Course XL - Teaching 9: “ÂJN”

Verse 32

“The lotus called Âjnâ is, like the Moon, beautifully white. On its two petals are the letters Ha and Ksha, which are also white and increase its beauty. It shines with the glory of the Contemplation. The Goddess Hâkinî is in the lotus; her six faces are like six Moons. She has six arms, and one of them is holding a book; the gesture of other two is that of granting favors and dissipating fear; and with the rest She is holding a skull, a little drum and a rosary. Her mind is pure.”

Commentary

The white color of this lotus causes to think that mind, at its early form, is very pure, Shuddha-Chitta. Gold kept in the waters of the Rhin is zealously watched by its guardian, because it is written that if some person touches it, this gold will lose its brilliance and become a curse to its profaners. Mind is like that, originally pure, but as his means of experience, it is his executioner and tyrant.
According to this text, also Shakti Hâkinî comes up with six heads and six arms, because every aspect of Kundalini’s power –of centers– unites to it.
This Wheel has two big radiations related symbolically to the sacred letters Ha and Ksha. These two radiations are the result of currents of pairs of opposites, action and reaction, which is the basic power of any mental activities.
One hand of the Goddess Hâkinî holds a closed book, image of eternal wisdom of the potential universe. Another hand holds a small drum, image of manifested power of the creative vibration.
Other two hands extend as if they granted favors and dissipated fear, image of the human-divine knowledge.
Another hand holds a rosary, image of love and sacrifice.
The last hand holds a skull, image of destruction and death.

Verse 33

“The subtle mind abides in this lotus. This mind is quite known. The God, behind his phallic form, is in the matrix, in the pericarp. Here He shines like lightening chain. Also you find there the First Seed of Vedas, which is the abode of the highest Goddess that, through her brilliance, makes the Channel of God visible. A wise man must meditate about all of them with steady mind, according to the established order.”

Commentary

The subtle mind is Manas.
The matrix is the Sacred Yoni that, united to Shiva Itara, Shiva’s phallus, form the dual aspect of the mind. Any mental wave, any mental particle to use must be a result of will-in-action in a being, of efforts.
The First Seed of Vedas, or Bîja of Om, is image of divine manifestation in man: “God created man in his own image”.
The Sâdhaka, the practical and useful sage, should meditate according to the established order, and to develop all centers so as to be able to achieve Âjnâ.

Verse 34

“The excellent sage, whose spirit consists in meditating only about this lotus, canto enter at will and quickly the body of someone else, and becomes the saint par excellence, by knowing all and seeing all. He becomes a benefactor to all, and versed with all sacred teachings; he achieves his union with God and acquires excellent and unknown powers. Famous and long-lived, he is always creator, preserver and destroyer of the three worlds.”

Commentary

This Verse accounts for those powers acquired by a Sâdhaka when he has the Visual Wheel under control. He is able to know and see all, that is, he has these gifts: discernment, telepathy, intuition and clairvoyance.
When the text says, “versed with all sacred teachings”, versed with all Shâstrâs, it denotes that he does not acquire these powers suddenly but gradually, according to those exercises practiced by him. Different clairvoyant powers relate to different parts of the hypophyseal gland: sight of the third eye is located at the back lobule; concentration of the right eye belongs to the intermediate lobule, and that of the left eye, to the front lobule.

Verse 35

“A combination of letters forming the Ineffable Name abides always in the triangle, in this Wheel. It is the innermost Spirit as pure mind, and like a flame because of its radiance. The crescent Moon is over it, and even over it, the Dragon shining with its form of a Point. Over this you find the Soundless Voice whose whiteness is equal to that of the Divine Power and spreads beams of the Moon.”

Commentary

This chakra symbolizes the mind.
God, the voice of God, Pranava, is behind the triangle: it is the Ineffable Name formed by three sacred words –Aum, Om and Vash.
The sign of the crescent Moon is over the triangle; the disciple will receive not only control over diverse worlds and planes, but also control over the Gate to the Eternal.
Mahara, the Dragon, still is here watching over the entrance, but with the form of a Point, Bindu, represented by the letter M. Fear does not exist any longer over it and beyond; you find only the Nothingness, the Soundless Voice, which is Power itself of God, Power itself of Valarama, Power of Rama.
Now one’s mind aims at liberation and does not focus on subjective worlds.

Verse 36

“When an ascetic locks a house with no support –his knowledge there acquired with the Highest Master’s assistance–and when his understanding –acquired through repeated practices– dissolves at this place that is the abode of uninterrupted happiness, then he sees sparks of fire shining with clarity in the middle and on the space above the triangle.”

Commentary

Powers of the soul are the house of a Yogi. When this house is with no support, Nirâ lamba puri, powers come apart by hypostatic ecstasy of the highest principles of being. Senses remain insensible, and the only support of beings is oneself. You reach this high state after long practices and after you receive one of the Parama Guru’s teachings.
He sees fiery sparks, which are images of the Spirit, and has glimpses of the Spirit, only after he destroys all Chetas, mental vortices.

Verse 37

“So, also he sees the lights on the form of a flaming lamp. It is shining like the morning sun, and shines between Heaven and Earth. It is here where the Master manifests himself with his entire power: he does not know decay and here He is like in the region of Fire, Moon, and Sun.”

Commentary

As the ecstatic state increases, the ascetic sees the Spirit with more and more clarity, because the Light has the form of a lamp; that is to say, he sees partially the Spirit, not the Whole Spirit. The text confirms this: this Light of the Spirit shines between Heaven and Earth, that is, his vision remains conditioned by human chances.
An ascetic that has achieved this ecstasy is called Lord, Bhagavan, and He is a little image of the Divine Incarnation on Earth, the One who lives at the region of Fire, Moon and Sun.

Verse 38

“Here is the incomparable and delightful abode of Vishnû. An excellent ascetic, at death, places joyfully here his vital breath and, after death, he enters this Highest, Everlasting, Birthless, First God, Eternal Spirit, who was before the three worlds and is known to the Scriptures.”

Commentary

If an ascetic has to live on the Earth, he cannot remain on a hypostatic ecstasy constantly; ecstasy is temporary in this life and cannot be lasting. But the one who once experienced ecstasy can achieve it at death.
The astral body deserts the physical body when the silver cord is broken through the navel. But an ascetic that knows how to raise his Kundalini to the Âjnâ, causes his astral body to go out through his head at death; so he avoids darkness, cold and the crossing of the Threshold. He enters directly the higher worlds through ecstatic death. The vital breath, prana, enters directly, through ecstasy, the higher place called, in the First Verse, Deva, Purusha, the One who is known to Vedanta.