From Chapter 1: What are the Chakras?

What exactly are chakras? We see people wearing their symbols on sweaters and talking about them in yoga classes and over coffee, but we don't get the full picture of where they are, what they do, and how we can tune in to them so that we can make them real in our lives. In order to understand the chakras, it is important to understand how they are created and how each chakra comes to have its own individual qualities and characteristics. This chapter will explore the philosophical background of the chakras, give you a sense of where each chakra is located, and discuss how the different chakras function in your life.

The story of the chakras begins with the story of creation. Over the millennia there have been many different attempts to explain the phenomenon of existence, from the Bible to the big bang theory. My teachers explained the origins of the universe and the creation of humanity through two primary philosophies that have been handed down through the generations: Tantra and Samkhya. Tantra explores the essential unity of reality. Samkhya analyzes the different elements of physical manifestation and explains how they take form from spirit. Tantra and Samkhya emerged around 350 to 500 CE, although as with most Indian philosophies dating back as far as the Vedas of around 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE, scholars debate over exact dates and timelines.*

I have accumulated the wisdom of Tantra and Samkhya over many years from many different teachers, most of whom handed down this information orally. In the following discussion I have set down the essential components of Tantra and Samkhya as they were taught to me, in order to provide a framework that will help you better understand the chakras.

Tantra

In Tantra, the creation of the universe is explained through the dynamic interplay of two powerful forces: Shiva and Shakti. Together, Shiva and Shakti represent ultimate reality and the union of all duality. By duality I mean that everything in the material universe is made up of opposites: light/dark, soft/loud, male/female, active/passive. Ultimate reality can be equated to the concept of a higher spirit that is beyond these opposites and the limited perception of our mind and senses. There are many things that we are unable to perceive. For example, radio waves and microwaves exist even though we cannot see them; many animals can hear and smell things that we can't. According to Tantra, the same applies to spirit: we may not be able to perceive it with our senses, but it is always there.

Shiva represents the male principle of nonfragmented consciousness and holds all of the knowledge of the universe. Shakti is the female principle of creative energy, equivalent to Mother Nature.

According to Tantra, Shiva/Shakti hold all dualities and opposites in a state of absolute unity on the plane of infinite consciousness, beyond our earthly concepts of time and space. To create our finite universe, Shiva and Shakti moved away from each other, releasing consciousness (citta) and energy (prana). Within consciousness there is sat—cit—ananda: sat is pure consciousness, cit is awareness of consciousness, and ananda is the experience of consciousness that requires a human form to become physically evident. Sat and cit continue to exist on the infinite plane; ananda manifests consciousness in the physical world.

After citta and prana are released to manifest conscious reality on the finite plane, maya (the illusory part of existence) occurs. Maya is the field of consciousness readily available to us in the world of the senses (sound, touch, sight, taste, smell), which we believe to be all that exists. Because of maya, we experience a total separation of Shiva and Shakti and conceive of the world in terms of duality, which is our way of making sense of existence. For example, to understand hot we need to experience cold; to appreciate light we need to be familiar with dark. Tantrikas believe that because maya does not let us experience the union of Shiva and Shakti, it causes us to lose connection with the divine and is therefore the source of human suffering. The purpose of the tantric path is to realize through experience that the world of duality is only an illusion and that everything is divine and connected. Shiva and Shakti are never fully separate, and when we can realize that, we come to see the divine in all things.

The Chakras within Tantra

When Shakti moves away from Shiva, everything in the universe is born, including the five elements that make up our entire material world. When an individual spirit (atman) is impelled to manifest a human form to work out the karma attached to it, individual Shakti (which is like a drop of water from the ocean of greater Shakti, and in Samkhya is known as prakriti), separates from Shiva at the crown of the head and moves down to the base of the spine, where it is held rooted in the body by an energetic force known as kundalini. Kundalini is the name given to the coil of energy that holds Shakti in human form. Traditionally, it is depicted as a sleeping green snake coiled three and a half times. The snake represents the grip of karma and spiritual ignorance (known as "greater avidya"), the essence of which is called the five kleshas. The five kleshas are:

1. avidya: ignorance of the true self. This klesha is one aspect of the greater avidya, which is the spiritual ignorance that results from all of the five kleshas.
2. asmita: ego. This is not the same as the Western idea of ego; here it is thought of as anything that separates us from truth and the divine, such as fear or hatred.
3. raga: attraction to things we like.
4. dvesa: repulsion toward things we don't like.
5. abhinivesa: fear of dying.

The kleshas are the limiting belief patterns of maya that cause us to remain ignorant of our own divinity. The more you are trapped by avidya (comprising the five kleshas) and karma, the harder kundalini is to rouse. You want to awaken kundalini to remove the avidya that binds you to life in the material world and inhibits your awareness of the spiritual. When you awaken kundalini, you move toward enlightenment and a deeper understanding of all that is. When you learn how to release Shakti from the grip of avidya and karma, it can move back up the spine to reunite with Shiva at the crown of the head. With the union of Shakti and Shiva, you transcend the duality of the material world and return to a state of oneness to realize your true perfection. In order to stir kundalini and begin Shakti's ascent, it is important to practice asanas (the physical postures), pranayama (breath work), and meditation. These tools enable you to remerge your consciousness with that of the Divine Creator—the highest aim of Tantra.

During Shakti's initial journey away from Shiva and the birth of human form, atman directs prana to animate all of the elements (space, air, fire, water, and earth). The word prana means "vital life force": it animates life, matter, and mind. Without it, the elements could not hold together. Prana has five different qualities, called vayus, which animate each of the elements and give the lower five chakras their individual characteristics.

*Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice (Prescott, Ariz.: Hohm Press, 2001), p. 96.