Bishuddha Chakra

विशुद्ध - bees shoo duh

The fifth chakra. Controls the voice and speech, and allows one to break through the veils of delusion. (1)

Function of the Chakra

Also known as the cervical center, the bishuddha (vishuddha) chakra is located opposite the throat in the cervical spine. It is commonly called the throat chakra. The nerves of the bishuddha chakra radiate to the throat, neck, and vocal cords. The manipura chakra is one of the seven chakras that store and distribute energy; the chakras also serve as the repositories of psychological or mental tendencies, habits, and desires, which descend from the subconscious mind. (2)

The energy that emanates from the bishuddha chakra is calm and expansive. Outwardly, the chakra is expressed as the ups and downs of consciousness, or the restlessness and boredom that drive one to diverse activities. Inwardly, the throat chakra expresses as calmness that offers greater enjoyment, as well a clear mind to meet events with impartial understanding. (1)

Qualities of the Chakra

The bishuddha chakra corresponds to the element of ether. The ether element allows one to break through the final veils of delusion in the material world, in recognition that there is something beyond the individual ego. The ether vibration, the most subtle of all vibrations, separates the material world from the astral world. The subtlety of the element ether corresponds to the subtle consciousness that one attains by awakening energy in the bishuddha chakra. (1)

The chakra governs speech in the individual. It enables one to control speech and not talk too much. Rather, one can redirect energy within to stimulate the inward qualities of this chakra. Since the voice is a reflection of one’s nature — personality, thoughts, and and emotions — the conscious act of speaking or singing develops the chakra in a positive way. One may use the voice as a channel for calmness and blessings; in this way, the one who practices yoga tends to develop a “sweet voice.” (1)

At the throat chakra and in the element of ether, one may distinguish between right and wrong directions. Although the energy is too subtle to cause material bondage, it contains the potential for material involvement and takes a more dynamic form than pure spirit. As long as one directs energy upward from the state of boredom to the spiritual eye, especially supported by the feeling of selfless love of the fourth or heart chakra, then one attains a state of spiritual expansiveness.

The bishuddha chakra’s color is smokey with little flecks of light. Traditionally it is associated with the color blue. (3) Energy flows from it in sixteen rays. (4) It produces a sound like the soft wind in the trees or distant thunder. (5) The character Yudhisthira, the oldest of the Pandava brothers, symbolizes the bishuddha chakra in its calm and expansive aspect in the Bhagavad Gita.(6)

References
  1. a b c d Chakras for Starters, by Savitri Simpson. Chapter 6, “The Ether Element.”
  2. ↩ Chakras for Starters, by Savitri Simpson. Chapter 1, “The Seven Gates to Freedom.”
  3. ↩ Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, explained by Paramhansa Yogananda. Chapter 21, “Final Liberation.”
  4. ↩ Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, explained by Paramhansa Yogananda. Chapter 18, “The True Yoga.”
  5. ↩ Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, explained by Paramhansa Yogananda. Chapter 9, “Sanjaya Speaks.”
  6. ↩ Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, explained by Paramhansa Yogananda. Chapter 5, “The Genesis of the Story.”