve written multi-part articles on.
On Personalization. When we’re talking about more subtle levels of reality, they’re basically made of mind-stuff, dreams.
On that level, we experience form in ways we expect or how beings in that area choose to appear. A classic example is angels. Many expect angels to have wings and flowing robes, based on paintings they’ve seen. So that’s what they experience.
That’s fine, but if we don’t recognize what we’re adding to the equation, we’re mislead by appearances rather than noticing what is behind that.
Jung studied some common archetypes we carry, another way of saying expectation.