The Feet of Bliss & Might

"One must delve deep
into the Self of the Heart
and a gentle Fire start;
and know what means In and Out.

And flowing through the net of streams
beyond false perceptions and dreams
stand firm and gaze above the nose and eyes.

Seeking the Self, Brilliant Supreme Light
I saw, o Snake, the Feet of Bliss and Might!"

This stanza (#115) from "The Siddha with the Dancing Snake" offers instruction - encoded in the imagery of the poem - for activating the chakras and dantians of the subtle body. "A gentle Fire start" refers to a kind of cleansing internal heat that arises with yoga/qigong practice. To "gaze above the nose and eyes" is to direct our awareness into the upper dantian, or sixth & seventh chakras (the "third eye" and the crown).

What's interesting is that this suggestion to focus our attention on the upper chakras is followed immediately by a line referencing "the feet of Bliss and Might." It is in the unification of opposites (in this case of the highest and lowest parts of our body) that the yogi or yogini is able to recognize the "Self, Brilliant Supreme Light."

Thought Experiment

Here's a practice that I've found to be interesting and useful: Visualize yourself as a Deity - a God or a Goddess. The first time you do this, have the Deity be the same gender as your current physical form, i.e. if you're a woman, imagine yourself as a female Deity, and if you're a man, as a male Deity. Then do the opposite, letting your imaginary Deity-form be of the opposite sex. Once you're comfortable with this, try the same practice in relation to other people: visualizing your friends (or strangers) as Deities, first with a form that corresponds to their current physical gender, then its opposite. Practice until it feels just as natural and comfortable creating yourself and others in one form as the other.