The Elder – In the mandala representing anahata-chakra, an animal symbol is also associated with the heart: the antelope. Antelopes have powerful legs that are built for speed, but they are also very sensitive and delicate animals that have to remain vigilant all day long. So, an antelope will evoke the watchfulness and attention a yogi requires in his spiritual journey.
Anahata-chakra.
Theo. – But it is also a fearful animal, constantly on the look-out for an imminent threat. The slightest noise will make the antelope shudder.
The Elder – In fact, it represents the surface of the heart, its emotional and alert area. However, the antelope will use that peculiarity just to survive. When facing dangerous predators, its alertness and its readiness to flee from danger are essential. Our own predators, our egotistic tendencies, must be cunning enough to catch the antelope, as it is so alert.
Theo. – Alertness can be considered as the heart lifeguard: it protects us from our inner tendencies and allows us to keep at a safe distance. When the tendencies are getting too close, then we can decamp more quickly and avoid their hold on us.
The Elder – Just like the technique we use to ignore unwanted thoughts and go on meditating on the divine light.
Theo. –I once watched a documentary showing gazelles grazing just a few yards away from lions. Those were lying on the grass peacefully and they wouldn’t pay heed to the gazelles. They were not hunting and the gazelles knew it: no danger, because the tendencies, the emotions that go with it were away. Gazelles aren’t afraid then: they know.
The Elder – As for us, who are raja-yogis, we just need to be peacefully connected to our hearts and remain attentive. Instincts are less necessary, consciousness being more developed. We switch from instinct to intuition, then from intuition to knowledge. Readiness and rapidity are the required qualities.
Theo. –Are-there any other characteristics concerning anahata-chakra?
The Elder – The major one is the presence of jivan-jyoti, meaning living light. The sacred texts say that the divine spark resides in anahata-chakra and cannot be found anywhere else. Anahata-chakra is a master key. It is located on the borders of the world of manifestation and the world of the spirit. Being there, right at the centre of the being, it distributes all the pranas throughout the three bodies (causal, subtle and gross). It also allows the integration of all the dimensions in that incarnation.
Theo. – Babuji said that transmission is food for the soul, and you have added love to that food.
The Elder – Don’t forget Grace and the marvels it does. Men see them as mysteries, but we can all appreciate their benefits.
Theo. – Could we make a connection between anahata-chakra and shen? Chinese medicine taught me that shen is the Heart-Spirit, distinct from the Heart-Organ, xin. Shen regulates the breaths, Qi, in all the networks that animate the body, and it governs the five shens, which are identical to our five points of the heart, in relation with the five feelings and the five emotions of the being. Shen is called the Emperor: the energies flowing between Heaven and Earth go through it. So, Shen is the place where these energies are integrated, before being circulated and redirected by it to all the other organs. It is also said that there the five breaths of the Earth meet the six breaths of the Heaven, thus creating the alchemical man, the Taoist man who dances in the Universe with his hair blowing in the wind.
The Elder – There are many similarities indeed. The anahata-chakra quality is movement and the expansion of consciousness it entails. It is connected with the vayu element, the air.
Theo. – That’s the reason why so many people have draughty brains I guess!
The Elder (mockingly):
– And you have just illustrated it by talking the hind legs off a donkey!
Theo. – Sufis call their egos donkeys, don’t they?
The Elder – Our own donkey will allow us a lot. It is strong, determined and tireless. These are good qualities for he who wants to reach the goal. He only has to let his master guide him.
Theo. – In other words, he can stroll as he wishes, going from tussock to tussock, without a specific goal.
The Elder (resuming more serious comments):
– Our Flame of Life is located at the centre of the Heart’s Thousand-Petalled Lotus. It is surrounded with a crown made of twelve petals, the twelve superb qualities of our hearts. It is protected from the assaults of vayu, the wind of the mind.
Theo. That is why, in Yoga, we are taught concentrating on and paying attention to the source of divine energy within our hearts, in order to harmonize our mind and let our consciousness develop.
The Elder – That will bring about another characteristic of anahata-chakra: Kalpataru, the celestial Tree, which yields whatever is desired and may grant further more than the expected result. The heart is also the place for the desires we have to transcend. Desires are transformed into the unique desire of realizing the Self, of realizing God. We shall learn more about it later, when dealing with Point 1, the chakra of the Heart’s flower.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s Initiation