Energy channels or Meridians (Nadi Sanskrit – channel, tube, vein, pulse) – are present in all humans but they can be:
• undeveloped ( absolutely disabled)
• locked ( streams of energy are minimal)
• opened to some extent.
Their total amount, wideness and clarity, as the total amount of chakras, directly depends on the level of spiritual development of the man and his way of life.
Almost everybody has an initial 3-4 base "human" chakras (counting from the bottom), partially developed and balanced. But if a man starts to develop some positive traits of upper hierarchy of chakras somehow, – i.e. USE THEM – chakras start to form actively, pulling more and more energy.
This leads to the substantial expansion of energy channels, that go to them, and that’s how the channels transform from the locked state to the opened one – they gradually expand and "learn" how to carry more energy out.
The usage of "upper" chakras – is not only specific breathing, physical of esoteric practices – we need them only for the second part like additives. The usage of "upper" chakras is initially the cumulative work (habit) and reflection of the new traits that these chakras are responsible for, in one’s life.
This is displayed like more "correct" settings than at the "lower" chakras level; like an ability to rule your own needs and wished; like an ability to balance your feelings in critical situations without any hardships. As a result, the ability to make right decisions in life appears.
I.E. launching the work of upper chakras, you have to change – you need to become a bit different at the level of energy generation.
If a man doesn’t use his upper chakras because of the low level of his spiritual development – the traits of the character don’t reflect all the energies and Elements, that refer to the specific chakras, it means that these chakras are on the embryonic or closed stage or don’t work at the moment.
That’s the exact reason that gives the possibility to consider that all the humans have different amounts of chakras, and, consequently, – different amount of well-working energy channels.
Most people do not use the chakras that are upper than their coeliac plexus (Manipur) at all. They are, if it is possible to say so, the people "of three chakras". But absolutely everyone has all base and additive chakras in the matrix of his energy body (like a potential ability).
In Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese studying the knowledge about twelve major channels is used. In Indian literature, only three major channels are mentioned, but many schools of yoga work with twelve channels.
In ancient Slavic system of health, in addition to the main vertical channels, the channels to legs and hands are added. But there is a mentioning of 12 "Rivers of the Life" that is the same as in Eastern tradition. And according to the ancient Eastern texts, a man has thousands of energy channels, and accounting the thinnest of them, their amount is impossible to sum up.
The function of energy channels, as it’s clear from the name – is to transport all the types of life’s energies through the subtle bodies, and to remove the waste energy. And energy gets into the physical body from those subtle bodies.
If the channels are "clean" and wide enough, all the type of energies can move freely and in a proper amount – the man is healthy. Consequently, if some of the channels are clogged or closed, a human has the problems with his mental, emotional or physical state.
What influences the wideness and clarity of our energy channels?
There are a lot of aspects from the genes and the physical injuries to the man’s way of life and special practices – that’s why most tractates of Indian Yoga and Chinese medicine are dedicated to this question. But if we are talking about a common situation – a man with typical genes and no physical injuries,
The biggest influence is in the work of the chakra’s system (on the level of energy channels) – this is the beginning.
The configuration of the physical body – these are the precise abilities and possibilities, that are located in our energetic system, depends only on the work of our sanity and on the specialty of the work of our system of chakras, on WHAT IT’S CAPABLE OF.
And the work of our chakra system is directly dependent on the work of our programs – their list and the intensity of reflection, and on the general balance of the chakra’s work.
That are the programs what makes our chakras work in one or another regime.
And if there any reasons that make our chakras give the intensive stream of energy out or store the excessive amount of energy – it means that chakra works in a destructive regime. If the chakra works in this regime for a long period of time, some energetic formations appear in the energetic channels at the level of this chakra. They are: seals, nods etc.
As a result, our energetic body is reformed – there are some dents and tears on it: fluent and logical stream is ruined on different areas of the energetic body; there is an exorbitant amount of one of the type of the energy and the Element and the lack of other types: normal work of the whole energetic system is destroyed.
Getting energy from Space, its transformation, distribution and the removal of waste energy – are the processes that are very complicated and they proceed permanently. And most of them proceed without our participation – automatically.
If we look at them in a simplified way, it’ll look like:
• We get light energy through our eyes;
• We get sound energy through our ears;
• We get energy of the air through the breathing and through the pores of the skin;
• We get energy of the food and water by eating;
• We get initial space energy through our chakras.
In combination, our energetic and physical body – is an ideal machine for getting the "raw" energy from Space, transforming it into some more complex types and removing wastes.
In addition to this, Nature oversaw and gave us a few ways to receive the energy – "in the cases of emergencies" we are capable of receiving it through the whole surface of our body in different ways at the same time.
As you may know, some people can live, using only the energy of the sun or the air – they are called as breatharians. And some of them can live without the air for some time – under the water or under the ground, getting energy in a clear way.
Although we get energy through the whole surface of our body, the main streams of energy, that "build" our physical and energetic systems, are received through two points:
1. Through the chakra, that is located between the feet, we get the upward stream – energy of Yin (the second name is Tha).
This energy enters our body, twisting counter-clockwise direction – right to left. It uses one vertical energy channel, fill all the chakras and leave through the crown of the head to the center of the Sun. Upward stream is at the apex of its activity at the second part of the day and is intensified by the inhaling.
2. Through the parietal chakra we take downdraft from heaven – Yang energy (also known as "Ha" or "Ra").
This Energy enters into our bodies, twisting in a clockwise direction - from left to right. It uses another energy channel, fills the chakras and leaves through the legs to the center of the Sun. Downward stream is at the apex of its activity in the first part of the day and is intensified by the exhaling.
These are two vertical streams of energy that we receive from the Space.
The energy of Yin uses the channel that is called as Ida in Hinduism – it crosses the left side of the body and is adhered to sympathetic nervous system on the physical level. The energy of Yang uses the Pingala channel – it crosses the right side of the body and is adhered to the parasympathetic nervous system.
Ida and Pingala are considered to be the additive channels – one version tells that they cross the sides of central channel that is called Sushumna, like snakes. On the common opinion, Sushumna runs parallel to the vertebral column and starts at the Muladhara chakra (coccyx), and ends at Sahasrara chakra (the crown).
In the opinion of other authors, the central channel runs parallel to the vertebral column and is up and down the outside of the energy body.
Sushumna is thought to be the field for the mixing and intercourse of the central nervous system. Sushumna has 3 thinner channels inside itself, that are located inside of each other’s like in a matrioshka, where each of them has its own function.
"Snake-shaped" location of Ida and Pingala,
Sushumna, channels of arms and legs
Except for the vertical streams (Sushumna, Ida and Pingala), we receive the right and left horizontal streams too, which are generated by the Earth itself: they are at the level of the heart center and are an offshoot of the channels in your hands, but on the level of the coccyx – in feet.
We receive the horizontal stream usually through the chakras that are located on our palms. Generally, we can say that these streams are received by the front and back, and left and right side of our body’s surface.
Horizontal streams go to arms through the channels, and the legs are supplied with the energy of Earth that is given away afterwards by the vertical streams.
Ida
As we have already mentioned, energy channel Ida ushers the Yin’s energy from the top to the bottom – it is an upward stream. I want to emphasize that there are some sources that claim that the upward channel doesn’t cross the left side of the body, and they are in front of the spine.
The energy of Yin is associated with such traits as:
matter; feminine; cultivation; fertility; emotionality; variability; instability; Mother of the Worlds; Mother of God; dark; night; Moon; Earth; cold; negative; odd; braking processes of destruction and absorption; the forces of Chaos. (Some authors identify the forces of chaos and order as a separate type of forces of the universe and do not connect them with the energies of Yin and Yang).
On the level of emotional and physiological state of the man, the energy of the "moon" channel Ida is reflected as the fickle mind and emotionality. It is connected to the right hemisphere of the brain, that is responsible for the feelings, emotions, intuition and creativity, past life and run the emotional and sensual life of the man. It gets the information and images from this channel unconsciously.
Besides, the unconscious sanity of everybody is connected to the perennial collective unconscious sanity. All the events that happened from the moment of the world’s creation are at the dreaming state in the collective sanity.
This is the place where all the events of the evolution are stored, everything that is considered to be dead or missed during the evolution process and everything that leaves a man’s mind unconsciously.
This channel has the energy of our desires. Our emotions appear from our desires and these are the emotions that run the process of our actions.
The most important aspect of the left channel – is to display the intuition and creativity in a man’s life, reflect the emotion of the joy and pleasure that are the irreplaceable conditions of the Spirit’s performance.
If the "left" side is dominant, a man has his right hemisphere working actively; it is set for receiving and transporting of the vibrational frequencies of Yin’s energy. It is the first part – the ability to receive and transport only the half of the Universe’s vibrations. And because of the energy being dense information, a man receives only the half of the Universe’s information.
The domination of the "left side" is usually reflected in passiveness or emotional extremism. And he takes the edges – from euphoria to depression. This misbalance makes it arduous to control oneself and get rid of harmful programs or habits. The worst way is when a man becomes apathetic or obsessed.
Left channels supply the area of the head, and if there are some problems with it, it can lead to the mental disorders, epilepsy and dementia.
Pingala
The energy channel Pingala ushers the Yang’s energy from the bottom to the top – it is a downward stream. Some sources claim that the downward channel goes not on the right side, but behind the spine
The Yang’s energy – is the display of all the polar opposites of the Yin’s energy. It is associated with such aspects as: Spirit, male, stability, staidness, light, day, Sun, Heaven, hotness, positive, even; excitation processes, creation and structuring; Order strength.
On the emotional and physiological level, the energy of the right "sun" channel id reflected in the man like an irreplaceable intellect and logic, the combination of all the gained mental programs and settings such as stereotypes and experience.
It is connected to the left hemisphere that is responsible for the rational, abstract and logical thinking. It ushers the action energy and runs the conscious, mental and physical activity.
The energy of this channel creates our future. Everything that man thinks about the future is put down in the right side that has the exit to the collective superconscious.
If the man has it’s "right side" being dominative, the left hemisphere works actively and it is set to receiving and transporting the vibrational frequencies of the Yan’s energy. This is the other edge – the ability to percept the second half of vibrations and consequently the second half of the Universe’s information. As a result, this channel’s domination can make a man "cold" and aggressive.
If the man uses intensively the energy of "right side" for a very long period of time, "left side" gets weaker and the joy of life gets inaccessible for the man. Exorbitant pressure rises to his left temple – to the place of ego, making him balloon-shaped. This blocks the central channel – Sushumna. That’s how the whole system gets misbalanced.
Expanded ego sharpens the perception of one’s emotions. The decisions and actions that a man considers to be needed and logical with the solid predisposition, oppress others.
The apex of the right-side activity leads to the diseases of the heart. Clarity of the right channel gives the peace and calmness, clarity of mind and thoughtfulness.
Western society has commonly their right-side dominating.
Sushumna
If all the chakras work balanced, the Yin’s and Yan’s energy (and consequently all the four Elements) are balanced in the central channel Sushumna. Under these conditions, the man is in the state of dynamic balance of the Elements and has an ideal spiritual, mental and physical state. But if some chakras are misbalanced, and this proceeds for some time, the energy body has the lack energy or the exorbitant amount of it, and as a result, gets down with some mental or physical diseases.
Sushumna symbolizes the energies of the conscious, harmony and divinity and is responsible for our present. That’s why all the spiritual Tutors emphasize the fact that a man shouldn’t be bound to his past (Ida) or overestimate his future (Pingala) – and be "here and now" – live in his present (Sushumna). This is the state when a man can save his energy balance.
Besides the function of balancing of energy, the central channel is also the field for uniting all the Elements and creating some new combinations of Elements, that a man permanently generates with his thoughts, emotions and actions.
When the energies use the channels, chakras receive and transform it into the different kinds of the thinner types of energies (Elements). Each chakra has its own vibrational energies, that they, if it is needed, give to "their" subtle bodies, and all the waste energy is transported into Space.
At the end, I want to highlight that "snake-shaped" intersection of Ida and Pingala, that I have already mentioned, is present more often in the sources of Eastern tradition, but there is an opposite point of view: left and right channels are not "snake-shaped"; they are parallel to each other and there is the central channel Sushumna between them. And they interact with the Sushumna only in two chakras but not in each one, like in the first variant.
Ida (left channel) has its beginning in Muladadhara-chakra, goes up on the left side of the body, crosses the Ajna-chakra (the sector between the eyebrows) and enters the right hemisphere of the brain on the its back. And Pingala (right channel0 has its beginning in the Svadhisana-chakra, goes up on the right side of the body, crosses the Ajna and enters the left hemisphere of the brain on its front.
Parallel location of Ida and Pingala
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