In September 2005, a search for the word Chakras in Google returned only 31,300 instances. This surprised me. I expected to find many more, but it was incredible that there were even this many a couple of years ago. Today there are 1,810,000 instances! What a difference the Web is making in the world.
When you are studying any subject that is not considered mainstream, try to keep in mind that there can be a lot of misinformation out there. People mean well, but sometimes they just don't understand what they are talking or writing about. It is always a good idea to do a bit of research. Read the words of those who were or are experts in the areas you are trying to learn more about. A dedicated and knowledgeable teacher is one of the most invaluable assets in life—in any subject. If you have been lucky enough to have teachers that inspired you to not forget what they taught you, you have received a blessed gift.
There is another way to read about Chakras that many people never consider. If you look at books on Amazon and find something interesting, you can click on Learn More (or similar words) and very often there are excerpts provided. I prefer to read excerpts before I actually buy a book. It's like looking through the pages at a bookstore or in a library. This is the main reason excerpts will always be included from books sold on this site. How can you know if you want to pay for a book if you have no clue what is inside? It is very true that you can't tell a book by its cover.
Click here for my favorite Yoga Links that I found useful in my research and that provide realistic and factual information about the Chakra system, too. But keep in mind that this site will expand on a daily basis. Since I am doing everything on my own, it takes more time. Check back often to see new Yoga links, and if you have any suggestions—let me know and I will add them if they are appropriate. You can also click on the Muladhara link below, or on the image above-right, to begin your journey through the individual Chakras. This is where you will get all the details about each Chakra. As I close my Introductory pages to enter the world of each Chakra, I want to add a very simple, straightforward explanation by John Pierrakos. This is an article from the 1960s entitled The Sexual Aspect of the Universal Energy in East West Journal when it was still a newspaper. “...they are electromagnetic, they are biological fields which include very many types of spectral energy. But in addition to that, there is a specificity about the energetic functions which cannot be defined electro-magnetically or in any other way. In other words, there are energies that cannot be defined according to the known laws of physics today.” Speaking about auras (emanations of the Chakras from the astral body connected to the physical body), he wrote: “It appears this energy force emanates around the diaphragm and moves down towards the legs and up towards the head. So the human being on the side view is like a kidney bean. From the front the energy looks like a flat eight. At the same time, there are spiral movements that fuse with it around the body as an envelope. It has a light blue color when at rest, and it has a pulsatory rate that ranges between 15 to 25 times a minute.” He provides a how-to exercise to see auras: “Allow the energy of your body to come into your eyes. You have to allow a flow of movement into the eyes and not just look, but allow your eyes to encompass the whole plant, let's say (to start with), and try to look beyond the object so that the cones in the eye will not focus and look for details. Then you will see the surrounding area. If you have a diffused light such as the light of dawn, you perceive cloudy envelopes around objects. If you view a tree or plant against the background of a blue sky, you will perceive this pulsatory envelope moving in and out. It's very exciting. The same thing can be perceived when you look at the ocean. The borderline between the ocean and the horizon will appear blue-grey, with rays shooting up. Then you will perceive there is an energy field over the ocean.” I have been lucky enough to learn about Chakras from several people I highly admire and trust. First and foremost, my teacher and guide for so many years, Eugenia Basilewsky (this site is dedicated to her). As you will read when you continue through these pages, she translated the Upanishads and Vedas for me from Sanskrit to English every week for 12 years.
Yogananda's Self-Realization home-study lessons have taught me so much, too. If one practices everything he teaches, one will experience the Chakras and much more. I highly recommend buying books that are practical and have how to's included. Experience has taught me that books can be an enlightening experience if the writer shares the down-to-earth, practical how to's that you can do at your own pace to awaken the spiritual centers connected to your body. Ze'ev Kolman, one of the most astounding healers I have ever met, is able to see the aura clearly and knows how to work with it to bring about healthy change. His Web site describes him, but nothing is the same as actually feeling the energy that literally streams out of his hands into your body—so much so, that you can feel it, physically, like electrical charges. Some people feel it as pins and needles, others like a web being formed around their body, and others like warm water gushing from their head down to their toes. It's quite profound, and very unique. If you live in New York City or South Florida, lucky you. However, he can also do distance healing. Check out his site (www.zeevkolmanhealer.net). The site doesn't represent him as I know him to be, but there is a wonderful newsletter archive with articles and testimonials that are fun to read. And there is information about Ze'ev and his books.
Ze'ev painted this image to show what he sees when he looks at you. It is shown on his Web site, along with some other remarkable paintings by him. His site provides details about his first book, and his upcoming book, The Mind is the Healer, The Mind is the Killer. It will be available on his site soon, and includes many how-to chapters on auras, chakras, and what he calls The Blue Diamond.
There are many new words and phrases used by people to find an expression for their personal experiences. Many of these are described and defined in the original Sanskrit texts. I use either the original Sanskrit terminology or the English translation. Anyone who speaks more than one language will understand how difficult it is to truly translate a word from one language into another and have the exact same meaning. In my own experience, there are many words in Swedish that cannot be translated into English without losing some of their meaning. It works both ways.
Have fun learning how to play on your own strings through the 7 Chakras detailed in the following Chakras Series beginning with the 1st Chakra—The Muladhara. Here you will learn everything about each Chakra and how to awaken them properly. Yoga is about stretching your body, your mind and your spirit. To just be conscious of what you are doing and who you are can be a life-long major discipline and habit, and it will create a positive law of attraction in your own body for self-healing.