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The word comes from the Sanskrit cakra meaning
"wheel" or "circle" (also cognate to both words), and
sometimes also referring to the "wheel of life". The pronunciation of
this word can be approximated in English by chuhkruh, with ch as in chart and
both instances of a as in
yoga (the commonly found pronunciation shockrah is
incorrect). Some traditional sources describe five or seven chakras, others
eight.
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 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 visualised as lotuses with a different number of petals in every
chakra.
The chakras are thought to vitalise 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, or
chi), which is thought to flow among them along pathways called nadis. The
function of the chakras is to spin and draw in this Universal Life Force Energy
to keep the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in
balance.
Traditional Chinese medicine also relies on a similar model
of the human body as an energy system.
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. Some people in New Age also claim that other chakras, besides the
above, exist — for instance, ear chakras — and have described many more chakras
than made reference to in traditional texts. Frequently references are made to
the chakras in the New Age "sacred sexuality" or neotantra movement.
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 subtler chakras, until union with God is achieved in the Sahasrara chakra at the crown
of the head.
Apart from this primary text from India,
different Western authors have tried to describe the chakras, most notably the
Theosophists. Many New Age writers, such as the Danish author and musician
Peter Kjaerulff in his book, The Ringbearer's Diary, or Anodea Judith in her
book Wheels of Life, have written their opinions about the chakras in great
detail, including the reasons for their appearance and functions.
The seven 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.
The Seven basic Chakras
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Scientific Basis of Chakras
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Chakra Clearing
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Soul Chakra
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How Thought and Emotions
Affects our Chakra Energy
See Also:
Chakra Healing
Food for Soul
Chios Healing
Yoga Meditation
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