C. G.

Jung Society, Seattle

Inside Pages: In-Depth

The Psychology of Terrorism and the Third Chakra
Charles Zeltzer, Ph.D.
C. G. Jung Society, Seattle Lecture & Workshop January 11th & 12th, 2002 The system of Kundalini yoga consists of seven chakras or stages in the development of higher consciousness. The word chakra means wheel, and each chakra is a wheel or a world unto itself: a complete symbolic system, a state of mind, a totality of behavior, thought, and emotional entanglement. In other words, at each chakra the psyche organizes, like a wheel, around a thematic hub. In my investigation of the chakras, I have utilized them to amplify the nature of the individuation process. I have compared the symbolism of Kundalini to that of alchemy, and to the products of my patients and my own unconscious. In doing so, it has become clear that the psychology of terrorism, which has its links to religious fundamentalism, is located in the third chakra. In order to obtain an intimate understanding of the nature of terrorism and what is needed to transcend the psychological attitude that promotes it, we will examine the third and fourth chakras as well as the daunting transition from the third to the fourth. The movement through the chakras is described as the movement of energy in the form of the great serpent, Kundalini. This feminine energy is initially asleep at the base of the spine, having been separated from the masculine principle, Shiva, who resides in the seventh chakra. As the Kundalini serpent is awakened through yogic practice, she begins her journey through the chakras and up the spine, eventually to be reunited with her lord. The original condition of Oneness is thus restored, but this time with an observing consciousness. It is to the great credit of C. G. Jung that with his seminar in 1932, he brought to the attention of Western psychology the until-then obscure and incomprehensible practice of Kundalini yoga. Kundalini presents a complex and complete symbolic system. When examined in depth, it yields a detailed description of the path of enlightenment. As Sonu Shamdasani states in his introduction to Jungs seminars, ...Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model of something that was almost completely lacking in Western psychologyan account of the developmental phases of higher consciousness.1 What Jung observed was that the symbols produced by the unconscious of his patients who were deeply engaged in
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the individuation process were uncannily similar to the symbolic images associated with the chakras. Shamdasani states, Jung saw the inner processes to which yoga gave rise as universal, and the particular methods to achieve them as culturally specific.2 Understood psychologically, we can say that the first three chakras are concerned with the development of ego-consciousness, that is, with a sense of I-ness. These chakras are not concerned with the development of the sense of an Other. However, they form a common thread of development which is fundamentally different than the consciousness which develops in the higher chakras. The Kundalini energy awakens in the first chakra. As this energy awakens and moves up through the chakras, it brings consciousness with it. Whereas there were previously blockages at the chakras, the energy can now move freely. Technically, one never actually leaves them, but they can now be utilized to serve higher consciousness. When the serpent energy is awakened in the first chakra, the individual begins the heroic journey of separation from the Mother and the collective attitudes that Mother represents. The development of ego consciousness then continues with the experience of sexuality and the passions. This heroic phase of ego development culminates in the third chakra, where the experience of power can be so intense that one lives and behaves as if he or she was a god. As the journey continues from the fourth chakra onward, a fundamental shift occurs, and what develops is profoundly spiritual in nature. Here the inflation that developed in the third chakra is broken by the first glimpse of God, the Self, that which is other than the ego. This tiny glimpse is called the purusa. Jung says of the individuating person, He discovers the purusa in his heart, the thumbling, Smaller than small, and greater than great. 3
Figure 1: akti Lkin (Lakm) The Third CakraMaipra, PLATE IX

As the feminine energy (Shakti) in the form of the great serpent continues up the central channel through the chakras, the experience of Divine reality, the reality, becomes more real, more all pervading. The egos arena becomes increasingly relative to the Divine Truth. One finally reaches the great unspeakable awareness of the Eternal, where the Shakti is united with the all-encompassing consciousness of Shiva in an ecstatic, unending embrace. Jung aptly described this condition when he stated, ...the whole of conscious man is surrendered to the self, to the new centre of personality which replaces the former ego.4

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The third chakra is called Manipura, which means, plenitude of jewels. It is the chakra where the fullness of ones emotions is experienced. It is where ones energy is fully contacted and expressed, and is where one experiences the source of energy. The degree of ones consciousness and integrity determines whether this chakra operates in a positive or negative way. Indeed, the use of the word jewels implies that there is something of abundant value that accompanies the consciousness attained in this chakra. What exists in the third chakra is the psychological condition where the ego is experienced as the center of the personality; the egos arena is at its largest. There is no experience of something other than the ego, and therefore there would be no belief in an unconscious. God and the ego are identical, and the ego would see itself as the mouthpiece of God. In this full bloom of the egos experience of power, anything associated with my point of view would be good, right, and from God. Anything not associated with my viewpoint would be evil, wrong and against God. I therefore have the right to do whatever I wish, because God and I are one, or I am in the service of Gods will, which speaks through me. Therefore, what would otherwise be the most heinous crime, would, in this psychology, be considered an act of God. The initial experiences of ego consciousness in the previous chakra have now developed into egohood at its heightinto the ultimate psychic inflation. It is no wonder that the third chakra is called the war chakra, and has to do with belly psychology, the impulse to respond, unfettered rage and other passions, violence, abuse, obsession with competition, and power.
Figure 2: akti Lkin (Lakm) The Third CakraMaipra, PLATE IX

The element connected with the manipura chakra is fire, where energy is at its most volatile. The goddess Lakini or Laksmi represents the feminine energy. (Figure 1) She holds fire in one of her hands. She has fangs, with blood dripping from the mouth of each of her three heads. She is fond of animal food, and in her negative aspect represents the fully unleashed forces of desire and passion. The masculine deity of the third chakra, Vishnu Rudra (Figure 2) is an old man who also holds fire in his hand. While he can grant boons, he is also the destroyer of creation. Seated on a bull, he has to do with the enhancement of energy and power. This patriarchal figure reminds us of the volatile Yahweh, who can be beneficent but is also prone to rage and righteous anger.

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History does not cease in producing an unending stream of figures, movements, and ideologies identified with the third chakra. A few recent examples would be Stalin, Hitler, Sadam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and numerous groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Taliban. A concept that falls into this category is the 19th century American belief in Manifest Destiny, which was the motivating force behind many American violations, including the near-annihilation of the American Indian. The common characteristics of these examples include obsession with power, identification with God or god-like attributes, paranoia, and the justification of acts that violate the most fundamental rights of humans and the dignity of the human soul. (Need we mention the horrific nature of the executions for religious reasons in Afghanistan during the Taliban era, or the heartless and barbaric manner in which Daniel Pearl was executed?) It takes no stretch of the imagination to see that this is the psychology of the person who flies a plane into the World Trade Center, who blows himself up in the midst of an Israeli Passover Seder, or who destroys the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. All of these people would offer a divine justification for their theft of innocent liveslives that the terrorist would consider evil, or expendable at best, because the victims were not identified with the terrorists cause.
Figure 3: The Third CakraMaipra, PLATE VII

While the symbolic representations at this chakra have negative attributes, they also have positive aspects, which, when utilized, have a powerful transformative effect. Fire represents all of the hot affects previously mentioned. The Hindus also see it as the sacrificial flame, which both the god and the goddess offer us. The ram, the animal of sacrifice, is the symbolic animal of this chakra (Figure 3). The implication is that when we come to this center, we experience the source and fullness of our energy. If we can sacrifice our impulsivity and use this energy to contain that very same energy, an astounding leap in consciousness can occur. The third chakra is located in the stomach, and is called the digestive center. Jung calls it the chakra of the kitchen,5 because this is also where the affects can be cooked and processed, so that the energy behind them can be utilized in a creative manner.

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Figure 4: Mutus Liber

This process is most beautifully depicted in picture 5 of the Mutus Liber (Figure 4) where the adept and his alchemical sister have put the prima materia in a vessel where it is continuously purified by fire until the essence, the true source which lies beneath all of the affect, is made manifest. But when one is caught in such an all-encompassing and hopeless identification with ones affects, how is it possible to attain to a psychological standpoint where one can cook them? This is a profound mystery. Fundamentalism, the philosophical backdrop of terrorism, subscribes to the belief that there is only one truth, and only one way to understand that truth. It usually involves a very literal interpretation of the believers scriptures. There is no room for different views, nor can there be dialogue. This concrete and literal attitude indicates that the capacity for symbolic thinking has not yet developed. The very notion of symbolic thinking can only arise once one has had an experience of the fourth chakra. The name of the fourth chakra is Anahata, which means not hit, or unstruck. It has to do with the sound that is not made by any two things striking together. That is, it has to do with air, the element associated with this chakra. The animal is the fleetfooted gazelle which, as quick as a breath, flits across ones range of vision so that one only catches a glimpse. The experience of the glimpse is the orienting feature of this chakra, for as stated previously, this is where the first brief, fleeting apprehension of non-ego occurs. Nonego can go by many names, including God, and the Self. The term non-ego can be misleading because this experience of other-than-ego is of something greater than the ego, and yet something which at the same time encompasses it.

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The difficulty in putting words to this unnamable experience of not hit informs us that the thought processes required to comprehend and make sense of such an experience are infinitely complex, far beyond the literal and concrete thinking which characterizes the third chakra. As soon as one experiences something that is non-ego, then one knows that God exists separately from the ego and the ego exists separately from God. One can then realize what Jung calls the psychogenic factor6 and for the first time can experience the autonomous nature of the psyche. This progression of consciousness to the fourth chakra is a complete convulsion in which an entirely new world unfolds. Because one experiences an other, this is the chakra where the first experiences of opposites occur. The question arises, How can my viewpoint be true, and yet there exist an other with a viewpoint that is also true? This promotes reflection, discrimination, and discernment. The conclusion from such a question is that literal truths are indeed symbolic expressions of a deeper truth, which transcends them all. Thus, symbolic thinking is born. It can also be said that true consciousness is born, for now one can stand outside of something and apprehend it. This idea of birth is expressed in the central symbol of the Anahata chakra (see Figure 5), which consists of the union of two opposing trianglesa meeting of opposites that forms an image of the Star of David. In the very center is another downward pointing triangle, which is an image of the yoni or female genitals. This is called the yoni of the virgin birth. For here is born the experience of the opposites, symbolic thinking, the Self, the apprehension and appreciation of another, and, significantly, the capacity to a lead a spiritual life. All of this leads to the birth of one, more crucial, ability: the capacity to experience loveboth loving and being loved.
Figure 5: Anhata The Fourth Cakra, PLATE X

The most unconscious level of the third chakra is truly horrific, creating terror in those on the receiving end. If only we could just skip over this one and jump from the second to the fourth. But, of course, every chakra must be experienced on an emotional level in order for there to be any possibility of insight which can move us along in the journey. We must experience the full impact of this chakra before the plenitude of jewels
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it offers us can be attained. This means we must experience this chakra within us on both the receiving and delivering end. One of the positive repercussions of September 11 is that it awoke the collective consciousness of America out of a condition of naivet, at least for now. We are not spared, due to some special status, from the darkest of evils in the world. But at the same time, on a collective level we are no closer to recognizing the darkest aspects of the third chakra within ourselves. In fact, now that we have recognized an outer enemy, it seems to have pushed that realization further away. This creates too much of an us vs. them split, and leads us smack into the same kind of cut and dry, concrete thinking that is characteristic of the terrorist. The real task is to recognize evil, wherever it exists. It does not in any way make the terrorist any less wrong if we recognize our own dark proclivities, which even the most cursory look at our own history reveals abundant, horrifying examples. Nor should such an owning of our own shadow weaken any resolve to deal resoundly and effectively with any assault from the third chakra. A firm and forceful attitude may be the only thing possible to stop someone in the crazed condition of a third chakra identification. (We see that the defeat of the Nazi dream was able to bring many, but not all followers to their senses.) However it is possible to wield the fire from a position of consciousness and modesty rather than from a hubristic third chakra inflation. It must be remembered that the intent is not to leave the third chakra, per se. That would be an impossibility. Instead, the intent is to arrive at a level of development wherein the energy and psychology of this chakra can be utilized in a conscious manner, and in the service of the Self.
Figure 6: akti Kkin The Fourth CakraAnhata, PLATE XII

Another factor in the deliverance from a third chakra identification concerns the development of consciousness in as many individuals as possible. As Jung expressed in his still revolutionary essay, Answer to Job,7 it is not just the consciousness of man that needs to evolve, but also the consciousness of God. Job offers us the model of one who dares to reflect upon both his own and Gods actions, thus precipitating a response and ultimately a change in the God image. While the idea of the evolution of the God image was a new and shocking idea that Jung brought to the West, it is not new to mystical traditions, of which Kundalini is one. As we move from one chakra to the next, we see the God image develop until there is the realization that all images of God are manifestations of a deeper reality. The destructiveness and ruthlessness of the deities of the third chakra are parallel to those qualities in the God image of the Western and Islamic civilizations. The shift to the fourth chakra changes not only human consciousness, but also the image of God. Kakini, the
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Shakti energy of the fourth chakra, is clad in the skin of the gazelle, an indication that now the goddess is more civilized (Figure 6). Her heart is softened by the drinking of the nectar, which descends from the seventh chakra. Love is possible. Isa, the male god, is said to be gently clad. His third eye enables him to see all, including the transcendent dimension (Figure 7). These changes in the god-image from third to fourth chakra are nothing less than profound. However they are essential. The change in the God image occurs due to the consciousness that the individuating person cultivates. Ultimately, it is the work of each of us on our own individual psyches that is of the utmost importance. Each individuals work with his or her own unconscious effects the collective unconscious, which in turn effects the consciousness of us all. As Edward Edinger so lucidly argues in The Creation of Consciousness,8 it is the task in this era for each individual to carry and be responsible for a conscious relationship to the Otherthe Self. This work is the responsibility that each of us bears to the consciousness of the world. It is the only hope, in terms of what we can do, to move mankind from the hopelessness of third chakra identification.
Figure 7: a The Fourth CakraAnhata, PLATE XI

I in no way wish to portray a romanticized picture of how we can somehow gloriously transcend this chakra, with the world then being free of terrorism and all the other megalomaniac tendencies. It is as difficult as it is on a clinical level to cure a personality disorder. In Anahata, the fourth chakra, one is light years away from the world of the terrorist. How can such an enormous gap ever be bridged? Why would one even wish to sacrifice his or her passions if he or she is completely identified with them and sees them as a glorious expression the Divine Will? Such a position is also powerfully reinforced by the gratifying experience of the venting of such powerful affects. We can say that the move from the third to the fourth chakra is completely impossible. No one can talk a terrorist out of his conviction; the terrorist himself would not will this to happen. In fact, what precipitates this leap to the next chakra cannot be experienced as originating from the ego. It must come from another source, over which we have absolutely no control. In his article, Self-Realization in the Ten Oxherding Pictures,9 Mokusen Miyuki discusses the impossibility of the move from the seventh to the eighth stage in this tenstage process. He recalls a story from the Dasabhumi sutra in which, A sleeping man sees himself in a dream trying desperately to cross a raging torrent and to reach the yonder shore.
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His hopeless attempt awakens him. Once awakened, he finds himself free of all dis-ease (duhkhas) of worry, despair, frustration, or agony. Miyuki goes on to say that this experience of satori moves the man from an ego-centric to a Self-centric functioning of the psyche. The key to this enlightenment is the mans awareness of his total inability to forge the raging torrent alone, from his own power and will. This realization is the key to the move from the third to the fourth chakra. It occurs only if the realization is completely felt emotionally and in the body. Being beyond the power of the ego, how this occurs is ultimately a mystery and a miracle. Anyone who braves the raging waters of their own psyche by taking their inner process seriously enters into this mystery. They make themselves available for an experience of the Self, which is always felt as miraculous, and which, as Jung says, ...is always a defeat for the ego.10 Endnotes

C.G. Jung, The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, ed. Sonu Shamdasani (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), xxiv. Ibid. xxix. Ibid. 39. C.G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 14, 494. Jung, The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, 43. Ibid. 53. C.G. Jung, Answer To Job in Collected Works, Vol. 11. Edward Edinger, The Creation of Consciousness (Toronto: Inner City Books, 1984). Miyuki, Mokusen, Self-Realization in the Ten Oxherding Pictures, in J. Marvin Spiegelman, Ph.D. and Mokusen Miyuki, Ph.D., Buddhism and Jungian Psychology (Phoenix: Falcon Press, 1987), 36-37. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 14, 547.

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