MANIPOORA
This is the third chakra of the Kundalini Yoga and its light radiates as if from a red gem. This is also called the central chakra or the chakra for repose - when the kundalini moves from the Mooladhara upwards to the Thousand petalled lotus or back from the Thousand petalled lotus downwards to the Mooladhara, it definitely rests for sometime at this centre. This is the place for fire tatwa and for many miraculous powers, hence the sadhaka has to be extremely careful. Usually ordinary sadhaka gets engulfed in the miraculous powers of the great illusion (Maya) and are unable to pierce this chakra by kundalini. The sadhaka should therefore remember his Master again and again and should not allow his manas to be attracted by the miraculous powers. Once this chakra is pierced, the sadhaka has no difficulty left behind. The following points must be kept in mind for piercing the chakra.
1. The knowledge of inhalation, holding the breath and exhalation.
2. Special experience of tankore during the process of holding the breath. This chakra has many subtle points situated in it. The tankore should be on the correct point otherwise diseases can develop. Therefore one should acquaint one self with the knowledge of chakra in advance.
3. Never stop more than 10 seconds on this chakra.
4. On reaching this chakra the Master should always be kept in front.
5. The sadhaka should worship and salute the various divine powers situated in this chakra.
The colour of the Manipoora chakra is red and the tatwa is fire and the vehicle is ram, the ruling divinity is Rudra and power is Dakini and the Yantra is a Triangle. The seed alphabets Dam, Dham Nam, Tam, Tham, Dam, Dham, Nam, Pam, and Pham. It is parallel to the navel and is situated behind the sushumna. The seed alphabet of the fire tatwa is Ram. The Ram is an animal who can tolerate high temperature. When the prana of the sadhaka touches this chakra great heat is generated in the body. To bear this heat and not allow any obstructions to develop in the practices indicate the development of powers comparable to a Ram. The particles of the water tatwa reach this chakra from below and are converted into steam by the flames of the fire. This steam spreads everywhere in the body and starts removing the impurities. When the air touches the flames of fire then a subtle sound of Ram, Ram, Ram appears. This might have been given the form of Ram the seed alphabet for this fire tatwa. The fire tatwa is dominant in the Manipoora chakra but the water and the air tatwas are also affected. It must be kept in mind that the Manipoora tatwa warms the prana of the sadhaka, this heat removes all impurities when the impure particles in the prana are burnt the pure particles only remain and these pure particles only, penetrate the Manipoora.
For the removal of the impure particles Pranayam is repeated many times. If the grace of divine powers is needed then the sadhaka should do the japa of Durga or Kali or the ten great powers (either of one or more than one great power). One should seek protection of these powers for destroying bad thoughts or bad sanskaras. If attempts are being made to genetrate the Manipoora chakra without purifying the prana the Rudra Deva foils the sadhaka's attempt. At this centre there are various types of divine powers working and decide whether the pranas of sadhaka are capable to enter this chakra or not. If sadhaka with good sanskara is unable to penetrate this chakra then he should seek protection from Shree Rudra, Shiva, Mother Dakini, and pray them. If the sadhaka gets vision of any divine power or of the seed alphabets Ram, Pam, Pham, Ham it is an indication that permission has been granted for the entry into the chakra.
Many groups of Nadies enter this chakra from right and left. The prana particles are generated by the prana and udana at this very centre. It is from here that the prana particles are directed into different directions for the attainment of the desired objectives. The perfection of the practices of the tankore by mental yoga is obtained after the activation of this centre. This chakra therefore bestows perfection to many practices of prana tankore Just above the navel chakra is the seat for the subtle body. If one has to learn practices from Yogi then he should be invited on this centre. Direct your subtle body to this place and learn yoga practices. One has to take help of this chakra for activating Agnaya, Brahma gate, Brahmanda and Brahmarandhra, therefore this ckakra is of great importance.

The order of Seed alphabet visualizztion :

This chakra has Dam Dham, Na, Tam, Tham, Dam, Dham, Na, Pam, and Pham seed alphabets. Five of them are on the right and five are on the left in an order. The colour of this chakra is red but the seed alphabets situated there are usually of the white colour. Divide the Mainpoora chakra as depicted in the figure. Keep two and a half seed alphabets in each portion, Nam and Nam are situated on the line joining the east and west.
1. Practice the descending, Ascending and descending order of japa of the 10 seed alphabets. When one has practiced pure pronounciation then only tankore should be given on the seed alphabets during kumbhaka (Holding the breath) The japa in descending Ascending descending order should be done atleast seven time.
2. Inhaling, holding the breath and exhalation should be understood, properly. Inhale through the left nostril, Hold the breath and exhale through the right nostril. Do it in this order first slowly and later on quickly with force. Direct the prana to Mooladhara and then swadhishthana and finally to Manipoora. At the Manipoora make them move slowly from left to right and then direct them upwards. Repeat this practice many times.
3. Inhale through the mouth with full force and quickly exhale do it 21 times or 108 times. Concentrate on any point in the Manipoora. Breathe in and hold it. Direct the Prana from Mooladhara and hold them at Manipoora. The point of concentration becomes full of light and the chakra gradually becomes clear.
4. The visualization of a triangle and a black dot in its centre may be seen in this light. This is the vision of Brahma nadi. The vision of a couple means the perfection of this chakra.
6. For seven to twenty one days make the Mother contact Manipoora for a small time and gradually direct her movements. Try to touch each spot.
7. Sometimes the divine master of Kundalini yoga appears when the kundalini is contacting these spots. Salute the master mentally many times. As soon as these spots are touched the heat in the body increases. If the heat becomes unbearable repeat the pranayam practices again and again.
i) Breathe through the left nostril hold it for some time then gradually inhale through the right nostril. If it is done for 7 to 11 times the heat starts becoming less. The japa of AUM in the ratio of 7 is to 3 is to 7 is done. It gives immediate benefit.
8. When all the points are contacted by the Kundalini the Manipoora chakra becomes manifest in its entirety. The sushumna, vajra, chitrini and brahma nadi along with seed alphabets become clearly visible. The shine in the eyes of the mother kundalini increases and its light becomes light blue. Here the mouth of the mother kundalini is broader as compared to the swadhishthana chakra.
9. Once the mother kundalini has completed its contact with all the portions of the Manipoora then it is directed towards the Antaha Chakra. The order of the contact at the manipoora chakra is being depicted in the diagram given below :
MANIPOORA AND THE DIVINE POWERS :
In Manipoora chakra Rudra and the Dakini mother reside. The Rudra purifies the pranas of the sadhaka by heat and makes them suitable for the Brahmanda.
The inner inspiration and the order of the Master are the media by which the Rudra and Kakini guide the sadhaka. By surrendering to the mother Dakini the sadhaka gets rid of his difficulties and obstructions. The mother Dakini alongwith her ten daughters protects the sadhaka and guide him according to the attributes possessed by him. These ten goddesses appear according to the will of the Lord Shiva. They are Kali, Tara, Dhumavati etc. They are called great goddesses because they fulfil the desires of Lord Shiva. The ten petals are related to these ten goddesses. They protect the sadhaka in all the ten directions. The various mother Durgas also reside in this chakra. There are 32 forms of Durga according to their different attributes. For quietening down the difficultes and diseases in kundalini yoga invoke Durga mother having 8 hands and for attaining quick success in the practice invoke the Durga mother with 18 hands and for attaining their grace quickly the japa of 32 names of Durga should be done. The mother Tripurasundari has a special importance here. If we carefully contemplate its form we find that it resembles the form of the afternoon mother Gayatri Because of the five tatwas in Manipoora she specially loves red articles there fore red flowers and fruits and red clothes are very dear to her. If she is mentally worshipped alongwith the yantra in Manipoora the piercing of this chakra becomes extremely easy.


Aum Shantih, Shantih, Shantih
Yogi Raja The Master


SPECIAL NOTE : THE MOVEMENT OF THE
MOTHER IN MANIPOORA
We the mother Kundalini travels from the Swadhishthana to the Manipoora it keeps on twisting its body (forming the shape of lam seed). The Master is always with her but still the sadhaka has to put on a lot of efforts for piercing the Manipoora and the great master provides the energy and power to make it a success. The Mother first of all touches the black sun which is in the centre of Manipoora. From here the mouth, eyes and the head of the mother Kundalini, gradually make their appearance. Some times the sadhaka experiences great difficulties in visualising her because mother kundalini sits under the chakra in a coiled form and after sitting there for sometimes it goes back to Mooladhara. The sadhaka does not realise this and keeps on making an effort for penetrating the Manipoora. The difficulty appears here because of the shape and form of sushumna. The sushumna assumes here the form depicted as in the diagram. The sadhaka should be conversent with the fact that if the Manipoora has been pierced correctly and the mother kundalini has been moving in the appropriate fashion in the chakra then the blue light of swadhishthana chakra is visible over the Manipoora. In this blue light waves of water and the foam on the waves as of the sea water and the light of lightening in the high waves of water and the sound of the waves because of the blasts of the wind are visible and heard. These waves are seen in all the 10 directions and they meet at the central point of the chakra. On careful visualization this spot appears dark (blue). The waves and the light of swadhisthana helps in clearly visualising this very spot. The mother's mouth becomes visible first of all in this dark spot. On coming here the mother also desires to move in all the Nadies and organs situated in the ten directions so that she may gather energy for herself. After completely storing the energy the mother again wanders in the various nadies and generates light. This is a procedure in which the secretion and humour are adopted by the mother and the nadies are bestowed with nectear. After attaining the shape of lam seed alphabet it touches the seed alphabet Dam. Pronounce the letter dam carefully. The phonetics of the letter sounds like the sound in slipping This slippery sound helps the mother in passing through angulated passages of the sushumna. It is therefore benefical to pronounce dam while practicing penetration. During the sound of Dam the light is generated and the black sun changes and the Dam is converted into Dham. The two eyes and the tail of the mother appear at one place. In fact the mother holds the tail in her mouth and appears converted into the seed alphabets Nam.
For pronouncing Tam, Tham, Dam, Dham, and Nam seed alphabets take the help of teeth, tongue, lips and nose and produce the sounds and try to establish a unison with the sound being produced by the mother in the chakra. This completes the creation of the seeds. The seed alphabets pam and Pham are pierced by the mother Kundalini through their circular spaces (Abdomen). And then turns towards the Anahata chakra. The colour of the Manipoora which first appeared blue, on gradual activation turns into red. The shadow cover of the chakra below is gradually removed and the pure form now becomes visible. For pronouncing the seed alphabets in Manipoora they are divided in three parts. The first part consists of Dam, Dham, Na, the second of Tam, Tham, Dam, Dham or Nam and the third is made of Pam, and Pham, First these are pronounced individually and later on in three groups. After some practice try to recognize and isolate their sounds from the Anahada sound or the arti sound and isolate them and establish them at respective places. Practice to hear, and isolate sound of each seed alphabet when the sadhaka attains the capacity to hear all the ten sounds the sadhaka starts getting energy from the mother Kundalini. Like this the sadhaka after activating the sounds of many seed alphabets reaches the Anahata chakra where the sounds are being generated automatically.

Aum Shantih, Shantih, Shantih
Yogi Raja The Master.