Chakra (derived from the
Sanskrit चक्रं, pronounced ;
Pali:
chakka,
Chinese: 轮,
Tibetan:
khorlo) is a
Sanskrit word that translates as "
wheel" or "
turning".
[ Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, The hidden power in humans, Ibera Verlag, page 54. ISBN 3-85052-197-4 ]Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like
vortices which, according to traditional Indian medicine, are believed to exist in the surface of the etheric double of man. The Chakras are said to be "force centers" or whorls of
energy permeating, from a point on the physical body, the layers of the subtle bodies in an ever-increasing fan-shaped formation (the fans make the shape of a love heart). Rotating vortices of subtle
matter, they are considered the focal points for the reception and transmission of energies. Seven major chakras or energy centers (also understood as wheels of
light) are generally believed to exist, located within the
subtle body. Practitioners of
Hinduism and
New Age Spirituality believe the chakras interact with the body's ductless endocrine glands and lymphatic system by feeding in good bio-energies and disposing of unwanted bio-energies.
It is typical for chakras to be depicted in either of two ways:
In the former, a specific number of petals are shown around the perimeter of a circle. In the latter, a certain number of spokes divide the circle into segments that make the chakra resemble a wheel or chakra. Each chakra possesses a specific number of segments or petals.
Much of the original information on Chakras comes from the
Upanishads, which are difficult to date because they are believed to have been passed down orally for approximately a thousand years before being written down for the first time between 1200–900 BCE.
Definitions
Illustration of a
yogi showing the seven chakras,
Kangra school. Late 18th century A.D.
describes chakra as :
powerhouse in the way it generates and stores energy, with the energy from cosmos pulled in more strongly at these points. The main nadis, Ida, Pingala and Shushumna (sympathetic, parasympathetic, and central nervous system) run along the spinal column in a curved path and cross one another several times. At the points of intersection they form strong energy centers known as chakras. In the human body there are three types of energy centers. The lower or animal chakras are located in the region between the toes and the pelvic region indicating our evolutionary origins in the animal kingdom. The human chakras lie along the spinal column. Finally, the higher or divine Chakras are found between the top of the spine and the crown of the head.
Anodea Judith (1996: p. 5) provides a modern interpretation of the chakras:
A chakra is believed to be a center of activity that receives, assimilates, and expresses life force energy. The word chakra literally translates as wheel or disk and refers to a spinning sphere of bioenergetic activity emanating from the major nerve ganglia branching forward from the spinal column.
Generally, six of these wheels are described, stacked in a column of energy that spans from the base of the spine to the middle of the forehead. And the seventh which is beyond the physical region. It is the six major chakras that correlate with basic states of consciousness...
Susan Shumsky (2003, p. 24) supports this idea:
Each chakra in your spinal column is believed to influence or even govern bodily functions near its region of the spine. Because autopsies do not reveal chakras, most people think they are a fancy of fertile imagination. Yet their existence is well documented in the traditions of the far east...
Chakras, as described above, are energy centers along the spine located at major branchings of the human nervous system, beginning at the base of the spinal column and moving upward to the top of the skull. Chakras are considered to be a point or nexus of
biophysical energy or
prana of the
human body. Shumsky states that "prana is the basic component of your subtle body, your energy field, and the entire chakra system...the key to life and source of energy in the universe."
The following seven primary chakras are commonly described:
- Muladhara () Base or Root Chakra (last bone in spinal cord *coccyx*)
- Anahata () Heart Chakra (heart area)
- Vishuddha () Throat Chakra (throat and neck area)
- Ajna () Brow or Third Eye Chakra (pineal gland or third eye)
- Sahasrara () Crown Chakra (Top of the head; 'Soft spot' of a newborn)
Chakras in the head from lowest to highest are: golata, talu/talana/lalana, ajna, talata/lalata, manas, soma, sahasrara (and sri inside it.)
Etymology
Bhattacharyya's review of
Tantric history says that the word
chakra is used to mean several different things in the Sanskrit sources:
- "Circle", used in a variety of senses, symbolizing endless rotation of shakti.
- A circle of people. In rituals there are different cakra-sādhanā in which adherents assemble and perform rites. According to the Niruttaratantra, chakras in the sense of assemblies are of 5 types.
In
Buddhist literature the Sanskrit term
cakra (
Pali cakka) is used in a different sense of "circle", referring to a Buddhist conception of the 4 circles or states of
existence in which gods or men may find themselves.
Models
The study of the Chakras is central to many different therapies and disciplines. Subtle energy is explored through practices such as
aromatherapy,
mantras,
Reiki, hands-on healing,
flower essences,
radionics,
sound therapy,
color/light therapy, and crystal/gem therapy, to name a few.
Acupuncture,
shiatsu,
tai chi and
chi kung focus on balancing the energetic meridians that are an integral part of the chakra system, according to Vajrayana and Tantric Shakta theories. Several models will be explored in the following sub-headings.
Hindu
thumb|Thousand Petaled Crown Chakra, Two Petaled Brow Chakra, Sixteen Petaled Throat Chakra (Nepal, 17th Century)In
Hinduism, the concept of chakras is part of a complex of ideas related to
esoteric anatomy. These ideas occur most often in the class of texts that are called
Āgamas or
Tantras. This is a large body of
scripture, most of which is rejected by
orthodox Brahmins.
There are many variations on these concepts in the Sanskrit source texts. In earlier texts there are various systems of chakras and
nadis, with varying connections between them. Various traditional sources list 5, 6, 7, or 8 chakras. Over time, one system of 6 or 7 chakras along the body's axis became the dominant model, adopted by most schools of
yoga. This particular system may have originated in about the 11th century AD, and rapidly became widely popular. It is in this model where
Kundalini is said to "rise" upward, piercing the various centers until reaching the crown of the head, resulting in union with the Divine.
Tantric
The chakras are described in the tantric texts the
Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, and the
Padaka-Pancaka, in which they are described as emanations of consciousness from Brahman, an energy emanating from the spiritual which gradually turns concrete, creating these distinct levels of chakras, and which eventually finds its rest in the
Muladhara chakra. They are therefore part of an
emanationist theory, like that of the
kabbalah in the west,
lataif-e-sitta in
Sufism or
neo-platonism. The energy that was unleashed in creation, called the
Kundalini, lies coiled and sleeping at the base of the spine. It is the purpose of the
tantric or
kundalini forms of
yoga to arouse this energy, and cause it to rise back up through the increasingly
subtle chakras, until union with God is achieved in the
Sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head.
Vajrayana and Tantric Buddhist
According to contemporary
buddhist teacher
Tarthang Tulku, the heart chakra is very important for the feeling of existential fulfillment.
A result of energetic imbalance between chakras is an almost continuous feeling of dissatisfaction. When the heart chakra is agitated, people lose touch with feelings and sensations, and that breeds the sense of dissatisfaction. That leads to looking outside for fulfillment.
When people live in their heads, feelings are secondary, they are interpretations of mental images that are fed back to the individual. When awareness is focused on memories of past experiences and mental verbalizations, the energy flow to the head chakra increases and the energy flow to the heart chakra lessens. Without nurturing feelings of the heart a subtle form of anxiety arises which results in the self reaching out for experience.
When the throat chakra settles and energy is distributed evenly between the head and the heart chakras, one is able to truly contact one's senses and touch real feelings.
Chögyal Namkai Norbu Rinpoche teaches a version of the
Six Lokas sadhana which works with the chakra system.
The
kye-rim (Tibetan) and
dzog-rim (Tibetan) stages work with the 'chakra' (Tibetan:
khorlo).
Bön
Chakras, as
pranic centers of the body, according to the
Himalayan Bönpo tradition, influence the quality of experience, because movement of
prana can not be separated from experience. Each of six major chakras are linked to experiential qualities of one of the
six realms of existence.
[Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2002. ISBN 1559391766, pp. 84]A modern teacher,
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche uses a computer analogy: main chakras are like hard drives. Each hard drive has many files. One of the files is always open in each of the chakras, no matter how "closed" that particular chakra may be. What is displayed by the file shapes experience.
The
tsa lung practices such as those embodied in
Trul Khor lineages open channels so
lung (
Lung is a Tibetan term
cognate with
prana or
qi) may move without obstruction.
Yoga opens chakras and evokes positive qualities associated with a particular chakra. In the hard drive analogy, the screen is cleared and a file is called up that contains positive, supportive qualities. A
seed syllable (
Sanskrit bija) is used both as a password that evokes the positive quality and the armor that sustains the quality.
[Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2002. ISBN 1559391766, pp. 84-85]Tantric practice eventually transforms all experience into bliss. The practice liberates from negative conditioning and leads to control over perception and cognition.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche teaches a version of the Six Lokas sadhana which works with the chakra system. Qigong
Qigong also relies on a similar model of the human body as an energy system, except that it involves the circulation of qi (ki, chi) energy.
In the circuit of qi, called the Microcosmic orbit, energy also comes back down the front torso channel (equivalent to the nadis of Hatha yoga), and enters the dan tian: when it returns to the heart (and cycles down and reascends to the head) further meditation/contemplation or union with Dao. In Macrocosmic orbit the qi is also guided through the main channels in the limbs.
The concept of meridians and qi are superficially reminiscent of that of the chakras and the prana respectively, and it was sometimes suggested that they were inspired by the Indian concepts. However, the Chinese model includes 12 meridians and at least 365 acupuncture points distributed on various organs rather than just 6 chakras all located alongside the spine.
In Japan, the word qi is written ki, and is related to the practice of Reiki. Western complementary and alternative medicine
In the Western hemisphere, a concept similar to that of prana can be traced back as far as the 18th century's Franz Anton Mesmer that used 'animal magnetism' to cure disease.
However, the concept of chakras was only introduced in 1927 by the clergyman and theosophical author Charles Webster Leadbeater in his book 'The Chakras'.
Due to the similarities between the Chinese and Indian philosophies, the notion of chakras was quickly amalgamated to Chinese practices such as acupuncture and belief in ki. The confluence of these two divergent healing traditions and the common practitioners' own inventiveness have lead to an ever-changing and expanding array of concepts in the Western world. Contemporary Models
The chakras are described as being aligned in an ascending column from the base of the spine to the top of the head. In New Age practices, each chakra is often associated with a certain color. In various traditions chakras are associated with multiple physiological functions, an aspect of consciousness, a classical element, and other distinguishing characteristics. They are visualized as lotuses/flowers with a different number of petals in every chakra.
The chakras are thought to vitalize the physical body and to be associated with interactions of a physical, emotional and mental nature. They are considered loci of life energy or prana, also called shakti, qi (Chinese; ki in Japanese), koach-ha-guf (Hebrew), bios (Greek) & aether (Greek, English), which is thought to flow among them along pathways called nadis. The function of the chakras is to spin and draw in this energy to keep the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in balance.
The New Age movement has led to an increased interest in the West regarding chakras. Many in this movement point to a correspondence between the position and role of the chakras and those of the glands in the endocrine system. These ideas first appear in the writings of theosophical authors like C. W. Leadbeater, who wrote a book on the Chakras.
Many of Leadbeater's views that directed his understanding of chakras were influenced by previous theosophist authors and in particular Johann Georg Gichtel, a disciple of Jakob Böhme, and his book Theosophia Practica (1696) in which Gitchtel directly refer to inner force centres, a concept reminiscent of that of chakras.
The seven principal chakras are said by some to reflect how the unified consciousness of humanity (the immortal human being or the soul), is divided to manage different aspects of earthly life (body/instinct/vital energy/deeper emotions/communication/having an overview of life/contact to God). The chakras are placed at differing levels of spiritual subtlety, with Sahasrara at the top being concerned with pure consciousness, and Muladhara at the bottom being concerned with matter, which is seen simply as crudified consciousness. Western derivative models and interpretations
It is the shakta theory of 7 main chakras that become most popular in the Western hemisphere, largely through the translation of two Indian texts, the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, and the Padaka-Pancaka, by Sir John Woodroffe, alias Arthur Avalon, in a book titled The Serpent Power. This book is extremely detailed and complex, and later the ideas were developed into what is predominant Western view of the Chakras by the Theosophists, and largely the controversial (in theosophical circles) C. W. Leadbeater in his book The Chakras, which are in large part his own meditations and insights on the matter.
Rudolf Steiner (one-time Theosophist, and founder of Anthroposophy) says much about the Chakras that is unusual, especially that the chakra system is dynamic and evolving and is very different for modern people than it was in ancient times, and will in turn be radically different in future times. In contrast to the traditional eastern teachings, Steiner describes a sequence of development from the top down rather than the bottom up. This is the so called 'Christos Path' which has not always been available to humanity. He also seems to ignore the Thousand Petaled at the crown of the head and mentions cryptically an Eight Petaled chakra located between the Ten Petaled and the Six Petaled. In his book How to Know Higher Worlds Steiner gives clear instructions on how to develop the chakras safely into maturity. These are more like life disciplines than exercises and can take considerable time. He warns that while quicker methods exist, they can be dangerous to one's health, character, or sanity.
New Age writers, such as Anodea Judith in her book Wheels of Life, have written about the chakras in great detail, including the reasons for their appearance and functions.
Another unique interpretation of the seven chakras is presented by writer and artist Zachary Selig. In the book Kundalini Awakening, a Gentle Guide to Chakra Activation and Spiritual Growth, he presents a unique codex titled "Relaxatia," a solar Kundalini paradigm that is a codex of the human chakra system and the solar light spectrum, designed to activate Kundalini through his color-coded chakra paintings.[ Selby, Jon and Selig, Zachary. (1992) Kundalini Awakening, a Gentle Guide to Chakra Activation and Spiritual Growth, New York: Random House, ISBN 978-0-553-35330-3 (0-553-35330-6)]
Additionally, some chakra system models describe one or more Transpersonal chakras above the crown chakra, and an Earth star chakra below the feet. There are also held to be many minor chakras, for example between the major chakras. Chakras are also used in neurolinguistic programming to connect NLP logical levels, with spiritual goals on the crown, intellectual on the forehead and so on. Endocrine system
The primary importance and level of existence of chakras is posited to be in the psyche. However, there are those who believe that chakras have a physical manifestation as well. Some authors say that there is a relationship between the positions and functions of the chakras and of the various organs of the endocrine system. It is noted by many that there is a marked similarity between the positions and roles described for chakras, and the positions and roles of the glands in the endocrine system, and also by the positions of the nerve ganglia (also known as "plexuses") along the spinal cord (branching to plexuses by endocrine glands or organs), opening the possibility that two vastly different systems of conceptualization have been brought to bear to systemize insights about the same phenomenon. By some, chakras are thought of as having their physical manifestation in the body as these glands and their subjective manifestation as the associated emotional, mental, and spiritual experiences. The Spectrum of Light
A recent development in Western practices dating back to the 1940s is to associate each one of the seven chakras to a given colour and a corresponding crystal. For example, the chakra in the forehead is associated with the colour purple, so to cure a headache you would apply a purple stone to the forehead. This idea has proven highly popular and has been integrated by all but a few practitioners.
Mercier introduces the relation of color energy to the science of the light spectrum;"As humans, we exist within the 49th Octave of Vibration of the electromagnetic light spectrum. Below this range are barely visible radiant heat, then invisible infrared, television and radiowaves, sound and brain waves; above it is barely visible ultraviolet, then the invisible frequencies of chemicals and perfumes, followed by x-rays, gamma rays, radium rays and unknown cosmic rays
Understanding existence and physical form as an interpretation of light energy through the physical eyes will open up greater potential to explore the energetic boundaries of color, form and light that are perceived as immediate reality. Indian Yogic teachings assign to the seven major chakras specific qualities, such as color of influence (from the 7 rays of spectrum light), elements (such as earth, air, water & ether), body sense (such as touch, taste, and smell), and relation to an endocrine gland.
The Seven Major Chakras
Sahasrara: The Crown Chakra
Ajna: The Brow Chakra
Vishuddha: The Throat Chakra
Anahata: The Heart Chakra
Manipura: The Solar Plexus Chakra
Svadhisthana: The Sacral Chakra
Muladhara: The Base Chakra
See also
