Day Thirty Five: Meditation upon Sri Yantra

There are many tools in the world’s mystical traditions to assist the seeker to enter the clear awareness of meditation. Chants, prayers, visualization of sacred images, prescribed movements such as the dances of the Sufi dervishes or the prostrations of the Buddhists or Muslims, and holy rituals are a few such methods to still the mind. Sacred images in the form of mandalas or yantras may also be used.

Many people in the West are familiar with mandalas (Sanskrit word meaning “sacred circle”) seen in the sacred art of the Tibetan and American Indian traditions. Mandalas and Yantras are similar in their purpose and use for worship and visualization. Mandalas are generally more pictorial, with the circle as the primary enclosure. Yantras typically have a geometric design with an outer square enclosure with circles, triangles, lotus petals, and a bindu, or seed point, at the center.

Yantra is a Sanskrit word meaning “to compel” or “to restrain.” A yantra is used to restrain or compel the attention of a meditator, who approaches it as a tool for bringing the mind to the still point of meditation. It is a potent instrument or device used for concentration and visualization. The yantra is a symbol of holy ground; viewing it prepares the mind of the devotee to be transformed into holy ground itself, an instrument fit for direct perception of truth. CSE’s Temple of the Eternal Way is blessed with a Sri Yantra that can be seen above the altar.

The Sri Yantra (or Sri Chakra) is a mystic diagram that symbolizes the unfoldment of creation, or cosmic manifestation. Its precise origins are not known but it is associated with worship of the Divine Mother, or the Mother Goddess and with Vedic teachings.

As a mystical representation of creation, yantras express an energy pattern, or mantra. The Sri Yantra represents the mantra Aum, the primal sound of creation and with it the process of spiritual awakening or Self-realization. As the key to cosmic consciousness is turned through contemplation and meditation, one experiences the direct perception of Truth and the inner meaning of the yantra is revealed. In her book Mandala: Luminous Symbols for Healing, author Judith Cornell, Ph.D. writes: “…Sri Chakra represents Self-realization and is formed from the mantric sound pattern of Aum. Its sacred geometry symbolizes the feminine creative aspect of sacred sound out of which the many manifestations of Divinity are mirrored back as patterns of light…the mantric sound of Aum is not exclusive to either the Tibetan or Hindu tantric traditions. It is universal and can be used as a powerful healing mantra for anyone.” Paramahansa Yogananda described Aum, as “The basis of all sounds; universal symbol-word for God. Aum of the Vedas became the sacred word Hum of the Tibetans; Amin of the Moslems; and Amen of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians. Aum is the all-pervading sound emanating from the … Invisible Cosmic Vibration; God in the aspect of Creator.”

The Sri Yantra may be meditated upon as a representation of the universe as macrocosm and the human body as microcosm. As a macrocosmic image, it represents the union of Consciousness and Energy, or the masculine and feminine divine principles that comprise all of creation. The four upward triangles represent Shiva, or the Divine Masculine, the return of divine power to the Source, and the five downward triangles represent Shakti, or the Divine Feminine, the descent of Spirit into matter. The interplay of Shiva/Shakti gives rise to forty-three triangles, which symbolize the wholeness of existence. At the center of the yantra, the bindu, or seed-point, represents the still point of Supreme Consciousness—infinite divine potential with the power of manifestation at rest. As the individual soul is an expression of Supreme Consciousness, the yantra may also be viewed as the human temple of Spirit, where the bindu point expresses the devotee’s own being or consciousness.

As a tool for meditation, one may contemplate the process of cosmic creation as emanating from the one still point of Supreme Consciousness in the interplay of divine masculine and feminine polarities as well as contemplating its return to the Source. It may also be considered as a map, allowing one to travel in mind and consciousness from the outer expressions of God to the inner realm of divine communion. Contained within its symbolism are the processes and categories of cosmic manifestation as well as the esoteric teachings regarding the subtle energy pathways known as chakras.

Think About It: The image of the mystical mansion, the abode of the divine Self, is a universal image. St. Teresa of Avila used it in her writings on prayer: “I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions. Let us now imagine that this castle … contains many mansions, some above, others below, others at each side; and in the centre and midst of them all is the chiefest mansion where the most secret things pass between God and the soul.”
–St. Teresa, Interior Castle

Be Inspired: The universe is a great yantra of incredible power and intricate beauty that one can contemplate forever. –David Frawley