One of the places in
the subtle body is known as tantra in various yoga systems and religious
traditions (an alternate physiological system believed to exist on a different
plane than gross matter but with certain correspondences to the material body).
The subtle body is made up of six psychic centers (chakras),
which are represented as six multipetaled lotus flowers that run approximately
down the spine and are joined by three vertical channels.
Each of these chakras has significant symbolic associations,
including diverse human capacities, subtle components (tan matras), and seed
sylla bles (bijaksharas) constructed from the Sanskrit alphabet's letters,
thereby encapsulating all holy sound.
The corporeal abodes of Shiva (consciousness) and Shakti
(power), the two divine principles through which the whole cosmos came into
existence, are located above and below these centers.
The homology of macrocosm and microcosm, an essential Hindu
belief from the time of the mystical scriptures known as the Upanishads, is
therefore the basic premise underpinning this concept of the subtle body.
The sahasradalapadma, which is seen as a
"thousand-petaled lotus" on the crown of the head, is the spot at the
pinnacle of the subtle body.
This is said to be Shiva's physical home, where he is always
present.
Final emancipation (moksha) in tantra is attained by the
holy union of Shiva and Shakti inside one's own body.
The divine union is achieved by waking the kundalini, the
physiological counterpart of Shakti that lays dormant at the base of the spine,
and pulling it up to the sahasradalapadma.
The seed syllable Om, the emblem of completion and
perfection, is associated with the sahasradalapadma.
For further detail, check Arthur Avalon's (Sir John
Woodroffe's) 1978 book Shakti and Shakta, Philip S.
Rawson's 1973 book The Art of Tantra, and Douglas Renfrew
Brooks' 1990 book The Secret of the Three Cities.
