Ajna Chakra

In many schools of yoga and in the esoteric
ritual tradition known as tantra, the ajna
chakra is one of the six psychic centers
(chakras) thought to be in the subtle body.
The subtle body is an alternate physiological system, believed to exist on a different
plane of existence than gross matter but
with certain correspondences to the material body. The subtle body is comprised of
a set of six chakras, which are visualized as
multipetaled lotus flowers running roughly along the course of the spine, connected
by three vertical channels. Each chakra has
important symbolic associations—with
differing human capacities, different subtle elements (tanmatras), and different
seed syllables (bijaksharas) formed from
the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, thus
encompassing all sacred sound. Above and
below the chakras are the bodily abodes of
Shiva (awareness) and 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 six chakras are traditionally enumerated from the bottom up, and the
ajna chakra is the sixth and highest of
these. It is visualized as a two-petaled
lotus located in the forehead just above
the top of the nose. Its petals contain the
bijaksharas Ham and Ksam, formed
from the last two letters of the Sanskrit
alphabet. The ajna chakra is associated
with the capacity for thought, considered a distinctively human capacity and
thus the most important human faculty.
For further information see Arthur
Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), Shakti and
Shakta, 1978; and Philip S. Rawson, The
Art of Tantra, 1973.