Mooladhara

Kundalini shakti is the cosmic energy that lies asleep, like a snake, in three and a half coils within the kunda or pit. This description has given it the name ‘serpent power’. The kundalini, or latent energy, exists not only in the human form, but in every atom of the universe. The kundalini shakti is varna shariratmaka, formed by light and sound. The entire universe is created by nada, cosmic sound, and from nada arises prana, or the life force, which holds the endless creation in existence. Nada exists within the serpent power that resides within each individual and is known as para kundalini. When the para kundalini erupts into sound, then it is known as varna kundalini.

Nada is in the form of chitshakti, energy of consciousness, and is at the root of each stage of its manifestation. Nada is also transformed into matter, and this entire manifest world is the result of transcendental sound. Everything that comes into being is a result of nada, or sound vibration, which transforms into the thirty-six tattwas of which all matter is composed. All the worlds are sound in different stages of manifestation, and sound is the result of the transformation of Shakti.

Each tattwa has a corresponding bija mantra from which it has evolved, along with a related symbol and colour and a specific location in the physical body. The prithvi tattwa, or earth element, is the densest of the mahabhutas and has the form of a square. It vibrates at the frequency of golden light, emitting the bija mantra Lam, and is located at mooladhara.

According to Samaya tantra, the kundalini or mahashakti remains asleep in three and a half coils around the swayambhu linga at mooladhara.

-Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati (Soundarya Lahiri)