1.3.1 general topics on brahmacakra

1.3.2 microvita and brahmacakra, 3.1 microvita

Q: What motivates chi towards manifesting as ying and yang?

The chi may be described as a direct manifestation of the life force in the physical body. That life force, when it becomes active, will take one of two avenues. It will either become manifest as ying or as yang, as feminine or masculine, as receptive or expressive. It will take one of these two avenues as it becomes visible for as the one begins to divide, polarity is established.

The chi will manifest in duality due to the play of Prakrti. You know in this manifest universe, there is first and foremost, the pure undifferentiated consciousness of Parama Purus'a. The central nucleus of this manifest universe is the Purusottama, the pure undifferentiated consciousness. Within this consciousness begins the play of operative principles forming the conscious mind. When this occurs there is the development of the feeling of "I", the sense of doership and then the development of the five fundamental factors.

Now, in all of this there are certain operative principles which are involved. One is the triangular play of the three gunas. The other is the oppositional play of polarity. That is to say ying and yang, negative and positive, receptive and expressive, centripetal and centrifugal. All of these are the play of polar opposites and their interwoven balance is part and parcel of the fundamental operative principles of this universe from which the entire manifest universe is created. So, when living beings come into existence, they contain within themselves life force energy. This life force energy I have termed microvita, that is small life. But in ancient China, the results of this life force energy were described as chi.

Now, this chi is the expressed manifestation of the life force energy in the physical body. When it manifests, it will be dominated by the operative principles just as the five fundamental factors are dominated by the operative principles and brought into existence through the play of operative principles. Now I have said there are two primary principles, there are other principles also. But these primary principles are very significant in the evolution of consciousness and the development of energetic patterns.

One is the polar play of opposites, the ying and yang, the receptive and the expressive, the inward and the outward, that which moves towards divinity, and that which moves towards diversity. If there is not this play of opposites, there cannot be the kind of momentum that is required to set the energies in motion so when the life force energy manifests in the human body and it becomes active, it will utilize this play of opposites to stimulate its energetic expression. Also there is the influence of the three gunas so that the energy will be sattvic, mutative or rajasic or it will be static and though this was not traditionally talked about in Chinese philosophy, these three principles also comes into play in the type or quality of energy which is manifesting in the body in the chi. So you will have the polar play of opposites in a never ending cycle of creativity and you will have the intertwining triangle of the three gunas and you will have domination at any given time by one of these qualities of energy.

Now, energy is most effective for the subtle expression which is wanted in healing when it is sentient and when the balance of ying and yang or polar opposites is in harmony. If the energy if rough, dominated by the static principle, it will not move in the body with fluidity. If it is dominated by the rajasic principle, the mutative quality will be overmuch and the energy will flow from place to place. So the rajasic principle is wanted in healing because the energy must flow, the static energy must be broken apart and when it breaks, it becomes rajasic and it begins to move. When the energy moves, then there is activation of the subtler qualities, the subtler energies, the subtle life force energy. It is this energy that is manipulated by the healer to produce actual results. So when the rajasic flow or movement of energy becomes settled and the sentient principle brought to dominance while the play of opposites is balanced, then the optimum condition is there for the sentient principle to produce a healing within the physical structure. But in order for the sentient principle to be expressed, the static energy must be broken apart and then the rajasic energy balanced so that the sentient force may come to life and all systems become sweet and harmonious. In this way the life force energy is brought into movement and refined.

You see, chi is there, even in the static principle it is there, only it is dominated by tamaguna. It is static, it does not move, it is locked in place, it is thick, it is coarse and when life force energy is dominated by the static principle, there may be the growth of disease. When that is broken apart and washed by the dominance of the rajasic principle, then the energy begins to flow and the configuration changes. Then when sentient principle dominates, the energy will become sweet and harmonious and this transformation of the dominance of gunas upon the chi is achieved through the balance of the oppositional forces. That is, the extroversial, the introversial, the ying and yang, the influence of polar opposites. That which leads towards crudification and that which leads towards divinity must be in balance. That which is physical and that which is spiritual, that which pulls towards physical and that which pulls towards the spiritual will be brought together.

Now this chi, this life force energy is throughout the physical structure. It is in the atoms of the body, it is the life in every cell of the human body. Every living cell, every living molecule, every living atom contains this life force energy and this is the reason that it is a living being and not an inanimate object because this energy is present. When this life force energy is present there will also be the manifestation of some degree of mind so that you have a living being. If there is no chi, then there is no living being. So chi is there and life force is there. It expresses in the physical body as the chi by the play of opposites in a never ending circle so that the energy is in a continual movement, it kind of keeps awash the body and keeps the gunas in balance so that never is there the dominance of tamasic or rajasic or sentient energies. They are continually changing, changing. There may be a preference of one or the other but there is no dominance. But when the chi does not cycle properly in the play of polarity, then static principle becomes stronger and disease may occur. So, it may be said that this chi manifests as opposites because it is dominated by the fundamental operative principles which underlie the manifest universe and are the very mechanisms by which manifest expression exists. They are the play of Prakrti.

Q: Why does the unmanifest become manifest?

The unmanifest, Purusottama, the Cosmic Nucleus, may be likened unto a vacuum in which there is no push, no pull, in any direction. Prakriti or the fundamental operative principles, exist but they are quiescent, held in complete equilibrium. They are unmanifest. But even within the very nature, even within the state of quiescent equipoise, this cosmic nucleus, Purusottama, holds within its being the potentiality of expression. Pure, omnipresent, omnipotent, unqualified, undifferentiated, beyond the scope of mind. That alone exists in the silence of eternity. But within that vast silence lies the potentiality of manifestation, quiescent and unexpressed.

In the timeless void of pure existence sooner or later there arises the tiniest distortion, the tiniest disturbance in the equilibrium. The three gunas, the fundamental operative principles lie in equipoise like a perfect triangle. They balance each other but then there comes some slight vibration and slight distortion occurs in this equipoise and there is the beginning of a wave. As the ages pass eons upon eons, this wave moves slowly into expression and first of all it is a sense of pure existence, "I am aware that I exist", this "I" feeling comes, self awareness. The Cosmic Entity becomes aware of existence and then from that awareness, the entire play of manifestation moves into existence.

Now I have used terms which indicate the passage of time but there is no passage of time in the pure equipoise of Purusottama, no time exists. There is no time when this unmanifest cosmic nucleus has not existed, does not exist, and will not exist for it lies outside of the scope of time. Do you understand what I am saying? It is not within time so its boundaries of when and where cannot be defined. You cannot say it existed and then it became manifest, it is not like that. It has always been unmanifest, it is unmanifest and it will be unmanifest. There is no time and no space. It is not defined in one place, it is not in one time. It is. Now, the manifest universe holds its root in this unmanifest state but this is not a linear universe. It is to complement the thinking of human beings that in the philosophy it is expressed in this way, but it is misleading. To understand it, you must think somewhat holistically, three dimensionally, multi-dimensionally so that while there is unmanifestation, there is manifestation. One is outside the scope of time so you cannot say it was and it changed. You cannot say it will be and it is not now, because there is no time, it is. You cannot say that that which is beyond the scope of all expression changes, it does not. Yet you may say that within this endless, timeless, formless existence, comes the initial vibratory frequency from which manifestation occurs, but if you ask why, the question itself is inherently flawed because there is no time when it has not been. There is no change. It exists. Manifestation exists. Cosmic Mind exists. The cycle of creation exists, but this cycle lies within the scope of time and therefore changes. So evolution exists but there is no question of why the unmanifest manifests. It does not. And yet it may be said, within the scope of time, the unmanifest alters itself to become the manifest universe.

Now why does this happen? It happens because the operative principles of Prakriti come into play. It is her speciality to produce the multifarious colors of this manifest universe. It is her very nature. So she simply does what she does because it is her inherent nature to do so. Purus'a, or consciousness, and Prakriti, or the operative principles, are like two sides of one piece of paper. They cannot be separated from each other. They will ever be merged and the nature of both exists. Neither one will cease to exist. So you see, Purus'a is, and Prakriti also is. They dance endlessly in a divine union and from that union comes the multifarious colors of this manifest universe and the quiescent omnipresent peace of the pure Purus'a. It is the inherent nature of Brahma to be thus.

Q: Why does the formless energy become form?

I believe I have answered this question. I will only add one further point. When Parama Purus'a manifests in the created universe as Cosmic Mind, he is qualified by Prakrti. When he then dreams the dream of manifestation, he is further qualified by Prakrti until, at the outermost reaches of the binding force, he becomes material substance. At this point a unique occurrence develops. Unable to be contained by such restriction, consciousness pushes out and life is created. This life force energy I call microvita, you may call it chi. It is inherent in every living substance, every living molecule, every living atom. It makes a kind of shadow atom atop the normal atom and exists in all living substance. So the chi is generated from the atomic level. Where there is life, there is chi. Where there is chi, there is life and it can be activated. So if this energy, held within every atom of a living being, is activated through the play of opposites and the static quality removed, it may be moved. This force is a mighty force. It can heal physical bodies and it can do many other things as well. It is in every atom of your being and your mind is based on it. It is the base for mental activity and for spiritual activity as well. It has three grades, one is physical, one is psycho-physical and the other is psycho-spiritual. So when working with chi you must remember there are three grades so it can be activated in three spheres. It is a mighty force if controlled and directed and many things can be done with it. But that is another subject. So does this answer your question?