Chakras have become a popular topic of conversation, but there is a big difference between the essential representation of chakras nowadays and in the old yoga literature. Today, chakras are commonly used for physical therapy. This is different from their primary and essential purpose, the self-realization that goes beyond the body and mind. Opening the chakras implies a radical change of consciousness, which usually occurs after several years of meditation. This is not a simple emotional opening of the chakras or physical cleansing.
What happens to the chakras analogously happens to yoga today. Yoga means meditation, defined as "the negation of dualistic thought processes in mind" (Yoga Sutra 1.2)
But today, yoga means primarily asanas, i.e., yoga positions that are only part of yoga. The chakras in the yoga literature denote the seven vital energy centers in the subtle or astral body, the body of life energy at the base of the physical body. Their opening leads to the attainment of higher levels of consciousness, leading to the Supreme Self's awareness. However, today chakras and yoga are defined physically, and their true purpose and function are obscured.
Many practitioners today are convinced that chakra imbalances and blockages are the root of the disease and can be treated by correcting the function of the affected chakra. This misconception has led many practitioners to claim that they will purify our chakras. Others argue that they can stimulate our chakras and thus heal them and give us inner knowledge and experience. Unfortunately, some of these procedures are very expensive, and some are speculative.
Chakra healing today is mainly based on external aids such as herbs, stones, sound therapy, color therapy, and vibration therapy. Healers say they work on the chakras directly through mental or occult powers. The operation of the chakras with these methods aims to open them and awaken them or cause a higher level of awareness in the person being treated.
The yogic approach is aimed at opening the chakras not for healing purposes or to gain occult powers but as part of self-knowledge. For this, yoga uses internal practices such as mantra, pranayama, meditation that we must do for ourselves, and external means such as food herbs are only ancillary aids.
According to the yoga system, in the normal state of man, which is seldom transcended, the chakras are closed unless it maintains a spiritual practice. That is, they do not function. The result of this is not a disease but ignorance. This ignorance consists of the external world as actual reality and living without awareness of the true "I" (true Self), which is neither body nor mind but consciousness without thoughts (consciousness free of studies). Therefore, the chakras can be closed to us, and we can be healthy, emotionally stable, mentally creative, and successful in many fields. The purpose of opening the chakras is not to improve the capacity in the ordinary domains of human life but to go beyond our mortality and transience and seek the immortal essence.
Today, chakras are commonly described as the energy fields of the physical body where energy channels are identified with the spine. The chakras are connected to multiple spinal centers and their functions, such as digestion, respiration, and reproduction. However, traditional yogis consider these effects of the chakras on the physical body to be secondary.
The current tendency for chakras to interfere with proper functions in the physical body is insufficient knowledge and understanding of the nature and functioning of the subtle body. The subtle body is an equal part of the physical body and has a similar shape. It is composed of more delicate matter from space in the physical world and cannot be perceived by the physical senses. It belongs to another realm of existence that we approach when asleep or after death. The subtle body allows the life energy to enter the physical body, and without the life energy, the physical body will not be able to move. Therefore, the subtle body is always active in the physical body as a source of vitality, although its activities cannot be noticed due to the veil of physical conditions.
Chakras are not part of the normal functioning of the subtle body. They gain a significant role only in higher levels of consciousness or in spiritual awakening. They represent the opening or merging of the subtle body with the consciousness outside it. While we can relate subtle and physical components and functions, we must understand that they are different. A spiritually open, astral, or subtle body is something else entirely.
Kundalini
For chakras to function, they need a higher energy source than the physical body can provide. This is the role of the kundalini lying dormant in the subtle body. Kundalini is not a physical force, nor is it energy manipulated by personal power. Kundalini is a concentrated power of consciousness or attention. It is not energy other than consciousness but energy that manifests when freed from thought. Only if the person has a one-way mind kundalini is activated because only then the person has the opportunity to move out of the review.
Awakening of kundalini requires prana or life force to enter the central canal (Sushumna). This happens when prana is withdrawn from its fixation through thinking of the outside world. However, as long as our life energy is identified with the physical body and its functions, it cannot be withdrawn into the central canal. For this reason, the awakening of the kundalini and the opening of the chakras imply a state of samadhi in which we leave ordinary consciousness. In the beginning, this means a state of trance where we become unaware of our physical body. But, it can be done in a state of alertness without impairing physical activity. Still, at that stage, the physical body is no longer perceived as the person's true identity.
Chakras and physical organs
As the terms for Sanskrit chakras are more complicated, they tend to be named after their respective physical locations, such as the heart chakra, the throat chakra, and the navel chakra. Although this is convenient to understand, the chakras are identified with the physical body. A more accurate way to name the chakra is after the elements that rule. The ground for the base of the spine, the water for the urine - the genital area, the fire for the navel, the air for the heart, the ether for the throat, the mind for the third eye, and the awareness the crown (supreme) chakra.
However, the cosmic functions of these elements give access to the open chakras, not their ordinary roles as components of our personal lives. The open chakras provide knowledge of the unity of the objective constituents of the universe (elements), together with the aspects of cognition (the sense organs) and the instruments of action (organs of action), which are the subjective constituents of the universe. When the chakras are open, we experience the cosmic nature of these elements within our deeper consciousness.
To bring the subtle centers into operation, the physical centers must be placed in a state of rest or balance. This is why yoga develops peace of body, breathing, senses, and mind (asanas, pranayama, pratyahara, and Diana). Properly opening the "water" chakra is different from increased sex drive. On the contrary, the physical, sexual organ is latent, and the sex drive is sublimated.
Similarly, opening the "air" chakra is different from being in a heightened, sensitive or overly emotional state. To awaken the fourth chakra, we need to go beyond personal feelings and understand the cosmic energy behind all the emotional fluctuations. This requires opening up universal feelings of compassion and commitment and contact with the universal life force.
Specifically, there is no chakra as sex, heart, or other chakras as a regular physical function. Some chakras are located in the subtle body in the area that corresponds to the genital area of the physical body. However, an adequately opened chakra does not deal with the functions of the bodily sexual organs but with the cosmic element - water and the related activities. Therefore, to call the chakra a sex center invites misinterpretation.
Signs of open chakras include proper control and separation from physical elements and organs. As long as a chakra is attached to the bodily organs and their functions, the subtle organs can not play. Awakening consciousness behind the subtle body allows us to remove the rough body and parts as a heavy coat that is not needed on a hot sunny day.
Signs of chakra opening
To understand what happens when the chakras open, we need to explain the signs of the chakras opening one by one. Remember that these signs are general and that the experience is still individual and variable, especially in terms of phenomenon or power. Nevertheless, the direct understanding deepens the unity of the universe with its own nature.
The earth chakra
When the first chakra is opened, the individual becomes aware of the cosmic element of the earth and the unity of all the solid states of matter as the crystallization of the energy of consciousness. We experience the qualities of the cosmic element - earth, hardness, roughness, density, and texture, as different vibrational conditions of our own consciousness. A variety of subtle or heavenly scents can be felt. Similarly, the individual understands all the formative acts of the universe as different energies of the earth's cosmic energy in its capacity to produce and maintain form.
The water chakra
When the water chakra opens, the individual becomes aware of the cosmic element of water and the fundamental unity of all liquid states of matter as the crystallization of the energy of consciousness. We experience the qualities of the cosmic aspect - moisture, softness, humidity, freshness, and liquid nature of water, as different vibrational conditions of our own consciousness. Various subtle or heavenly tastes can be felt as the essence that emerges from all experiences. Similarly, the individual understands all the purifying works in the universe as different parts of the cosmic energy water in its purifying role.
Fiery chakra
When the third chakra opens, the individual becomes aware of the cosmic element fire and the fundamental unity of all the light states of matter as the crystallization of the energy of consciousness. We experience the qualities of the heavenly element - fire, light, color, heat, lighting as different vibrational conditions of our own consciousness. You can experience subtle sights and visions and see the glow, shine, or aura behind things. Similarly, the individual understands that behind all events in the universe works the cosmic fire energy in its illumination power.
Air chakra
When the fourth chakra is opened, the individual becomes aware of the cosmic element air and the fundamental unity of all gaseous states of matter as the crystallization of the energy of consciousness. He experiences all the qualities of the heavenly element - air, movement, variability, subtlety, and penetration, as different vibrational conditions of his own consciousness. Subtle energy contacts can be noticed, and the elemental vibrational energies of the cosmic life force can be felt. Similarly, the individual understands that behind all the contacts in the universe works the cosmic air energy in its active role.
Ether (spatial) chakra
When the fifth chakra is opened, the individual becomes aware of the cosmic ether and the fundamental unity of the whole space in the universe as the crystallization of the energy of consciousness. We experience the qualities of the heavenly element - ether, light, transparency, and clarity as different vibrational conditions of our own consciousness. Subtle sounds can be noticed and the basic structure of the universe recognized. Similarly, the individual understands that behind all the vibrations in the universe, the cosmic energy of the ether works as their matrix.
Third eye or chakra of the mind
When the sixth chakra or third eye is opened, the individual becomes aware of the cosmic mind and the essential unity of all minds in the universe as the crystallization of the energy of consciousness. We experience the qualities of the mind - perception, creativity, discrimination, and distance - as different
vibrational conditions of our own consciousness. The individual acquires the ability to integrate all cosmic elements and their corresponding organs and functions through the activity of the awakened mind. It establishes control over the mind and has a continuous stream of divine perceptions. The individual realizes that everything we think is a manifestation of the cosmic principle of reason.
The chakra of consciousness
When the seventh chakra opens, the individual becomes aware of pure consciousness as the universe's only reality and primary essence. It experiences all the qualities of consciousness - infinity, immortality, peace, bliss, as its nature and the essential nature of the universe. It establishes a rule over consciousness and comes into a state of self-realization, seeing itself in all beings and all beings in itself. The individual realizes that all things are manifestations of the Supreme Self, the only reality.
There are also general signs of the awakening of subtle energies, such as experiencing quiet sounds, lights, and visions of deities, mainly in the third eye area. But such experiences can come even before a particular chakra is opened.
Premature opening of the chakras
Opening the chakras requires purity of body, heart, and mind. Therefore, it can not be done intentionally or forcefully, nor can it be done in a state of emotional distress. Attempts to awaken kundalini without a previously purified body and mind lead to side effects in which the mind or pranic force is disturbed, resulting in various illusory experiences. For this reason, traditional yoga literature has always emphasized real life (such as vegetarian diet and sexual energy control) and the right attitude (such as nonviolence, non-possessiveness, and other respect and restrictions embodied in the pits and niyas, i.e., ethical and moral principles for practicing yoga).
You may have strange or abnormal kundalini and chakra experiences, although many experiences with kundalini waking up prematurely are actually nervous or mental disorders of a routine nature. If the mind is not purified, there may still be increased activity of the lower chakras, accompanied by an increase in the corresponding physical urges. That is why the yoga literature states that creatures by nature Assyrian or highly selfish can open the chakras to the navel. Still, their experiences will be "soiled," and the functioning of the chakras will be disrupted.
Restrictions on healers
Certain healers can affect the physical aspects of the chakras with external aids or energies - which can help treat various physical or emotional imbalances. Still, the true awakening of the chakras cannot be achieved by us. No machine, person, or object can open your chakras for their yogic level of functioning. Certain herbs, diets, and stones can help prepare the way for the opening of the chakras, but these are only external preparatory substrates. They can not open the chakras, just as the asanas by themselves can not lead you to meditation. A guru, or one in which the inner consciousness is awakened, can provide guidance or initiate experience, but it cannot work for you. Proper chakra opening requires a yoga practice that sometimes takes years, sometimes several lives, to achieve, including pranayama, mantra, and meditation practices, along with a disciplined lifestyle.
First of all, we need to understand that the opening of the chakras is not an end in itself but part of the process of self-realization that occurs primarily through the surrender of the Divine (bhakti or devotion) or the search for the true nature (jnana or knowledge). The current tendency to focus on the technical characteristics of the chakras instead of developing devotion or wisdom indicates that we do not understand what spiritual practice really is. It is like, for example, dealing more with the physiology of the stomach than with the quality of the food we eat. The chakras are maps. They show the way and the side roads on which we can wander. What is important is to connect with that goal in which the individual goes beyond all requirements.
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