SUBTLE BODY 

These centers are capped at the top of the head by the "thousand-petaled lotus" (sahasradalapadma), which is the abode of Shiva in the human body.  Connecting all of centers are three vertical channels (nadi): the ida nadi on the left (in this picture), the pingala nadi on the right, and the sushumna in the center.  Coiled three times around the muladhara chakra is the kundalini, the latent spiritual force in all human beings.  This is considered an aspect of the universal Shakti, or feminine divine power, but in most people is regarded as dormant, symbolized by its coiled state.  This separation of Shakti and Shiva at the opposite ends of the subtle body also symbolizes the ordinary person's unenlightened state, since from an enlightened perspective this duality is transcended, and these two deities are united and identical.

In the types of yoga that focus on the subtle body, the ultimate aim is to awaken and straighten the kundalini, moving it up the sushumna through the chakras to the abode of Shiva.  Since the kundalini is nothing but raw energy, the process must be carefully controlled to prevent the aspirant from unleashing uncontrollable forces, and the manuals warn against doing this without being under the supervision of a spiritual teacher (guru).  The union of Shiva and Shakti in the aspirant's body mirrors the action of these divine forces in the macrocosm, and with this union the aspirant gains bliss and final liberation of the soul (moksha).  These notions are all reinforced by the handwritten notes left of the figure’s head.  The top note reads “Shriguupadaka” (in invocation paying homage to the guru’s feet as a sign of respect), the middle one reads “paramatma” (the Supreme Self/Reality), and the bottom one reads “jivatma” (the individual soul/Self).  

KUNDALINI ("spiral"): Kundalini, the latent spiritual power that exists in every person, is one of the most fundamental concepts in the secret ritual-based tradition known as tantra.  It is the most vital element in the subtle body, an alternate physiological system which believed to exist on a different plane of existence than gross matter, but has certain correspondences to the material body.  The subtle body is conceived as a set of six psychic centers (chakras), visualized as multi-petaled lotus flowers running roughly along the course of the spine, which are connected by three vertical channels.  Each of these chakras has important symbolic associations--with differing human capacities, with different subtle elements, and with different seed syllables (bijaksharas) formed from the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, thus encompassing all sacred sound.  Above and below these centers are the bodily abodes of the god Shiva (awareness) and the goddess Shakti (power), the two divine principles through which the entire universe has come into being.  The underlying assumption behind this concept of the subtle body is thus the homology of macrocosm and microcosm, an essential Hindu idea since the time of the mystical texts known as the Upanishads. 

The kundalini is the aspect of the universal Shakti (feminine divine energy) present in all human beings, which is visualized as a snake coiled three times around the muladhara chakra, the lowest of these psychic centers.  Although kundalini can be found in all people, in most people it is dormant, symbolized by its coiled state.  The object of the religious disciplines (yogas) involving the subtle body is to awaken and uncoil the kundalini, and draw it up through the subtle body's central channel (sushumna), piercing through the chakras on its way.  Kundalini's ascent represents the awakening of spiritual energy, but this awakening must be carried out under a guru's the strict supervision, to prevent the aspirant from unknowingly arousing uncontrollable forces.  When each chakra has been pierced, this is said to bring either the destruction of obstructions, or the awakening of new capacities.  When fully extended the kundalini rises to the microcosmic realm of Shiva, the sahasradalapadma at the crown of the head, to unite with Shiva in perpetual bliss.  For further information, see Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) Sakti and Sakta <1959>, A. Bharati, The Tantric Tradition <1975>, and Douglas R. Brooks, The Secret of the Three Cities <1990>. 

Note: The image comes from a Kangra school painting from present Himachal Pradesh; ca. 1820. It has been published in Philip Rawson’s The Art of Tantra.