THE MYSTICAL MEDITATION DIAGRAM: THE SHRI YANTRA
Friday, May 11, 2007
In
addition to visual representations based upon narratives and myths, it is also
helpful in introducing Indic material to focus on geometrical abstractions used
for purposes of meditation. The use of mystical diagrams and/or mandalas is
common to Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions and can be a useful device for
giving students a sense of what meditation is like. It is also a useful way of
introducing certain basic concepts or notions. Perhaps the most well known
device of this kind is what is known as the
SHRI YANTRA. The term "Yantra" comes from the root, yam, meaning "to
retrain or discipline" together with the suffix "tra," meaning a "vehicle
for"--hence, "Yantra" means a "vehicle for restraining or disciplining." It is
cognate, in other words, with the most important term in all of India’s
spirituality, namely, YOGA, which comes from the root, yuj, meaning "to harness
or yoke or restrain."
The Shri Yantra as a mystical diagram for meditation is probably fairly late,
deriving from the later centuries of the first millenium of the Common Era (c.
5th century or later) and utilized largely in Tantric environments.
Undoubtedly, of course, there were examples of meditation diagrams (probably
simpler in their design) from earlier centuries as well. The practice of
drawing complex designs on the ground or on walls is common in village life the
world over, frequently for magical purposes but also for purposes of celebration
and focussing attention on a particular portion of space or an auspicious moment
in time.
Closely
related to the symbolic significance of the geometrical components of the Shri
Yantra are the meditation visualizations related to the theory of CHAKRAS. The
term "chakra" means "wheel" or "circle" and refers to a set of energy centers in
the body, running through the nervous system from the lower spine in the region
of the anus to the region of the head or brain. Six such centers are most
commonly mentioned, again deriving primarily from Tantric environments (after
the 5th century of the Common Era), but like the Shri Yantra, having analogues
of a less developed kind from earlier centuries as well reaching back even to
some of the relatively early Upanishads. For introductory purposes the full
symbolic "readings" of the various Chakras need not be explained to students,
but the basic geometric designs can be shown in sequence in a manner that
clearly illustrates how they can be used in meditation.
Geometric Symbolism
The basic
geometric components may be described in the following manner:
(1) The "point" or "drop" (bindu), which when expanded becomes a "circle" or
a sphere.
(2) The "straight line" (rekha or lekha) which is the shortest distance
between any two points.
(3) The "triangle" (trikona), which is the smallest enclosed geometrical
figure, may have its apex pointing up; or
(4) The "triangle" (trikona) may have its apex pointing down.
(5) Finally, the "square" (caturkona) can be described as the combination of
the two triangles, forming, as it were, a balanced base.
Moreover, two "straight lines" when they intersect may make a "cross" (vyatyasta)
and if one "breaks" the cross, either to the left, or to the right, one then has
what is known as the "svastika". The term "svastika" in Sanskrit is made up of
the particle "su," meaning "good" or "auspicious" and the word "astika," meaning
"mark." Hence, "svastika" means an "auspicious mark" and that which has "an
auspicious mark." One finds "svastikas" on Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples
throughout Asia. It is most likely an old solar symbol, although its precise
origins are lost to antiquity. [Here it goes without saying that students must
be reminded that the use of the svastika by the Nazis in Germany was a demonic
abuse of this ancient symbol.] When it "breaks" to the right, it signifies
spring and summer and the sun moving across the northern sky. When it "breaks"
to the left, it signifies fall and winter and the hidden or dark period of the
year. Frequently the "right" is linked with the male, and the "left" is linked
with the female. [My own interpretation of the gender correlation is that
"right" is male, spring, summer, the sun, manifestation, etc., because the male
genitalia are manifest; whereas "left" is female, fall, winter, the moon, and
the dark and hidden, etc., because the female genitalia are not manifest--yet
what is hidden and unmanifest carries the seed of life and renewal and gives
birth in the spring to a new cycle of manifestation.]
When the basic geometrical forms have been introduced, one can then indicate
some possible
correlations as follows:
(1) The "point" or "drop" or "circle" can be associated with
- the gross element, space (akasha)--the expanse of space that holds
all of reality but begins from a point-instant
- the "up-breath" (udana) in the physical body--one of the five basic
"breaths" in ancient Indian physiology--the "up-breath" is the
breath of "speech" in the region of the throat and head
which operates in "space" (akasha), the medium for sound
- the sense-capacity of hearing (shrotra)
(2) The "straight line" can be associated with
- the gross element, wind (vayu)--movement in a particular direction
like that of the straight line
- the "respiration-breath" (prana) in the physical body--the basic
breath that operates in the region of the heart and lungs and is
often thought of as the basic "life-force"
- the sense capacity of touch (tvac)
(3) The "triangle" with apex "up" is the male triangle and can be associated
with
- the gross element, fire (tejas)--the energy for light and movement
and power
- the "digestive breath" (samana) in the physical body--the basic
breath that operates in the region of the navel and stomach
for the digestion of food (internal burning)
- the sense capacity of seeing (cakshus)
(4) The "triangle," apex "down" is the female triangle and can be associated
with
- the gross element, water (ap)--the liquid or fluid element that makes
possible the ingestion of food, the flow of blood and semen
- the "diffuse breath" (vyana) [or possibly the sexual breath]--the breath
that operates primarily in the region of the genitals but circulating
throughout the body [on analogy perhaps
with Freud’s notion of "libido" flowing through the body]
- the sense capacity of tasting (rasana)
(5) The "square" is the base support for stability and can be associated
with
- the gross element, earth (prithivi)--the solid stuff that is made up of
the coming together of all of the preceding elements and represents
final gross embodiment
- the "down breath" (apana)--the breath of elimination and excretion, also
the breath of birth when the woman breaths "down" to expel the
new-born child
- the sense capacity of smelling (ghrana)
ICONOGRAPHY/CONTENT:
By combining the geometrical figures, the
Shri Yantra is created. First, one marks the "point" (bindu), placing it
in the center. Second, one expands the "point" into a series of concentric
circles. Third, one takes four "male" triangles and five "female" triangles and
superimposes them on one another. Similarly, one takes two "svastikas," one
"breaking" to the right, the other "breaking" to the left and superimposes them
on one another. One then adds the "square" as a stable base around the circles
but within the superimposed svastikas. When the superimpositions have been done
properly, one then has the Shri Yantra as a meditation diagram.
In addition to the geometrical figures, the Shri Yantra also includes
stylized representations of a series of lotus leaves, a circle of eight and a
circle of sixteen located within the concentric circles within the Yantra.
Beyond the Shri Yantra itself, similar geometrical forms and lotus leaves can
be combined to picture the various
Chakras or energy centers in the body as follows:
(1) The
"Root-Support Center" (Muladhara Chakra)--in the region of the anus at the
base of the spine;
(2) The "Self-Support Center" (Svadhishthana Chakra)--in the region of the
genitals;
(3) The
"Jewel-Filled Center" (Manipuraka Chakra)--in the region of the
navel;
(4) The "Unstruck Center" (Anahata Chakra)--in the region of the heart;
(5) The
"Purified Center" (Vishuddha Chakra)--in the region of the throat’
(6) The "Insight or Command Center" (Ajna Chakra)--in the region of the
forehead just above the eyes (the area of the "third eye"); and finally
(7) The
"Thousand Petalled Lotus Center" (Sahasrara Chakra)--at the very top of the
head.
Interpretation
There is no need or time in these introductory sessions to give a detailed
interpretation of the Shri Yantra and the various Chakras. It is important,
however, to suggest various levels of meaning and to show students how the
various concepts and notions come to be associated with one another, since such
associations are basic for understanding the basic structures of Indian
cosmology, psychology and philosophy.
The Shri Yantra has at least four distinct levels of meaning:
(1) It is an architectural drawing of a sacred temple--with the
holy of holies and the entrances from the four directions;
(2) It is a diagram of the interaction of male and female and
the rhythms, on the one hand, of spring and summer, and, on the other, of fall
and winter;
(3) It is a diagram of sacred speech--when the nine triangles
are superimposed properly, they in turn generate circles of some forty-two
additional triangles--if one then combines the forty-two triangles with the
eight basic lotus leaves, one has the number fifty, or, in other words, the
number of sounds in the Sanskrit system of sounds--the Yogin inscribes the
triangles and lotus leaves with bits of sound and then uses the Shri Yantra as a
vehicle for uttering sacred sounds such as "OM"--there is, finally, a small
central triangle (a forty-third triangle) with apex down which may well signify
the hidden "silence" from which all sound arises
(4) It is a diagram of macrocosm and microcosm--finally, the
vision of the Shri Yantra is both a picture of the universe and a picture of
one’s internal life--this becomes especially clear when one combines the Shri
Yantra symbols with the energy centers or Chakras in the body of the Yogin, the
five basic breaths, the five basic sense capacities and the five gross elements.
One other dimension of interpretation: It is clear enough with the triangles
encompassed by the square and the superimposed svastikas that the Shri Yantra is
especially utilizing the numbers 3 and 4, and one useful way of illustrating
this pattern of three plus a fourth is to show how such a sequence is common in
some basic Indic conceptual frameworks as follows:
3 plus | an all encompassing 4 th | ||
| Brahma | Vishnu | Shiva | Brahman (the Absolute) |
| Thought | Energy | Matter | Prakriti or Nature |
| sattva | rajas | tamas | |
| white | red | black | |
| Jnana-Yoga | Karma-Yoga | Bhakti-Yoga | Moksha or Freedom |
| Duty | Livelihood | Erotic | Moksha or Freedom |
| Dharma | Artha | Kama | |
| "A" | "U" | "M" | The Mystical Syllable OM |
The Shri Yantra and the Chakras are, therefore, the design for a fully
constructed world in which all of us pursue our various Karmic trajectories. We
are in the world; the world is in us; we ARE the world--thus, the Yoga of the
Shri Yantra!
posted by VICKY @ 7:18 PM,
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