Brahma Cakra reviewed

Brahma Cakra, the “Cycle of Creation” could easily be considered the most profound, inclusive and inspiring philosophy ever to emerge on the face on this planet. Nevertheless Brahma Cakra can quite well be explained in different depths of understanding, which will be discussed in the following.

Brahma Cakra is founded upon a differentiation between the creation of the so called “Fundamental Factors” (usually explained as “matter”), and the subsequent creation of mind. It is said, that in this dual-phased manifestation lies the proof of the existence of

Supreme Consciousness and its imminent creative force 4). By declaring this distinction, it became possible to visualize creation in a progressive, circular fashion, providing an exceptionally rich and yet very congenial philosophical background for the spiritual

sadhaka. Other systems, like for example the I Ching have a rather static form.

Although Brahma Cakra is in essence purely philosophical, that does not mean that it is unrealistic at the end of the day. In the simplest form, Brahma Cakra is often explained as the creation of “matter”, in the form of resp. cosmic nebula, stars and planets, and the subsequent evolution of life in the form of living organisms like plants, animals and humans. It is a physical, gross-cosmological and time-wise model of creation which can really be observed in the physical universe as it evolves. This we could say is a perceptual explanation of Brahma Cakra.

Whereas as this rather physical model of Brahma Cakra is in itself true, a somewhat deeper understanding is needed the moment we realize that the bodies of living beings are also made out of matter. Also, Ba’ba’ was talking about “living celestial bodies” 5). That means that the dual phases Brahma Cakra cannot adequately be explained in terms of such objective entities. This is why it is explained by means of a differentiation between “Fundamental Factors” and “ectoplasm”, resp. and this is the most common presentation.

Fundamental Factors are universal strata of material density (“matter-stuff”), rather than actual matter, whereas ectoplasm is the basis (“mind-stuff”) of the individual mind. It is a much subtler approach, but at the same time it doesn’t quite explain what the “matter” and living organisms of the perceived world really are, or how it all originates. This way, the cosmological model is understood such that Brahma Cakra happens continuously, everywhere and at all scales. It is a rather functional model and an empirical explanation of Brahma Cakra.

Some yet deeper understanding is required when we realize that it is difficult to tell what

“Fundamental Factors” and “ectoplasm really are, without referring to the somewhat cruder perceptual model as above. Hence it is also impossible to point out an absolute difference between “Fundamental Factors” and “ectoplasm”. For example when we perceive, or refer to water - is that “Fundamental Factor” or “ectoplasm”? In other words, the “universal stuff” and the “individual stuff” are one and the same! The difference is purely philosophical! This is why Brahma Cakra is also interpreted in terms of pure “Cosmic Mind” and “individual mind”, resp. But this does neither explain what

“Fundamental Factors” and “ectoplasm” really are, or how it originates. This is a purely conceptual model and -explanation of Brahma Cakra. And finally, yet some deeper understanding is needed when we realize that at the end of the day, we cannot really tell in an absolute sense, the difference between Cosmic Mind and Individual mind, the latter being but a fraction or function of the first. This viewpoint we might think of as the spiritual explanation of Brahma Cakra. It is virtually the same as saying, everything is Brahma.

That is why Brahma Cakra is philosophy. It is not science as it leaves many, if not all scientific questions unanswered. For example, the creation of Fundamental Factors was explained as a “decrease of inter-atomic distances”6) but in the framework of Brahma Cakra, it was never explained where atoms came from, and what causes their distances to decrease.

Hence, Brahma Cakra is nothing else but an explanation of your personal viewpoint, in universal terms. But in that lies its unprecedented beauty and intrinsic truth.