How does awakening, and even full enlightenment, relate to the subtle body?
(from Rainbow Body Yoga Manual, written by Amrita Baba)
In Amrita Mandala, bhumis are very important because they relate to awakening experiences and different stages of purification. There are 13 bhumis, that directly correspond to thirteen bhumi chakras that are used in practice with the purpose of establishing the natural state but also as a map to understand where we are on the map, in relation to the final attainment of full and perfect enlightenment. The thirteen bhumis is a path map, an actual map that gives us the direction where to go when we aim to reach enlightenment. The map is used and read through placing one's attention to different locations in the subtle body and then sensing the felt energy.
Theoretically, the chakra pillars below and above the body are not two separate pillars but one single whole that makes our subtle body. Our subtle body is made of many chakras inside the physical body and outside it. In bhumi pillars, we have seven centers below the body and seven above. At the far ends of both pillars, there are the so called mahasiddha bhumi chakras that relate to, as the name suggests, to the mind state of the mahasiddhas or fully enlightened masters. These mahasiddha bhumis are the three farthest centers away from the body, relating to bhumis 11-13. The direct reason why all human beings can recognise, cultivate and realize the natural state is in the fact that we have natural state within us, in the form of mahasiddha bhumi chakras of our subtle body. The basic state, i.e. the ground of the masters (skt. mahasiddha bhumi) is also represented by other centers and channels in the body and aura. These are areas that never get dirtied by self-based habits and negative patterns, and the actual principle why our innate purity and loving-kindness is never taken away from us, except by being strangers to our own true being. It is because of mahasiddha bhumis, i.e. pure channels and centers, why we can recognize and re-establish ourselves as enlightened beings.
When you connect the bhumi pillars, you will notice that your mind becomes utterly clear and pure. It feels as if you enter a realm of delightful purity.
