ॐ Hindu Of Universe ॐ

“God’s light is within you, It never leaves you.”

In Hinduism, the physical and spiritual come together in the Chakras.

Chakra is a Sanksrit word that refers to a wheel.

The concept of Chakras originated in the Vedas and the Upanishads.

In Svetasvatara Upanishad, Brahman, the ultimate reality, is mentioned as Brahma Chakram, which means the source of order and regularity.

In the Tantric texts, there are stories and symbolism related to Chakras.

The Tantric texts mention Chakra as the energy emanating from the spiritual realm that leads to the creation of different levels of Chakras.

Kundalini is the energy that remains coiled at the bottom of our spine.

The openness of our chakras assists in the proper channelization of Shakti.

The Chakras or the loci of life energy or prana can lead to the awakening of Kundalini, which further enhances us to merge with the infinite consciousness of Brahman.

Different types of Chakras Chakras draw energy from the spine, and their balanced existence leads to our physical and psychological well being.

There are more than one-hundred chakras in our body. But the most important among them are:

• Root Chakra / Muladhara Located at the base of our spine, Root Chakra is associated with our sense of security, grounding, and survival.

Root Chakra is associated with red color, and its bija mantra is lam.

The element of Root Chakra is the Earth.

Lord Ganesha and Brahman are the Hindu gods connected with our Root Chakra.

• Sacral Chakra / Svadistana Located in the lower abdomen, Sacral Chakra opens our creative and innovative self.

It is related to our sexuality, sensuality, and desire for pleasure.

Sacral Chakra is associated with the orange color, and its bija mantra is vam.

The element connected with this Chakra is water.

Lord Vishnu is Sacral Chakra’s Hindu god.

• Solar Plexus Chakra Manipura:

Located on our belly over the naval, Solar Plexus Chakra facilitates us with certainty, independence, and an inward drive.

Yellow is the color associated with this Chakra, and its bija mantra is Ram.

Fire is the base element of Solar Plexus Chakra.

The Hindu God associated with this Chakra is Maharudhra Shiva.

• Heart Chakra / Anahata Located at the center of our cardiovascular framework, it is related to love and compassion.

The color associated with this chakra is green, and its bija mantra is Yam.

Its base element is air.

Ishwara is the Hindu god associated with our Heart Chakra.

• Throat Chakra / Vishuddha:

Located in our throat, this Chakra helps us in reflecting on our truth.

It facilitates proper communication with others.

Blue is the color linked with the Throat Chakra, and its bija mantra is ham.

Sadhashiva is the Hindu God related to this Chakra.

• Third Eye Chakra / Ajna:

Located between the eyebrows, it is the sight of awareness, intuition, and awareness. Aum / Om / Sham is its bija mantra, and indigo is the color associated with this Chakra. Ardhanarishwari is the Hindu God attached to the Third Eye Chakra.

• Crown Chakra / Sahasrara :

It is located above the head and acts as the representative of the union, peace, and cosmic consciousness.

Its bija mantra is om / ah / Soham, and it is associated with the violet color.

The Hindu God associated with the Third Eye Chakra is Lord Shiva.

Balanced, overactive, and underactive Chakras :

A blocked or overactive Chakra can pave the way for several physical and psychological ailments.

The blockage of the Chakra happens due to the hindered flow of energy.

It can cause several diseases like sciatica, depression, bronchitis, prostate issues, hypertension, hypo, and hyperthyroidism.

Our diet, lack of exercise, lifestyle choices, lack of sleep, drug usage can cause the blockage of our Chakras.

Its openness facilitates the flow of energy through our body, which can lead to the awakening of our Kundalini.

Overactive chakras with the excessive flow of Shakti can also harm our bodies.

It is pertinent to identify the Chakra, which is overactive or blocked, to cure them.

Crystal healing practices combined with meditation can aid you in finding the blocked Chakras.

How to have balanced Chakras?

Having a balanced Chakra system is essential for the well being of our mind and body.

Different practices are adaptable for balancing our Chakras.

Some of them are:

Meditation – This is a practice that facilitates your mind-body connection.

It is suitable for overcoming stress, anxiety, and can also promote emotional health.

Combining crystal and aromatherapy with meditation can be highly beneficial.

2. Yoga – The different asanas of Yoga benefit our Chakras in diverse ways.

Asanas as warrior poses, garland poses, and wide-legged forward bend help heal the imbalance of our Root Chakra.

Yoga poses are also beneficial in strengthening our core and improving our stamina.

3. Chakra Balancing ritual services – Invoking the presiding deities of the relevant chakra helps balance this chakra.

4. Exercises Any form of physical activity like dancing, walking, jogging, and weight training can pave the way for curing our Chakra imbalances.

5. Aromatherapy Fragrance can act as a treatment for our Chakras.

Burning incense sticks and using essential oils have proven to improve a person’s mood and enhance positivity.

6. Crystal Healing – Each Chakra imbalance is curable by using crystals and precious stones.

Wearing them or having them placed in your house can enhance positive energy.

7. Affirmations and Chanting – Sound can play a vital role in enhancing the health of our Chakras.

Each Chakra has its frequencies.

You can listen to music in the frequency to soothe your Chakras.

Chakra affirmations like I exist, I am grounded, I am alive, can revitalize our Chakras.

Chanting the bija mantra of the Chakras is also highly beneficial.

8. Reiki – This is another practice for balancing our Chakras.

Here energy is transferred from a powerful Chakra to a feeble Chakra.

It leads to the energization of our Chakras.

These practices can enhance the openness of your Chakras and facilitate the proper flow of energy.

The seven Chakras together in their balanced state help us to reach the unified consciousness of humanity.

It would revitalize our mind, body, and soul. Balance your Chakras to enhance your physical, psychological, and spiritual life.

What are chakras and how do they affect health?

In Hinduism and Buddhism, chakras are focal points of energy, or prana, in the body.

The exact number and location depends on the tradition a person follows.

Chakra-based therapies may help boost wellbeing.

In Buddhism, there are four primary chakras.

In many forms of Hinduism, there are seven.

These seven chakras are believed to be connected via nadi, or energy channels.

The concept of chakras has influenced many holistic medical practices worldwide, including yoga, Ayurveda, and some modern therapies, such as sound baths.

This article reviews more about what chakras are, where they come from, the seven-chakra system, and how they relate to health.

Chakra Gods and Goddesses

The chakras are energy centers that exist at the subtle or non-physical level.

There are chakra gods and goddesses associated with each of these energy centers in the Hindu tradition.

In addition, each chakra is associated with psychological and emotional patterns as well as organs and functions in the body.

Purpose of Chakra Deities
Chakra deities embody the characteristics of their respective chakras. Therefore, understanding the chakra deities helps to clarify the purpose of each chakra.

Masculine and Feminine Deities
The chakra deities are generally paired as masculine and feminine beings.

As a result, multiple gods and goddesses are connected to each chakra.

Understanding Gods and Goddesses
The gods and goddesses of Hinduism can be viewed as religious parables.

They can also be seen as mythology or as legends based on the lives of ancient historical persons.

Finding a Personal Deity
Perhaps the most significant aspect of relating to a god or goddess is the sense of a personal relationship.

The gods and goddesses exist at one or more levels: psychological, spiritual, or historical.

Characteristics of Chakra Deities
The Hindu gods and goddesses are like us in many ways.

For example, they are often grouped in families.

They have complex relationships with other divine beings.

Stories of the Gods & Goddesses
Every tradition has heroes and heroines as examples to emulate. In other cases, their stories are cautionary tales of pitfalls to avoid.

This results in memorable stories about the exploits of the chakra gods and goddesses.

Root Chakra Gods and Goddesses

The Hindu gods Brahma, Indra and Ganesha are associated with the root chakra. The feminine energy or goddess of the root chakra is known as Shakti or Kundalini. Extensive information about the root chakra can be found in the article Root Chakra Meaning.

Root Chakra Gods
The root chakra establish a foundation for the rest of the chakras.

The root chakra gods have significant parts to play in the cosmos: Brahma is the creative aspect of God, Indra is the god of the heaven above, and the elephant-headed god Ganesha helps to overcome obstacles here on earth.

Root Chakra Goddesses
Shakti or the goddess Kundalini is the energy that enlivens all of life, the unformed energy of the universe.

The goddess Kundalini is specifically the energy coiled at the root chakra that is drawn upwards to the crown by spiritual practices.

Indra: Root Chakra God

The Hindu god Indra is associated with the root chakra as well as lighting, thunder, storms, rain and rivers.

Indra rides on an elephant, symbolizing compassion, intelligence, and ancient wisdom.

Elephant Symbolism
The elephant is a perfect metaphor for the root chakra: large and heavy, the elephant is a grounding influence to keep us tethered to the earth.

Indra’s Weapons
Indra holds a thunderbolt (vajra) in one hand and a trident (threefold spear) in the other. The thunderbolt cleaves through ignorance, dividing the real from the unreal.

The trident represents three divine powers: will, knowledge, and action.

Trunk Symbolism
An elephant with seven trunks is sometimes depicted as Indra’s vehicle, representing all seven of the major chakras or energy centers in the body.

Role of Indra
Indra is the king of the devas or divine beings. He has defeated an evil being (asura) named Vrita, ensuring the prosperity and happiness of mankind.

Savior of the Age
Some sources say that Indra is a title rather than a name.

This means that every age has a new Indra or savior-like god.

Brahma: Root Chakra God

Brahma is the Hindu god also known as the Self-Born, the Lord of Speech, and the creator of the four Vedas.

Brahma is the consort of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom.

He is traditionally depicted with four faces and four arms.

Brahma’s Four Faces & Hands
Each of Brahma’s four faces point to a cardinal direction.

His hands hold symbols of knowledge and creation: sacred texts, mala beads symbolizing time, a ladle used to feed a sacrificial fire, and a lotus.

Brahma’s Symbols
The sacred texts represent all forms of truth.

The mala beads symbolize time.

The ladle is used to feed a a sacrificial fire.

The lotus is a symbol of enlightenment.

Brahma’s Images
Brahma is often depicted with a white beard and a sage-like expression.

He sits on a lotus flower, dressed in white, red or pink, with a swan or goose nearby upon which he can ride.

Ganesha: Root Chakra God

Ganesha, a beloved elephant-headed Hindu god, is another prominent figure connected to the root or base chakra.

Ganesha is often invoked at the beginning of an undertaking or an event.

This makes sense: the root chakra must be aligned and purified for the energy to rise to the other chakras.

Thus, the root chakra is the beginning on the spiritual path.

Role of Ganesha
Ganesha is the patron of writers and learning.

He is also known as Ganapati. In Hindu mythology, Ganesha is the son of the goddess Parvati and the god Shiva.

Ganesha became a popular deity in the 2nd to 5th centuries AD.

He is found in various traditions including Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

Ganesha as the Remover of Obstacles
Ganesha symbolism gives a glimpse into the stories and spiritual meaning of this well-known Hindu god.

Accordingly, many of the symbols associated with Ganesha relate to his role as the remover of obstacles and the patron of new beginnings.

Ganesha’s Symbols
Ganesha’s symbols include his large belly (to hold the universe), his large ears (to create success through listening), his powerful trunk (mastery and strength), etc.

Learn more about the history, mantras and symbolism of Ganesha.

Kundalini: Root Chakra Goddess

The Sanskrit word “kundalini” means “coiled like a snake.”

The snake is a common symbol of the kundalini, the energy curled at the base of the spine.

As the kundalini moves upward, the energy flows through the seven major energy centers called chakras.

The Many Faces of the Goddess
The kundalini energy has been personified as a goddess in many different forms.

The Goddess Kundalini is sometimes called Adi Parashakti.

This literally means the “first and highest feminine energy.”

Another goddess associated strongly with the kundalini energy is Durga.

Learn more about Durga the Warrior Goddess.

Awakening the Kundalini
The awakening of the kundalini is viewed as one of the first steps on the spiritual path. Preliminary practices such as service, prayer, forgiveness, and purification are necessary to avoid becoming imbalanced as the kundalini energy surges.

Goddess Mantras
Goddess mantras are also effective in raising the Goddess Kundalini from her resting place.

The goal of this goddess energy is to merge with the masculine energy in the upper chakras: throat, third eye and head.

Learn more and experience mantras for the following goddesses:

Sacral Chakra Gods and Goddesses

The sacral chakra is associated with gods and goddesses including Vishnu, the goddess Rakini and the goddess Parvati.

There are others, but these are three of the main sacral chakra deities.

Vishnu is an incarnation of Krishna.

In this incarnation, he is the consort of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

More about the sacral chakra can be found at Sacral Chakra Meaning: Healing Relationships.

Parvati: Sacral Chakra Goddess of Love

Parvati, also known as Uma, is the Hindu goddess of fertility, love and devotion as well as divine strength and power.

She is the gentle and nurturing aspect of the goddess energy and the consort of Shiva.

Parvati is part of a trinity of Hindu goddesses that also includes Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning.

Hear a mantra to Parvati and learn more about this goddess in Parvati Mantra: Chant to a Beautiful Goddess.

Vishnu the Preserver: Sacral Chakra God

Vishnu is an incarnation of Krishna. In this incarnation, he is the consort of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Vishnu is known as the preserver or the one who maintains the cosmos.

He is one of the three persons of the Hindu trinity: Brahma (creator), Vishnu or Krishna (preserver) and Shiva (destroyer).

Goddess Rakini: Sacral Chakra Hindu Goddess

Rakini is a goddess with two heads representing the duality between the external and internal worlds.

This duality is also symbolized in light and dark, male and female, yin and yang, night and day, expansion and contraction and so forth.

Solar Plexus Chakra Gods and Goddesses

The solar plexus chakra is associated with the god Rudra, his consort Lakini, and the goddess Lakshmi.

The solar plexus is the fire center, often symbolized by the color yellow or a sun-like image.

Learn more about the Solar Plexus Chakra.

Rudra: Solar Plexus God in Hinduism

Rudra is a form of Shiva, usually depicted with a scarlet hue and three eyes. In this personification, Rudra is represented as an old man with a powerful bull as his vehicle.

This is a form of Shiva that annihilates desire and wrong action.

Rudra helps to dissolve worldly desires.

He is covered with ashes, representing the final stage of matter when incinerated.

This makes Rudra a symbol of immortality, dispelling all fear.

Rudra appears in the Vedas, ancient sacred scriptures.

He has both destructive and beneficial aspects. Rudra is the divine archer, shooting arrows of disease and death.

He is also a healer and source of remedies for ailments.

This powerful Hindu god is associated with the solar plexus and the heart chakras.

Lakshmi: Solar Plexus Goddess of Wealth

Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity.

Her name is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning goal, aim or sign.

In addition, Lakshmi is usually shown seated or standing on a lotus.

The lotus symbolizes creation, beauty, harmony, diversity, stability, and support.

The benefit of maintaining equilibrium and peace in the solar plexus is the ability to acquire and retain great wealth.

Learn more about this goddess in the article Lakshmi Mantra to the Goddess of Wealth.

Lakini: Solar Plexus Chakra Benefactor Goddess

Lakini is a benefactor goddess and the consort of Rudra. Lakini has four arms.

Three of her hands hold symbolic items (a thunderbolt, an arrow, and fire).

Her fourth hand is held in the gesture or mudra of granting wishes and dispelling fears.

Lakini is associated with the solar plexus, seat of the sun and the power of the emotions, intuition, and gut feelings.

Heart Chakra Gods and Goddesses

Mantras for the heart chakra emphasize the heart as the seat of love and devotion.

The heart expresses charity, compassion, and kindness.

The heart is a focus for beauty and culture.

The heart brings the awareness of community and compassion for others. Learn more about the heart chakra in Heart Chakra Meaning.

One of the main deities associated with the heart in Hinduism is Hanuman, the monkey-faced god who features prominently in the Hindu epic the Ramayana.

Hanuman: Heart Chakra God of Hinduism

Hanuman is a key deity in the Hindu tradition associated with the heart chakra. Hanuman is the monkey god, hero of epics and stories in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

Hanuman is the ardent devotee of Lord Rama, and he plays a central role in the epic poem Ramayana.

Hanuman is sometimes depicted as the patron of martial arts, wrestling, and acrobatics. I think of Hanuman as an Eastern superhero, somewhat akin to Superman or Spiderman or Batman.

He is also the patron of meditation and scholarship.

Learn more about the superpowers of Hanuman and watch two mantra videos in the article Hanuman Mantra.

Kuan Yin: Heart Chakra Goddess

The goddess Kuan Yin appears in Indian sutras (scriptures) as well as in Chinese or Tibetan Buddhism.

She is associated with compassion, the primary quality of the heart. Kuan Yin symbolizes mercy and compassion.

She is a bodhisattva.

This means she has taken a vow to save all beings from suffering, foregoing full Buddhahood until all sentient beings are free.

Kuan Yin comes as a Divine Mother to dispel all illusion.

A beautiful legend is that Kuan Yin was on the threshold of heaven when she paused and heard the anguished cries of the world.

She then returned to earth to help all who are suffering. Kuan Yin’s full name is Kuan-shih-yin.

This means “one who regards, looks on and hears the sounds of the world.”

Kuan Yin originally had the name and form of Avalokitesvara, a male name and masculine being.

Avalokitesvara means “the lord who sees or hears the sounds of the world.”

Avalokitesvara was a Buddhist deity who evolved in Tibet into the female buddha Kuan Yin.

Learn more about her history and mantras in Kuan Yin Healing Mantras.

Throat Chakra Gods and Goddesses

The throat chakra is connected to creativity and self-expression as well as the actions of speaking, chanting and singing.

Mantras are an ideal tool for supporting the thyroid and related organs.

One of the central Hindu gods associated with the throat chakra is Sadashiva.

Other deities for the throat chakra are Ishvara and the goddess Saraswati.

Sadashiva: Throat Chakra God

Sadashiva is the highest form of Shiva, the Hindu god of dissolution, somewhat akin to the Holy Spirit in the Western tradition.

Sometimes Sadashiva is depicted with five faces representing five emanations of God or the four directions plus upward movement.

Other sources view Sadashiva’s five faces as symbolizing the forces of the universe: creation, preservation, destruction, obscuration and grace.

Sadashiva wears a tiger skin indicating his victory over animal instincts.

The snake around his neck represents the endless cycle of birth and death.

The trishula held in one hand is a three-in-one symbol representing the divine as a trinity.

Ishvara: Hindu Lord of the Throat Chakra

Ishvara is sometimes viewed as the embodiment of the Higher Self rather than a particular deity.

In other schools of Hinduism, Ishvara is equivalent to Shiva. In other movements, Ishvara is synonymous with Brahma.

The name “Ishvara” means “ruler of blessings” or “chief suitor.”

In Buddhism, Ishvara is associated with Avalokitesvara, a bodhisattva that originated in a male form but is sometimes referred to as female (Isvari).

This is a variation of Kuan Yin, also associated with the heart chakra.

Saraswati: Throat Chakra Goddess

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, music and the arts.

Her name means “the flowing one.”

Her mantras often contain the seed syllable AIM, a feminine counterpart to OM.

The bija syllable AIM is purported to strengthen the voice, clear the senses and open the lungs.

In ancient times, the ability to recite poetry and memorize Vedic scriptures was a highly honored skill. Saraswati is credited with granting this gift to her devotees.

She is appropriately the goddess for the throat chakra since she governs speech, singing, and music.

Goddesses often have multiple names reflecting all of their qualities and powers. Many have a thousand names! Saraswati is known by several lovely names including the following: Saraswati Mata: Mother of Water and Lakes; Bharadi Mata: Mother of Wisdom and Science; and Bilvani Mata: Mother of the Woods.

learn more about Saraswati in the article Saraswati Mantra: Goddess of Music & Wisdom.

Third Eye Chakra Gods and Goddesses

The third eye is associated with several deities and combined forms of deities.

For example, Shiva is often depicted as having three eyes because of his powerful development of this chakra.

Other deities associated with the third eye include Vishnu and his incarnations as Krishna and Rama.

The goddess Shakti is also associated with the third eye as the consort of Shiva.

Krishna: Third Eye Chakra Hindu God

Krishna, one of the Hindu gods most closely associated with the third eye chakra, is the son of Devaki and her consort Vasudeva, king of the Chandravanshi clan.

Devaki’s brother was Kansa, an evil tyrant.

He was told that a child of Devaki would kill him, so he set out to murder the young Krishna.

For his own protection, Krishna was sent to live in the country with Nanda and his wife Yasoda. Krishna’s childhood was spent among their cow herds.

This is the origin of Krishna’s childhood names, Gopala and Govinda. Learn more and listen to a Krishna Mantra.

Shiva the Destroyer: Power of the Third Eye Chakra

Shiva is one of the three persons of the Hindu trinity.

There are many forms of Shiva, including the one (Sadashiva) associated with the throat chakra and Nataraja (associated with the crown chakra).

Shiva is the aspect of God that strips the devotee of all illusions.

Thus, he is the god of the third eye or spiritual vision.

Shiva is said to possess enough power in his third eye to send out a deadly beam at will.

Rama the Healer: Third Eye Chakra God

Rama is a god of protection, one of the nine incarnations of Vishnu.

Rama is the most popular avatar of Vishnu, a paragon of virtue and chivalry.

Rama is the central character in the Hindu epic the Ramayana.

He is the consort of Sita.

Rama, also known as Ram, and Sita have many adventures and trials together in this ancient story.

Ram and Sita are sometimes viewed as symbolizing the unmanifest and the manifest minds or the pineal and pituitary glands.

Sita and Ram are the ideal spouses. While Sita represents courage, dedication and purity, Ram (or Rama) represents truth, the soul and virtue.

Learn more about Rama as well as his goddess Sita and listen to a Sita Ram Mantra.

Shakti: Third Eye Chakra Goddess

The third eye chakra is symbolized by a central circle and a right and left lotus petal. The two petals of the 3rd eye symbol represent the ida and pingala (mystical spiritual channels).

The petals also represent Shiva (a masculine deity) and Shakti (feminine form of God) on the left and right, respectively.

In addition, the ida and pingala are sometimes viewed as the unconscious and conscious minds.

Finally, the two petals also represent the pineal and pituitary glands.

Shakti is the unformed energy of the universe much like the kundalini in the root chakra. However, the Goddess Shakti is uncontained and unbound where the Goddess Kundalini remains coiled at the base of the spine until awakened.

It is Shiva or the masculine energy which provides a container or sets parameters for the expression of the Shakti energy.

This is why the Goddess Shakti must be balanced by the intensity of Shiva.

Crown Chakra Hindu Gods and Goddesses

One of the presiding deities for the crown chakra is Shiva often depicted in a dancing form known as Nataraja Lord of the Dance.

Shiva is one of the principal gods of Hinduism, part of the trinity composed of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The goddess for the crown chakra is Chamunda, often interchanged with the goddesses Kali or Durga.

Nataraja: Crown Chakra Cosmic Dancer

Nataraja is the dancing form of Shiva, a joyful being spinning and dancing through creation.

Shiva is often shown with a serpent around his neck, a crescent moon as an adornment, the river Ganges flowing from his hair or flowing nearby, the trishula as his weapon, and a damaru (drum) nearby.

Learn more about the sounds and seed syllables for the crown chakra in the article Chakra Sounds.

Shiva: Crown Chakra God

Shiva is the destroyer of evil, akin to the Holy Spirit in the Christian trinity. Shiva is alternately depicted both as benevolent and fearsome.

Learn more and listen to a Shiva Mantra.

Chamunda: Crown Chakra Goddess

The Goddess Chamunda is a fearsome form of the goddess Chandi.

She is the goddess of war, time, death and disasters.

hamunda may have originated as a tribal goddess and been assimilated into mainstream Hinduism at a later date.

Chamunda is often viewed as interchangeable with the goddesses Kali and Durga.

Kali is a more well-known version of this fierce goddess.

She is an intimidating figure, brandishing multiple weapons with her many arms.

Kali wears a skirt of severed arms and a gruesome garland of heads.

These grisly body parts are symbolic of the demonic forces that she slays to protect her devotees.

Learn more in Kali Mantra: Goddess of Time and Death.

Durga is a principal form of the Divine Mother in Hinduism.

She personifies the vibration of the fierce mother, moving into battle to protect her own and never simply for the sake of violence.

The name Durga means a fort or a place that is difficult to overrun.

This is appropriate for a goddess representing the crown chakra.

Once the goddess energy has reached this level, the chances of being overcome with worldly desires or ambitions is relatively low.

More in Durga Mantra & Stories of the Goddess.

Understanding the Chakra Gods and Goddesses

There are several ways to develop a deeper understanding of the Hindu deities.

You can strengthen your own chakras through developing this connection.

The following are some ideas and spiritual practices that can assist in this process:

Study the stories of the chakra deities in Hinduism to understand the qualities that they possess. These could be yogic siddhis (powers) or admirable personal characteristics such as fearlessness, compassion or loyalty.
Investigate the iconography or symbolism in depictions of one or more of the gods or goddesses for a chakra. Many gods and goddesses hold symbolic objects in their hands or use their hands in mudras or symbolic gestures.
Meditate on an image or statue of the chakra deity. Deepen your connection to your own qualities and virtues embodied by that deity.
Use mantras or chants related to the chosen chakra deity. Mantras help to activate the qualities of the deity within yourself.
Chakras and Musical Notes: Chakras and musical notes have been paired in a number of ways. Learn about both Western and Eastern systems.
Chakra Names: Chakra names reveal the roles of the chakras in the body on psychological, spiritual and emotional levels. Includes explanations of English and Sanskrit chakra names.
Chakra Flowers: Chakra flowers offer unique symbolic meaning for each of the seven major chakras. Flowers are among the oldest spiritual symbols, revealing the meaning of each chakra.

Sanskrit Mantras for the Chakras

When it seems that life is mounting challenge upon challenge, respond with affirmations. Instead of hitting snooze and giving yourself every reason to stay in, recite these Sanskrit mantras for the chakras.

They are starting points for the person who wants to consciously engage in creating a life of happiness, calm their mind, and promote relaxation.

Mantras, similar to positive affirmations are general versus or sequences of words that can be meditated upon, repeated, or vocalized.

I’ve always been a fan of repeating mantras while using mala beads for meditation, during yoga, chanting them silently, or just listening to them.

In this post, I’ll explore seven Sanskrit mantras for the chakras, provide the meaning of each mantra, and describe how the mantra works by aligning with the consciousness of each spiritual energy point.

ROOT CHAKRA MANTRA

TAN MAN SHAANT meaning: my mind and body are tranquil, peaceful, and calm.

Tan (body) Man (to think) Shaant (peaceful).

This chant supports the root chakra energy center as it is the chakra most strongly associated with the physical body and helps bring the body into a peaceful resonance.

SACRAL CHAKRA MANTRA

OM DAKSHAM NAMAH – I can achieve maximum benefit with minimal effort.

According to chopracentermeditation, Om Daksham Namah means I align my awareness to the intelligence and power of the universe so that all my thoughts and actions have the greatest effectiveness and efficiency.

This mantra aligns with the consciousness of the sacral chakra as it invokes the senses of flow and ease.

SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA MANTRA

SO HUM – I am part of the universe.

This mantra invokes the sense of identifying oneself with the infinite source of the universe that is constantly supporting and nourishing us.

The affirmation aligns with the solar plexus chakra as it is the spiritual energy point associated with early emotional nourishment and physical nourishment.

HEART CHARKA MANTRA

OM SHANTI SHANTI OM – I radiate peace.

Om is the universal sound of the universe which starts many mantras. It is thought to set the intention for one to become enlightened.

Shanti is the invocation of peace in your life.

The mantra aligns with the heart chakra as it is the center of peace in the body.

In Buddhist and Hindu traditions Shanti is chanted three times to represent body, speech, and mind.

THROAT CHAKRA MANTRA

OM MANI PADME HUM – I honor my deepest truth and live my life with compassion and goodness.

This is a Buddhist mantra that symbolizes living a life of purity to rise above our human selves and fill our lives with meaning.

This chant resonates with the throat chakra as it invokes a vibration that can affect brain waves – perfect for the chakra of communication.

THIRD EYE CHAKRA MANTRA

OM EEM HREEM – I engage with divine guidance.

The Sanskrit word hreem has the power of connecting us to the divine goddess energy of Lakshmi and the divine energy within.

This Sanskrit mantra is associated with the third eye chakra as it heightens intuition and our ability to connect to divine wisdom.

CROWN CHAKRA MANTRA

SAT CHIT ANANDA – I am pure existence.

This affirmation helps us realize that we are inseparable from the power of the universe.

It is associated with the crown chakra and the qualities of wisdom, universal consciousness, and bliss.

There you have it! Seven Sanskrit mantras, one for each chakra, the meaning of the mantras, the translations plus the descriptions of how the affirmations align with the consciousness of each spiritual energy point.

The Chakras Mantra

Key Takeaway

The bija mantras for each of the seven primary chakras are:

Root Chakra – LAM
Sacral Chakra – VAM
Solar Plexus Chakra – RAM
Heart Chakra – YAM
Throat Chakra – HAM
Third Eye Chakra – OM
Crown Chakra – Silence (OM)

Mantras for Each Chakra

Now, let’s explore the specific chakra mantras associated with each of the seven major chakras.

Root Chakra Mantra: LAM

The Root Chakra (Muladhara Chakra) is located at the base of the spine and is associated with stability, security, and our connection to the physical world.

It is represented by the color red and its seed mantra is “LAM”.

Chanting the “LAM” mantra helps ground you, enhance your sense of safety, and strengthen your connection to the Earth.

Issues related to the Root Chakra include fear, insecurity, and a lack of trust.

By focusing on the “LAM” mantra during chakra meditation, you can alleviate these concerns and promote a sense of stability and belonging.

To use this mantra for Root Chakra healing, find a quiet space, sit comfortably, and chant “LAM” slowly and steadily, allowing the sound to resonate within you.

Visualize a red light at the base of your spine, growing brighter and more stable with each repetition.

Sacral Chakra Mantra: VAM

The Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana Chakra) resides in the lower abdomen and governs creativity, emotions, and sexuality.

It is associated with the color orange and its Bija mantra is “VAM”.

Chanting the seed mantra “VAM” can help balance your emotional state, enhance your creative energies, and promote healthy relationships.

An imbalanced Sacral Chakra may manifest as emotional instability, creativity blocks, or intimacy issues.

By incorporating the “VAM” mantra into your daily meditation practice, you can address these challenges and restore harmony.

To use this mantra for Sacral Chakra healing, sit in a quiet space, close your eyes, and chant “VAM” while focusing on the area just below your navel.

Try to imagine a vibrant orange light radiating from this region, nourishing your creative and emotional energies.

Solar Plexus Chakra Mantra: RAM

The Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura Chakra) is located in the upper abdomen and governs personal power, self-esteem, and confidence.

It’s represented by the color yellow and its seed mantra is “RAM”.

When the Solar Plexus Chakra is imbalanced, you can experience low self-esteem, insecurity, or a lack of motivation. To address these issues, practice chanting “RAM” during chakra meditation sessions.

Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and repeat the mantra while visualizing a brilliant yellow light at your solar plexus.

Heart Chakra Mantra: YAM

The Heart Chakra (Anahata Chakra) is situated in the center of the chest and governs love, compassion, and forgiveness. It’s represented by the color green and its seed mantra is “YAM”.

Chanting the “YAM” mantra can help open your heart, increase empathy, and foster loving connections with others.

Imbalances in the Heart Chakra may lead to feelings of bitterness, resentment, or a lack of emotional intimacy.

To heal and balance this chakra, find a quiet space, sit in a comfortable posture, and chant “YAM” while envisioning a radiant green light in your heart center.

Throat Chakra Chakra: HAM

The Throat Chakra is responsible for communication, self-expression, and authenticity, and it’s associated with the color blue.

The “HAM” mantra can help clear blockages in expressing yourself and communicating effectively.

An imbalanced Throat Chakra may manifest as difficulty speaking your truth or fear of public speaking.

To address these issues, practice chanting “HAM” while visualizing a bright blue light at your throat.

This will help you find your voice and express your thoughts and emotions with confidence.

Third Eye Chakra Mantra: OM

The Third Eye Chakra (Ajna Chakra) is located on the forehead and governs intuition, inner wisdom, and spiritual insight.

The Third Eye is represented by the color indigo and its seed mantra is “OM” (you’ll sometimes see it referred to as “AUM”).

Chanting the “OM” chakra mantra can enhance your intuitive abilities, increase mental clarity, and deepen your spiritual connection.

Imbalances in the Third Eye Chakra may lead to confusion, lack of direction, or a disconnect from your inner guidance.

To heal and activate this chakra, chant “OM” while visualizing a vibrant indigo light in your forehead.

This will help you access your inner wisdom and intuition more effectively.

Crown Chakra Mantra: OM

Th Crown Chakra is located at the very top of the head and represents spiritual connection, enlightenment, and divine consciousness.

It is associated with the color purple and it has the seed mantra “OM.”

Chanting “OM” can help you transcend earthly limitations, experience spiritual awakening, and connect with the universal consciousness.

Crown Chakra imbalances may result in a feeling of disconnection from the universe or a lack of purpose.

Chant the Crown Chakra mantra “OM” while visualizing a radiant violet or white light at the crown of your head.

This will facilitate a deeper connection to the divine and higher states of consciousness.

How Do Mantras Heal Your Chakras?

Just like when you play a guitar and the string vibrates, when you use your voice your vocal cords vibrate.

These vibrations flood through your being carrying universal energy.

Our chakras also have their own vibrational frequencies and when we use the right mantras we can tune into this frequency.

Chakra mantras allow us to use the divine wisdom of our physical body to connect to and rebalance the energy centers in our subtle body.

How to Use Mantras for Chakra Healing

Using mantras for chakra healing can be a powerful way to balance and activate your major energy centers.

One of the most popular ways to use chakra mantras is to use them to begin or end a chakra meditation session.

Follow this simple guide to supercharge your meditation:

Find a quiet space: Choose a quiet and comfortable space where you won’t be disturbed. Creating a serene environment is essential for deepening your meditation experience.
Sit comfortably: Sit in a relaxed and upright posture. You can also lie down if that’s more comfortable for you. Ensure that your spine is straight to facilitate the smooth flow of energy.
Set an intention: Before beginning your meditation, set clear intentions for healing and balancing the specific chakra you’re focusing on. For example: “I want to connect to the grounding energy of my Root Chakra.”
Close your eyes: Close your eyes to turn your attention inward and block out external distractions. This helps you dive deeper into your chakra meditation practice.
Focus on the chakra: Bring your awareness to the location of the chakra within your body. Visualize the associated colored light for that chakra. Imagine it growing brighter and more vibrant with each repetition. For the Heart Chakra, for example, envision a radiant green light at the center of your chest, expanding and filling your entire being with love and compassion.
Chant the mantra: Begin chanting the corresponding mantra for the chakra you’re working on. Begin by slowly voicing the first letter of the mantra, working through the word and then elongating the last letter. After the final syllable has died away, begin the chant again.
Pay attention to your breath: Inhale and exhale deeply and slowly, allowing the breath to flow in sync with the rhythm of your mantra. Deep and conscious breathing exercises help in relaxing your body and mind, allowing the energy to flow freely through the chakra.
Stay focused: Maintain your focus on the chakra and the mantra. If your mind begins to wander, gently bring your attention back to the sound and visualization. Consistency in your practice will help you improve your concentration over time.
Feel the vibrations: As you continue chanting and visualizing, pay attention to any sensations or changes in the energy of the chakra. You may feel warmth, tingling, or a sense of expansion.Trust your intuition and the wisdom of your body as you work with the mantra.
Conclude mindfully: To end your meditation, gradually reduce the chanting and take a few moments to sit in silence. Acknowledge the work you’ve done and express gratitude for the healing process.

Slowly open your eyes and return to your surroundings, carrying a sense of balance and harmony with you.

You can maintain your mantra meditation practice for as long as you feel comfortable.

Chakra healing with mantras is a journey.

To experience lasting benefits, try to practice them regularly in your daily life.

You can work on one chakra at a time or go through all seven in sequence, depending on your needs and goals.

Remember that chakra healing with mantras is a personal and transformative practice. Be patient with yourself and trust the process.

Over time, you’ll find that these powerful mantras can help you align and harmonize your energy centers, leading to a deeper sense of well-being and spiritual growth.

What Are the 7 Chakras?

The seven main chakras are:

Mooladhara Chakra: The Root Chakra
Swadhisthana Chakra: The Sacral Chakra
Manipura Chakra: The Solar Plexus Chakra
Anahata Chakra: The Heart Chakra
Vishuddhi Chakra: The Throat Chakra
Ajna Chakra: The Third Eye Chakra
Sahasrara Chakra: The Crown Chakra

What Are the Mantras for Each Chakra?

Each chakra corresponds to a particular seed syllable called ‘bija.’

They can be used to create mantras where spoken bijas are chanted out loud to resonate with the chakras.

These syllables reflect each chakra’s essence and help clear and strengthen the associated energy.

Studies show that chakra mantras restore your natural, resonant vibration, a state of good health.

Here are the seven mantras corresponding to each chakra.

1. LAM: Root chakra

Chanting this mantra will cleanse impurities that can collect in the root chakra and clear any blocked energy that is prevented from moving through to the other six main energy centers.

It also opens you up to feelings of security, prosperity, and belonging.

Chant “LAM” if you.

Have low levels of energy
Struggle financially
Suffer from low self-esteem
Experience adrenal fatigue and other stress-related ailments

2. VAM: Sacral chakra

“VAM” is the cleansing mantra for your sacral chakra, associated with pleasure and creativity as well as sexuality.

Healing this chakra will open you up to others, give you the courage to express yourself, and embrace change.

Chant “VAM” if you…

Have a poor self-image
Find it hard to open up in relationships
Feel unsatisfied sexually, or suffer from low libido

3. RAM: Solar plexus chakra

This is the cleansing mantra for your solar plexus chakra, the seat of your personal power.

Chanting it will increase your self-esteem, confidence, and self-assurance.

Chant “RAM” if you…

Find it difficult to stand up for yourself
Experience negative impulses and have low self-control
Feel powerless

4. YAM: Heart chakra

This is the cleansing mantra for your heart chakra. You give and receive love through this energy center.

It helps you heal both the physical heart and the spiritual (emotional) heart center and open you to unconditional love and compassion.

Chant “YAM” if you…

Feel undeserving of love
Lack compassion for yourself and others
Struggle with relationships

5. HAM: Throat chakra

This is the mantra to unblock your throat chakra, your physical and spiritual voice.

The throat chakra governs your ability to express yourself. The vibrations of “HAM” will open your throat chakra to strengthen your ability to communicate your truth.

Chant “HAM” if you…

Find it difficult to voice your needs and desires
Close yourself off to opportunities
Tell lies or don’t speak your truth

6. AUM (or OM): Third eye chakra

This mantra opens your third eye chakra, which is at the center of your forehead and is directly in line with the center of your brain.

While “OM” is one of the most common mantras and can be used for a wide variety of mantra meditations, it is essential to your third eye chakra, the seat of your intuition and life purpose.

Chanting it will allow you to listen to your inner wisdom and use that wisdom to chart the best course for a life of purpose and passion.

Chant “OM” if you…

Operate mostly from your rational mind
Mistrust your inner wisdom
Feel restricted or stuck

7. AH: Crown chakra

This mantra is designed for the crown chakra, your connection to the divine.

Chanting it represents a release. Think about taking a deep breath, then letting it go — this is the sound “AH.”

Chant “AH” if you…

Feel insignificant and disconnected from spirit (Universe/Source/God)
Have a strong attachment to possessions, relationships, and the physical world

How to Use Mantras for Chakra Healing

Using mantras for chakra healing is a meditative practice of mindfulness and active listening to your body and the sounds.

Once you pick up your mantra, here’s how to chant it:

Find a quiet place for your mantra meditation
Sit comfortably with your spine straight
Take a few deep breaths, becoming aware of your breathing
Start chanting the chosen mantra, using a natural tone of your voice
Let the sound rollout slowly for the duration of each breath
As you chant the mantra, focus on the corresponding chakra
You can also chant all seven mantras, starting at the base and moving to the top, or vice versa

4 ways to open chakras

1. Meditation

Chakra meditation can help you open your chakras and clear blocked energies. You can focus on one chakra at a time or all seven chakras. Having chakra meditation as part of your daily practice is a great way to restore your energy centers.

You can do it in the morning to set yourself up for a day, or in the evening.

2. Chakra jewelry

You can wear chakra jewelry such as bracelets or pendants in your daily life or use it for your meditation practice alone. Crystals used in jewelry are as potent as raw crystals, positively affecting your chakras.

If you wear it often, make sure you cleanse and charge them regularly.

3. Essential oils

There are numerous benefits of essential oils for your well-being and overall health. They help boost your move and elevate stress and anxiety.

Essential oils work well both with your inner state and external environment. They are versatile and easy to use.

How to use essential oils:

Diffuse
Put one drop on your hands and inhale
Add 5 drops of essential oil to every 10 ml of any base oil. Massage this mixture onto your skin and rub in
Add 1-2 drops to every quarter-size pump to your favorite lotion
Add 15-20 drops to a bathtub

4. Yoga

Chakra yoga poses can help you achieve mental, spiritual, and physical balance. They are designed to balance your chakras by restoring their natural energy flow.

Here are some essential yoga poses for each chakra:

Root chakra: Mountain Pose, Tree Pose
Sacral chakra: Revolved Triangle Pose, Goddess Pose
Solar plexus chakra: Boat Pose, Downward-Facing Dog
Heart chakra: Low Lunge, Camel Pose
Throat chakra: Easy Pose (with chanting), Supported Shoulderstand
Third eye chakra: Dolphin Pose, Lotus Pose
Crown chakra: Corpse Pose, Lotus Pose

Five Seed Mantras

If you’re not ready to focus on a specific chakra, the basic mantras (called seed mantras) have been universally used in meditative practice to harmonize one’s energy.

OM: This is the most well-known and universal seed mantra, representing the sound of creation that causes energy to gather and flow upward and outward. OM is the mantra of acceptance and ascension. It helps you accept your higher self and allow energy to flow openly and freely through you. It also serves as a gathering mantra, gathering your inward energy and preparing your energy for movement.
KRIM (pronunciation “kreem”): Chanting this mantra stimulates your lower chakras to awaken and purify your body
SHRIM (pronunciation “shreem”): It’s associated with the head and the third eye. It promotes bodily and spiritual health and can be used to bring beauty and happiness to one’s senses.
HRIM (pronunciation “hreem”): This mantra holds powers of healing and creativity. Chanting this mantra awakens compassion and purifies the heart.
HUM (pronunciation “hoom”): This sound evokes the breakdown of negative feelings and spreads positivity and vitality through the body.

Don’t worry about using all of them – you may be very ‘energetically healthy’ in some respects and not so much in others.

Just read the list, choose the one you intuitively feel you need, and use it to begin your meditation.

Get Started With Energy Healing

Each chakra, or energy center, contains habitual patterns, or ‘programming’, enabling our life force to interact with different physical, emotional, mental, sexual, or spiritual energies.

Chanting: 5 Health Benefits & Different Ways to Practice Beej Mantras

What Is Chanting?

Chanting is the rhythmic recitation of a string of words that have spiritual or religious significance. It may involve the repetition of a specific phrase over and over again. People often recite chants as part of their daily prayer, during religious sermons, or while they meditate.

Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism are some of the religions that stress the importance of chants.

Several Hindu mythological stories describe revered men chanting mantras (a word or words having a religious or spiritual connection) for a long time in an attempt to appease the Lord Almighty.

Benefits of Chanting

The act of chanting has a close association with God or spiritual Gurus (teacher or mentor). It is a lesser-known fact that chanting certain incantations has a therapeutic effect on the mind and body. Below are some of the health benefits of it:

Psychological Well Being: Most people resort to it as a way of developing and maintaining their emotional and psychological health. Stress brings along a myriad of negative emotions and may initiate a downward spiral for many. The mantras restores the disturbed sync of each cell present within our body. It releases endorphins which are ‘feel-good hormones of the human body. Regular practice of therapeutic chants helps in stress relief, getting rid of anxiety, a depressed mood, and irritability. Chanting has a therapeutic as well as a preventive effect against several psychological disorders.
Healthy Neurological Functioning: Chanting has a soothing and relaxing effect on the nerves and helps overcome physical fatigue and tired feeling. People who practice it feel more energetic and have healthy physical stamina. Regular chanting has helped people recover from tremors caused due to neurological dysfunction. Rehabilitating alcoholics and drug abusers, patients suffering from Parkinsonism, Alzheimer’s disease, and other brain disorders benefit a lot from regular chanting.
Active Cardiovascular System: Chanting stimulates the heart and blood vessels, allowing them to circulate blood with more efficiency. It helps to unclog the arteries and clears away any debris accumulated within. Improved blood circulation will allow better oxygenation of tissues and prevent oxidation of cells. It also helps to maintain optimum blood pressure.
Robust Hormonal System: Hormones rule the functioning of all other systems in your body. An intricate and slightly complex mechanism involving the brain and several other glands control the flow and levels of hormones within your bloodstream. It is known to activate chakras, which are arbitrary points of energy distributed evenly within the human body. Activation of specific Chakras balances the levels of hormones, allowing them to function in perfect sync.
Normal Sleep Cycle: A disturbed sleep cycle is a problem most of us face at some point in life. Irrespective of the cause, regular practice of chanting helps to cure all types of sleep troubles.

It allows the brain and nerves to relax, thereby promoting a healthy sleep cycle.

There are billions of cells in our body that work in perfect harmony to carry out various functions.

Chanting creates healthy vibrations that help to reset the internal disturbances within the body cells.

It is also known to tap energies that lay dormant within human bodies.

Chanting allows reenergizing the various body cells, which is responsible for its therapeutic effect.

What Are The Several Ways Of Chanting?

Chanting involves the repetition of single or multiple words in a specific manner and requires discipline. Follow the below tips while you chant.

Your mind needs to be relaxed while you practice
Ensure that your surroundings are quiet and removed from the chaos
Try to remove all thoughts from your mind and focus on yourself and your chants
Focus on relaxing your body
Sit on the floor, preferably cross-legged, while practicing chants
Close your eyes for better focus on the chanting

You may begin reciting chants that you can correlate with your need to practice chanting.

You may choose chants belonging to any religious faith.

As long as your intent of chanting is pure, all chants will work wonders for you.

Here are the several ways to practice chanting:

Loud Recitation: You may choose to recite the chants clearly and audibly. Loud chanting will reduce the chances of distraction significantly and allow you to focus better. Reciting the chants out aloud enables you to feel the power behind the chanting. You can experience complete mental and physical rejuvenation with a session of loud chanting.

Mental Chanting: Chanting without reciting the words out loud is ideal for those who enjoy their peace. You may repeat the chant mentally, over and over again, till you feel mentally at ease. Mental chanting allows you to restore your energy through chanting without disturbing your quiet environment.

Lip Sync: You may not want to recite your chants in an audible tone, but you don’t want to miss out on any crucial part of the chant either. You may opt to mouth the words without any sound at all. Lip syncing is a great way of chanting your mantras without losing track of any specific part of the mantra.

One must remember that it is not the method of chanting but the dedication that matters. People chant for various reasons; while some seek spiritual solace, some look at chanting as a form of healing themselves. Irrespective of the intent, chanting comes to the aid of everyone who embraces it.

Chanting And Science

The practice of chanting among Hindus dates back to an era of 3000 years ago (as of 2021).

There is ample research done on the effects of chanting on human health.

Regular practice of chanting helps to successfully suppress the area of the brain that causes distraction and loss of mental concentration.

Doctors have deduced this connection between chanting and mental health through a series of studies and neuroimaging techniques.

Chants like Aum Namah Shivay or simply uttering the word Ram to remember Lord Ram have a positive effect on the neurological functions of the body.

Studies have revealed that chanting the word Vitthal repeatedly has a therapeutic action on cardiac activity, blood pressure, ejection fraction of the heart, and even oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

All the cells within our body vibrate in sync with one another to allow the normal functioning of various organs. Disturbed vibrations within a particular organ will affect its functioning and cause ill health.

Chanting helps generate positive vibrations within the cell, which help restore the original frequency of the now diseased cell.

This is the core principle for the therapeutic action of chanting.

Why Is It Important To Pronounce The Chants Right?

In the olden times, chanting was a way to achieve one’s spiritual goals and find purpose in life.

Chanting verses from ancient Hindu scriptures like Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, and Upanishads show the true enlightenment path.

Regular practice of chanting mantras is crucial for the one who seeks solace and meaning in life.

The concept of a material body encompassing an immortal soul is a common belief among followers of the Hindu religion.

Chanting and meditation are ways to detach oneself from the earthly body and focus on enlightening the soul.

The universe came into being from nothingness, long before the Earth existed.

It was full of cosmic force and vibrating energies.

Chanting helps create vibrations of a similar frequency within your mind and body that resonates perfectly with the cosmic vibrations.

These vibrations can positively affect your mind, body, health, and spiritual self, like no other force.

There are arbitrary points of dormant energy lying within the body, known as Kundalini. Chanting helps activate the Kundalinis, giving the practitioner more power to train and bend their minds according to their will.

Activation of energies through chanting is a way to focus your mind, attain spiritual goals and become detached from the material world.

But all this is possible only with the impeccable pronunciation of the mantras that you chant.

The chant is not merely a string of words, but it holds deep meaning.

The purpose of chanting is to evoke the power within its words and embrace it.

The Sanskrit Connection

Most Hindu chants consist of words that require the tongue, glottis, and vocal cords to move in a particular rhythm.

It is the rhythm, the pronunciation of words, and the tone of recitation that activates dormant energies lying untapped within your body.

Hindu scholars wrote most of the religious and spiritual chants in the Sanskrit language.

Sanskrit is the pure and beautiful language of Gods. Sanskrit is an ancient language and is very closely related to over fifty basic sounds.

These sounds are telepathic and are connected with the natural vibrating energies of the cosmic universe.

Every syllable and vowel matter while speaking in Sanskrit.

One wrong pronunciation here and there changes the whole meaning of the sentence.

Religious chants or spiritual incantations will hold no importance if their definition varies.

They will fail to create the vibrations that they should without the proper tonality.

Hence it is vital to practice your Sanskrit and perfect your pronunciation as you practice chanting.

What Are Beej Mantras?

The word ‘Beej’ stands for ‘seed’ in the Sanskrit language.

Beej mantras are holy words endowed with immense spiritual powers.

The term Beej is used metaphorically to denote that these mantras are the ‘seed’ from which most other mantras are derived or created.

The emanation of several sound vibrations accompanied the creation of the universe from nothing.

These sound vibrations are the origin of the Beej mantras.

Hindu Maharishis(sages) from the era that dates back to as much as 5000 years ago (as of 2021) spend their entire lives studying the intent behind the Beej mantras.

They passed on the knowledge to their disciples, who in turn shared the knowledge with their disciples.

Each Beej mantra corresponds to the vibrating frequency of a particular Hindu deity.

Thus, each Beej mantra is akin to calling the Creator to bless you by evoking the flow of spiritual energy through your body.

This helps the advancement of one’s journey to achieve their spiritual goals.

Apart from having immense spiritual and religious importance, the Beej mantras also have special healing powers.

Their therapeutic vibrations treat many health disorders ranging from simple digestive disturbances to more serious cancers.

Below are some important Beej mantras and the names of the deities or powers they relate to.

Om- Lord Parabrahma
Shreem- Goddess Lakshmi
Kreem- Goddess Kali
Hrowm and Hoom- Lord Shiva
Aim- Goddess Saraswati
Hreem- Goddess Bhuvaneshwari
Gam- Lord Ganpati
Kleem- Mantra of Shakti (dynamic power of the cosmic universe)
Dum- Goddess Durga

Each planet in our Solar system also has a Beej mantra of its own.

Astrology experts often advise people to recite these mantras to eliminate the ill effects that the planet may pose to them.

According to Hindu beliefs, planetary positions and powers at the time of a person’s birth control their destiny and birth chart.

Beej mantras curb the unfavorable effects of these planetary positions.

Role Of Beej Mantras In Activating Body Chakras

Chakra is the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel.’ The chakras within our body are spinning wheels of energy that control the functions of all other organs.

Ayurveda describes the presence of seven main chakras distributed at several points along the spine.

In a healthy individual, all the chakras must be open and aligned in a specific manner with each other.

Chakras are responsible for unique behavioral and physical traits in a person.

Ayurveda attributes the occurrence of any health disorder to disturbances in the alignment of chakras.

Reciting Beej mantras is the key to adjust the balance of the chakras.

There are separate Beej mantras, each having a deep connection with one particular chakra of the body.

Lam: Lam is a monosyllabic Beej mantra corresponding to the first chakra of the body, lying at the base of the spine, and corresponds to the genital and pelvic organs.

Vam: The second chakra of the body is on the spine at the level of the belly button. The sound of Vam is the Beej mantra corresponding to the second chakra.

· Ram: Ram is helpful to balance the disturbed energy of the third chakra of the body. The third chakra is at that level of the spine that controls the stomach area.

It is also known as the solar plexus chakra.

Yam: Yam is the singular sound that corresponds to the fourth chakra, also known as the heart chakra.

The Beej mantra of Yam helps to align this chakra that is at the center of the chest.

Ham: The fifth chakra (throat chakra) and lies in the nape of the neck. Ham is the beej mantra that helps to rectify the disturbances in the alignment of this chakra.

OM: Om is one of the most important of all the Beej mantras. It is the beej mantra corresponding to the sixth and seventh chakras.

These are the beej mantras for each of the main chakras.

The syllable Om is the most commonly used and one of the most potent beej mantras.

All About Om Recitation

Pronounced as A-U-M, the beej mantra of Om can create super-powerful vibrations within the human body. Many Hindu Vedic mantras begin with the syllable Om.

Om chanting is beneficial for good health and also for spiritual progress.

Yogis living centuries ago resorted to continuous chanting of Om to attain Dirgha Ayushya or long life.

Om allows the flow of positive vibrations through your body, thereby boosting your energy and mental strength.

The vibrations created by chanting Om are capable of activating kundalinis, which are dormant sources of force or energy located at the base of the spine. Activated kundalini keeps all the chakras open and aligned with one another.

People performing the Jaap (chanting) of Om know that the sound originates from the navel and rises to the throat while reciting it.

Therefore the uddiyana bandha is the ideal pose during Om Jaap.

The uddiyana bandha is a posture taught in Hatha Yoga that involves pulling the abdominal wall inward as if getting the navel closer to the spine.

The practitioner of this bandha must hold their breath till they do not relax their abdominal wall.

A bandha is a posture during which a specific part of your body should remain unmoved and restricted.

The Jalandhar bandha is another posture commonly associated with the chanting of mantras and other spiritual words.

This type of bandha focuses on the muscles of the neck and throat.

The principles of the Hindu religion strongly advocate the concept of reincarnation. Ancient Hindu scriptures describe that our physical body is perishable, but the immortal soul exists forever.

The scriptures further instruct on how to use the material body to achieve spiritual progress for the soul.

The ultimate aim of every soul should be to attain salvation by merging into the greater cosmic energy, the universe.

Chanting beej mantras like Om is one way to guide the soul during this spiritual journey.

Some Important Hindu Mantras

Mantras and Jaap are an essential part of Hindu culture.

There are several mantras dedicated to a particular Hindu deity.

Reciting these mantras is a way to evoke the blessings of that particular deity.

Below are mentioned a few religious Hindu mantras along with their benefits.

Hanuman Mantra: ‘Om Hanumate Namah’ is the simple way of chanting the Hanuman mantra, which means ‘bow to Lord Hanuman.

Lord Hanuman is a deity known for his immense physical strength and symbolizes physical fitness and health. He is also the epitome of benevolence and a generous giver.

Chanting the Hanuman mantra is a way to keep good health and remove obstacles that separate you from your goals.

Lakshmi Mantra: Goddess Lakshmi is the Hindu deity of wealth and abundance. People seek Her blessings to lead a fruitful life.

Om Lakshmi Namah, Om Dhanay Namah, Om Hreem Hreem Lakshmi Vasudevaya Namah, Lakshmi Narayan Namah are some of the mantras to appease Goddess Lakshmi.

The vibrations of these mantras are auspicious and offer protection from any bad omen.

People often recite the Lakshmi mantra before any important task or event.

Gayatri Mantra: Gayatri mantra is among the most well-known Hindu mantras. The mantra is as follows:
‘Om Bhur Bhuvah Swah, Tat-savitur Varenyam, Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayat’

This all-powerful mantra can calm down even that mind which is facing the most extraordinary turmoil.

Students will benefit immensely from a regular recitation of the Gayatri mantra, as it helps to increase mental focus and the power of concentration. The Gayatri mantra is therapeutic for a wide range of psychological and physical health disorders. It also detoxifies the mind and body.

Reciting the Gayatri mantra helps to expel darkness and negativity from life.

The Gayatri mantra is dedicated to Goddess Gayatri, the mother of the four Hindu Vedas.

Hindu books and scriptures written in the ancient era are full of spiritual and religious mantras.

These mantras are not merely a collection of words but powerful phrases that can change lives.

Recitation of mantras is the best way to achieve progress in your spiritual journey.

The Chakras

EXPLORING THE 14 MYSTICAL FORCES THAT GOVERN AWARENESS

There are fourteen great nerve centers in the physical body, in the astral body and in the body of the soul.

These centers are called chakras in Sanskrit, which means “wheel.”

These spinning vortices of energy are actually regions of mind power, each one governing certain aspects of our inner being, and together they are the subtle components of people.

When inwardly perceived, they are vividly colorful and can be heard.

In fact, they are quite noisy.

When awareness flows through any one or more of these regions, the various functions of consciousness operate, such as memory, reason and willpower.

The physical body has a connection to each of the seven higher chakras through plexuses of nerves along the spinal cord and in the cranium.

As the kundalini force of awareness travels along the spine, it enters each of these chakras, energizing them and awakening in turn each function.

By examining the functions of these great force centers, we can clearly cognize our own position on the spiritual path and better understand our fellow man.

In any one lifetime, one may predominantly be aware in two or three centers, thus setting the pattern for the way one thinks and lives.

One develops a comprehension of these seven regions in a natural sequence, the perfection of one leading logically to the next.

Thus, though we may not psychically be seeing spinning forces within ourself, we nevertheless mature through memory, reason, willpower, cognition, universal love, divine sight and spiritual illumination.

There are six chakras above the muladhara, which is located at the base of the spine. When awareness is flowing through these chakras, consciousness is in the higher nature.

There are also seven chakras below the muladhara, and when awareness is flowing through them, consciousness is in the lower nature.

The lower chakras are located between the coccyx and the heels.

In this age, the Kali Yuga, most people live in the consciousness of the seven force centers below the muladhara.

Their beliefs and attitudes strongly reflect the animal nature, the instinctive mind.

Thus, the muladhara chakra, the divine seat of Lord Ganesha, is the dividing point between the lower nature and the higher.

It is the beginning of religion for everyone, entered when consciousness arrives out of the realms below Lord Ganesha’s holy feet.

Through personal sadhana, prayer, meditation, right thought, speech and action and love of God, we lift our own consciousness and that of others into the chakras above the muladhara, bringing the mind into the higher nature.

The functions of the chakras are aspects of our being that we use every day.

In the same way, we use our arms and hands everyday without thinking.

Yet, if we study the physiology of the hands, we encounter layer after layer of intricate interrelationships of tissues, cells, plasma.

We examine the engineering of the structural system of bones and joints, the energy transmission of the muscular system, the biochemistry of growth and healing, the biophysics of nerve action and reaction.

Suddenly a simple and natural part of human life seems complex.

Similarly, we use the various functions of consciousness, the chakras, every day without even thinking about them.

The chakras do not awaken.

They are already awakened in everyone.

It only seems as if they awaken as we become aware of flowing our energy through them, because energy, willpower and awareness are one and the same thing.

To become conscious of the core of energy itself, all we have to do is detach awareness from the realms of reason, memory and aggressive, intellectual will; then turning inward, we move from one chakra to another.

The physical body changes as these more refined energies flow through it. And the inner nerve conduits, nadis, inwardly become stronger.

It may help, as we examine each of these centers individually, to visualize ourselves as a seven-storied building, with each story being one of the chakras.

Awareness travels up and down in the elevator, and as it goes higher and higher, it gains a progressively broader, more comprehensive and beautiful vista.

Reaching the top floor, it views the panorama below with total understanding, not only of the landscape below, but also of the relation of the building to other buildings and of each floor to the next.

Venturing below the muladhara, we enter the basement levels of consciousness.

Planetary patterns: During each predominant age throughout history, one or another of the chakras has come into power.

When the Greek God Cronus, the God of time, was worshiped, the mass consciousness came into memory–the muladhara chakra–with its new-found concern for time, for a past and a future, dates and records.

Next the mass consciousness came into the svadhishthana and its powers of reason.

Reason was a God in the Golden Age of Greece.

Discourse, debate and logic all became instruments of power and influence.

If it was not reasonable, it was not true.

Next the chakra of will came into power.

Man conquered nations, waged wars, developed efficient weapons.

Crusades were fought and kingdoms established.

Our world was experiencing force over force.

Direct cognition, the anahata chakra, came when man opened the doors of science within his own mind.

He cognized the laws of the physical universe: mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology.

Then he unfolded the mind sciences by looking into his subconscious mind, into the chakras where he had previously been.

With man’s look into his own mind, psychology, metaphysics and the mind-religions were born.

Now, in our present time, the mass consciousness is coming into vishuddha–the forces of universal love.

The forerunners of this emerging Sat Yuga, popularly called the New Age, are not worshiping reason as the great thing of the mind or trying to take over another’s possessions through the use of force.

They are not worshiping science or psychology or the mind religions as the great panacea.

They are looking inward and worshiping the light, the Divinity, within their own body, within their own spine, within their own head, and they are going inward into a deep spiritual quest which is based on direct experience, on compassion for all things in creation.

As the forces of the vishuddha chakra come into prominence in the New Age, it does not mean that the other centers of consciousness have stopped working.

But this new one coming into prominence is claiming the energy within the mass consciousness.

When the center of divine love gains a little more power, everything will come into a beautiful balance.

There will be a natural hierarchy of people based on the awakening of their soul, just as previous ages established hierarchies founded on power or intellectual acumen.

With that one needed balance, everything on the Earth will quiet down, because the vishuddha chakra is of the new age of universal love, in which everyone sees eye to eye, and if they do not, there will always be someone there to be the peacemaker.

Look back through history and you will see how these planetary influences, these great mind strata of thought, have molded history and people.

Personal patterns: The same cyclical pattern of development in human history is evident even more clearly in the growth of the individual.

In the seven cycles of a person’s life, beginning at the time of birth, awareness automatically flows through one of these chakras and then the next one, and then the next, provided a pure life is lived, following Sanatana Dharma under the guidance of a satguru.

Each one experiences the chakras somewhat differently, depending upon the amount of kundalini force [see page 36] that is released.

Non-religious people, who have a minimal amount of kundalini released, may experience the chakra only in its physical and emotional manifestation.

Those who perform sadhana will experience the chakras in a much deeper way.

Yogis performing tapas, serious austerities, would likely experience each chakra in the depths of their soul body.

In reality, most people never make it into the higher four chakras, but instead regress back time and again into the chakras of reason, instinctive will, memory, anger, fear and jealousy.

Nevertheless, the natural, ideal pattern is as follows.

From one to seven years of age, one is in the muladhara chakra learning the basics of movement, language and society.

The patterns of the subconscious are established primarily in these early years. From seven to fourteen one is in the svadhishthana chakra.

One reasons, questions and refines the ability to think for oneself.

Between fourteen and twenty-one, one comes into willpower.

The personality gets strong.

Likes and dislikes solidify. Generally, about this time one wants to run away from home and express oneself.

From twenty-one to twenty-eight one begins realizing responsibilities and gaining a new perspective of themselves and the world.

Theoretically, one should be in anahata, the chakra of cognition, but a lot of people never make it.

If awareness is mature and full, however, having incarnated many, many times, one goes on at twenty-one to twenty-eight into the anahata chakra.

Here we begin to understand “what it’s all about.”

We comprehend our fellow men and women, their relationships, the world around us.

We seek inwardly for more profound insight.

This chakra is stabilized and smoothly spinning once one has raised one’s family and performed one’s social duty, and though one may yet continue in business, one would find the energies withdrawing naturally into the chest.

It is most often the renunciate, the mathavasi, the sannyasin, who from twenty-eight to thirty-five or before, depending on the strictness of his satguru, comes into the vishuddha chakra, into inner light experiences, assuming a spiritual responsibility for himself and for others.

This awakening soul appreciates people, loves them. His heart and mind broadly encompass all of humanity.

He is less interested in what people do and more in what they are.

It is here that, having withdrawn from the world, the world begins to renounce him.

Then, from thirty-five to forty-two or before, he perfects his sadhanas and lives in the ajna chakra, experiencing the body of the soul, that body of light, awareness traveling within naturally at that time, withdrawing from mundane matters of the conscious mind.

From forty-two through forty-nine he is getting established in the sahasrara chakra in a very natural way, having met all of the responsibilities through life.

Esoterically, there are seven more chakras above and within the sahasrara. Agamic Hindu tradition cites them as seven divisions of Paranada, inner sound.

They are, from highest to lowest: Unmana, Samana, Anasrita, Anatha, Ananta, Vyomanga and Vyapini.

These chakras are a conglomerate of nadis that slowly develop as a result of consistent and repetitive Self-Realization experiences.

The Seven Chakras of Higher Consciousness

Below we present a condensed overview of each of the seven principal chakras, followed by the seven chakras below the muladhara.

For more details, and to see also how chakras correlate to the physical body, refer this month’s gatefold, pages 3-5.

The muladhara: The memory center, muladhara, located at the base of the spine, creates a consciousness of time through the powers of memory.

Whenever we go back in our memory patterns, we are using the forces of the muladhara.

It has four petals or aspects, one of which governs memories of past lives.

The other three contain the compiled memory patterns and interrelated karmas of this life.

This chakra is associated also with human qualities of individuality, egoism, physicality (including sexuality), materialism and dominance.

A person lives predominantly in this chakra during the first seven years of life, acquiring language skills, relationships and cultural ways.

Svadishthana: Once the ability to remember has been established, the natural consequence is reason, and from reason evolves the intellect.

Reason is the manipulation of memorized information.

We categorize it, edit it, rearrange it and store the results. People in this six-petaled chakra research, explore and wonder,

“Why? Why? Why?” They propose theories and formulate rational explanations.

They often form a rigid intellectual mind based upon opinionated knowledge and accumulated memory, reinforced by habit patterns of the instinctive mind.

It is in this chakra that the majority of people live, think, worry and travel on the astral plane.

We open naturally into this chakra between ages 8 and 14.

This center controls the muladhara, as does each progressively higher chakra control those that lie below it.

Manipura: The third chakra is represented in the central nervous system by the solar plexus, where all nerves merge to form the “second brain.”

Of its ten petals, five face up and five down.

Correspondingly, depending on how the energy is flowing, the forces of willpower from this chakra add power either to worldly consciousness through the first two centers or to spiritual consciousness through the fourth and fifth centers.

When awareness is confined to the realms of memory, reason and aggressive willpower, men and women are instinctive in nature.

They are quick to react and retaliate, quick to have their feelings hurt and quick to pursue the conquest of others while fearing their own defeat.

In these states of mind, the ego rises to its greatest prominence, and emotional experiences are extremely intense.

Young adults from 14 to 21 discover willpower, willfulness and individuality as this chakra unfolds.

Anahata: The center of perception and insight is often referred to as “the lotus of the heart.” Its 12 “petals” imply that cognition can be expressed in twelve distinct ways or through as many masks or personae.

People abiding here are generally well-balanced, content and self-contained.

Even when in day-to-day life they become involved in the seemingly fractured parts, they are able to look through it all and understand.

They have a deep understanding of human nature, which brings effortless tolerance and an innate ability to help others, to resolve conflicts and confusions.

Between ages 21 and 28, perceptions deepen and understanding matures for those who enter this chakra. Many people regress back into reason and memory.

But, if awareness is mature, having incarnated many times, and well-trained all through youth, the soul proceeds smoothly into anahata consciousness.

Vishuddha: Universal or divine love is the faculty expressed by the vishuddha chakra.

Whenever people feel filled with inexpressible love for and kinship with all mankind, all creatures large and small, they are vibrating within the sixteen-petaled vishuddha.

When deeply immersed in this state, there is no consciousness of being a person with emotions, no consciousness of thoughts.

One is just being the light or being fully aware of oneself as radiant force flowing through all form.

One may sometimes see light throughout the entirety of the body.

The exceptional soul who resides fully in this center, usually between the ages of 28 and 35, is able for the first time to withdraw awareness totally into the spine, into sushumna, the central spiritual current.

Ultimately, he realizes that the inner being is the reality of himself.

Ajna: The sixth force center is called ajna. It is the “third eye,” the center of divine sight and direct congition.

Of its two “petals” or facets, one is the ability to look into the lower worlds or states of mind and the other is the perception of the higher worlds, or spiritual states, of consciousness.

It, therefore, is the connecting link, allowing the awakened soul to relate the highest consciousness to the lowest in a unified vision.

We open naturally into this chakra between ages 35 and 42.

Sahasrara: The seventh center at the top of the head is called the crown chakra. According to the ancient mystics, it governs 1,008 aspects or attributes of the soul body. These personae are transparent, a crystal-clear white light, ever present, shining through the circumference of the golden soul body.

Here the soul dissolves even blissful visions of light and is immersed in pure space, pure awareness, pure being.

Within the sahasrara is the brahmarandhra, or “door of God,” an aperture in the sushumna nadi through which the kundalini exits the body, catapulting the mind beyond and into nirvikalpa samadhi, and the truly pure spirit escapes the body at death.

We open naturally into the crown chakra between ages 42 and 49.

Often when people get older, if they have not learned to sustain consciousness in the higher chakras, they start to drop in consciousness, returning to reason and trying to understand why all the things that happened to them in their lifetime happened as they did.

They get stuck in the muladhara and spend years just remembering the past, reliving old experiences, good and bad alike.

But more mature souls rightly fullfill life’s two final stages: senior advisor and religious solitaire.

They utilize their golden years to manifest higher-chakra faculties of love, light, inner vision and God Realization through service, sadhana, pilgrimage, worship and meditation.

The Seven Sub-Muladhara Regions

Atala: The first lower chakra, located in the hips, governs the state of mind called fear, which is truly a bottomless abyss.

Someone in this consciousness fears death, fears life, even fears God and other people.

This center is also the home of lust and promiscuity.

Vitala: Here anger predominates, and burning resentment.

Anger comes from despair, confusion, frustration or lack of understanding.

People in the consciousness of this chakra, centered in the thighs, are always wrathful, mad at the world, even angry at God.

Sutala: This chakra, found in the knees, governs jealousy, wanting what one can’t have.

Jealousy is a feeling of inadequacy, inferiority and helplessness.

People in sutala consciousness covet everything, often deny the existence of God and are contentiously combative.

Talatala: Prolonged confusion dominates here, giving rise to instinctive willfulness: to get rather than give, to push others around and pursue materialistic advancement over all else.

Greed and deceit prevail in this dog-eat-dog state of mind, centered in the calves.

Rasatala: This chakra of the ankles is the true home of the animal nature. Unmitigated selfishness prevails, of seeing to the well-being of “number one” first.

The suffering of others is of no concern. Jealousy, anger and fear are intense, even high, states of consciousness.

Mahatala: This is the realm of consciencelessness, or inner blindness to the effect of one’s actions, of negativity and deep depression.

Those living in this chakra of the feet steal freely, taking what they justify as theirs anyway, feeling that the world “owes them a living.”

Patala: Here, in the soles of the feet, is the abode of destructiveness, revenge, murder for the sake of murder, torture and hatred expressed through harming the properties, minds, emotions and bodies of others.

Hatred and scorn abide here. Malice reigns supreme.

Reason seldom reaches this state of mind.

This is the story of our evolution through the mind–from the gross to the refined, from darkness into light, from a consciousness of death to immortality.

We follow a natural pattern that is built right in the nerve system itself:

memory; reason;

will; direct cognition; inner light perceptions of the soul which give a universal love of all mankind;

psychic perceptions through divine sight; and the heavenly refinement of being in the thousand-petaled lotus.

CHAKRAS, COLORS & HINDU GODS: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE HINDU SYSTEM

The word chakra is derived from Sanskrit, meaning “wheel”, or “circle of life”.

They consist of seven main energy centers found in the body and is associated with a variety of colors, symbols and Hindu gods.

In Hinduism, the continuous flow of energy throughout the chakras is referred to as “Shakti”.

The concept of chakra was first mentioned in the ancient sacred Hindu text, The Vedas, but also plays an important role in Tibetan Buddhism.

Chakras are located along the spine and influence different nerve systems, organs and glands with their energy.

These vortexes of energy are originated from Brahman, according to Hindu beliefs.

It is presumed that as Shakti flows from one chakra point to another it exhausts the body and soul.

The energy that becomes coiled in the base of the spine (root chakra) is called Kundalini.

The spiritual goal is to awaken and release the Kundalini in order to attain a greater consciousness and merge it with the Infinite consciousness of Brahman.

Through meditation and Kundalini yoga, the energy can pass back up the spine until it reaches the top of the head (crown chakra), producing a mystical experience.

“Kundalini yoga consists of active and passive asana-based kriyas, pranayama, and meditations which target the whole body system (nervous system, glands, mental faculties, and chakras) to develop awareness, consciousness and spiritual strength.” Yogi Bhajan

Chakras & Colors:
1. Muladhara: The Root Chakra – located at base of the spine.

Associated with red.

It affects your confidence, trust in life and self-esteem.

It is from here that our base instincts arise; the need to survive or the fight or flight reflex.

Hindu God Lord Ganesh and Brahman.
2. Swadhisthana: The Sacral Chakra – located below the navel.

Associated with orange.

It affects sexual desires, attractions and the need to procreate. Other emotions, such as, anger, fear and hatred stem from this chakra.

Hindu God –Lord Vishnu

3. Manipura: The Solar Plexus Chakra – located at the bottom of the breast bone. Associated with bright yellow.

It affects the lower back, digestive system, liver and gall bladder.

Feelings that are associated with this chakra, include, determination, self-acceptance and will power.

It is here that instinctual emotion translates to more complex emotions.

Hindu God –Maharudra Shiva

4. Anahata: The Heart Chakra – located at the center of the chest. Associated with green.

Feelings associated with this location are love, compassion, emotional security, forgiveness and loving kindness.

Hindu God –Ishvara

5. Vishuddha: The Throat Chakra – located at the throat, over the larynx. Associated with blue.

It is the source of our ability to communicate, and express creativity and individuality.

Hindu God – Sadashiva

6. Ajna: The Third Eye Chakra – located at front of the head in between eye brows. Associated with indigo.

The mind, as the sense organ and action organ are associated with this chakra.

Feelings associated with this chakra are spirituality, awareness, and sense of time.

Hindu God -Ardhanarishvara –an androgynous form of Hindu god Lord Shiva and Parvati, also known as Devi and Shakti

7. Sahasrara: The Crown Chakra – located at the top of the head. Associated with purple, or gold.

It is from this chakra that all others emanate. It relates to pure consciousness.

In Hindu literature, it is known as “the supreme center of contact with God.”

Here liberated ones abide in communion with the Self. Hindu God – Lord Shiva

The real story on the Chakras

THE SIX MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE CHAKRAS

Over the past hundred years, the concept of the chakras, or subtle energy centers within the body, has seized the Western imagination more than virtually any other teaching from the Yoga tradition.

Yet, as with most other concepts deriving from Sanskrit sources, the West (barring a handful of scholars) has almost totally failed to come to grips with what the chakra-concept meant in its original context and how one is supposed to practice with them.

This post seeks to rectify that situation to some extent.

If you’re short on time, you can skip the contextual comments I’m about to make and go straight to the list of the six fundamental facts about the chakras that modern yogis don’t know.

First off, how do we define ‘chakra’? In the Tantrik traditions, from which the concept derives, chakras (Skt. cakra) are focal points for meditation within the human body, visualized as structures of energy resembling discs or flowers at those points where a number of nāḍīs (channels or meridians) converge.

They are conceptual structures yet are phenomenologically based, since they tend to be located where human beings experience emotional and/or spiritual energy, and since the form in which they are visualized reflects visionary experiences had by meditators.

(Above I said that the West has so far failed to understand chakras.

Let me clarify that by ‘the West’ I mean not only Euro-American culture but also the aspects of modern Indian culture that are informed by the Euro-American cultural matrix.

Since at this point it is nearly impossible to find a form of yoga in India not influenced by Euro-American ideas about it, when I use the term ‘Western’ I also include most of the teachings on yoga in India today that exist in the English language.)

Okay, I’ll give it to you straight: for the most part, Western yoga understands almost nothing about the chakras that the original tradition thought was important about them. You see, if you read a book like Anodea Judith’s famous Wheels of Life or suchlike, it’s important to realize that you are not reading a work of yoga philosophy but of Western occultism, based on three main sources:

1) earlier works of Western occultism that borrow and adapt Sanskrit terms without really understanding them (like Theosophist C.W. Leadbeater’s The Chakras, 1927);

2) John Woodroffe’s flawed 1918 translation of a text on the chakras written in Sanskrit in 1577 (see below for more on this); and

3) 20th-century books by Indian yoga gurus which are themselves mostly based on sources 1) and 2).

Books on the chakras based on sound comprehension of the original Sanskrit sources so far exist only in the academic world.

‘But does that matter?’ yogis ask me.

‘I’ve benefited so much from Anodea Judith’s book and others like it, don’t take that away from me!’ I won’t and I can’t.

Whatever benefit you’ve received, from whatever source, is real if you say it is.

I’m just here to tell you two things: first, that when modern Western authors on the chakras imply they are presenting ancient teachings, they’re deceiving you but they don’t know that they are, because they can’t assess the validity of their own source materials (since they don’t read Sanskrit).

Second, for those who are interested, I’m here to let you know a little bit about what yogic concepts mean in their original context (because I’m a Sanskrit scholar, and a practitioner who happens to prefer the traditional forms).

Only you can assess whether that is of any benefit to you. I’m not claiming that older is intrinsically better.

I’m not trying to imply there’s no spiritual value to Western occultism.

I’m just approximating the historical truth in simple English words as best I can.

So I’ll get on with it now: the six fundamental facts about the chakras that modern yogis don’t know.

1. THERE’S NOT JUST ONE CHAKRA SYSTEM IN THE ORIGINAL TRADITION, THERE ARE MANY.

So many! The theory of the subtle body and its energy centers called cakras (or padmas (lotuses), ādhāras, lakṣyas (focal points), etc.)

comes from the tradition of Tantrik Yoga, which flourished from 600-1300 CE, and is still alive today.

In mature Tantrik Yoga (after the year 900 or so), every one of the many branches of the tradition articulated a different chakra system, and some branches articulated more than one.

Five-chakra systems, six-chakra systems, seven, nine, ten, twelve, twenty-one and more chakras are taught, depending on what text and what lineage you’re looking at.

The seven- (or, technically, 6 + 1) chakra system that Western yogis know about is just one of many, and it became dominant around the 15th century (see point #4 below).

Now, I know what you’re thinking—‘But which system is right?

How many chakras are there really?’

And that brings us to our first major misunderstanding.

The chakras aren’t like organs in the physical body; they aren’t fixed facts that we can study like doctors study neural ganglia (with which the chakras were confused in the nineteenth century). The energy body (sūkshma-sharīra) is an extraordinarily fluid reality, as we should expect of anything nonphysical and supersensuous.

The energy body can present, experientially speaking, with any number of energy centers, depending on the person and the yogic practice they’re performing.

Having said that, there are a few centers which are found in all systems: specifically, in the lower belly or sexual center, in the heart, and in or near the crown of the head, since these are three places in the body where humans all over the world experience both emotional and spiritual phenomena.

But apart from those three, there’s a huge variety in the chakra systems we find in the original literature.

One is not more ‘right’ than another, except relative to a specific practice.

For example, if you’re doing a five-element practice, you use a five-chakra system (see point #6 below).

If you’re internalizing the energy of six different deities, you use a six-chakra system.

Duh, right? But this crucial bit of information has not yet reached Western yoga.

We’ve only just started down this rabbit hole, Alice.

Wanna learn more?

2. THE CHAKRA SYSTEMS ARE PRESCRIPTIVE, NOT DESCRIPTIVE.

This might be the most important point. English sources tend to present the chakra system as an existential fact, using descriptive language (like “the mūlādhāra chakra is at the base of the spine and it is red” and so on).

But in most of the original Sanskrit sources, we are not being taught about the way things are, we are being given a specific yogic practice: we are to visualize a subtle object made of colored light, shaped like a lotus or a spinning wheel, at a specific point in the body, and then activate mantric syllables in it, for a specific purpose.

When you understand this, point #1 above makes more sense.

The texts are prescriptive they tell what you ought to do to achieve a specific goal by mystical means.

When the literal Sanskrit reads, in its elliptical fashion, ‘four-petaled red lotus at the base of the body’ we are supposed to understand ‘The yogī ought to visualize a four-petaled lotus.’ See point #5 below for more on this.

3. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHAKRAS ARE COMPLETELY MODERN AND WESTERN.

On countless websites and in countless books, we read that the mūlādhāra chakra is associated with survival & safety, that maṇipūra chakra is associated with willpower & self-esteem, and so on.

The educated yogi should know that all associations of the chakras with psychological states is a modern Western innovation that started with Carl Jung.

Perhaps such associations represent experiential realities for some people (though usually not without priming), but we certainly don’t find them in the Sanskrit sources.

There’s only one exception I’m aware of, and that is the 10-chakra system for yogi-musicians that I’ve done a blog post on.

But in that thirteenth-century system, we do not find each chakra associated with a specific emotion or psychological state; rather, each petal of each lotus-chakra is associated with a distinct emotion or psychological state, and there seems to be no pattern by which we could create a label for the chakra as a whole.

But that’s not all. Nearly all the many associations found in Anodea Judith’s Wheels of Life have no basis in the Indian sources.

Each chakra, Judith tells us, is associated with a certain bodily gland, certain bodily malfunctions, certain foods, a certain metal, a mineral, an herb, a planet, a path of yoga, a suit of the tarot, a sephira of Jewish mysticism, and an archangel of Christianity! None of these associations are found in the original sources.

Judith or her teachers created them based on perceived similarities. That goes also for the essential oils and crystals that other books and websites claim correspond to each chakra.

(I should note that Judith does feature some information from an original Sanskrit source [that is, the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa, for which see below] under the label ‘Lotus Symbols’ for each chakra.)

This is not to say that putting a certain kind of crystal on your belly when you’re having self-esteem issues and imagining it purifying your maṇipūra chakra might not help you feel better.

Maybe it will, depending on the person.

While this practice is certainly not traditional, and has not been tested over generations (which is the whole point of tradition, really), god knows there’s more on heaven and earth than is dreamt of in my rationalist brain.

But, in my view, people should know when the pedigree of a practice is a few decades, not centuries.

If a practice has value, then you don’t need to falsify its provenance, right?

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4. THE SEVEN-CHAKRA SYSTEM POPULAR TODAY DERIVES NOT FROM AN ANCIENT SCRIPTURE, BUT FROM A TREATISE WRITTEN IN 1577.

The chakra system Western yogis follow is that found in a Sanskrit text written by a guy named Pūrṇānanda Yati.

He completed his text (the Ṣaṭ-chakra-nirūpaṇa or ‘Explanation of the Six Chakras’, which is actually chapter six of a larger work) in the year 1577, and it was translated into English exactly 100 years ago, in 1918.

In an earlier version of this post, I called this seven-chakra system ‘late and somewhat atypical’.

But after a few days, I realized that I was mistaken a simpler version of the same seven-chakra system is found in a thirteenth-century postscriptural text called the Śāradā-tilaka, though that text does plainly acknowledge that there are multiple chakra systems (such as systems of 12 or 16 chakras).

We also find a more elaborate version of the same system in the fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Śiva-samhitā.

However, most yogis (both Indian and Western) know the seven-chakra system through Pūrṇānanda’s sixteenth-century work, or rather, through the somewhat incoherent and confusing translation of it, done by John Woodroffe in 1918.

Still, it’s true enough to say that this seven-chakra system has been dominant for the last four or five centuries.

But it’s also true that the Westernized seven-chakra system you know is based on early-twentieth-century occultists’ interpretation of a flawed translation of a nonscriptural source.

This by no means invalidates it, but rather serves to problematize its hegemony.

Note that Tantric Buddhism (e.g., of Tibet) often preserves older forms, and indeed the five-chakra system is dominant in that tradition (as well as the more fundamental three-bindu system).

For a typical five-chakra system as found in classical Tantra, see page 387 of my book, Tantra Illuminated.

5. THE MAIN PURPOSE OF A CHAKRA SYSTEM IS TO FUNCTION AS A TEMPLATE FOR NYĀSA — INSTALLATION OF MANTRAS AND DEITIES.

As far as the original authors were concerned, the main purpose of any chakra system was to function as a template for nyāsa, which means the installation of mantras and deity-energies at specific points of the subtle body.

So, though millions of people are fascinated with the chakras today, almost none of those people are using them for their intended purpose.

That’s okay.

Again, I’m not here to make anyone wrong, just to educate the folks who are interested.

The most outstanding features of the chakra systems in the original sources are these three:

1) that the mystical sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet are distributed across the ‘petals’ of all the chakras in the system,

2) that each chakra is associated with a specific Great Element (Earth, Water, FIre, Wind, and Space) and

3) that each chakra is associated with a specific Hindu deity or deities.

This is because the chakra system is, as I said, primarily a template for nyāsa.

In nyāsa (lit., ‘placing’), you visualize a specific mantric syllable in a specific location in a specific chakra in your energy body while silently intoning its sound.

Clearly, this practice is embedded in a culturally-specific context in which the sounds of the Sanskrit language are seen as uniquely powerful vibrations that can form an effective part of a mystical practice that brings about spiritual liberation or worldly benefits through magical means.

Invoking the image and energy of a specific deity into a specific chakra is also culturally-specific, though if Western yogis come to understand what those deities stand for, the practice could potentially be meaningful for them as well, though probably never as meaningful as for someone who grew up with those deities as paradigmatic icons emblazoned on their subconscious minds.

The so-called Cause-deities (karana-devatās) figure largely in every chakra system. These deities form a fixed sequence: from the lowest chakra to the highest, they are Ganesh, Brahmā, Vishnu, Rudra, Īśvara, Sadāśiva, and Bhairava, with the first and last of these often not appearing, depending on the number of chakras.

The last deity in the list of Cause-deities is never the ultimate deity of the given system, for that deity (whoever it is) is enthroned in the sahasrāra or thousand-petalled lotus on the crown of the head (which technically is not a chakra, since chakras by definition are pierced by Kuṇḍalinī in her ascent or descent, whereas the sahasrāra is her final destination and home).

Therefore, Bhairava (the most esoteric form of Shiva) is only included in the list of Cause-deities when he is transcended by the Goddess, the latter being the ultimate deity in many of these systems.

6. THE SEED-MANTRAS THAT YOU THINK GO WITH THE CHAKRAS ACTUALLY GO WITH THE ELEMENTS THAT HAPPEN TO BE INSTALLED IN THOSE CHAKRAS.

This is simpler than it sounds.

You’ve been told that the seed-mantra (bīja) of the mūlādhāra chakra is LAM.

Well, it’s not.

Not in any Sanskrit source, not even in Pūrṇānanda’s somewhat garbled syncretic account.

And the mantra of svādhiṣṭhāna chakra is not VAM. Wait, what?

It’s simple: LAM (rhymes with ‘thumb’) is the seed-mantra of the Earth element, which in most chakra visualization practices is installed in the mūlādhāra.

VAM is the seed-mantra of the Water element, which is installed in svādhiṣṭhāna (at least, in the seven-chakra system you know about).

And so on: RAM is the syllable for Fire, YAM for Wind, and HAM for Space.

(All these bījas rhyme with ‘thumb’; though I should note that in esoteric Tantrik Yoga, the elemental bījas actually have different vowel sounds which are thought to be much more powerful.)

So the main point is that the fundamental mantras associated with the first five chakras on every website you can Google actually do not belong to those chakras per se, but rather to the five Elements installed in them.

This is important to know if you ever want to install one of those elements in a different place. “Gasp! I can do that?” Totally.

In fact, in different Tantrik lineages, we find the Elements installed in very different places. For example, the Saiddhāntika lineage installed Earth in the heart chakra.

What do you think might be the effect on your relationships of always installing the Wind element in the heart center? (Remember, YAM is the mantra of Air/Wind, not of the anāhata chakra, whose intrinsic mantra is actually OM.)

D’you ever notice that modern American yogis have really unstable relationships?

Could that possibly be connected to repeatedly invoking Wind on the level of the heart? Nahhh.

(I can be funny now because only a small percentage of my readers have made it down this far.)

So maybe you want to install some Earth in the heart sometime, cuz grounding is good for your heart.

In that case, it’s kinda handy to know that LAM is the Earth element mantra, not the mūlādhāra-chakra mantra.

Furthermore, most of the geometric figures associated with the chakras today also properly belong to the Elements.

Earth is traditionally represented by a (yellow) square, Water by a (silvery) crescent moon, Fire by a downward-pointing (red) triangle, Wind by a hexagram or six-pointed star, and Space by a circle.

So when you see those figures inscribed in illustrations of the chakras, you now know that they actually are representations of those respective Elements, not of a geometry inherent in the chakra itself.

This brings me to my last point: even a Sanskrit source can be confused.

For example, in Pūrṇānanda’s 16th-century text that is the basis of the popular modern chakra system, the five Elements are installed in the first five chakras of a seven-chakra system.

But this doesn’t really work, because in all the classical systems, Space element is installed at the crown of the head, since that is where the yogī experiences an expansive opening into infinite spaciousness.

Space is the element that merges into the infinite, so it has to be at or near the crown.

I would speculate that Pūrṇānanda placed Space at the throat chakra because he lived at a time of increasing dogmatic adherence to the received tradition without critical reflection (a trend which sadly has continued), and the tradition he received was a Kaula one in which the classical Cause-deities got shoved down to make room for later, higher deities (specifically Bhairava and the Goddess), and the elements were uncritically kept fused to the deities and chakras with which they were previously associated.

(Having said that, the fact that Pūrṇānanda was drawing on Kaula sources is not obvious, because instead of enthroning the Goddess at the sahasrāra as we would expect in a Kaula seven-chakra system, we find there Paramaśiva, possibly due to the influence of Vedānta. See the questions and answers in the comments section for more on this.)

We’ve barely scratched the surface of this subject.

No, I’m not kidding. It’s really complex, as you can gather by taking a look at the scholarly literature, like Dory Heilijgers-Seelen’s work, or Gudrun Bühnemann’s.

It takes uncommon patience and focus to even read such work, let alone produce it.

So here’s what I hope will be the result of this post: some humility.

A few less claims to authority when it comes to really esoteric subjects.

Maybe a few less yoga teachers trying to tell their students what the chakras are all about.

Heck, I’m humbled by the complexity of the original sources, and that’s with fourteen years of Sanskrit under my belt.

This is still mostly uncharted territory.

So when it comes to the chakras, don’t claim you know.

Tell your yoga students that every book on the chakras presents only one possible model.

Virtually nothing written in English is really authoritative for practitioners of yoga.

So why not hold more gently the beliefs you’ve acquired about yoga, even while you keep learning?

Let’s admit we don’t fully understand these ancient yoga practices yet; and instead of seeking to be an authority on some oversimplified version of them, you can invite yourself and your students to look more clearly, more honestly, more carefully, and more non-judgmentally at their own inner experience.

After all, everything that every yoga master ever experienced is in you, too.