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Tantra and Philosophy
Yoga is called Tantrik for a twofold reason. In the YogaUpanisads we find reference to the centres of cakras and in some of the Puranas. Even the treatises on Hathayoga also deal with the subject. We also find similar notions in systems other than the Indian. the One of the general characteristics of the Indian systems paramount importance attached to consciousness and its states. "It is these states which create, sustain and destroy the world. Brahama, Vishnu and Siva are the names for functions of one Universal Consciousness operating in ourselves."24 Yoga aims at the transformation of the 'lower' into 'higher' states of consciousness. It is an important technique of transformation, but "the yoga used in Tantra is based more or less on Hathayoga, with an extra dimension."25 Yoga in Tantra is mainly to work upon the inner mechanism of the subtle human body.
Chakras are the conscious centers and sources of all the dynamic power. The most significant and the most important contribution of Tantra, for which human experience owes to Tantra, 'chakras' is its discovery and location of centers of energy in the human body. Every individual, according to Tantra, is a manifestation of that energy. The centers are in the middle of the body, they are closed or half-closed within us and are to be opened so that their full potentialities can be manifested in our physical nature. These centers are supposed to be attached to the spiritual cord; but in fact they are in the subtle body. The usual number of these centers is six, with a seventh in the top of the skull. These energy centers or 'chakras' are controlled by controlling the breath. Their names and location are: (i) Muladhara: the yellow solid state, square, is in the lowest lotus with four petals just in front of the anus; (ii) Svadhisthana: the white liquid, circular, with six petals is at the level of the genitals; (iii) Manipura: the red incandescent, triangular, with eight petals is at the navel; (iv) Anahata: the green airy, semilunar, with twelve petals is at the heart (v) Visuddha: the grayish etherial, whisplike, with sixteen petals is at the throat (vi) Ajna: between the eyebrows, a white twopetalled lotus (viii) Sahasrara: the thousand petalled lotus of the Bliss of the Beyond from the crown of the head, at the top of the
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