A warm welcome to Day 36 of our 40 Day Retreat 2009.
The subject of today is the Vishuddha chakra, sometimes called Vishuddhi. It is another step on the consciousness journey, the journey of evolving consciousness. It is a very powerful center, a center that we need to understand. When we do, we can make use of it in an even better way. Vishuddha or Vishuddhi means purification. It is a purification center. It gives us an opportunity to use the heart in purer expressions, allowing our consciousness to evolve and to take us to the next step of the journey, which is the Ajna chakra. We need to give attention to this chakra and to understand how it works.
Spiritual Science of Sound
As our heart opens up and as we become more spiritual, we begin to feel more spirituality. Then Vishuddha opens up to allow vocal expression. But it is not just vocal because in the science of speech and sound there are different levels of sound and energy that are involved. When we see gross speech, it is called Vaak in the spiritual science, in the wisdom of India. We are unaware that there are other subtle levels to the sound, which if we become aware of, can begin to give more power to the expression. I will go into a little detail about this so you can understand.
According to this science the very source of sound is where the kundalini dwells in the Muladhara. There it is undifferentiated sound. It has not yet begun to come into the sound. Sound is there in potential form. As Muladhara opens up this power begins to come up, and in the second and third chakras, Swadhisthana and Manipura, there the sound goes to another level. Here is where the desire to speak becomes stronger, the intentionality behind the sound. When the sound comes further it comes to the heart, the middle area. Here we bring emotional quality into the sound and we also use the brow chakra to do that intelligently, the Ajna chakra. Then it comes up to Vishuddha chakra and finally as gross sound.
These chakras are involved in the sound or the speech and when you begin to experience these awakened chakras, you can follow the journey of sound and by becoming involved in the production of sound and the energy behind sound, we can actually begin to go deeper and deeper in our consciousness.
In the language of Sanskrit, the very first level of that sound is called Paraa, that is the pure undifferentiated level. Then it comes up to the second and third chakra and it is called Pashanti. Then it comes up to the heart area and it is called Madhyama. Then it comes up to the throat and it is called Vaikhari when it comes out as articulated sound. We have an opportunity by observing sound to go deeper and deeper into our consciousness and to go right back to where sound began as energy and that is incredible.
This is one of the reasons I love chanting so much and one of the reasons I feel so much power in speaking, because I can actually feel this journey happening, the sound is coming from the deepest level that we cannot even see or perceive. It is coming up into visibility in different levels.
As Our Expressions Become Purer and Nobler
this Chakra Opens up More and Speech Begins to Get Power
We have an opportunity through this center to begin to go deeper into the consciousness. And as we make our expressions purer and nobler this chakra opens up more and speech begins to get power. It is no longer words. That is incredible when it happens. You can actually see the effect that it has on people you are speaking to. They become energized by your words and you become even more energized as you express them. Vishuddha as you begin to purify it, working in conjunction with Ajna as the brow center opens up, allows us to use it in expression, thoughts to express and also emotions to express. The most beautiful qualities within our being can be expressed through this chakra. You see how important this chakra is in communication.
Of course, we have been speaking about the opening and closing of chakras and I have said to you that when we get involved in activities of lower energy and associate with those people of low energy, then the chakras that have been awakened tend to close up. As you begin to express purer qualities through your association with people or through your noble thinking, you begin to express purer qualities in your speech. You are going to find more energy comes into your speech. Awakened kundalini in the chakras, begin to express itself through speech. That is why speech can be so powerful in positive expression and so destructive in negative expression.
Negative Speech Hinders the Energy
I want you to note and remember this. Especially when you are spiritually awakened and you are negative in your speech you can actually feel within you how that hinders the energy. You do not feel comfortable after a while, when you have done it. It is because you have not taken the responsibility that you now have from that awakened energy and discharged it honorably. The moment you begin to become purer in your speech you will actually feel a wonderful quality inside of you as the chakras open more, showing you what happens when you decide and when you choose to express in a purer way.
Awakening Brings Responsibility of Keeping the Voice Purer and Nobler
Those of you who have this chakra awakened and your voice begins to carry a new kind of power and you can feel it, then you have the great responsibility of keeping the voice purer and nobler. And if you do, more is going to come to you, more energy and more support from that higher self within you.
In my own journey this was a very important chakra as I have mentioned before. The strongest awakening that I had in India came from my heart chakra opening up during chanting. As I began to chant I could feel the words coming effortlessly through my mouth and I could feel this pure love was coming out of my being, just filling my whole being. It was such a wonderful experience. I pursued that as I wanted to feel more of this love and I wanted to feel more of this energy through my voice. Chanting became a very powerful discipline for me. I have always kept that discipline. I have always loved that discipline.
Later on as I began to feel this power through my voice in chanting and in singing, I started to notice this power in my normal speaking. When I begin to speak I could actually feel more power coming through my voice and after the 40 Days of 1978, I could actually feel power coming from the lowest level of my being and coming through all of me. The energies of all the chakras were coming through the voice and it was marvelously powerful.
My profession in those days of spiritual practice was teaching. So I had the wonderful opportunity of using the voice effectively in the classroom atmosphere and I could see the effect on those whom I was guiding. That allowed me the opportunity to begin to practice to be purer in my speech and to encourage people, to lift them and to help them. I could feel more power coming out of me when I did that and I kept that discipline. What that eventually did was to begin these Forty-Days of special discipline.
Just before these Forty-Days happened, the throat went through some purification that first evening that preceded the Forty-Days. I was chanting for two hours when I felt a number of things happening with the throat. The throat began to open up in a new way, it made certain sounds. The next morning something incredible happened. The voice took a new expression. This energy inside of me was guiding me through this voice. It was absolutely amazing! I knew then that the voice had become pure so this energy could now express itself through this voice to guide me. When it did, I followed everything it said. I got the higher gift of the brow. I was taught through that voice how to open up the brow even more. That was a marvelous gift. I spent forty days in learning how to open up that brow through the gift of this voice. It is an amazing experience. The voice disappeared and that too was significant. I will explain this tomorrow as I explain about the Ajna chakra.
Use the Throat with Discipline in Speaking, Listening and Inner Silence
I wanted to tell you how important it is to use the power of the voice nobly, responsibly and honorably in the human experience. That is why it is called the purification center. When you begin to use the voice and begin to use it as a spiritual discipline, you need to remember that in speaking, listening is also important and inner silence is also important. When you listen you open up the space of communication and you hear more. The throat area becomes controlled. Whenever you tap into the throat you open up that communication area. When you begin to use silence effectively you will feel that effect in the throat. The throat chakra is associated with hearing, so you are able to hear more. The throat chakra as a result helps you to assimilate more knowledge and to bring more knowledge into your being. The element that is associated with this chakra is Akash. This is the medium of information in the universe. When you become silent you pick up much more. There is going to come a time when you speak or sing you will feel this vast silence inside. You will feel as though you are communicating with the universe and the universe is communicating with you.
The throat chakra is important on the journey. It is a purification center. It helps you to see all those negative qualities that are in you as you begin to express them in speech. It allows you the opportunity to purify that and to go to the next level, which is even more exciting, the Ajna chakra. Do you see why it is important to be silent? So that you can listen more and you can be more responsible in how you use speech.
Silence is also a practice in the spiritual domain where it allows more listening and more effective use of speech. This is an important chakra on the journey. When you learn to use this chakra well, you will find that your communication improves. When you use this chakra in conjunction with the other chakras, your communication becomes very effective and very powerful. You become a master of silence and a master of speaking. You become a master of energy being channeled through sound. That is why when the master speaks to us, those words are explosive and they awaken subtle energies within us. The throat is also one of the mediums of initiation through the word.
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