Wheels of Life Read online

  This book is a practical guide to a subject that is normally considered very spiritual. As "spiritual subjects" are so often considered impractical or inaccessible, this book attempts to re-examine the spiritual realms, showing how deeply they are embedded in each and every aspect of our daily lives. It is my belief that people will understand and value their spiritual natures only when it becomes practical to do so. Far more is accomplished when we want to do something than when we think we should.

  When times are such that billions of people face the possibility of nuclear disaster, when men and women fear walking the streets at night, when alienation and disorientation are at an all-time high, then spirituality becomes very practical. The search for unifying factors in our daily existence, the search for understanding and direction, and the inevitable pull toward consciousness brings us to a critical evaluation of our spiritual natures. Too pragmatic and scientific to accept things on faith, Western peoples have lost touch with the world of spirit and the sense of unity it can bring. Ancient systems, couched in language and culture so different from ours, are often too alienating for the Western mind.

  This book attempts to validate the needs facing us today physically, mentally, and spiritually. It contains theories for the intellectual, art for the visionary, meditations for the ethereal, and exercises for the body. Hopefully, it has something for everyone providing practicality without stifling the more important underlying essence.

  To satisfy the Western mind (and my own), I've included some scientific theories, but my own background is not scientific, and I find that when you come right down to it, few people really think that way in their personal lives. For me, discovery of the chakras first came from an intuitive sense, later to grow and join with the rational. I would like to impart this order to the reader as well.

  Literature tends to be linear and rational, while the states induced by the chakras require a different mode of consciousness. As a result, the information is presented in a variety of ways. To satisfy the rational mind, I have presented these theories with concrete scientific metaphors, popular paradigms from the fields of consciousness research and modern therapy techniques. This is the intellectual part. Its purpose is to transmit information and stimulate the thinking process.

  To call to the other side of the brain, I have included guided meditations, exercises, artwork and personal anecdotes in hopes of making the chakras come more alive. This is the fun part. Its purpose is to bring the experience of being intuitively connected to the information at hand.

  The meditations are written to be read slowly and poetically. I have not included a deep relaxation phase before each meditation for the simple reason that they are boring to read and would take away from the literary impact. However, if you plan to use the meditations yourself, or for a group experience, I strongly suggest taking time to relax the body and prepare yourself for entering slowly into a meditative state. The deep relaxation exercise or grounding meditation outlined in Chapter Two can be used as preparation, or you may wish to use your own technique. The meditations, professionally recorded with a musical background keyed to the chakras, can be obtained through Llewellyn Publications.

  The physical exercises are of varying degrees of difficulty. Most of them can be done by the average person. A few, such as the headstand or the chakrasana*, are for more flexible or developed bodies. It is strongly stressed that any physical exercises given in this book be done slowly and carefully, and that you take care not to push or strain muscles, or coerce the body into positions that are painful or uncomfortable in any way. If you experience discomfort, STOP.

  The Wheel of Salvation from the Temple of Konorak, India.

  If you are previously unfamiliar with chakras, or with metaphysics in general, give yourself time to assimilate each level. The associations are both broad and subtle. It cannot be attacked, like information in other disciplines. The most important thing is to enjoy the exploration. I know I did in writing this book.

  -1987

  PART ONE

  EXPLORING

  THE SYSTEM

  THE WHEEL OF LIFE

  Chapter 1

  AND

  THE

  WHEEL

  TURNS

  We are a circle within a circle ... With no beginning and never ending.'

  orbit through space. A fundamental building block of nature, the wheel is the circle of life flowing through all aspects of existence. (See Figure 1.1, page 5 and Figure 1.2, page 6.)

  At the inner core of each one of us spin seven wheel-like energy centers called chakras. Swirling intersections of vital life forces, each chakra reflects an aspect of consciousness essential to our lives. Together the seven chakras form a profound formula for wholeness that integrates mind, body, and spirit. As a complete system, the chakras provide a powerful tool for both personal and planetary growth.

  Chakras are organizing centers for the reception, assimilation, and transmission of life energies. Our chakras, as core centers, form the coordinating network of our complicated mind/body system. From instinctual behavior to consciously planned strategies, from emotions to artistic creations, the chakras are the master programs that govern our life, loves, learning, and illumination. As seven vibratory modalities, the chakras form a mythical Rainbow Bridge, a connecting channel linking Heaven and Earth, mind and body, spirit and matter, past and future. As we spin through the tumultuous times of our present era, the chakras act as gears turning the spiral of evolution, drawing us ever onward toward the still untapped frontiers of consciousness and its infinite potential.

  The body is a vehicle of consciousness. Chakras are the wheels of life that carry this vehicle about-through its trials, tribulations, and transformations. To run our vehicle smoothly, we need an owner's manual as well as a map that tells us how to navigate the territory our vehicle can explore.

  This book is a map for the journey to consciousness. You can think of it as a "user's guide" to the Chakra System. This map, like any other, will not tell you where to go, but will help you navigate the journey you wish to take. Its focus is on integrating the seven archetypal levels that impact our lives.

  With map in hand, we can embark on an exciting journey. Like all journeys, there is a certain amount of preparation needed in the form of background information: the psychological systems, the historical context of the Chakra System, a deeper study of just what the chakras are, and the related energy currents they describe. This gives us a language to speak on our journey. We will then be ready to take the journey itself, climbing up the spinal column, chakra by chakra.

  FIGURE 1.1

  Examples of the chakra forms found repeatedly in nature.

  FIGURE 1.2

  More examples of the chakra forms found repeatedly in nature.

  Each chakra we encounter is a step on the continuum between matter and consciousness. Therefore, this journey will encompass areas of our lives ranging from the somatic level of physical and instinctual awareness through the interpersonal level of social interaction, and finally to the more abstract realms of transpersonal consciousness. When all of the chakras are understood, opened, and connected together, we have then bridged the gulf between matter and spirit, understanding that we, ourselves, are the Rainbow Bridge that connects Earth and Heaven once again.

  In a fragmented world where mind is severed from body, culture from planet, and the material from the spiritual, we have a deep need for systems that allow us to reclaim our wholeness. These systems must allow us to integrate mind and body and take us to new and expanded realms without denying the mundane realities we all face on a daily basis. I believe the chakras provide just such a system-one we cannot do without and one whose time has come.

  APPROACHING THE SYSTEM

  System-1) a complete exhibition of essential principles or facts, arranged in a rational or organized whole, or a complex of ideas or principles forming a coherent whole.

  -Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

  Imagi
ne if you went to the library and found nothing but piles of books stacked helter-skelter across the floor. To find anything you would have to go through long and tedious hunting, with only a remote possibility of success. Ridiculously inefficient, you say.

  Accessing consciousness without a system can be just as tedious. The circuitry in the brain allows for infinite possibilities of thought, and the manifestations of consciousness are far greater in number than the books in any library. Given the rhythm and speed of today's life, we certainly cannot access this information without efficient systems to streamline the process.

  Many systems exist already, yet are insufficient for the changing culture of today. Sigmund Freud's division of the psyche into id, ego, and superego is a prime example of a simple system for studying human behavior, which formed the groundwork for psychotherapy in the early part of the twentieth century. Yet this model is now sorely inadequate, as it says little about the body, and even less about transcendent states of awareness.

  Within the human potential movement, the need for new systems is quite evident. Clinics are opening to counsel people in psychic experiences as larger numbers are experiencing spontaneous awakenings of unusual spiritual energies. We are discovering ourselves confronted each day by new sets of problems. Biofeedback, Kirlian photography, acupuncture, homeopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, herbology, and myriads of New Age spiritual, verbal, and physical therapies are becoming more widely practiced each year. We now have so many options in healing, consciousness raising, religion, and lifestyles that the information and choices are overwhelming. The field has indeed opened up, and will certainly remain so if only we can derive some sense and order from the chaos. This is the purpose of a system. It gives us a systematic way to approach a complex task.

  The logical way to build a system is to base it on the observation of persistent patterns. Many of these patterns have been described by our ancestors and passed down through the ages, shrouded in myth and metaphor, like dormant seeds waiting for the right conditions to sprout. Now, when we look for new directions for a changing age, perhaps it is time to archive the ancient systems of the past, dust them off, and upgrade them so that they are useful in the modern world in which we live. Before we do that, we must first examine the origin and evolution of that system, paying due respect to its ancient roots.

  HISTORY OF THE CHAKRA SYSTEM

  It is wonderful that the chakras, as archetypal components of consciousness, are finally gaining prominence in the collective mindset, with more books and references than ever before. While this popularity is making the chakras a household word, it is also spreading a lot of confusing and conflicting information. It is important to realize the chakras come from an ancient tradition, which many New Age teachers have barely explored. Here is a brief summary of the Chakra System's historical development for those who have an interest in its origin. (If you don't have an interest, feel free to skip to the next section.)

  The chakras are inextricably linked with the science and practice of yoga. The word yoga means "yoke," and it is a system of philosophy and practice designed to yoke the mortal self to its divine nature of pure consciousness. The origin of yoga and earliest mention of the chakras2 goes back to the Vedas, meaning "knowledges", a series of hymns that are the oldest written tradition in India. These writings were created from an even older oral tradition of the Aryan culture, believed to be an invading Indo-European tribe that swept into India during the second millenium B.C.E.3

  The Aryans were said to have entered India on chariots, and the original meaning of the word chakra as "wheel" refers to the chariot wheels of the invading Aryans. (The correct spelling from Sanskrit is actually cakra, though pronounced with a "ch" as in church, hence the English spelling chakra.) The word was also a metaphor for the sun, that great wheel that rolls across the sky like a blazing chariot of a cakravartin, the name for the Aryan chariot-rulers. The wheel also denotes the eternal cycle of time called the kalacakra. In this way, the wheel represents celestial order and balance. One further meaning is that a chakra is a Tantric circle of worshipers.

  It is said that the cakravartins were preceded by a glowing golden disk of light, much like the halo of Christ, only this spinning disk was seen in front of them. (Perhaps their powerful third chakras?) The birth of a cakravartin was said to herald a new age, and it could be this time period that marked the dawning of the third chakra era of human history (see chapter 13, "Evolution"). It is also said that the god Vishnu descended to Earth, having in his four arms a chakra, a lotus flower, a club, and a conch shell.4 This may also have referred to a chakra as a discus-like weapon.

  Following the Vedas were the Upanishads, or wisdom teachings passed from teacher to disciple. There is some mention of the chakras as psychic centers of consciousness in the Yoga Upanishads (circa 600 B.C.E.) and later in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (circa C.E. 200). It is from Patanjali's sutras that we get the classic eightfold path of yoga tradition.' This tradition was largely dualistic, stating that nature and spirit were separate, and advised ascetic practices and renunciation of one's instinctual nature as a way to enlightenment.

  It was in the non-dual Tantric tradition that the chakras and Kundalini came to be an integral part of yoga philosophy. The Tantric teachings are a syncretic weaving of many spiritual traditions of India, which came to popularity during the sixth and seventh century A.D., in reaction to the dualistic philosophy which preceded it. This tradition advised being in the world rather than separate from it. Tantra is commonly viewed in the West as primarily a sexual tradition, as Tantrism does put sexuality in a sacred context and regards the body as a sacred temple for the consciousness within. Yet this is actually only a small part of a broad philosophy which combines many practices of hatha and kundalini yoga, worship of deities, especially of the Hindu goddesses, and focuses on integrating universal forces.

  The word tantra literally means "loom" and denotes a weaving of disparate threads into a tapestry of wholeness. Thus, the Chakra System, coming out of Tantric tradition, weaves the polarities of spirit and matter, mind and body, masculine and feminine, Heaven and Earth, into a single philosophy of many philosophical strands, reaching even back to the oral tradition that preceded the Vedas.

  The main text about chakras that has come to us in the West is a translation of Tantric texts by the Englishman Arthur Avalon in his book The Serpent Power published in 1919.6 These texts-the Sat- Cakra-Nirupana, written by an Indian pundit in 1577, and the Padaka- Pancaka, written in the tenth century-contain descriptions of the chakra centers and related practices. There is also another tenth-century text called the Gorakshashatakam, which gives instructions for meditating on the chakras. These texts form the basis of our understanding of chakra theory today.

  In these traditions, there are seven basic chakras,7 which exist within the subtle body, interpenetrating the physical body. The subtle body is the nonphysical psychic body that is superimposed on our physical bodies. It can be measured as electromagnetic force fields within and around all living creatures. Kirlian photography, for example, has actually photographed the emanations of the subtle body in both plants and animals. In the aura, which is the external manifestation of the subtle body, the energy field appears as a soft glow around the physical body, often made of spindle-like fibers. In yoga psychology, the subtle body is divided into five sheaths of varying refinement in the subtle body, called koshas.8 At the core of the body, the subtle field appears as spinning disks-chakras. The chakras are the psychic generators of the auric field. The aura itself is the meeting point between the core patterns generated by the chakras and the influence of the external world.

  Through modern physiology we can see that these seven chakras are located near the seven major nerve ganglia that emanate from the spinal column. (See Figure 1.3, page 12.) There are two minor chakras mentioned in the ancient texts, the soma chakra, located just above the third eye, and the Anandakanda lotus, which contains the Celestial Wishing Tree (Kalpataru) of the
Heart Chakra (see further description, page 220). Some esoteric systems propose nine or twelve chakras,9 while other traditions, such as Vajrayana Buddhism, describe only five centers.1° Since a chakra is literally a vortex of energy, there is no limit to their number. However, the original seven "master" chakras form a profound and elegant system, one that maps logically onto the body through the nerve ganglia, yet connects our physical existence to higher and deeper non-physical realms. Mastering the first seven chakras can easily take a lifetime, and I advise people to work fully with these seven centers that relate to the body before undertaking more complex and obscure out-of-body systems.

  FIGURE 1.3

  This diagram shows the vertebrae related to the different chakras based on the spinal nerves which innervate the ganglia and various organs. If these vertebrae are damaged in a way that affects the spinal nerves, the related chakras may be subsequently affected.

  While many interpretations on the chakras advise transcending the lower chakras in favor of the more expansive upper chakras, I do not agree with this philosophy, nor do I believe this is the intention of the Tantric texts. This view arose during a period in history where all the major patriarchal religions advocated the greater importance of mind over matter, thus denying the existence of the spiritual within the mundane realms. Careful reading of the Tantric texts does not imply the denial of the lower chakras in favor of the upper chakras, but merely an enfoldment, where each higher level is a transcendence, which includes and is built on the level below it. In this way, the lower chakras provide a foundation for our spiritual growth, much as the roots of a tree, which push downward, allow the tree to grow taller. We do not help the tree grow taller by pulling up its roots. This will be explored more fully as we explore the significance of the first chakra in the next chapter.