Chakra literally means a ‘Wheel or a Disk’. We have already talked about Chakras briefly in one of our earlier articles. It’s time to have a closer look now. Chakras are nothing but the vortex of energies or we can say nodes of energies where all the naadis/nerves meet and redistribute the energy to the whole body. These naadis are nonphysical nerves which act as the pathway for the energy to travel throughout the energy body (Energy body is the third level of our body and is more subtle than the food and the mental body). There have been identified 7 major Chakras starting from the base of our spine towards the crown of our head. These are Mooladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishudhi, Ajna & Sahasrara. All these chakras are essentially triangular in nature, but since these junctions facilitate the movement of life energies from one dimension to another, that’s why these are referred to as chakras or wheels. Let’s look at the significance of all these nodes one by one below:

1. Mooladhara Chakra: Mooladhara chakra is located in the perineum region, which is the space between the anal outlet and the genital organ. When the life energies are present in your mooladhara chakra, then food and sleep would be the dominant factors in your life.
2. Swadhisthana Chakra: This chakra is present just above the genital organ within our body. When the life energies are active in your swadhisthana, then seeking pleasures will be the most important priority for you. These pleasures can take many different forms in your life. You love to have a materialistic life full of physical comforts at this stage.
3. Manipura Chakra: This chakra is present just below the navel region. When the life energies are dominant in this region, You are a performer or we can say, a doer. You really want to do things using all your capabilities.
4. Anahata Chakra: A person who follows the yogic path, s/he can consciously activate these energy nodes within their bodies, and these can do miracles for them. Anahata chakra is present just below the region where the rib cage meets. If your energies are dominant in Anahata, then you become a creative person. Which means there are certain aspects of life which become accessible to you and most of the other audience is unaware of it. For e.g When a painter paints a picture it portrays a particular story or an activity. Only a creative person can really understand what the painting is all about. Hence you really need to have that level of awareness wherein you can perceive & do things creatively.
5. Vishudhi Chakra: This chakra lies in the pit of your throat. When the vishudhi chakra gets activated in your body, then you become a powerful human being. You really have an aura of your own. Have you ever noticed, there are people who just lightens up everyone with their presence. You can feel the energy or a distinct presence the moment you look at them or feel their presence. This happens when the vishudhi chakra is most active.
6. Ajna Chakra: This chakra lies just between your two eyes in the forehead region. When this chakra gets activated, then you become a realized being intellectually. You clearly can see that you are not the body, you are not even your mind. What you are is an omnipresent awareness, present in each and every creature in this universe. In a way, you have the self-realization of the highest level. You really get an access to the ‘Brahm Gyan’, which means the universal reality of your existence which is one with everything else in the creation. This chakra is also known as the ‘Shiva’s third eye. This is the eye which has the ability to see the absolute truth of nature. Until now all your experiences were distorted in some way or the other by your 5 senses, but when your life energies enter the Ajna chakra, it is unaffected by the 5 senses. Which means you see the things exactly the way they are, not the way your 5 senses are projecting them to you. That’s why this is called as the Brahm Gyan, the realization of your ultimate nature.
7. Sahasrara Chakra: This is the last chakra, and this chakra lies outside of your body just above your head. For 99.99 people this chakra is dormant. Its there, but its dormant. But if you follow the yogic path, there are high chances that you can get this activated. When your life energies enter the Sahasrara chakra, your experience of life becomes one with the whole creation. You become ecstatic simply for no reason. The tears of immense happiness flow from your eyes and your life energies become immensely exuberant. In a way, you totally come out of the whirlpool of the suffering. You become ecstatic by your nature and you are no longer dependent upon external entities for your inner experiences of happiness and joy. Such a person has the ability that they can leave their body consciously. This is the final stage where many of the yogis in India have reached. This was the stage where Buddha reached. In Buddhism, this stage is also known as ‘Buddhahood’. In yoga, we call it ‘Maha Samadhi’. Maha Samadhi simply means dying in full awareness in meditation.
   

There is an elegant story about the conversation which Buddha had with his favorite disciple ‘Ananda’. It is said that when Buddha was consciously going for Maha Samadhi, Ananda became very anxious because he wanted to know the ultimate nature of his existence. He asked Buddha, ‘Are you, God’? Buddha said No, I am not. Then Ananda asked, ‘Are you a messenger or a prophet?’. Buddha said No, I am not even that. Ananda became very impatient and finally asked, ‘If you are not the God; If you are not a Prophet or Messanger, then Who are you’? And these were Buddha’s final words to Ananda, He said, ‘I am awake’. So what we can learn from this conversation is that we should be constantly aware of our true nature, which ultimately gives us an access to the reality. Thoughts, feelings,  emotions & actions are not the realities, these are small fluctuations of life which comes and go within the domain of awareness. All that exists is consciousness and the experiences in consciousness. Experiences are again the modified forms of awareness.

Hence these Chakras are nothing but the different dimensions from where we can move from one level of awareness to the another and finally to the ultimate which we call as cosmic consciousness or the Akaashik field. Also as a piece of life, we need to evolve in our perception as well. To completely understand the relevance of these Chakras, we need to go beyond our logical mind, because this is that dimension which is beyond logic. If you look at the life carefully, the whole design of life is such that we don’t have any proper logical explanation for it. The great philosophers of our times have been somehow able to explain it in the form of a poetry or a story. Because that is the best way to explain it, there is no other way. Every one of us has the capability to achieve the stage where we can activate Chakras within our body, we just need to become more and more aware of the true nature of our existence by paying attention to every aspect of our life. Yoga is the doorway which can lead us to the self-realization of the highest level.

Hope you must have enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it.

In the upcoming article, I would be dealing with the subject ‘Yoga and Food: Your ticket to perfect health’. We will carefully look at the science behind eating the healthy food, knowing what is appropriate for us and what is not. So stay tuned………..!

Happy Reading 🙂