The Chakras Explained
Not only are they centers of energy, they each represent a step forward in evolving consciousness
The chakras are fascinating and largely misunderstood. I had personally explained them incorrectly for several years. (Sorry to anyone I talked to about them from 2011–2015, I got it now.)
Chakra, meaning “wheel” in Sanskrit, represents a series of centers of energy (prana) in the body. While they are in the body, they’re not physical centers. They could be considered “astral”, or in what is often referred to as our “subtle body”. They are on another (non-gross-matter) plane of existence. I could see why “dimension” would be a term that bothers the more scientifically-minded, but I’m comfortable saying they exist on another dimension. It just means they exist but an x-ray isn’t going to pick them up. Our technology isn’t quite there yet… but someday it could be… scientists from the early Enlightenment era would have their minds explode looking into an electron microscope would they not? Two hundred years ago we did not have adequate equipment to detect radio waves, let alone the quantum fields at the subatomic level. Our capacity to understand phenomena is not fixed, it is constantly progressing towards a fuller truth.
The concept behind them is ancient — the first mention appears in the Rig Veda (Hindu), dating back to approximately 1500 B.C.E. — some of the oldest writing in our civilization. Similar versions of the chakras are incorporated in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and several New Age belief systems. The Hindus hold that there are seven, and the Buddhists four, others eight, and some nine, but there is a consensus that they do exist. Although sources vary on the exact number of chakras found in the spiritual body, the following descriptions account for those about which most writers & teachers agree.
The chakras go up and down the spine, from the bottom up to just above the crown of the head.
What’s most fascinating to me, is that they each represent a step forward in evolving consciousness. They are both landmarks for new discovery and placeholders…
