Yoga and the figure of the cobra have been linked for thousands of years. In fact it is fair to say that yoga (and specifically kundalini yoga) is synonymous with cobra energy. And what does the cobra represent? Power, protection, essential awareness and yes, magic. Like how is it possible that the great serpent rises from horizontal to vertical without the assistance of legs, flippers or wings? Consciousness itself is similarly mysterious. How does it arise? Where does it come from? Yoga is the practice of yoking to this inscrutable power.
Today let’s look at the cobra as an archetypal symbol of protection.
The tale of Buddha’s enlightenment stands out as the best example of the cobra’s role as Great Protector.
Shakyamuni Buddha was reputed to have meditated for forty days and nights under the Bodhi tree before attaining enlightenment. While meditating he was assaulted by all kinds of nasty, nefarious forces. Most disrupting was Mara, the demon of temptation who threatened to rattle his concentration. As the story goes, the Buddha’s shaken concentration was matched by terrific climactic shifts: wind and rain from a sudden, unseasonal tempest came overhead. In the midst of this threat, a king cobra emerged from under the roots of the Bodhi tree, stood upright, and provided shelter for the Buddha-to-be. The broad cape of the cobra head wards off negative thinking, clingy thoughts, self-destructive tendencies and confusion. The serpent’s seven heads (one for each chakra) enabled the Buddha to hold steady and realize is true boundless self.
It is well known in the journey toward self-realization that one must take shelter away from the clamor of the market place and the pressing demands of the world in order to see into the innermost source. Through protection, the cobra transmits safety and when safe, ego consciousness can relinquish its grasp.
Image source here.
