Swadisthana Chakra – centre of creativity and aesthetics

The swadisthana chakra rotates around the Void area, shown above as a green circle. It has two aspects, corresponding to the left and right channels.

On the right channel it has the quality of creativity. Artists often have a problem with this centre as they tend to overuse it. On a physical level it governs the liver and we know in Sahaja Yoga that on the subtle level it affects our attention. Diet can affect the liver and in turn our attention, and substances such as alcohol and other drugs affect this centre adversely. This centre breaks down fat cells to replace the grey and white cells in the brain and it is vitally important for our thinking processes.

Our attention is to be looked after as it is the basis for meditation, which in turn is essential for any spiritual progress. Practising Sahaja Yoga meditation results in an improvement and settling down of the attention. There are so many things to distract our attention all around us and to take it to whatever is external that it is a relief to be able to overcome and to take the attention inside through meditation. The key to overcoming the problems of the swadisthan on the right side is thoughtless awareness, the essence of meditation. Problems affecting this centre on the right-hand side manifest as tingling or heat in the thumb of the right hand.

The quality of the swaisthana chakra on the left-hand side is pure knowledge (nirmala vidya) . This centre can be affected when one goes to false spiritual teachers or through reading about false teachings. It can also be affected through spiritualism, black magic and too much attention to those who have died. Problems affecting this centre on the left-hand side manifest as tingling of the left thumb.

Here is an extract from a talk by the founder of Sahaja Yoga about the Swadisthana chakra:

“There is another center here down below, if you see, is called as the center of Swadisthana, which gives aortic plexus as the gross manifestation of itself. Now when this center goes into imbalance, it goes round and round this ocean. Also it can retract. It can go further. What happens? Now this is a center for our future and for our creativity when it comes to the right. And when it moves to the left because it has got a step, like a lotus it moves. And if it comes to the left, it acts for something what we call unauthorized, anti-god activity. So another one is also unauthorized, because when we say that, “I am doing that,” then it is ego, is created in you and which passes into that pouch there in the head like a balloon and you form a big institution of ego in your head. On the other side is this one, where it comes to the left or any conditioning that takes place, that people say, “Don’t do that, and don’t do that,” and all kinds of conditionings through any kind of teachings, that creates another institution is called as superego.

Now when we go to the extremes of anything, how problems are caused, example of that I will try to give of one center, because there is no time for Me to cover all the centers. Take this Swadisthana Chakra. It has a very important work to do, is to transform the fat cells of the stomach for the use of the cells of the brain. Brain also is made of fat cells, and when a person thinks, this special Swadisthana Chakra converts the fat cells for the use of the brain. Now, when you think too much for the future, you think, think, think. I mean, people are mad with thinking. Some of them did tell Me, “Mother, you cut my throat, do what You like, but stop my thinking.” It has become another inertia sort of thing. They just go on thinking. They just can’t stop thinking, whatever they may try.

So when this process starts of thinking, then what happens that this Swadisthana, poor thing, goes into a great speedy process of transforming the fat cells. Now it has some other work to be done. Now this is going to the extreme, to think about everything. Sitting down they will think that now they have become the Prime Minister of Australia, so what should they do to correct. I mean, there’s nothing like an election. Nothing has happened, but they are already thinking for the Prime Minister. If they are driving on the street, they are thinking for all the Police Department. If they are building one house, they’ll try to find faults with another house so that he should not have done, while the house they are going to make might collapse. But all the time the idea is to see and think about everything else that doesn’t concern them.

So this heavy load on your head makes it a big ego there. Apart from that, ego which is a horrid thing, which can make you absolutely stupid, but apart from that, it makes this poor Swadisthana Chakra work so hard that you neglect other important things in your body, the organs like your liver. Such people have very bad livers, those who think all the time, plan all the time. They will plan. Even the ladies will plan all the cooking. Imagine, ladies planning all the cooking. It’s absurd! Because you go to the market, you have planned for the fish and there is no fish in the market, and you are upset because you can’t cook fish. But why did you plan? Whatever you get, you bring it home and cook it. That’s the best way. So this planning business also goes on too far. When we go to the extremes it so happens, that we make this work too hard and we get a liver trouble. Then we get also the pancreas out of gear, because pancreas has to work, has to be worked though this Swadisthana Chakra. When it is out of gear, the disease you get is diabetes. The simple thing as diabetes. Now in India if you go and see the villagers in India, they take at least five spoons of sugar; otherwise, they don’t think it’s a tea. For tea, they must have five spoons of sugar, and they never, never suffer from diabetes. But in the cities, where the people even just touch the sugar, they get it back in their urine. So something wrong with the city people. And what is wrong with them is, that they are using this Swadisthana Chakra all the time for thinking and thinking and thinking.

Now another disease that one gets out of it, is the disease of the spleen, which is a very serious thing. Spleen produces red blood corpuscles according to the necessity of the person. Now, any emergency arises, it starts producing more RBCs. Our life is such that we are always in emergencies. Everyone is. Whether he is a shop keeper or he is a minister, everybody seems to be very busy. Now, in the morning first of all to read newspapers, is another curse. Because you read newspapers, you hear, “This is burnt. That is finished. So many died. Somebody in the aeroplane finished off,” maybe our relations are there – so you get a real pain there in the stomach. That’s done by this poor spleen. It goes into a big process, into a very big mechanical production of RBC starts. Now when that happens to you then you don’t know that you better keep the spleen now at least little rested for other things. But just then you will ask for a breakfast. You will get into the car, with a breakfast in your hand eating that. And there is a jam in the way, and then you are screaming at, because you are late. All sorts of things happen to us like that and we go on creating emergencies for ourselves. For what? What are we going to gain out of it? With this hurry and scurry what have we achieved? So this spleen goes out of order. It does not understand the crazy person. It becomes crazy itself. And it starts producing red blood corpuscles, this thing, that thing. Now you become vulnerable to a horrible disease called as leukemia. Of course, it is triggered by something else, about which I may be able to tell you, today or tomorrow. But you are just vulnerable for a disease called leukemia where just doctors will say you may die within one month or two months. That’s all they can say about leukemia. ”

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga, Public Program, Melbourne, 9 March 1983