Chakras: Legit or BS?

[Brandon Nankivell]

Title says it all. I lean towards the BS side but don't doubt you can benefit from a strong belief in it combined with legitimate result-producing actions that it may prompt you to take (i.e. "Your orange chakra is out of alignment. Go exercise!").

RationalWiki's witty take on it:

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chakras are pretty: thanks to American New-age marketing, they now sport all the colors of the visual light spectrum and look great in advertisements. Especially alongside crystals of convenient matching colors (also for sale). Throw in a double rainbow arcing over a tropical sunset or two for good measure while you're at it.

I'm super interested in discussion as to why or why don't you involve yourself with chakras 

[Rinne]

I personally never been into this area of... but im starting to think that it could actual be real. I mean it makes sense in a way when you say everything is energy. Check out more of @AleksM posts I think youll find a answer there. 

[the dream]

42 minutes ago, Brandon Nankivell said:

>you can benefit from a strong belief in it

 

"Chakras" are merely the abstract concept describing the emotional centers in your body. Through body awareness practices you map the emotional patterns of your body, and you will notice that certain feelings occur the same way. Certain feelings are experienced in particular places in the body. This is where the concept of "Chakras" enhance understanding.

Believing in them in the conceptual abstract form could be considered a trap.

[snowleopard]

@Brandon Nankivell  There is of course some very ancient vedic science behind the chakra model, which has now been co-opted by the new age scene, and bastardized into a lot of nonsense. So if there's some interest in it, then maybe best to stay with the original teachings. However, I'd suggest that while it may be somewhat useful as a model or map that can be used as a pointer or tool towards some deeper understanding of phenomenal reality, like all such models or maps, they shouldn't be confused with the actual territory. And the only way to deeply explore that territory is through self-exploration, and once the territory is truly known, then the map can be dispensed with. So I wouldn't take any model or map as the literal truth.

Edited December 10, 2017 by snowleopard

[AleksM]

This is a deep field of study. You can spend years reading about this stuff.

I am not an expert and I don't know everything about the topic, but based on my research and experiments, chakras make sense to me. It's a good system that helps us figure out where to focus our attention. Where attention goes, energy flows.

It's very important to master the flow of energy that goes through our body. You can have all the information in the world, but if one is not able to discern where to place attention for the sake of creating better alignment between who and what you are, then that is a problem. That's why being able to read the energy flow is so important.

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You Will understand it on an energetic level first, you Will feel first and then you will document. In the past it was like the logical and rational mind thinking scientifically it can explain what it is to be felt.... Only after the feeling speaks, the mind is allowed to document what's happening ~ Arcturus Ra

, most people have it backwards.

Also in the thread @Thinh mentioned a good book on the topic. It has 516 pages.

 "The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy" by Cyndi Dale

https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Body-Encyclopedia-Energetic-Anatomy/dp/1591796717

 

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by AleksM

[Markus]

They describe legitimate energetic nexuses or whatever you want to call them. Know plenty of people who've had chakra activity with Kundalini. For example I felt pressure in the location that correlates to the 3rd eye chakra after receiving shaktipat. Didn't even care for chakras or believe in them before that. Now I think they're real, whether you call them chakras or something else.

[Arman]

Asking if something is real is opening up a can of worms on this forum lol.

A better question is: is it a useful model for growth; and I would say the answer to that is a very definite maybe.

[Leo Gura]

@Brandon Nankivell Step #1 to understanding consciousness: Never cite RationalWiki ever again.

A rationalist wouldn't understand a chakra if his life depended on it.

You want to understand chakras?Try doing Kriya yoga every day for a few years. Then let's talk.

[Greatnestwithin]

@Leo Gura is there any playlist on youtube for kriya yoga? 

[Leo Gura]

@Greatnestwithin Yoga practices are usually kept secret and only disclosed through face-to-face training. Yoga is a highly technical art. You cannot learn it through videos.

But lucky for you I have a book on my book list that discloses every secret Kriya yoga technique! It's a killer book. Could change your entire life if you actually do what it says.

The only trick is, it requires radical openmindedness to comprehend.

[Max_V]

@Leo Gura Could you actually practice yoga on your own without any guidance? 

[Leo Gura]

@Max_V With that book, you could, because it is a step by step manual.

But usually you'd want guidance. There are yoga centers all around the world. Probably even in your city.

Sadhguru offers intiation trainings all over the USA for example.

With yoga, you don't want to be lazy about it. If you're serious, it's worth going to a live training. It's a life-changing thing.

You have to understand that the deepest things cannot be learned through videos.

[Greatnestwithin]

@Leo Gura @Leo Gura

Great, I have got the book list. What is the name of the book? 

[Max_V]

@Leo Gura I have different kinds of yoga centres but most of them are focussed on increasing strength of the body and such. 

I will look around. Maybe somewhere further there is a place with different kinds. Which kind of yoga is the one I should go for? Kundalini or Kriya, Hatha ?

Edited December 10, 2017 by Max_V

[Leo Gura]

@Greatnestwithin Search for "Kriya" in the Consciousness category.

[Leo Gura]

7 minutes ago, Max_V said:

@Leo Gura I have different kinds of yoga centres but most of them are focussed on increasing strength of the body and such. 

 

That is not real yoga. I'm not talking about physical yoga here.

Yogananda's organization still sends out Kriya yoga instructions through letter mail. You can sign up for it. Although I think the book I suggest is better. It reveals Yogananda's personal techniques plus a bunch more.

[Soulbass]

@Leo Gura have you seen/heard of this practice before ? Do you know it's name ?

It's basically walking forward and backward, with an emphasis on the balance point.

10 minutes a day.

 

[Leo Gura]

@Soulbass No idea what that is.

[Soulbass]

Just now, Leo Gura said:

@Soulbass No idea what that is.

Okay. It's supposedly a simple technique to raise and clean energy in the body (don't overdose at first, because it's very powerful). I'll experiment with this and share my results.

[Leo Gura]

@Soulbass There are literally thousands of body exercises to shift around energy and stuff like that. You could spend your whole life studying that field and still not know them all.