Chakras and the 64 Yoginis
As the first of the siddhas, the Tibetan sources
mention Luhi-pa (Luyi-pada) who is most probably identical with
Matsyendranatha, the teacher of the famous Gorakshanatha...The
natha-siddhas...deserve to be singled out for separate treatment by
virtue of their enormous influence on the development of Yoga -
Textbook of Yoga, Georg Feuerstein,ch 10
There are more systems of chakras in the tantrik tradition than most
people realise. One of the most ancient appears in chapter nine of the
Kaulajnana Nirnaya, attributed to Siddha Matsyendranath. Said to
be the progenitor of the Kaula school of tantra, this chakra system is
eightfold. Each of the lotuses has eight petals and these represent the
64 yoginis, famed in Kamarupa.
"The letter ksa is in the Brahmarandhra, la in the
forehead, ha between the eyes, sa in the mouth, sa in the throat, sha in
the heart, va in the navel, and ha in the genitals. Dear One, listen to
the collective meditation in these chakra places.
"The first of the eight is a celestial eight petal
lotus of pure crystal effulgence, a heavenly fire or flame, completely
without stain, free from all duality, from the fires of cruelty, devoid
even of nothingness. One should avoid perturbation and practise
equipoise (Sama) consciousness. One my see even beyond the future, one
with the endless circle of time, having knowledge of what is spoken at a
distance, able to both grant boons and to paralyse, with the ability to
seize and subjugate pashus, or to destroy or to kill them, mortal,
always truthful, and in equipoise, becoming eloquent, a Siddha, and able
to do anything.
"One should meditate on the second as having eight
petals, as bright as a beautiful pure flame. One conquers death and
becomes the cause of great excitation. Meditating one-pointedly on this
multi-fold form one becomes an emperor amongst kings, doing whatsoever
one wills, and may destroy all in the three worlds, whether animate or
inanimate - like Kruddha, the cause of both creation and dissolution,
always engaged in love.
"The third great chakra is the deliverer from the
nine tattvas. After meditating on the Guru in that chakra for six
months, one my achieve whatever is wished for, destroy old age, be able
to see at a distance, able to obstruct, even if one hundred yojanas
distant. In a lonely place one should meditate on that multi-fold form.
"The fourth chakra is the cause of peace, increasing
happiness and pleasure. By always meditating on it, afterwards one
becomes immortal, eloquent, victorious over death and disease.
Practising it daily, one causes death to flee. By continual practice for
a period of sixteen seasons on this great chakra, one becomes able to
destroy in a day and a night.
"O Surasundari, the fifth great lotus has eight
petals. One should always meditate on it as being of a smoky colour,
then one my shake the three worlds. It causes eloquence and avoidance of
untimely death, and allows one to both enslave and paralyse.
"If one should meditate devotedly on the sixth royal
chakra, fiery, with a pericarp of eight petals, as bright as liquid
gold, the cause of Iccha Siddhi, it enables one to see into the future,
giving Anima and the other seven siddhis - of this there is no doubt.
"Dear Mahadevi, the seventh is as bright as the full
moon, auspicious, within the body, bestowing both enjoyment and
liberation, destroying fever and death, enabling one to enter into
another's body. what may not be done? One becomes the best within a
circle of people. "Pretty-Eyed One, the eighth great chakra, adorned
with eight petals, gives Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha."
