Feb 23, 2010, 12.00am IST
Bhanumathi Narasimhan.
There are several theories about the use of yantras – whether in terms of energy and colour, or their association with certain mantras. Understanding our existence could throw some light on mantras and their significance.
There are seven layers to our existence: body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego and the Self. The first six are subject to change; they are impermanent. The physical body changes over time. The mind oscillates between past and future, likes and dislikes. The intellect is caught between agreement and disagreement. Memory experiences loss and gain.
Our circle of belongingness depends on the extent of our ego. The antidote to ego is being natural. This happens because of spiritual practices and the use of yantras and mantras. Yantras help to transcend body-consciousness and mantras uplift our consciousness.
What does it mean to transcend body consciousness? When you move from your limited identity and enter the unbounded, infinite consciousness even for a few moments, it energises and rejuvenates you completely. The phenomena of moving beyond the limited identity of body, form, shape, and location is described as transcending body consciousness. How does a yantra help us to do this?
Yantras are energy diagrams representing various energy fields. Yantras can have lines moving upward, downward or curved lines. They signify the flow of energy and nodal points of various energies. Let us say, we are walking on a hilly terrain. We are climbing, and then we go downhill, maybe we move on a curved path for a while. When we climb, the energy required is different from what is required while going downhill. The experience of walking along curves is different from that of walking on a straight path or uphill. In this way, we can understand various energy patterns governing our activities. Some patterns drain and tire us. Some energise us. If there is dullness, lack of enthusiasm and interest, inertia, and lethargy, we can correct our own energy field by focusing on a specific yantra.
Which yantra would suit me? All matter is atoms grouping together in specific patterns. They give rise to the many substances in creation. Every form or substance has atoms but the patterns are different. Similarly, yantras are different patterns of the same energy. These patterns can be recognised only with heightened awareness. As each human being is unique, seers dedicated certain models for certain kinds of people based on the extent of refinement of their nervous system. To know which one is for you requires the guidance of a Master.
Yantras have a definite structure and organisation. The centre of the yantra is the bindu, the focal point of all energy, the seat of Divinity. All the cells in our body came from a single mother cell or bindu which differentiated into eyes, brain, heart and other parts of our body. That one cell contained knowledge of creation of the entire human body. Similarly, the bindu is the focal point of all energies that constitute Creation. Yantras are normally represented in two dimensions, but they could be multi-dimensional. The Vedas speak of the existence of several dimensions of space and time beyond the three dimensions of space and one of time that we perceive. Science is still on the lookout for that ultimate unified theory of the universe.
Movement from the bindu to the periphery is the journey from the subtle to gross, from within to the external world. The movement from the periphery to the bindu is dissolution -- the journey from the external world of sensory perceptions and objects to the infinite space within.
(The writer teaches meditation, Art of Living, Bangalore.)
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