Page 210 - Wisdom Unfurled

fourth with water while the fifth partakes the nature of air and ether or space as well. The knots have almost the same characteristics but each one has something of the whole more preponderantly. Thus the point of water has earth, water, fire, air, ether also but water is predominant. It helps greatly in comprehending our experiences on the path to note the fact that the elements go to form the five kosas, or veils that have formed around the soul and that the five senses symbolize five forms of perception (activities of consciousness) relating to the elements. Thus touch is symbolic of perception in the physical plane (anna maya), taste in the emotional (prana maya), smell in the mental and moral (manomaya), hearing in the spiritual (vijnanamaya) and sight in the ether plane (ananda maya or bliss). It is also to be seen that the traditional path of spiritual journey from Mooladhara to Sahasrara is modified in the system of SRRY to commence from the heart to Visuddha through a zig-zag path as noted above.
It is illuminating to consider here the observations made by the author of Path of Grace in this context. The above five knots are in a sense part of the anahad or heart centre. In as much as the journey in the lower centres of swadhishtana, manipura and mooladhara is not taken in the beginning and is taken at the end of the journey, the Great Master identified and located certain centres or knots as termed by Him in the organic region having certain characteristics which are similar or identical to those of the plexuses mentioned above. Though air is the element that represents the fifth knot as per the original work of the Master, it is the heart centre where the voices are heard (inner voice or conscience and the communications from the Masters and other elevated souls). Anahad itself means unstruck sound yielding us the clue for assigning such a role to the ‘heart’. The solar centre or manipura having control over the element fire is represented as knot 3, the centre relating to devotion and fire. The sacral centre or swadhishtana relating to water element connected with taste is represented as knot 4 relating to water. The basic plexus, mooladhara relating to element earth is located as knot 1 connected to the same element and sense of touch and aspect of Viveka, discriminative intelligence. Thus there is a one to one substitution of the lower centres of the Shatchakra path into the knots of Pind desh, a remarkable discovery of the Master which reduces the difficulties in Sadhana for one who proceeds with total faith in the Master. It is to be noted here that the Master’s work ‘Towards Infinity’ does not take any direct cognizance of these shat chakras and His remarks related to these chakras, kundalini as such and the yoga practices connected to this path are to be gleaned from His letters to some aspirants by way of clarifications and talks. The last state of TAM as the highest approach possible for the blessed and determined seeker described in His works is not referred to at all in the traditional schools of yoga which