Chapter
2

Chakra Shakti: The Power Tradition

Chakras? Who ever thought of such a thing? And how did anyone ever figure out what and where they were? The concept of spinning energy centers in the body has an ancient Eastern feel, and indeed, the chakra concept has been around for many thousands of years. It is integral to many different branches of yoga, and ideas about chakras have evolved and changed (along with yoga itself) over the last 20 centuries or so. We promise not to bore you with a lot of history or technical detail, but let’s take a brief look at how chakras originated and what they mean in context. In this chapter, you not only find out why chakras have such staying power but also the ways you might be most comfortable thinking about and working with them now in daily practice.

Chakras’ Origins: On the Wheels of Chariots

The first written texts in India are called the Vedas, a huge body of literature that probably dates as far back as 2000 B.C.E. Before the Vedas, knowledge was passed along orally, and the Vedas probably include information that had been a part of Indian culture long before anyone thought to write down any of it. The Vedas are considered sacred texts in the Hindu religion, and they were written in Sanskrit, one of the ancient languages of India. The Vedas consist of several different works, including hymns, chants, stories, prophecies, poems, and more. They are long, so unless you decide to become a Hindu scholar, you probably won’t get around to reading them … even in translation! In orthodox Hinduism, however, the Vedas are sacred, considered passed down by God, and not something people just wrote down without any divine guidance.

The Vedas are the first place where the chakras are mentioned, and because the Vedas are the oldest written text in India and among the oldest of written texts in the world, that means people have been talking about, thinking about, and writing about chakras for a lot longer than they have been talking, thinking, and writing about a lot of things.

According to chakra expert Anodea Judith, part of the Vedas contains the story of the Indo-European invasion when the Aryans stormed into India on wheeled chariots. The wheels of those chariots were described as cakras. The Aryans were also described as cakravartins, and the story says that golden wheels of light preceded their chariots. We can only speculate about what these golden disks of light might have been. Gold adornments to their chariots? Weapons? Judith wonders if it might have been the glow of their excessively powerful third chakras, which certainly would have had to be pretty fired up to conquer another race.

Judith also writes that the chakras were mentioned around 600 C.E in the Upanishads—Hindu scriptures, sacred to the Vendanta branch of Hinduism. They are also briefly mentioned in the Yoga Sutras, a collection of aphorisms defining yoga, written by the Hindu sage Patanjali in the second century, even though they are in no way central to that famous collection of aphorisms still often quoted today in yoga classes.

Chakras and Yoga: A Match Made in Heaven

Yoga is the practice of yoking the body, mind, and spirit (to put it in very simple terms). Chakras are energy centers that also serve to link these different levels of the self, and the concept of chakras has been an integral part of yogic philosophy for thousands of years. However, not every branch of yoga emphasizes or even mentions chakras. The concept caught on and became a more central part of yoga with the development of Tantra.

Tantra is a branch of yoga that developed in the seventh century as a response to the previous notion (which many yogis still embrace) that we should rise above our physical lives, desires, and senses, to touch a higher plane of existence. According to Tantra, our physical lives, desires, and senses are grounded in the Earthly world and are worth embracing because they are the physical manifestation of Divine energy. To live in the physical world and accept both its light and dark aspects is to worship God. This is also a central concept when working with chakras, as each chakra encompasses both the light and dark sides of the human body, mind, and spirit.

Tantra was widespread and took many forms, including Kashmir Shavism, a Shiva-worshipping form that originated in the eighth and ninth centuries and spawned the notion of Kundalini energy, which we talk about more in Chapter 5. Kundalini energy—the female aspect of the Divine, or feminine energy—lies coiled around the first chakra like a sleeping serpent. As each chakra is energized, she rises up, piercing each one in succession and progressing on toward the Crown chakra where she can finally unite with her beloved, the god Shiva, also known as the masculine principle of the Divine. This can result in enlightenment, even if it only lasts for a little while. According to many sources, it can also result in mental problems and hallucinations for people who are not ready to experience the serpent power. (Don’t worry. We talk you through this in Chapter 5.)

Westerners first heard about the chakras through a book published in 1919 called The Serpent Power, in which an Englishman named Arthur Avalon translated older Hindu texts and explained concepts like tantra, kundalini, and the chakras. This is only one of many interpretations, however. As any well-versed scholar will tell you, different schools of thought and various Hindu texts throughout history describe the chakras in different ways. Hinduism is the predominant religion of India (where the religion began). Hindus have numerous diverse beliefs, but many embrace the concepts of a Supreme Being and of reincarnation. Some Hindu texts describe hundreds or even thousands of chakras. Some say there are eight chakras, or seven, or only five. Some say the chakras are energy centers, and others say they are regions in the body. But Avalon’s translation isn’t a scholarly text, so we’ll work to simplify as easily as we can and distill what we and others have learned about the chakras into information that will be useful to you in your daily life. If you want more scholarly information, historical context, or anything else beyond the scope of this book, we encourage you to continue your studies by researching the history and origins of chakra practice.

Chakras and the Eightfold Path

We mostly think of chakras in terms of yoga, but remember that Buddhism began in India, too, even though it is now more widespread in Asia. Buddhism is a religion that began in India more than 2,000 years ago when Siddhartha Gautama, became enlightened and is now known as the Buddha. Today, millions of people all over the world practice several branches of Buddhism.

The idea of chakras isn’t central to Buddhism, but the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism is often depicted as a spinning wheel with eight spokes that represent the eight aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. It consists of guidelines for living that help increase knowledge and maximize the chances for enlightenment. The eight paths are as follows:

Right understanding

Right thought

Right speech

Right action

Right livelihood

Right effort

Right mindfulness

Right concentration

The Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by a chakra called the dharma wheel or dharmachakra in Sanskrit. This is a symbol of a wheel with eight spokes each of which represents a limb of the Noble Eightfold Path.

Because Hinduism and Buddhism both began in India, the Eightfold Path of Buddhism is probably related at its beginnings to the Eight Limbs of Yoga, which Patanjali wrote about in the Yoga Sutras. These aren’t the same eight limbs as the limbs of the Noble Eightfold Path, but the idea is the same: to offer guidelines for living that will maximize physical and spiritual development.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga aren’t directly related to the chakras, except that if you are practicing yoga, you should be aware of them because they are so essential to yogic thought. Unlike the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the Eight Limbs of Yoga aren’t typically depicted as chakras. However, practicing these eight limbs is energizing and balancing for all the chakras, so we go over them briefly:

• The Yamas: five positive practices to help you resist negative things like violence and lying. They are ahimsa, nonviolence; satya, telling the truth; asteya, not stealing; brahmacharya, abstaining from sexual misconduct; and aparigraha, not being jealous or coveting what others have. Practicing the yamas are particularly helpful for energizing the bottom four chakras—Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, and Heart.
• The Niyamas: five observances, or things to practice to enhance your life. They are shaucha, being pure by practicing cleanliness (in body and mind); santosha, being content or satisfied; tapas, being self-disciplined; svadhyaya, studying both the self and sacred texts; and ishvarapranidhana, worshipping God or surrendering to a Higher Power. Practicing the niyamas are particularly helpful for energizing the top three chakras—Throat, Third Eye, and Crown.
• Asana: disciplining the body through yoga poses. Note that this is just one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, even though many people today think of Asana as the entirety of yoga. As you can see throughout this book, there are Asanas that are particularly good for each of the seven chakras.
• Pranayama: breath control through specific breathing exercises. Depending on which type of breathing exercise you do, Pranayama is good for all the chakras, but it is particularly energizing for the fourth chakra, or Heart chakra.
• Pratyahara: the purposeful withdrawal of the senses for greater control over the mind. This is an excellent exercise for unblocking and energizing the sixth chakra, or Third Eye chakra.
• Dharana: concentration for mastery of the mind. This is particularly helpful for energizing and unblocking the sixth or Third Eye and seventh or Crown chakras.
• Dhyana: meditation, which is good for all the chakras, but it is particularly good for the province of the seventh chakra, or Crown chakra.
• Samadhi: the experience of the unity of all things. When all your chakras are energized and awakened, you might have beautiful flashes of Samadhi.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga aren’t just similar to the Eightfold Path of Buddhism. They also sound a little bit like the Ten Commandments (for those of you who paid attention in your Sunday School classes). In other words, they are good advice and they promote physical, mental, and spiritual health. Those are all good for your chakras, so if you’ve been looking for some lifestyle guidance, there you have it!

Chakra Mind, Chakra Matters

Now that we are smack in the middle of the internet age, facilitating the instant transmission of knowledge from anywhere to anywhere else on the globe, millions of people know about chakras, yoga, Patanjali, Buddhism, Sanskrit, and all the other things we’ve talked about in this chapter. They don’t all know how each of these things originated or what they mean in their historical context, but they know the words and many of us use those words often. We think about what they mean for us, in our twenty-first century lives. Considering the ancient history of these ideas, that’s amazing.

Today, people use the concept of chakras in all sorts of contexts that they were never originally intended. But who says that’s not okay? Chakras have followed us into the twenty-first century, and they still spin, open and close, and work inside our bodies, so why shouldn’t we adapt our thinking about them to match our lives? Of course, we should.

One of the most common ways people work with chakras today is through meditation because the calm and stillness of mind you gain from meditation can help you tune in to how each chakra feels. Meditation techniques can also help you access your chakras in other ways, as you’ll see throughout this book.

Meditation is defined in many ways by different people and traditions, and if you read about meditation, you can find numerous techniques, from slow counting or focusing on the breath to repeating a mantra; staring at and contemplating a mandala; considering illogical puzzles that push the mind beyond its logical limitations; and the practice of zazen, or “just sitting,” to let all fluctuations of thought dissipate until the mind becomes like still water with no ripples.

Entering a labyrinth like this one from the Chartres cathedral in France can be like entering spinning chakra energy only to travel to rest at the divine center of being.

To some, meditation is good for stress relief, relaxation, or to work out problems and find solutions. To others, it is mental exercise that is the brain’s equivalent to the body’s yoga practice of the asanas. To still others, the point is to experience only the present moment with no journeys to the past or future. Many use meditation as a form of prayer or communion with God, the Divine spirit, Higher Powers, or universal energy.

Meditation is also an integral part of the yogic path. The physical practice of yoga, the asanas, were developed to prepare the body for seated meditation. Meditation allows the mind to quiet and achieve such one-pointed concentration that you can perceive and actually experience the oneness of all things. Yogic meditation is the path to ultimate unity with all living things, during which the person meditating understands that all is one.

This is also the goal of Kundalini during her journey from the Root chakra to the Crown: to merge with Shiva in ultimate union, symbolizing the great unity of all life. Therefore, it makes logical sense that meditation and the chakras go together.

In the previous chapter, we included an exercise that introduced you to your chakras. Now, to begin meditating on your own chakras, sit quietly and repeat the exercise. This time begin to concentrate your focus on each chakra, one at a time. Try to connect your mind with your chakra as you feel its energy center in your body. If you are new to chakra healing, don’t worry about “getting it right.” Just focus your attention at the locus of each chakra and let yourself have an experience. As you connect with each chakra, make mental notes about that experience. Do this chakra meditation without judgment—let your breath guide you to steady your mind, body, and spirit in the energy of each chakra as you move from the Root chakra to the Crown.

Begin with the first chakra, or Root chakra, at the base of the spine. Visualize its color (red), try to feel it spinning, and imagine what it looks like. Is it round? Crooked? Does it have any dents or dark spots? Is it in line with your spine? Which way is it turning? Imagine filling it with color and light to energize and balance it. Then, move on to the second chakra, or Sacral chakra, just above the navel.

Proceed in the same way for the third chakra at the Solar Plexus, the fourth chakra at the Heart, the fifth chakra in the Throat, the sixth chakra in the Third Eye, and the seventh chakra at the Crown of the head. Checking in each day with a meditative look at your own chakras can tell you a lot about what you need at any given moment, such as what your current strengths are and where you need a little more loving care.

Consider keeping a chakra journal filled with descriptive text or drawings—whichever method corresponds to the way you record your experiences during chakra meditation—to chronicle your healing chakra journey. If you already keep a journal of any kind, whether a cycling log or a gardener’s plant list or a reader’s booklist, you know how useful it can be to keep a record of dates and details and descriptions of what happened. Your healing chakra journal can serve a similar function, helping you to track your discovery and understanding of how your chakras are flowing the life force energy through your body.

Meditate on the chakras.

Owning the Chakras

Remember that although many great scholars and wise people have written about the chakras throughout history, your chakras belong to you—right here and right now. The point of this book is not to school you on chakra philosophy; instead, this book is designed to help you own your chakras, work with them, balance them, heal them, and become a better, more fully realized person because of that inner work.

Maybe you’ll find the best way to work with your own chakras will be through the poses of Hatha yoga, through mindful meditation, or through reading translations of some of the ancient sacred texts of yoga. Maybe you prefer the Tantric approach of embracing the physical world, or maybe you are more comfortable with a prayer-like communion with Spirit or a Higher Power to help balance your chakras.

Whatever way you choose to work with your chakras, this book can help you through it. If you love learning (your seventh chakra does!), the next chapter introduces you to chakra correspondences in the world. You learn how to tune in to the spinning wheels that make up our bodies, our cultures, and even our Universe—from the atoms that comprise us to the solar systems that carry us through space. But if you want to get right down to working with your chakras, skip to Chapter 4, where we help you tune in to and even measure yours. Remember, they are your chakras, so forge your own path. We are right there with you.