THE CHAKRAS: Entrance and Exit Points

The whole subject of the chakras is dangerous if misunderstood; these centres constitute a menace when prematurely awakened or unduly energised, and this subject can prove most dangerous to the curiosity-impelled man/woman and to the ignorant experimenter.

Having quoted this warning as a guide to all, it is important nonetheless that we have some knowledge and understanding of what these centres are, and their basic functions within the body of man. This short article is an attempt to do just that.

Every living being is an expression of a range of energies. These energies are present everywhere in space and stimulate all incarnated beings – when receptive – into activity of all kinds through the medium of certain force centres situated within the body.

Many of us have heard of the seven major vortices or chakras which are situated in the vicinity of the spinal column and head. It is a fascinating subject, and though of ancient origin is still somewhat new to us even if no longer of an esoteric nature. Much has been given in regard to these energy centres and relevant information is always available if one knows where to look. What makes the subject a mysterious one is the fact that we cannot see these whirling vortices with our eyes nor with our microscopes and so we are prone to doubt the validity of their existence.

The seven major chakras are divided into two groups: those that are situated below the diaphragm and those which lie above.

I. The centres below the diaphragm are:
Base of spine chakra
Sacral chakra
Solar plexus chakra

II. The centres above the diaphragm are:
Heart chakra
Throat chakra
Centre between the eyebrows (ajna chakra)
Head chakra

The majority of people today live mostly by those forces which emanate from the chakras below the diaphragm; their energies are (naturally) turned outward into the material world, and are often prostituted to material ends. As these lower forces are purified over time and through due process, they are transferred to the higher centres that lie above the diaphragm. As these inner changes are forged, we then begin to express the higher potencies of the loving heart, of the creative throat, and the divinely ordered will of the head.

Within certain prescribed books we are told that the physical body has a subtle counterpart known as the etheric body composed of matter that is etheric in nature, and which cannot be detected by modern scientific instruments. It is in this subtle, yet still physical region, that the chakras are situated.

The etheric body has a most essential part to play in relation to energy, and provides the necessary doorways for the entrance and exit of energies that play within the various planes: physical, emotional and mental. The main doorways to these planes are the seven chakras which line the etheric bodies of human beings. The lower chakras are activated sequentially over time in a natural way through the long evolutionary process, while the higher chakras are activated through the disciplines used in spiritual practice.

The activity or inactivity of the chakras is a direct effect of the three-fold personality vehicles of consciousness (the physical, emotional and mental bodies with which we are all endowed). The function of chakras within the etheric body is to act as reservoirs, and to transmit energy both outwardly towards the material world and inwardly towards the inner planes. Energy circulates continually within the three bodies: the mental, emotional and physical bodies, and is expressed as various forces in daily living. These energies are demonstrated in our thinking, feeling, and actions.

As energy passes through the centres they create activity in the various glands which form the endocrine system. Each centre is connected directly to a particular gland in the physical body and to the organs of that area. Stimulated by the quality of energy coursing through the chakra from the outer or the inner planes, the glands function in response. The energy that is channelled through the centres and into the glands of the physical body are then directed intelligently by the disciplined rhythm of those who have achieved a soul-infused personality, but remains uncontrolled and undirected by the habitual and instinctive reactions of the non-integrated personality.

Let us consider, for example, the sacral centre (the centre of reproduction) which is situated just above the root chakra at the base of the spine. This vortex of force is responsible for the physical creative act (sex). The evolutionary aim for all, whether we are aware of it or not, is to raise these forces to the higher throat centre where the creative physical urge is transmuted into some form of artistic or creative expression, thereby producing those manifestations in the physical world that are reflective of the good, the true, and the beautiful.

The sexual instinct is a major bodily function in human beings and is generated naturally by the law of opposite polarity: the male and female polarities. The instinct for sex is a powerful force precipitated by the Law of Attraction playing out in the outer physical world. These instincts or forces activate the sacral centre which is connected directly to the sexual glands and organs in the lower region of the body.

In a similar way the solar plexus centre, which is situated just above the sacral centre, is connected to the inner plane of the emotions: the astral/emotional plane. The force of feelings circulating in the astral/emotional world finds its way through the solar plexus vortex into the glands and organs of the abdominal region, and outward into the physical atmosphere as feeling. If the solar plexus centre is active and open – as is often the case with many people – it becomes sensitive to astral forces in the atmosphere, absorbing them through the solar plexus centre of the etheric body which then stimulates movement in the astral body. This then produces particular feelings as a reactionary response. These responses are either absorbed or repelled according to the level of being in that moment. This form of astral activity is ubiquitous in human affairs and is often the cause of much unrest, confusion and disharmony.

The root, sacral, and solar plexus centres are the three lower chakras within the etheric network and they have important functions to play. For aeons they remain the most active in the life of humanity, ever stimulating the Spark of Life hidden within man and conditioning the consciousness of the three-fold personality, until a point is reached on the evolutionary arc where the lower energies are transferred – through purification, aspiration, and steadiness of consciousness – to the higher centres lying above the diaphragm. At this point of attainment, consciousness begins to invoke quite naturally those higher energies that emanate from the planes beyond the physical, emotional and mental: the higher levels of mind, the buddhic and ātmic planes, known more commonly as the planes of higher abstract thought, intuition, and true will.

It is important to understand that the purpose of evolution is ever to raise and stabilise the consciousness on these higher planes. But before there is progression of consciousness onto higher planes, much emphasis is given in many lives to the instinctual satisfaction of the senses, and upon the dual relationship of the sexes. To this, our novels, plays, music, movies and the affairs of average humanity bear full witness. This instinctive form of creativity engaged in by the majority of human beings is a natural drive geared towards the propagation of the race, the sex relationship being the primary force of the active sacral centre.

There comes a point on the evolutionary ladder where a higher experience, and the correspondence of that which physical sex is only the symbol is attained, and the focus in life shifts away from the physical male/female, positive/negative polarity attractions. There arises at this stage the more powerful and magnetic dual relation between the Personality and the Soul, with its consequent creativity upon the higher planes. This is a demonstration of the energy of the sacral centre being transmuted to the throat chakra: the true creative centre for which man is gradually prepared in the long evolutionary process. Of this relationship between the Personality and the Soul, the head centre and the centre between the eyebrows are the ultimate conditioning agents for the integration of the two.

Herein lies the primary reason for the emphasis ever given to the practice of meditation and visualisation which, in time and through right process, activate the two higher centres in the head, which have an immediate effect upon the glands associated with the sacral and solar plexus centres. The sexual glands then become a balanced part of the general endocrine system, as are those glands which are associated with the solar plexus centre.

True transmutation is, in reality, the achieving of a correct sense of proportion in relation to any phase of life, and for the race of men today it has particular reference to the sacral and solar plexus centres, and those energies which bring them into activity.

When a proper recognition of the place the sex life should play in daily life is paralleled by the concentrated thought about the throat centre, that centre becomes magnetic and attracts the forces of the sacral centre upward through the spine into that ‘centre of truly creative building’ (the throat centre); the normal sex life is then regulated and relegated to its rightful place as one of the usual appetites with which man is endowed. It is then brought under control through the ‘lack of directed interest‘. Thus speak the Wise.

The proper recognition of the place of emotions in daily living is also relegated to its rightful place so that one’s feelings in relation to others and to one’s living conditions are brought also under natural control.