The Chakras and Yoga

The ancient practice of yoga is a form of meditation designed to bring spiritual power through seven chakras (circles) located between the base of the spine and the top of the head. Although in the therapeutic sense chakras are viewed as the places where ch'i, or life force, is often bound up or blocked, in the religious sense they represent psychological centers or planes of consciousness through which spiritual power flows. From first to last, chakras represent spiritual growth.

The first chakra is located at the base of the spine at the rectum. Its symbol is the serpent, coiled three and a half times, and it represents the basic human need for killing and eating. The serpent, in the words of Joseph Campbell, is:

Nothing but a traveling esophagus going along just eating, eating, eating.… This is the sacramental mystery of food and eating.… In early mythologies [people] would thank the animal they were about to consume for having given of itself as a willing sacrifice. There's a wonderful saying in one of the Upanishads: "Oh wonderful … I am food.… I am an eater of food." We don't think that way today about ourselves. But holding on to yourself and not letting yourself become food is the primary life-denying negative act. You're stopping the flow! And a yielding to the flow is the great mystery experience that goes with thanking an animal that is about to be eaten for having given of itself. You, too, will be given in time.

In short, the first chakra reminds us of our place in the universe-as part of the food chain. We don't just live in nature. We are a part of nature.

The second chakra is located at the sex organs. This represents the urge to procreate, to reproduce our species and ourselves.

The third chakra is located at the navel and represents the will to conquer, to master and subdue. It is no accident that Sicilian dons in the Mafia, the godfathers, were referred to by a Sicilian phrase that translates to "men with a belly." From the sumo wrestler to the professional football lineman, a big belly symbolizes power and force.

These first three chakra centers represent the animal instincts of eating, procreation, and mastery. When we move up to the fourth chakra we enter a new realm, opening up to compassion and spirituality.

The fourth chakra is at the level of the heart. According to tradition, the Buddha was born from his mother's side, at the level of the heart. When you "open your heart" to someone you are elevated above the level of the animal.

The fifth chakra is located at the level of the throat and symbolizes creativity and communication.

The sixth chakra is located at the forehead-the "third eye" often pictured on the forehead of representations of Buddha. This is the eye that sees inward-the center of intuition and understanding.

The culminating chakra is the sahasrara, the thousand-petaled lotus at the top of the head. This is the chakra of spiritual maturity, exploding upward and outward into understanding and enlightenment.

When spiritual energy is brought up from the level of the animal to the level of spiritual awareness, it wakes up to the real world-the world of god-consciousness.