Charka Confusion

We hear the term “chakra” used all the time when someone is talking about energy healing, meditation, yoga and other esoteric disciplines but there seems to be a lot of confusion about how many major and minor charkas there are,where they are located, which system to use, etc. Hopefully this article will help straighten out some of the confusion.

Adepts from all religions talk about seeing a light or aura around people’s heads after engaging in certain religious practices such as medication and prayer. Art as early as the 4^th century depicts “halo”s or fields of light around the heads of saints and other holy people.

Over 5,000 years ago Indian spiritual tradition talks about a universal energy called prana which was seen as the universal energy which moved though all forms and was the source of all life. Yogis practiced manipulating this energy to maintain altered states of consciousness and youth far beyond the normal life span of people in those days.

The Chinese over 3000 years ago called this same vital energy Ch’i. Ch’i contains two polar forces, the yin and yang. Whey yin and yang are balanced the living system exhibits physical health. When either yin or yang overpower the other creating an imbalance the results are physical illness.

The Jewish Kabbalah refers to these energies as ruach or “breath”, “air” and “spirit”.

Many western scientific minds have perceived this luminous body, among the first was Pythagoras around 500BC. The list goes on and on representing some very famous people in history were have done research and experiments on this energy field surrounding humans and other objects. This Universal Energy Field (UEF) has been called a theory that marries biology to physics in an open system.

It seems that there is very little doubt about the existence of these energy fields. Our concern is how this energy reaches the body, and its influence on it. The vehicle used for capturing this energy from the sun, air and earth is called the chakra or energy vortex. Everyone seems to agree that there are major charkas, minor chakras, lesser chakras and acupuncture points which are all openings for energy to flow into and out of our aura. We are like sponges soaking in the energy sea all around us.

Most schools of thought use the seven major chakras system in their practices but there are also those who feel there are eleven major chakras. There are also disciplines that use the nine, twelve or five system. This can be very, very confusing. If your experience is with the seven charka system and all of a sudden you are reading about the brow charka (isn’t that the same as the Anja the third eye chakra?). Or how about the Meng Mein charka? Where in the world did that come from? What about the spleen charka? Front and back?

Whew, hopefully I can clear up some of this confusion. The two most used systems are the seven and eleven chakra systems. These are the two I will be comparing in hopes of clearing up some of the confusion.

To begin, each major chakra on the front of the body is paired with its counterpart on the back of the body and together they are considered to be the front and rear aspect of one chakra. This works for charkas 2 through 6 in the seven charka system. Chakra one and seven can be paired because they are the open-ended points of the main vertical power current that runs up and down the spine into which all the chakras point.

In the eleven charka system, the charkas on the back of the body are in some instance given different names. (See the chart below.).

The tips or points of the charkas, where they connect to the main power current, are called the roots or the hearts of the charkas.

Seven Major charka system                Eleven Major chakra system

             Front and back                               Front                 Back

           Sahasrara “Crown” (top)                Crown (top)

                                                              Forehead or Brow

              Ajna (Third Eye)                        Ajna (Third Eye)

             Vissuddha (Throat)                          Throat

               Anahata (Heart)                               Heart                   Heart

           Manipura (Solar Plexus)                 Solar Plexus          Solar Plexus

                                                                      Spleen                  Spleen

                                                                        Naval               Meng Mein

             Svadhisthana (Sex)                              Sex

              Muldahara (Root)                                                           Basic

The major chakra points are each located at a ganglion of nerves at emanate from the spinal column at different points along its length. A ganglion is a spot where many nerves are joined together. This sounds like it would be the perfect spot for a chakra since once the energy is drawn into the body that is a perfect spot from which it can be dispersed.

There are many minor charkas 19 of which are shown the drawing. They are located in the following spots: one in front of each ear, one above each breast, one where the clavicles

 meet (at the top of the breast bone), one in the palm of each hand, one on the sole of each foot, one behind each eye (not shown), one related to each gonad, one near the liver, one connected to the stomach, two connected with the spleen (these are considered major chakras in the eleven chakra system), one behind each knee, one near the thymus gland, and one near the solar plexus (also considered a major chakra in the eleven charka system). Other texts also list minor chakras in the joint of the elbow, in each armpit, the right and left nostril and on the back of the head. There is also a minor chakra in the anus and perineum as well as the nipples, toes, hips and jaw. Mini-charkas reside in the tips of each finger. The minor chakras are only about three inches in diameter at one inch distance from the body.

While we are taking about minor chakras there are ancient texts which mention the Anandakanda lotus. This spot is just below the heart charka and contains the Celestial Wishing Tree (Kalpataru). This spot is said to hold the deepest wishes of the heart – not what we think we want, but the deeper longing of our soul. It is believed that when we truly wish upon this tree, and release those wishes, the Kalpataru will bestow even more than is desired.

It is my hope that this article has helped to sort out some of the confusion. Since the human body is full of energy centers it is only a matter of opinion and whatever system you use to determine these centers of energy. The main focus as always is to keep these chakras cleaned, opened and balanced to keep our physical, mental and spiritual body as healthy as possible.