EDUCATIONAL INSIGHT

Our Grand Chakra Journey

Exploring the centers of consciousness C
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written and illustrated by pieter weltevrede, S
I G H T

based on the teachings of his guru, harish johari

p i e t e r w e lt e v r e d e
The main bija-mantra here is Aum, the primal cosmic
sound. It brings nondual consciousness. The bijas of the
two lotus petals of ajna are kṣang and haṁ. They activate
the shaktis in our consciousness of feeling, knowing and
doing. Here one behaves like a swan (hamsa) which
can separate milk (truth) from water (maya).

6| Ajna
 s we enter the seventh chakra, we encounter two Pieter Weltevrede met his guru, Harish Johari,

A minor chakras located within the sahasrara. The

first is soma chakra, or “moon center,” of female
energy, revered as the source of all desires. Having
opened ourselves to the moon-influenced feminine energy
in the sixth chakra, we now reach the realm of Kamadhe-
in 1977 in the Netherlands, where the master
was teaching about chakras, tantra, numerology,
ayurveda and more. Pieter, a student of social
science at the university, was especially attracted
to the knowledge of
nu, the wish-fulfilling cow. At this level of consciousness, chakras. To understand,
whatever the adept wishes for comes true. Because ego is one has to do some
dissolved, his wishes concern the good of all. Only real yogis form of art, according
can gain and make use of this power. to Johari, who himself
Kameshwara is the other minor chakra within sahasrara.
was a multi-media
Here Shakti as Kameshwari, the Goddess of desire, unites
artist. Painting soon
with Siva as Kameshwara, the Lord of the desire principle.
became the most
The one who desires is now one with the One who fulfills
desire. Here, in the ultimate non-experience, individual con- important subject. His
sciousness dissolves in the immortal Self. This is called Self quest to develop that
Realization. gift led him to India in 1988, where his guru
The higher we ascend, the more subtle the inner realms had him meet the distinguished art teacher
become, and words can fail us here. To reach the crown Sri Chandra Bal. While Pieter explored the
chakra requires laboring hard to bring our individual con- holy land, Dada Harish introduced him to the
sciousness back to its source. In this chakra we can ex- sadhus and sannyasins of India, who taught him
perience this source. Here we can enjoy uninterrupted about the chakras in daily life. Harish Johari
The primary bija-mantra of sahasrara is visarga, a short, meditation, where mind, ego and intellect are dissolved. left his body in 1999. Together with Victor and
abrupt “h” sound indicated in Sanskrit by two dots, one Classically, this is known as turiya, the transcendent “fourth” Kooch Daniels, Pieter contributed to the book
above the other. In the thousand lotus petals one finds state. It is like a deep sleep, but we are neither conscious Awakening the Chakras (published by Inner
all pure sounds. This is the chakra of pure illumination. nor unconscious. Here the adept is free from all attach- Traditions). Many of his paintings can be seen
ments. The mind is finally still. The period of life at which at sanatansociety.com and sagarworld.com.
people would ideally unfold into this chakra is between
the age of 36 to 42 for women, and 42 to 49 for men.
Up to the sixth chakra, we are naturally limited to medi- Conclusion
7| Sahasrara tation with form (saguna). The left hemisphere of our
brain produces the concept and the right gives the percept.
Through this process we learn about the different aspects
The yogi’s spiritual journey through the
chakras culminates here. But that does
of consciousness. In the seventh chakra, meditation without
“When the Kundalini is raised up to form (nirguna) becomes possible, focusing on Truth, which
not mean it ends, because he is still in the
has no form, no shape and never changes. Entering the sahasrara chakra, the adept yogi becomes his real Self, game of life. To continue evolving he needs
the Sahasrara Chakra, the illusion In the first seven steps of Patanjali’s eight-fold (ashthanga) yoga, suc- which is the Self in all. He has concluded the spiritual journey and more experiences, as do we. With the
of ‘individual self ’ is dissolved. One cess depends primarily on the effort and diligence of the seeker. In the transmuted his humanness into pure divinity, which we can feel in his knowledge of the chakras we can better
last step, samadhi, fulfillment depends on the grace of God, Gods and presence, a divinity that, while yet to be known, is also inside us all.
is one’s own real Self. According to guru. Such grace comes when least expected. The rare few, having understand our experiences. We realize
the scriptures, Sahasrara is the seat of evolved in the inner arts for lifetimes, are granted the experience of Self that ultimate peace and happiness are
Realization. Yet this is the destiny of all souls, without exception. As in- to abide in a state of effortless oneness, game of Vishnu and even joins as Hanu- subjective, mental states. We live in a body
the self-luminous soul or chitta, the dividual consciousness and the supreme consciousness become one, we sahaja samadhi, seeing everything as man. His motto is: don’t think, just enjoy!
and we have a mind. Getting this mind
essence of being. In the person who enter the rarefied world of Siva, who shows us the reality behind cre- forms or sparks of the Divine. Now we can realize this. Siva and Vishnu,
ation. Now we can truly say, “Sivoham, I am Siva, the immortal self, the There is still one more step we have like life and death, cannot do without under control is the objective. We begin
has attained Sahasrara, chitta is like a witnessing consciousness.” to take after Self-Realization. We have each other. This is best expressed in the our journey by trusting in providence in
screen upon which the reflection of the Even after Self Realization, we are still not out of the game. We still to become one with cosmic conscious- form of Harihara, half Vishnu and half the first chakra. In the second we find a
need action (karma) to fulfill our dharma. Although ego was subdued in ness, with the living concept that pen- Siva. They worship each other. As im-
cosmic Self, the divine, is seen. In the the sixth chakra, even here it can still persist and become big and power- etrates everywhere, from the smallest mortal selves (Siva), we now worship the
good skill. In the third we organize our
ful, even making the yogi a danger to society. With his focus no longer atomic particle to the largest star. In the life that is present everywhere (Vishnu); life. In the fourth we realize balance. To
presence of the cosmic Self, it is possible
upward, only downward remains, and soon he must start all over again, tradition of my guru, Harish Johari, that and in life’s highest achievement, we continue, we gain a guru in the fifth. In
for anyone to feel the divine and, indeed, but with the advantage that he knows the destination to be reached. The concept is represented by Vishnu, the surrender to our immortal self. the sixth we practice and find the guru
wise aspirant keeps the ego in check, guarding his humility as a sacred Lord of Maya and Master of the game Living on Earth, the best way of be-
to realize the divinity within oneself.” treasure, knowing that there remains much work to be done. He must (Leela). When we become Siva, we have coming one with Vishnu is by serving within. In the seventh, we reach the
Harish Johari become one with cosmic consciousness, with the living concept that to ask ourselves what is Siva doing. He is Him. For that we must simply do our ultimate awakening, Self Realization, in
penetrates everything, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the larg- constantly in meditation and His favor- duty. Siva as Hanuman is the supreme which there is only cosmic consciousness.”
est star. Coming out of samadhi, a mature and accomplished yogi strives ite mantra is Ram. He loves to watch the example.

48 h i n d u i s m t o day a p r i l/m ay/j u n e 2 0 1 8 , h i n d u i s m t o d ay 49