Yathaa Pinde tathaa Brahmaande. Yathaa Brahmaande tathaa Pinde

The microcosm and the macrocosm are interlinked. Planet earth, home to many organisms, is itself a large organism. It is not just a place for living beings; it is a living organism as a whole. This is what the Gaia theory says. Now scientists have found that the our brain looks just like the universe.

Materialism considers everything as objects. Spirituality on the other hand discovers life in everything!

Ancient rishis or saints always portrayed a country as a person. A person with feelings and energy centers just like a human being. I recently read that INDIA also has her own spiritual energy centers, in form of particular cities, just like human beings. I started looking this up and this is what I found. There are 7 cities in India which correspond to the seven centers or chakras in a human body. It is given in the following sanskrit shlokha(a prayer).

Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanchi, Avanthika, Puri drawaravati chaiva, saptaide moksha dayika.

Maya(Haridwar) corresponds to the Muladhara(Root) chakra situated at the base of the spine. When the lethargy in you goes and enthusiasm begins, you commence your journey. Hari-dwar, the starting point, is “the door to the house of the Divine”.

Kanchi corresponds to the Swadhisthana(Sacral) chakra situated behind the genitals, as the presiding deity here is Kamakshi, the goddess of kama or desire.

Ayodhya corresponds to the third chakra, the Manipura(Solar plexus), situated in the navel region, where joy, generosity, greed and jealousy manifest. All these emotions are connected to Ayodhya.

Mathura is Anahata(Heart chakra)chakra. The heart is associated with three emotions: Love, fear and hatred. Mathura symbolises the love and devotion of the gopis for Krishna, as well as of the fear and hatred of Kansa, all matters of the heart.

Avanthika, also called Ujjain, is related to the Vishuddha(Throat chakra) or the throat chakra. Ujjain is the city of art and literature. It is also the city of Vikramaditya, of grief and glory. We feel gratitude in the throat region — we get choked. Same with grief.

Kashi represents the Ajna(Third eye chakra) chakra situated between the eyebrows. Kashi has always been the seat of knowledge. That’s why the ajna chakra is also called gyana chakshu, the third eye. Kashi is the city of pundits and scholars.

Dwaraka represents the Sahasrara(Crown chakra), the chakra on top of the head. Dwar-ka literally means: “Where is the door?” The door is irrelevant if there are no walls. Infinity has no walls. Sahasrara also means thousand avenues. It means the pathless path.

The path to liberation begins at Haridwar(Mooladhaara chakra) and culminates at Dwarka(Sahasrara chakra).

The seven sacred cities with the 7 sacred rivers –  Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri – are linked to the sacred spots inside you. I am not sure what the rivers correspond to in the human body. Maybe Major Nadis in our system?

Positive emotions with knowledge are liberating. Positive emotions without knowledge create negative emotions which are stifling and creates bondage. When you observe the Prana, the subtle life force in one’s body associated with our breath, moving through different chakras associated with sensations, the negative feelings cease to exist and one is liberated from bondage. This why meditation is so important to one’s liberation.

Every city have a collective consciousness. A street where unethical people conduct their business is believed to emit heavy vibrations whereas an educational institution or a place of worship emits positive and light vibrations. That is why there are so many temples in India. To help people raise their consciousness in a collective manner by emitting positive vibrations. The ancient rishis, located these different energies being prominent at particular places and they built these temples accordingly for humans to come and energize particular chakras.

While I was at it, I researched more and found that our earth too has got 7 spiritual chakras! Now this is really interesting.

Muladhara chakra: Mt. Shasta, California, United States.

Swadisthana chakra: Lake Titicaca, on the border of Bolivia and Peru

Manipura Plexus chakra: Uluru-Katatjuta, Australia

Anahata chakra: Glastonbury and  Shaftsbury, England

Vishuddhi chakra: Great Pyramid of Giza and Mt Sinai, Egypt; Mt of Olives, Jerusalem.

Ajna chakra: Kuh-e Malek Siah, Triple border of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Sahasrara chakra: Mt. Kailas, Tibet.

You can read about the earth chakras and vortexes here – http://in5d.com/earth-chakras-and-vortices/