Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation

Introduction

This book is an introduction to the classical understanding of chakras, which are most simply defined as psychic centers of transformation that enable one to move toward an enlightened state of being. Although the roots of the knowledge about chakras are of ancient origin, this knowledge is still functionally practical today. Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means a wheel, a disc, or any arrangement in circular form or organization. The ancient sources depict each of the seven major chakras as a lotus blossom, a circular form surrounded by petals, as we shall see illustrated in chapter 3, The Essentials of the Chakras. The word chakra also indicates movement. Chakras introduce movement because they transform psychophysical energy into spiritual energy.

Psychophysical energy is electrochemical in nature and it works with the help of prana. Prana is the energy that creates life, matter, and mind. The word prana means vital life force. Although our organism draws prana in through our nostrils as we breathe, dynamic prana energy is not based on the physiochemical system of the body; it operates super-physically through a wireless system rather than through the nervous system.

Our body exists at two levels. The gross material level is composed of the seven dhatus—flesh, bone, clay, blood, fat, marrow, fluids—and the five elements—earth, water, fire, air, and akasha (the void or space). The subtle level is composed of the vital life force (prana), mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), ego (ahamkara), and the feeling self (chitta). Prana is the means by which the subtle and the gross in the human organism are connected. It activates all of the systems in the body, including the nervous system, and helps them work together as they should.

Prana is distributed throughout the body by Nadis, channels of energy. The Nadi transport system belongs to the subtle body and the chakras are connected to the main Nadi of this system, the Sushumna, which operates within the vertebral (spinal) column. Chakras thus do not belong to the material body and cannot be described fully from a materialistic standpoint. Just as a painting cannot be described merely from the standpoint of its lines, curves, or varying shades of color, even though these can be said to form its basic structure, chakras cannot be defined physiologically, or through any physical science such as neurochemistry. However, chakras are not imaginary centers; they are subtle centers that can be activated by the techniques described in this book.

Chakras are active at all times, whether we are conscious of them or not. Energy influenced by the elements—earth, water, fire, air, and akasha—moves through the chakras, producing different psychic states. These elements (tattvas) are constantly moving with the breath inside the body and influencing one’s temperament. (These changes are understood by neurobiologists as chemical changes produced by the endocrine glands, ductless glands whose secretions mix into the body’s blood stream directly and instantaneously.) With training, it is possible to observe oneself and see energy moving through these various psychic centers. In chapter 3, The Essentials of the Chakras, we will explain in detail the attributes and effects of the chakras. We also will explore the behavioral characteristics related to the chakras, which are not typically found in books on the subject.

There are seven major chakras, associated with the areas of the body and the elements as shown:

Muladhara Chakra: the base of the spine and the element earth

Svadhishthana Chakra: the genitals and the element water

Manipura Chakra: the navel and the element fire

Anahata Chakra: the heart and the element air

Vishuddha Chakra: the throat and the element akasha (void or space)

Ajna Chakra: the point between the eyebrows and mahatattva, the combination of the essence of all the elements in their purest form

Sahasrara Chakra: the crown of the head, transcending all elemental influence; includes the Soma Chakra, associated with the area above the third eye or point between the eyebrows

Knowledge about the chakras as psychic centers can be a valuable key to introspection. One can see oneself going through mental fluctuations that arise from a constant interaction between the mind, intellect, ego, and the world outside. In the very beginning of his Yoga Sutra, Patanjali states: To control these mental fluctuations is Yoga. Control of these mental modifications is only possible by controlling prana. Therefore, the control of prana, called pranayama, is the primary step in the spiritual path of Yoga. Yoga offers instruction in spiritual practices (sadhana) which make an aspirant the best friend of his or her own body.

This book is about the practices of Tantra Yoga, also called Maha Yoga, the primary origin of the system of working with chakras and the dormant Kundalini energy. Through yogic practice, one gains the ability to expend the least possible physiochemical energy for mentation and to maintain the body’s vitality. That enables one to divert pranic (of prana) energy to activate one’s dormant spiritual energy, called Kundalini. This energy in its dormant state is visualized as a snake coiled up in the first chakra at the base of the spine, the Muladhara Chakra.

When an aspirant (sadhaka) of Yoga starts activating the Kundalini energy through various kinds of pranayamas, the Nadi system is vitalized. The roused energy moves upward in the central Nadi, the Sushumna, passing through each of the six lower chakras to reach the seventh, the Sahasrara Chakra. This progress is known as kshata chakra bhedana (piercing of the six chakras). The release and ascent of the dormant spiritual energy enables the aspirant to transcend the effects of the elements and achieve the nondual consciousness that brings liberation from the ever-changing world of illusion (maya).

Some teachers and spiritual guides, healers, and Western thinkers say that playing with chakra-stuff is dangerous and that the sudden arousal of Kundalini without proper preparation can create problems. They scare people unnecessarily. As we shall see in chapter 2, Kundalini and Yoga, the rousing of Kundalini is the activation of upward-moving energy. It is true that the ascent of Kundalini is associated with the withdrawal of prana and the suspension of breathing, which can be achieved with the practice of pranayama. However, unless one employs other yogic practices, that suspension of breath is temporary, ending with the next inhalation. Those who wish to work with meditation on the chakras should not worry; the Kundalini energy is not aroused by meditation alone. Even if it is aroused, its ascent will not endanger the living organism. It should also be noted that the sudden arousal of Kundalini by extreme emotions such as intense joy or sorrow can happen to anyone at any time. The energies in the body are always working, but if one can work with them at will, as we shall learn in this book, one will have more freedom.

The teachings in this book come from my father, who practiced the piercing of the six chakras (kshata chakra bhedana), and from different tantric scriptures, the writings of saints, and various scrolls that depict the chakras in a number of different ways. To assist in understanding the ancient concepts I have added many drawings and charts with the hope of enriching people’s knowledge and helping them to comprehend the age-old Indian tradition of Tantra in a modern context.

Each of the figures drawn in this book are facsimiles of illustrated Tantric texts and scrolls. The chakra figures are a language in and of themselves and aid the aspirant in visualizing the chakras. A description accompanies each chakra explaining the symbolism drawn in the figures. Concentration on physical organs or locations, as prescribed by many spiritual masters, is misleading, for the chakras are not material. Thus the figures given here are an invaluable device for one trying to visualize chakras while meditating on them.

One of the twin hemispheres in the human brain is visual and the other verbal. The visual hemisphere works with the images of the chakras presented in the illustrations, which have been especially designed for coloring. The true aspirant is best advised to concentrate on the deities of the chakras which represent different aspects of consciousness, and thus come into contact with those states of consciousness that are characteristic for each chakra. The verbal hemisphere is engaged when the seed sounds (bija mantras) that are connected with each of the chakras are simultaneously repeated. Through repetition of the seed sounds, the deities which are present in sound form become alive and the aspirant can experience their presence.

Using the faculties of hearing and sight together (mantra and yantra) is tantra. One subtly receives information and inspiration from the forms, colors, and sounds. One can make the body a true asset by training one’s sensory and motor organs with the discipline given by yogic practices involving the breath, the repetition of special sounds (mantra japa), and concentration. One who masters this practice will find himself or herself in a meditative state while being neither inert nor inactive.

Tantra has studied chakras as centers of transformation in all walks of life and has evolved the system of Tantra Yoga to bring happiness and joy in worldly life as well as spiritual evolution. Tantra Yoga is for anybody who has a spine, two nostrils, good concentration, and the power of visualization.

1

Principles of Tantra Yoga

The scriptures of Tantra Yoga are dialogues between Shiva, the infinite supreme consciousness, and Shakti, the divine mother, the eternal energy of the supreme consciousness. When Shakti becomes manifest as Shiva’s counterpart to enact his divine lila (sport, play) in time and space, she asks him questions about methods to live in peace and how to use one’s lifetime in a fruitful manner. Knowing that people with only common insight have difficulty in grasping the truth of the sacred (vedic) teachings, Shiva simplifies and modifies them. By incorporating new processes and practices, he makes the teachings more adaptable, practical, absorbing, powerful, and accessible to a larger number of the divine mother’s beloved children. This simplified version of the sacred teachings was termed Tantra Yoga by the followers of Shakti.

In Tantra Yoga the aspirant has to see himself or herself as a microcosm. Then it is not necessary to search for anything outside of oneself; the body is one’s instrument. The journey is not outside but inside, starting from the Muladhara Chakra, one’s own base, where spiritual energy is dormant and coiled up. This spiritual energy is the divine mother Shakti herself in the form of Kundalini. She is longing for union with her beloved, the supreme Shiva, who is in eternal bliss in the Sahasrara Chakra at the top of the cranium. Her arousal is delayed by the constant mental activity that draws the aspirant to the world of sense perception in search of the satisfaction of his or her desires. In everyday life, the mind is usually involved with material existence and does not go beyond the sensory boundary. It perceives the world, thinks, wills, desires, and feels pleasures and pains. It serves the I-consciousness. Tantric practices lead the mind to its higher aspect where it completely closes its doors to the world and does not desire, think, or will, but it realizes the supreme truth and thus merges into the supreme consciousness.

Tantra is a practical approach to the truth that is beyond words. It deals with a person’s psychophysical energy: first directing it to function correctly and then transforming that energy into spiritual energy, so that a direct experience of truth becomes possible. Tantra knows that the human organism is capable of realizing truth beyond the realm of sensory perception. With the help of memory, imagination, and intuition, a person can grasp the laws of nature and can put otherwise mysterious forces to work for one’s benefit, growth, and development. With the perfect synchronization of interior and exterior rhythms, one can follow the path of least resistance and float freely in the ocean of the phenomenal world without getting drowned. To be precise, the human body is the most perfect instrument for the expression of consciousness.

The chief centers of consciousness in human beings are found in the cerebrospinal system and in the upper brain. The cerebrospinal system is the first part of the organism to be developed after conception. From it the entire bodily form materializes. This system is a great generator of electrical energy and has a fantastic network of nerves that serve as connectors. The cerebrum, as the upper brain is called, continuously produces electrical energy. Through nerves this energy is constantly supplied to the organism, providing life force. At the back and at the base of the skull is the cerebellum—the lower brain, the organ of the subconscious mind. This is also known as the mechanical brain, the cobra brain, or the reptile brain. The upper brain, a comparatively later development than the lower brain, is more open to change.

The functioning of the entire human body is controlled by the cerebrospinal system, and the chakras are activated through this system. For many centuries knowledge of these psychic centers has been handed down through the Hindu tantric tradition. The yogic belief is that for balanced functioning, proper harmony should exist between the two brains: the upper brain (the organism of consciousness) and the lower brain (the seat of the subconscious mind). Modern studies of the upper and lower brains point toward inner conflict between the two and relate this conflict to behavioral patterns that are influenced and affected by it. These studies also point toward a basic dichotomy in human nature. This dichotomy is further substantiated by the presence of twin hemispheres in the upper brain (the cerebrum). Human beings dwell in this duality and become victims of endless problems and complexes. To resolve this dichotomy, the most practical and plausible solution seems to be to create a union between the upper and lower brain, and between the brain’s right and left hemispheres. Balanced union is achieved through constant work on all four of these components. Thus a basic requirement for spiritual development is a systematic study of the activities and functions of the human organism at work.

Diagram of the brain, its functions, and its relationship to the chakras

Many scientific investigations have been based on the study of dead or sick bodies from which living or healthy data is not obtained. In contrast, the ancient sciences of Tantra and Yoga have made holistic studies of the healthy human organism. The results of their research, however, have not yet been broadly correlated with the experimentations and explorations of Western medicine. Recently, though, there has been a greater acceptance and broader application of exercise and breath control in post-operative and preventive measures, practices that have been translated directly from the tantric and yogic traditions and successfully adapted for the benefit of modern people. However, in order to attain a full understanding of the human being, the psychic dimensions—not simply the physical ones—must be examined thoroughly.

It is believed that the system through which transcendental union was first successfully sought is Yoga. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj,