The fourth chakra
"The fourth centre is called as the Anahath Chakra, meaning the heart centre. It has twelve petals and is placed behind the sternum in the spinal cord. This centre produces the anti-bodies till the age of twelve years and then these anti-bodies are circulated in the whole body to be ready to fight any kind of attack on the body or on the mind. If there is any attack on the person these anti-bodies are informed through the sternum, which has a remote control of information. Heart centre caters for the cardiac plexus."
Shri Anahatabja-nilaya Devi
I am the pure form of Joy — clean; pure; immaculate. I am the Cosmic Dancer and the Master of rhythm in music. Out of My Compassion I devour the poisons of the Universe, and at the End of all things, My Dance destroys all that is not pure Spirit. I am the Destination of your spiritual seeking, Lord God of All. When My presence is awakened in you by Kundalini, you experience Me as Silence, Absolute Joy and Peace. There is no duality between My Shakti and Myself. We are inseparable, like the moon and the moonlight. OM, I am neither the mind, the intelligence, the ego, the chitta nor attention; neither the ears nor the tongue, nor the senses of smell and sigh; neither ether nor air, nor fire, nor water, nor Earth. I am eternal bliss and awareness. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.
When a child is born, the first thing that it responds to is the Spirit of its mother. At the moment of his birth he is not aware of his body, but he is aware of the Spirit. The moment he comes out of the womb he suffers a shock, and his first reaction is to get back to the womb. At this stage his mind, conditionings and ego aspects are non-existent. He is pure spirit, and it is this pure spirit that finds comfort in the spirit of his mother and through that comfort, sustenance in the new alien environment. This response is true or unconditional love. It is not a conditioned response, but the sheer joy of the fusion of two spirits.
QUALITY
The Heart Chakra is the home of the Self, the Spirit or Atma — all mean the same thing. Time and again Shri Mataji has stressed that, "You are nothing but your eternal Spirit." In this way She is telling us that we have to realize and become our Spirit, and leave behind the futility of the illusion we live in. We start the process of becoming our Spirit after Self-Realization, as we start to lose our false identifications with our body, mind and feelings. Only after this enlightenment can we take our Attention to our heart and cleanse it. The Spirit can only manifest when our heart is open and clean, at which point we feel the eternal Joy of Creation and the meaning and purpose of our place in it. If functioning properly, it enables us to feel our Self-Transcendence, generate and radiate love. The state of vibrations maintains and revitalizes our own human systems as well as those of others.
Pure love, which enlightens all, is the real quality of the Heart Chakra. In the unrealized state we rarely love for love’s sake. Because of our conditioning we confuse feelings of love with those of possession, sex and selfishness. Pure love is detached and gives without motive. True love is the quality that emanates from the Spirit and not from the body or mind. Bodily attraction is physical and the mind does not love — it merely wants. When the want of the mind is attained, then the novelty wears off. For instance a child is excited and attached to a new toy, but after a few days, as the novelty wears off, the excitement dies. The same occurs with relationships which are based simply on physical attraction. That which is illusory cannot love or be loved.
Love is often mistakenly taken as restricted to male and female. In fact Love is the flow of life is all limbs, between children/parents, brothers/sisters, friends, senior citizens etc. Where many people share and care, then the whole society opens up its Heart centre. It becomes a collective society and changes the world. This is the power of Love. Love is the principle behind all Creation. We say that God is Love and love is God because in its depths we cease to be. In true Love there is no "I" and no "You" — there is simply the merging of the Spirit. In this state we experience true human unity, the true oneness of life. Physically we can appear as different colors, shapes, characteristics, but as we become the Spirit the drop becomes the Ocean.
TRADITION
The seat of the Heart Chakra is located in the Brahmarandhra at the crown of the head (in the Sahasrara). This is where Shri Gauri (Kundalini) in Her form of Shri Parvati is united with Shri Shiva. Shri Shiva presides as the Witness in the left Heart Chakra, controlling our very existence. This centre, therefore, has to be treated with the greatest respect and understanding. In the centre Heart Chakra resides Shri Jagdamba, the Mother of the Universe. Here, in our faith in the Mother aspect, rests our sense of security and protection. Lord Rama inhabits the right Heart Chakra. He exhibited the ideals of behavior as a husband, son, brother and ruler. He re-established the status of women in the household, and clarified the principles of Dharma. He also exemplified the boundaries of conduct within which we should operate in order to deepen our spiritual growth. These guidelines show us the power of discrimination and help us protect the protocol of the Spirit.
GROSS PHYSICAL ASPECT
Using the body as an instrument of athletic display fatigues the Heart centre. Excessive athletic competition simply develops into an ego-oriented thing, with no real gain at the end of it. In a similar way modern Hatha yoga is a form of athleticism which has no correlation with the Spirit, and this too can harm the centre. Unfortunately today Hatha yoga is mistaken for spirituality and people spend hours doing all kinds of asanas (positions). By standing on our heads (or wearing white/saffron robes or being vegetarian or whatever) we are not going to know the Almighty Creator.
Causes of catch or obstruction on left little finger
A "catch" is an imbalance. If we feel heat or tingling, or maybe even numbness in our fingertips, it means that our kundalini is alerting us to an imbalance in a particular chakra.
'Your left little finger will speak' when there is extreme physical or mental activity, heartfelt bad relations (especially mother’s), no confidence in God, anti-God activities, outside attention, no seeking, no interest in self.
A "catch" is an imbalance. If we feel heat or tingling, or maybe even numbness in our fingertips, it means that our kundalini is alerting us to an imbalance in a particular chakra.
'Your left little finger will speak' when there is extreme physical or mental activity, heartfelt bad relations (especially mother’s), no confidence in God, anti-God activities, outside attention, no seeking, no interest in self.
GENERAL ADVICE FROM SHRI MATAJI
The most effective way to clear or heal chakra problems ('catch" or obstruction) is to put attention on the affected chakra during meditation and allow the Mother Kundalini to heal. Remain in the thoughtless state while you work on the affected chakra. Always remember this quote of Shri Mataji:
"Kundalini will rise and She will cleanse you completely. Kundalini will rise and always cleanse the chakras."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Sydney, Australia, March 31, 1991
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Sydney, Australia, March 31, 1991
Once this is power is established no external rituals are required as catches will be healed instantly and constantly by the Mother Kundalini within. Until and unless external cleansing rituals are discarded this power will never be established. On the contrary, all these rituals only make matters worse according to Shri Mataji:
"The people who think that they can control their ego will eat less or use all types of methods to control ego. For example, someone is standing on one leg or other one on his head, all types of efforts they are doing to reduce their ego.
But with all these techniques, ego doesn't vanish. On the contrary, ego increases. Fasting, reciting the names, increases your ego. With Havans also ego increases because Agni, fire, is the right side element. Anything which is rituals increases your ego.
Human being thinks that they are alright, since they are doing these rituals since thousand years. All the wrong teachings they are still following. For this reason Sahaja Yoga is against Karma Kanda, that is rituals. No need to do any kind of Karma Kanda.
And to go to the extreme point is also dangerous. I had asked them to shoe-beat to destroy their ego and what I see that every morning all the Sahaja Yogis go in the line with their shoes for shoe-beatings. But I had asked to do this if you have ego in you.
All these rituals have entered into Sahaja Yoga. I got somebody in France with the list of the treatments of Vashi hospital. But that was for sick peoples. This is the nature of human being to follow the rituals because he thinks that he can do it."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
25 December 1997, Christmas Puja
Ganapatipule, Maharashtra, India
"The people who think that they can control their ego will eat less or use all types of methods to control ego. For example, someone is standing on one leg or other one on his head, all types of efforts they are doing to reduce their ego.
But with all these techniques, ego doesn't vanish. On the contrary, ego increases. Fasting, reciting the names, increases your ego. With Havans also ego increases because Agni, fire, is the right side element. Anything which is rituals increases your ego.
Human being thinks that they are alright, since they are doing these rituals since thousand years. All the wrong teachings they are still following. For this reason Sahaja Yoga is against Karma Kanda, that is rituals. No need to do any kind of Karma Kanda.
And to go to the extreme point is also dangerous. I had asked them to shoe-beat to destroy their ego and what I see that every morning all the Sahaja Yogis go in the line with their shoes for shoe-beatings. But I had asked to do this if you have ego in you.
All these rituals have entered into Sahaja Yoga. I got somebody in France with the list of the treatments of Vashi hospital. But that was for sick peoples. This is the nature of human being to follow the rituals because he thinks that he can do it."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
25 December 1997, Christmas Puja
Ganapatipule, Maharashtra, India
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
"The Heart Chakra or Anahat Chakra
The fourth chakra, the chakra of the heart, is the place where resides our Spirit, our true Self, which is eternally pure and unaffected by anything, like a shining diamond hidden within us which witnesses all our actions. After Self-Realization, our attention becomes for the first time connected to our Spirit and we gradually become aware of it. Our misidentifications with our ego or conditionings drop and we start becoming identified with our Spirit, which is our true nature.
On the physical level, this chakra looks after our heart and lungs — if affected it can cause asthma or various heart conditions.
It is from our heart that the compassion and love manifests, and also the heart chakra is the one that gives us the sense of responsibility and pure behaviour towards others. The heart chakra manifests in the center (at the level of the sternum bone) as complete security and confidence. All our worries, doubts and fears are destroyed when the heart chakra is fully enlightened by the Kundalini."
"Sahaja means spontaneity, and the basis of Sahaja Yoga is spontaneous union with the divine. This is accomplished through kundalini yoga, which is claimed to awaken a powerful spiritual energy located at the base of the spine. With Mataji's help, kundalini can be awakened in anyone. When it happens, practitioners are said to feel a cool breeze on the palms of their hands and above their heads. The experience also produces deep peace and happiness, and leads to enlightenment when it reaches the top cakra. As they develop 'vibratory awareness', devotees can tell from feelings of coolness and heat and from discomfort in their own cakras (energy centres on the central nervous system) where their own people's cakras are blocked and learn to heal themselves and others. They believe in deities who personify the qualities of the cakras. The ultimate aim, as with most yoga-based teachings, is self-realization."