Thursday, June 26, 2014

Chakras

Namaskaram,

Below is a good write up that I got from Yoga Philosophy Facebook Page. It talks about the 7 charkas in our body and what each and every one of that chakras means. The write up describes the dimensions that each chakra opens up to you and what controls them.

Yoga Philosophy - 7 Chakras

Image courtesy of Yoga Philosophy FB Page


In Hindu and tantric/yogic traditions and other belief systems chakras are energy points or knots in the subtle body. They are located at the physical counterparts of the major plexuses of arteries, veins and nerves. Chakras are part of the subtle body, not the physical body, and as such are the meeting points of the subtle (non-physical) energy channels, called nadiis. Nadiis are channels in the subtle body through which the life force (prana), or vital energy moves. Various scriptural texts and teachings present a different number of chakras. There are many chakras in the subtle human body according to the tantric texts, but there are 7 chakras that are considered to be the most important ones. 


Any spiritual path can be described as a journey from the base chakra, called the "Mooladhara,"(1st chakra) which is located at the base of the spine, to the "Sahasrar,"(7th chakra) which located at the top of the head. This journey of moving from the Mooladhara to Sahasrar is from one dimension to another. It may happen in many different ways, and various yogic practices can effect this movement. Mooladhara is really made up of two terms: "Moola" means the root or source, and "adhar" means the foundation. It is the very basic foundation of life. In the physical body, your energies need to be in the Mooladhara chakra to some extent. Otherwise, you cannot exist. If the Mooladhara chakra alone is dominant, food and sleep will be the predominant factors in your life. 

The second chakra is "Swadhisthana." If your energies move into Swadhisthana, you are a pleasure
seeker. The Swadhisthana chakra is located just above the genital organs. When this chakra is active, you enjoy the physical world in so many ways. If you look at a pleasure seeker, you will see that his life and his experience of life are just a little more intense compared with a person who is only about food and sleep.

If your energy moves into the "Manipuraka" chakra,(3rdchakra) located just below the navel, you are a doer in the world. You are all about action. You can do many, many things. If your energies move into the "Anahata" chakra, you are a creative person. A person who is creative in nature, like an artist or an actor, is someone who lives very intensely -- more intensely, perhaps, than a businessman, who is all action.

The 4th chakra is Anahata literally means the "un-struck." If you want to make any sound, you have to strike two objects together. Anahata is located in the heart area and is like a transition between your lower chakras and your higher chakras, between survival instincts and the instinct to liberate yourself. The lower three chakras are mainly concerned with your physical existence. Anahata is a combination; it is a meeting place for both the survival and the enlightenment chakras.

The next chakra is the "Vishuddhi," (5th chakra) which literally means "filter." Vishuddhi is located in the area of your throat. If your energies move into Vishuddhi, you become a very powerful human being, but this power is not just political or administrative. A person can be powerful in many ways. A person can become so powerful that if he just sits in one place, things will happen for him. He can manifest life beyond the limitations of time and space.Meditation upon this chakra is said to bring about the following siddhis or occult powers: vision of the three periods, past, present and future; freedom from disease and old age; destruction of dangers; and the ability to move the three worlds.

If your energies move into the "Agna" chakra (6thchakra) or 3rd eye, located between your eyebrows, you are intellectually enlightened. You have attained to a new balance and peace within you. The outside no longer disturbs You, but you are still exponentially not liberated. Meditation upon Ajna supposedly grants siddhis, or occult powers, to quickly enter another body at will and to become omniscient. He realizes unity with Brahman; and he has the ability to create, preserve, and destroy the three worlds.

If your energies move into "Sahasrar,"(7th chakra) at the crown of your head, you become ecstatic beyond all reason. This stage is said to bring about rebirth or the siddhis - occult powers of transforming into the divine, and being able to do whatever one wishes. You will simply burst with ecstasy for no reason whatsoever.

Chakras have more than one dimension to them. One dimension is their physical existence, but they also have a spiritual dimension. This means that they can be completely transformed into a new dimension. If you bring the right kind of awareness, the same Mooladhara that craves food and sleep can become absolutely free from the process of food and sleep. If one wants to go beyond food and sleep, one needs to transform the Mooladhara to an evolved state. 


To move from Mooladhara to Agna, from the lowest of these seven chakras to the second highest, there are many procedures, methods and processes through which one can raise his energies. But from Agna to Sahasrar, the sixth chakra to the highest chakra, there is no path. You can only jump there. In a way, you have to fall upward. So, the question of going step by step to that dimension does not really arise. There is no way.

Image courtesy of Yoga Philosophy FB Page
OM

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