Deities in Anahata

The ancient texts reveal that the deities who dwell in the Heart Chakra are Ishana Rudra Shiva, Kundalini Shakti, Goddess Kushmanda, Lord Vayu, with the activating female energy of Kakini. The texts were revealed by an ancient Hindu god, Ishana Shiva, the aspect of Shiva who resides in the heart chakra as space.

Ishana Rudra Shiva.

Our spiritual journey often begins when we recognize that we are more than just our physical bodies and senses and move from a focus on the material world to the inner realms of mind, heart, and spirit. The three lower chakras—Muladhara, Svadhisthana, and Manipura—govern our physical being and sensory experiences. When energy ascends to the heart center (Anahata), a pivotal choice emerges: to remain tethered to the senses and desires, or to transcend them and connect with our higher spirit.

The heart center is often considered the seat of emotions, karma, and deep-seated patterns, both positive and challenging. There are many obstacles held in your heart that you will need to remove to gain spiritual enlightenment. The vritties need to worked through and emotions need to be calmed. We also need to transform trauma that has happened to us in our lives. This is the key, to transform suffering into happiness. When we do, we find room for joy to fill our hearts.

There are 5 aspects of Shiva, the aspect that resides in the heart chakra is Ishana Rudra Shiva. Ishana is the divine aspect of Shiva who will help you remove attachment to the material plane. When you remove attachment to objects, what is left is space.

The lingam is a symbolic shape that is the representation of the abstract idea of the god Shiva. Ishana is the ancient god that was worshipped as the top of the lingam.

Time and Space

Ishana is an aspect of Shiva that represents the element of space, Akasha. Ishana transcendends time and space. This upward face signifies Shiva’s all-encompassing nature and his presence in every dimension, not just physical space but also the vastness of spiritual consciousness.. He sits on a tiger skin which blocks worldly vibrations that keep devotees earth-bound.

‘Ishana (“ruler”), Lord of Sadashiva, is the aspect of Shiva that wields the power of revealment. This, in essence, is the obscuration of pasha as a divine act that helps individuals detach from worldly desires and attachments, leading them towards spiritual liberation. Ishana  radiates ‘anugraha’ – revealment of grace.’

Ishana revealed the Agama texts, a vast body of scriptures that detail Shaivite philosophy, rituals, yoga, and conduct. Ishana’s role in their revelation reveals his roll as the revealer of sacred knowledge and the path to liberation.

Ishana isn’t supreme consciousness, he is the revealer of supreme consciousness. Pasha is attachments to worldly goods and desires. By obscuring Pasha, Ishana obscures this desire for the material realm, leading to spiritual attainment. It’s not about denying the world, but about transcending the binding nature of attachment to it. Ishana helps to “obscure” or veil the allure of worldly desires, not as a negative act, but as a divine intervention to redirect the individual towards spiritual liberation.

This is non-attachment. Buddha also taught non-attachment.

When you meditate on Ishana in Anahata you will be able to detach from the material world to be able to experience the spiritual world.

All you have to do is overcome all the obstacles.

Ishana Rudra

Ishana Rudra is one of the five aspects of Shiva. 

Ishana symbolizes the ultimate reality and the unity of all existence.

In the words of Aghorasivacharya in the 12th century “This visualization in only for the sake of meditation and adoration.” When visualizing the deity in the heart chakra, during meditation, this is his description:

The Agamas describe Ishana Deva as pure crystal in colour, with three eyes. In one hand He holds a trident and in another a string of beads. His two other hands present the abhaya mudra (“fear not”) and dhyana mudras.

His Mantra syllable is Ya

Bearing a crescent on his crown. His form is charged with benevolence.

The dot above his head is from the symbol OM that signifies the infinite, absolute self, hidden from the individual by illusion or maya. It is the sound of the Anahata nada, the constant sound of the universal hum.

Kundalini Shakti

Kundalini Shakti is visualized as a goddess, seated in lotus posture wearing a white sari, within the upward pointing triangle. The upward movement is the female shakti energy moving into the higher planes of presence. She is calm and centred inside herself. She no longer presents as a destructive twisting force, characterized by the first chakra.

The Goddess Kushmanda

https://blog.sagarworld.com/miscellaneous/goddess-kushamanda-one-of-the-navadurgas

The Goddess Kushmanda is like the sun, she lights up the world. She is the cosmic egg. She lives in the sun and provides it with the energy to shine. With a flash of her smile, the Goddess Kushmanda, created the whole Universe.

She dispels the darkness of ignorance with her dazzling smile. She is mother nature. The original mother who gave birth to, energizes, and nurtures the Universe.

Kushmanda has a golden and radiant complexion, with peaceful eyes, and a serene demeanour. She wears clothes of pink and yellow, and her limbs are adorned with ornaments. In each of her 8 hands, she holds:

chakra: a divine weapon which is constantly in motion to ward-off negative energies
gada (mace): symbol of power and strength packing a powerful concentrated blow
japa mala (rosary): offers all types of Siddhi (perfection) and Nidhi (treasure) to her devotees
amrit: holy immortal nectar, which is sura, the essence.
lotus-flower: peace
a bow and an arrow: focus of potential and kinetic energies
kamandula: water pot, self sufficient
She can bestow 8 siddhis (perfections) and 9 nidhis (jewels) on her followers

Her vehicle is a tiger, symbolizing strength, power, and courage.

“Parvati, embodied as Kushmanda, approached where Suryadev, the sun god, lay, lifeless. She conjured a sphere of fire and light, which we now know as the sun. As she emerged from the fiery ball, she radiated with the eternal beauty of the cosmos. With a little smile, she produced a “cosmic egg”, and from it, creation began unfolding, and galaxies, planets, plants, animals, insects, and humans came into being.”

Kushmanda created Shakti & Shiva, Saraswati & Brahma, and Lakshmi & Vishnu as consorts.

The Black Antelope

In the ancient Tantric and Agamic texts, the animal associated with the Anahata Chakra is the Black Antelope (Krishna-Sara). It is deeply symbolic of the qualities of the heart and the element of Air.

Speed and Fleetingness: The antelope is known for its incredible speed and agility, representing the mind and Prana, which can be as swift and hard to catch as the wind. Just as an antelope darts away at the slightest sound, our emotions and thoughts can shift in an instant.

Gentleness and Purity: Unlike the powerful elephant of the Muladhara or the fierce makara of the Svadhisthana, the antelope is a gentle, herbivorous creature. It symbolizes the refinement of energy into a state of Ahimsa (non-violence) and innocence.

Vigilance and Sensitivity: The antelope is perpetually alert, representing the heightened awareness and Viveka (discernment) required at the level of the heart. It hears the “unstruck sound” before anything else does.

The Quest for the Source: There is a famous poetic metaphor in Indian philosophy regarding the “Musk Deer” (a relative of the antelope). The deer spends its entire life frantically running through the forest searching for the source of a beautiful scent, only to eventually realize that the scent—the musk—comes from within its own body. This is the ultimate lesson of the Anahata: we search for love and peace in the “outside world” (the downward flow), only to find that the true source of joy has been seated in our own heart all along.

Within Your Heart

All of this held within our hearts. If you search within this space and earnestly desire to know what is there. Within it is an abode in the shape of a lotus [i.e., the heart], and within that there is a small space. The small space in the heart is as big as the space outside. Everything is within the heart. Heaven and earth are both within it, so also fire and air, the sun and the moon, lightning and the stars.

Deep within the lotus of the heart chakra is a small space where dwells the seat of the self and within the self is consciousness and the energy that activates consciousness. Within the space within the lotus within the heart is all of space and time where exists everything that ever happened to your individual soul. It holds all of the universe, it witnesses everything around you. It witnesses heaven and earth, water, fire and air, sun and moon, space and time. It is your spirit, your soul. your purpose, your guide, your intuition, your connection with the universal energy. When you reach your heart chakra, this is the exploration that is open for you to take if you want to take your lifes journey further in a spiritual direction

Lord Vayu

Soon to come

Lord Vayu is the god of space and wind and breath. Without the first breath, the spark created by the male and female energy cannot have life. He is the first breath that living things take.