Left Visshudhi
Qualities: brother-sister relationship
Place on hand: left first finger
Causes of catch: guilt, immorality, foul tongue, sarcasm

Centre Visshudhi:
Qualities: divine diplomacy, playful witness, collective consciousness (Virata, Akbar)
Gross expression: cervical plexus (thyroid)
Place on hand: first fingers (both hands when Virata)
Manifestations: neck, arms, mouth, tongue, face
Causes of catch: arrogance, impure relations, lack of sense of collectivity, speaking against God’s universality, fanaticism
Number of petals: sixteen
Element: ether

Right Visshudhi:
Qualities: witness of self
Place on hand: right first finger
Causes of catch: smoking, swearing, chanting, cold, sinus or problems of bronchial tubes.

For us to enter the witness state, we must begin by practising detachment: from involvements, thoughts, plans, conditioning, emotions. As we mature in the ability to be a witness after realisation, we see all these things as existing outside ourselves, and if they are outside, we must realise that we are not that. In this way, we strip away the layers of identity to reveal our fundamental and indivisible essence, the Spirit. “We see our own acting, and the whole world becomes like a drama” says Her Holiness Shri Mataji.

One of the most pervasive of all attachments is guilt. Nurtured on the milk of self-accusal, we cling to guilt, wrapping ourselves in its cloak. Hidden among its recesses, we only put off the day when we have to face up to our weaknesses and do something about them. Guilt attacks the left Vishuddhi and we have found it to be one of the most obstinate barriers to Kundalini raising. The fundamental cause is immorality, which arises out of our confusion over the universal relationship of man and woman, which is that of brother and sister. The attention must be made pure. After realisation, we realise that the Spirit, which is pure, does not accumulate guilt. It is actually a superego problem. Using simple techniques in Sahaja Yoga we can overcome these weaknesses very easily.  “I am not guilty” is the mantra of the left Visuddhi.

The Vishuddhi chakra has sixteen petals, each with different qualities and functions. On the physical side, it looks after throat, arms, face, mouth, teeth, etc., so they must all be taken care of. For instance, protecting yourself from the cold, avoiding tobacco, taking proper dental care, and so on. This is particularly important for your vibratory awareness, as the nerves which register the vibrations in the hands pass through this centre.

For the right Vishuddhi, which governs speech, we must pay attention to how we use the voice; praising rather than criticising, aspiring to auspiciousness and dignity in speech rather than frivolity. We should never be harsh or sarcastic, ‘witty’ at another’s expense. This will only throw us into guilt on the left side. We should always speak from the heart.

Needless to say, using the voice in the wrong way will have a very damaging effect on right visshudhi, for instance by swearing or using unauthorised chants and mantras.

The visshudhi is also the place of the Virata, God’s manifested form, described in vivid detail in Chapter II of the Bhagavad Gita’ :

‘And Arjuna saw in that radiance the whole universe in its variety, standing in a vast unity in the body of the God of gods.’

As cells in that body, united by the thread of Kundalini, we should meditate on that oneness, our brotherhood in spirit with humanity and with the universe. We should not divorce ourselves from the whole with feelings of inferiority or arrogance. The ‘rugged individual’ inhabits his own private myth. It is for us to become universal beings.

We must seek ourselves in others, feel the spirit of another person, with the attitude that we are going to smell a flower’s fragrance, with great sweetness (madhuri). ‘Establish your love in another person’, as Her Holiness Shri Mataji says, and find ‘universality through sweetness, the sweetness of relationship.’

Hamsa chakra is part of visshudhi chakra and is placed at a point between the eyes. This centre is related to the union of man and woman in marriage. The marriage institution is to be revered, each partner holding the other in the utmost esteem and respect.

There should be no confusion of identity: a man must be a man, and a woman must be a woman.  And there should be no confusion as to the purpose of a Sahaja mariiage, which is to spread their love throughout the whole community, and to become parents to those realised souls now waiting to take their birth,