Chakras - Lets get real

[molosku]

I have heard so much stuff about them, but I cant decide what to think. They seem to be such a big deal, but my inner scientific sceptic can't swallow something like this without a throughout chewing, but Im also sceptic about my sceptisism. Im not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that we can't pinpoint any chakras from the physical body, just like that. 

There is also an issue of the new-age slippery slope that can start to snowball pretty quickly when one starts to accept spiritual concepts and theories that we have no hard science with cool math and graphs and research of. Science is starting to have increasingly worse rep here by the day, and by now the limits of science have been pointed out multiple times, but I don't think it deserves to be put into the trash so harshly, especially when we are talking about the human body. It's a pretty solid research subject.

 

This is the "problem" with all spiritual non-science based theories, pick one. Lets use the example of chakras:

You don't believe in them, you don't practice them, they will probably never show themselves to you.

You don't believe in them, but you try anyway, the above will probably happen because your hart was not in it really.

You do believe in them, but REALLY they do not exist, you can imagine they work (placebo), and in a twisted way they are now part of your reality and do exist.

You do believe in them, they do really exist really, it works, win.

 

I can accept that mainstream science will NEVER fund research into chakras and I will never get the proof I thirst for. In my direct experience I don't feel any specific energy points in my body EXCEPT when I'm on mushrooms, then I feel a nice mellowing warm fuzzy nice feeling in my stomach area (that would be the root chakra?), but I also have many other physical sensations because well, Im on mushrooms. Also acid feels a lot like it's in my crown chakra, if you want to call it that.

 

Being radically open minded and practicing critical thinking is a tough balancing board to master. Help me and other like me out here, all you wannabe hindu monkeys

Some further reading:

 

http://powerthoughtsmeditationclub.com/the-chakras/

http://www.chakra-anatomy.com/chakra-science.html

(the issue is present on the links above, it's easy to bootstrap quantum mechanics to prove and mean all kinds of stuff, even though the best scientist of the field admit the basics of it boggles them really hard)

[Nahm]

@molosku But what if all of it is true, and it’s our minds which are the limiter? How could someone know, since it’s experiential? 

[snowleopard]

@molosku  I can only say that I've experienced 'kundalini' phenomena -- and it was not fun -- although at the time I had no belief system context to put it in, and about zero interest in spirituality. Also it was a transitory thing, that ended as mysteriously as it began, so I moved on without giving it much thought. It was only in retrospect that I could relate it to other such experiences I eventually read about. So whatever it is, whatever its source or function, it would appear to be a valid phenomenon. And while western science hasn't given it much credibility, there is certainly much vedic science that delves into it source and function, which I've not really looked into -- just not something that peaks my curiosity, for whatever reason. In any case, it did not appear to have much to do with the undoing of the exclusive self-identity, or with investigation into the shadow stuff, or dispelling the beliefs that the dream is not a dream, which was another process. So your guess is as good as mine as to what actually happens and why. 

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by snowleopard

[AlwaysBeNice]

Different areas of the body correlate with different emotions, that's what you can observe yourself easily, and in my experience the chakra's are accurate

[snowleopard]

For what its worth, buy into it or not, here is a synopsis of the vedic and tantric take on chakras, which perhaps goes beyond superficial 'new age' understanding, 

 

[snowleopard]

On the topic of is 'kundalini' enough? .... This may be of interest, if so inclined

 

[DoubleYou]

The chakras are like the easiest thing to research yourself. One week of reading a couple of books and doing the excersices and you'll know enough to decide if its true or not. 

And I highly suggest it too.  

[snowleopard]

@DoubleYou  well maybe not just any books. Surely, as with any esoteric subject, there is a lot of bastardization  of the original knowledge that can drift into highly imaginative, non-empirical nonsense. I'd be inclined to be very selective about the source material.

[molosku]

@DoubleYou can you recommend any good ones? 

[Dodo]

I always thought, and still do to some degree, that chakras are about ego. Why? Aren't they content?  

So we can only be in the unconditional bliss if our chakras are open? >>.<<  

I have a division within me about Chakras. I'm super egoic. What if opening the Chakras means that Ego becomes infinite?  I want it to become 0, because Im egoic this way

I mean think about it... If your form self is super advanced Chakra-wise, aren't you going to have a harder time when it's time to leave it behind? 

Edited January 5, 2018 by Dodo

[AleksM]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by AleksM

[jse]

4 hours ago, molosku said:

Being radically open minded and practicing critical thinking is a tough balancing board to master.

This.  Should be the forum's mantra.

[snowleopard]

For the record, where I first came across a resonant explanation of the kundalini phenomena I experienced was in a book called Stalking The Wild Pendulum, by Itzhak Bentov, in the appendix titled: The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome. While the book isn't just about that, it does offer some semblance of a plausible explanation/theory for the kundalini phenomenon, and other such paranormal events, while attempting to do so within the context of the prevailing scientific and QM paradigm ... however much of a dreamlike construct and distraction it may ultimately be.

[Sahil Pandit]

@molosku You need "Direct Experience" in order to confirm it for yourself. If you're a skeptic, that is great. Time for some experimenting.

Have you done an intense yoga workout before? Have you meditated on your breath and noticed the inner energy flowing up and down your spine? If not, it makes sense to be a skeptic. BUT, prepare to be awed when you finally commit to experiencing a phenomena such as a kundalini awakening or one of your Chakra's opening up..

[cirkussmile]

Ultimately chakras are distractions. There's no self, no chakras and we can't do anything. Chakras is in body consciousness which is illusory. 

I'm sorry but I can't see how chakras can be more real than anything else. They come and go and they are not who you are. 

Remember that everything has to go in the end!

 

 

[AleksM]

@cirkussmile

Distraction is relative to the subjective perspective. What might be a distraction for you might not be a distraction for somebody else, and vice versa.

 

 

[starsofclay]

On 1/5/2018 at 5:09 AM, molosku said:

In my direct experience I don't feel any specific energy points in my body EXCEPT when I'm on mushrooms, then I feel a nice mellowing warm fuzzy nice feeling in my stomach area (that would be the root chakra?), but I also have many other physical sensations because well, Im on mushrooms. Also acid feels a lot like it's in my crown chakra, if you want to call it that.

I can feel and direct energy throughout my body with even a tiny bit of pot. I'm working on doing it sober with varying degrees of success. It helps to be very relaxed, like in a hot bath or directly after. If you are feeling something in your stomach area, that is what they call the third chakra, the solar plexus. The root chakra (first chakra) is located between your genitals. The second chakra is right around where your pubic hair is.  

In my opinion, the whole chakra system is a self-improvement program, whether or not they exist. If you go through the steps of "healing" or "opening" the chakras, you find that it has a lot to do with emotional healing and thought patterns, except you don't have to have a therapist. You let your body be your therapist. As long as you feel better in the end, it doesn't really matter if it was placebo or not, IMO. 

However, for  people that have experienced what it feels like to send energy around the body and to the different chakra points, (which also exist (?) in the hands and feet), it would be very hard for them to tell you that it doesn't exist, because they have experienced it. The warm, fuzzy, relaxing feeling that comes with moving energy around the body, and the pin prick, tightening feeling when you send it to a chakra. The electricity feeling of kundalini (I haven't experienced that myself yet..)