Brahmarandhra: A Passage for Life

7 Chakras: Mystical Dimensions of the Body’s Seven Chakras

Q: Namaskaram Sadhguru, sometimes I feel like there is some tension or a pulling sensation in the middle of my head. I can't understand what it is.

Sadhguru: On top of the head, there is a spot known as Brahmarandhra. When a child is born, there is a tender spot where the bone does not form till the child grows to a certain age. Randhra is a Sanskrit word, but it is in common usage in other Indian languages too. Randhra means a passage, like a small hole or a tunnel. This is the space in the body through which life descends into the fetus.

The life process has the awareness to keep its options open as to whether this body is capable of sustaining it or not. So it keeps that trapdoor open for a certain period so that just in case it finds the body unsuitable for its existence, it will leave – and it does not want to leave from any other passage in the body; it wants to leave the way it came. A good guest always comes through the front door and goes out the front door. If he comes through the front door and goes out the back, that means your house has been swept clean! Even when you leave one day, if you leave consciously through whichever part of the body, it is fine. But if you can leave through the Brahmarandhra, it is the best way to leave.

There are many medical cases where stillbirth happens though by all medical parameters, the fetus is healthy and everything is fine. This is simply because the life within is still choosing. If a being enters into a fetus and finds it unsuitable as it evolves to become a baby, it leaves. That is why one door is kept open.

This is the reason why in Indian culture, so many precautions were taken to create a different kind of atmosphere around a pregnant woman. We are giving that up nowadays, but this used to be done hoping that something better than who you are comes into your womb. So a pregnant woman used to be kept in a certain state of comfort and wellbeing. With the right kind of incense, sounds and foods, everything was done so that her body is in a state that it welcomes the right kind of being.

Brahmarandhra is an “Antenna”

There is a lot of talk and many books have been written about the Brahmarandra, and unfortunately many people start imagining things happening on top of their head. You need to understand, you will feel some sensation in whichever part of your body you focus your mind on. You can experiment and see. Focus at the tip of your little finger and see, you will feel so much sensation. And there are also many physiological twitches and twists happening here and there in the body – especially if you are the nervous or tense kind. These shouldn’t be mistaken as some great process happening within you.

There are 114 chakras in the body, of which two are outside the physical body. If a dimension beyond your physicality becomes a continuously active process within you, then after some time, these two chakras which are generally dormant, become active. If they become active, then you have an antenna on your head giving you a certain perspective of life!

Living On the Threshold

This is also always keeping you on the edge – on the threshold of life and beyond. It is the intention of a yogi to always keep himself on the threshold, so that any moment he wishes to, he will step out consciously. Especially for a yogi like me who is active, who floors his car, flies helicopters, plays football and breaks his knee, for a yogi like me it is very important that I keep myself always on the threshold. All yogis do, but I do it very much so, because just in case the helicopter crashes, I do not want to die unconsciously even there.

When you keep yourself on the threshold, it is safe. Tightrope walking is safe if you are balanced. For someone who is not balanced, it looks very risky but actually, it is safer than driving on the streets, because with tightrope walking, it is all you. On the street, it is not all you. A tightrope is much safer if you know how to do it. Once you have balance, sitting on the threshold is very safe. There is no risk to it. There is no chance of accidentally falling off, but it gives you the freedom – if things go wrong you can just step out, but you do not go unconsciously.

Don’t start thinking that you are on the threshold. If you feel some sensations in your body, it is alright. Either you can just continue to do your sadhana, or if you want to transform this energy into a bigger possibility, you must come to us.

Editor’s Note: Find more of Sadhguru’s insights in the book “Of Mystics and Mistakes.” Download the preview chapter or purchase the ebook at Isha Downloads.