There are two autonomous nervous systems in our body. One is the parasympathetic and another is the sympathetic nervous system.

Now the sympathetic nervous system is again divided into the right and left side and the parasympathetic nervous system is in the centre. The person who is a right-hander has his left side sympathetic working while the left-hander has his left (should be right) side sympathetic working. Now one remains absolutely quiet.

Now both these sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are responsible, one for activity, another for inactivity. One constricts, another relaxes. One puts you to tension, another one makes you absolutely restful. The sympathetic nervous system has placed a very great, difficult problem for the doctors now. With the over-activity of the sympathetic nervous system, you get the disease known as cancer.

When there is an irritation in the body and when some sort of protection is needed, that part starts getting more active and the cell starts multiplying. The sympathetic nervous system works to protect that part. But ultimately results in the malignancy that is more activity of the cell in that part. This is a simple thing that is known as cancer. The advent of cancer in the kaliyuga is now a challenge to all the scientists of the world. For nobody can escape it if they do not now realise that’s not the activity of man that is going to give him salvation – but the inactive. But for parasympathetic they say it is not humanly possible to control the parasympathetic….The yogashastra which has, for so many years been describing the Kundalini is nothing but the ..parasympathetic nervous system.

The parasympathetic nervous system is the gross expression of that system which is in the spinal cord. In the spinal cord, we call it the Kundalini and the chakras. The centres that guide; the centres and plexuses outside are known as the chakras. For example, your hand has got a centre in the head. In the same way, these plexuses which are in our being, which are namely, down below you can start, the pelvic plexus. Then you have got the aortic plexus, then you have got the solar plexus, then you have got the cardiac plexus. Then you have got, Cervix plexus. you have got the Vishuddhi chakra.

Then we have got here, the Agyna chakra here we call it. But this one though we call it the Agyna chakra in yogashastra; in the medical science, there is no name as Agyna chakra. But they accept that there can be a “third eye”. But this is something very hypothetical as far as medical science is concerned. So the Agyna chakra which is actually in the optic chiasma, in the centre of the brain, where both the optic nerves cross is, according to the yogashastra is the Agyna chakra.

And the Sahasrara , when you open out the brain, you will find that there are petal-like designs on the brain. If you vertically cut it you will find that there are petals in petals. And these designs are, according to medical sciences, are nine hundred and eighty-two. While according to the yogashastras, they are one thousand.

Now, My own knowledge is not scientific. I am very sorry to say that. Mine is subjective knowledge. Scientific knowledge is objective. I have seen all these chakras within Myself. And you also can see all of them if you get realisation according to My Sahaja Yoga. And if you go deeper into your being, you can see all of them. Because Self-realisation means, you should know yourself and the power that is guiding you.

The last Sahasrara is the one-thousand petalled .I have seen as flames, thousands of flames clustered together. In the Bible, there is a beautiful sentence, “I will appear before you like the tons of flame”. And actually like the tons of flames you see that. Whether you read the Bible or Koran, you will find many instances, many sentences by which you can see that there is an integration of the Kundalini in all of them – and it is described. ..

H H Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, Public Program, day 1 Jehangir Hall, Mumbai 23-03-1973