Swadhishthana chakra – seat of life and death
In modern psychiatric treatment, ‘primal theory’ is applied where patients scream as a catharsis, from the depths of their hara*, to relieve fear and other suppressed negative emotions.
Fear is associated with the swadhishthana chakra*, the subtle energy center two inches below the navel region.
This is an incident from my life when I was young:
I used to circumambulate the Arunachala* hill every day. I would start early in the morning at around four am, and go around the hill, chanting and singing keertans*.
One morning I started very early, soon after midnight. In those days there were no roads or lights on the path around the hill. It was a dense forest all the way. I was happily singing and walking with my eyes down. Suddenly, at a spot near a small river, I looked up and saw a pack of fierce-looking hyenas staring at me intensely ready to pounce on me!
In that sudden deep fear, I just let out a scream from the depths of my hara*, the swadhishthana chakra*. It was a scream of pure fear that I had never experienced before. It was so complete that never again did I feel shaken by fear in my life!
I felt a total surrender to Arunachala* and a deep trust that Arunachala* would take care of me. Suddenly, from nowhere, an elderly sannyasi*
appeared in front of me with a big stick, and chased away the hyenas. As soon as the animals ran away, the old man disappeared!
With that primal scream, I found that my body had suddenly become much lighter. I was almost floating rather than walking, as if the frequency of my being had increased.
In modern psychiatric treatment, ‘primal theory’ is applied where patients scream as a catharsis, from the depths of their hara*, to relieve fear and other suppressed negative emotions.
Glossary:
* Swadhishthana Chakra – Spleen energy center, between base of spine and navel. Blocked by fear.
* Arunachala hill – Literally the unmoving red mountain in Tiruvannamalai in Tamilnadu in South India, this mystical hill is considered a representation of enlightened master Shiva.
* Keertans – Devotional songs.
* Hara – Seat of the soul in Japanese tradition, corresponds to swadhishthana chakra or subtle energy center related to fear, situated near the belly region.
* Sannyasi – One who has renounced, a monk.
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