Chakras
The chakras are the seven principal psychic centres of the human being, located along the spinal axis from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. They are not located in the gross physical body that modern anatomy describes; they belong to the subtle body, the layered architecture of energy and consciousness that the tantric tradition has been mapping for at least five thousand years. Each chakra is a centre of consciousness, an intersection of nadis (energy channels), an endocrine correspondence in the gross body, and a stage in the evolution of human awareness from the base instincts to the highest realisation.
For the modern foundational text on the chakras in the Bihar School of Yoga lineage, see Kundalini Tantra by Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda Saraswati (1984), particularly chapters 15 and 16, from which this page draws its primary structure.
What the Chakras Are
The chakras are wheels — the Sanskrit word cakra means literally that, a wheel or disc — of psychic energy that rotate at specific frequencies in the subtle body. Each chakra has a position, a corresponding endocrine gland, a bija (seed) mantra, a lotus symbol with a specific colour and number of petals, a yantra (geometrical form), an animal symbol, a presiding deity, and a range of experiences associated with its awakening.
Swamiji addresses the question of the chakras’ physical existence directly in Kundalini Tantra, by way of the BBC-and-transistor analogy that has become one of the most cited passages in modern English-language yogic literature:
“In the past, doctors and scientists used to ask me, ‘Why, when we have witnessed many operations, have we never seen the chakras?’ At the time, the only reply I could give them was, ‘Can you show me the sound waves in a transistor radio? I have opened up radios but I have never found the BBC there.‘”
— Kundalini Tantra, Chapter 15, p. 113
The chakras are not anatomical structures in the way that nerves and organs are anatomical structures. They are frequencies operating in a substrate the gross instruments cannot detect. The argument is precise — the same way a radio receives a signal at a specific frequency without containing that signal materially, the human body receives consciousness through the chakras at specific frequencies. The chakras are real. They are simply not material in the sense that the surgical scalpel knows materiality.
The Japanese researcher Dr Hiroshi Motoyama has, beginning in the 1970s, developed instruments — the AMI (Apparatus for Measuring the functional condition of the meridians and corresponding Internal organs) and what he called the chakra machine — that measure impulses emanating from the psychic centres in the spinal cord. These machines, used today in some Japanese hospitals to diagnose disease tendencies before they manifest physically, register definitive impulses in subjects who have been practising yoga for many years, particularly when those subjects perform pranayama with kumbhaka (breath retention) and maha bandha (the great lock — simultaneous contraction of perineum, abdomen, and thyroid). The chakras are measurable. The instruments now exist.
The deeper philosophical point Swamiji makes in Chapter 15 is that what mystics, surgeons, and clairvoyants describe about the chakras is not three different things. The mystic describes them in spiritual or symbolic terms; the surgeon describes them as bunches of nerve fibres at the plexuses; the clairvoyant describes their energetic manifestations. The descriptions diverge because the vocabularies diverge. The underlying reality is the same. Different viewpoints, same object — the way someone seen through binoculars, the naked eye, an X-ray, and a gastroscope is the same person rendered four different ways.
The Seven Principal Chakras
The chakras ascend the spinal axis from the base to the crown. Each is symbolised in tantric iconography by a lotus flower with a specific number of petals and a specific colour. The list, as Swamiji gives it in Chapter 15:
| # | Chakra | Lotus | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mooladhara | Four-petalled deep red | Base of the spine (perineum in men, cervix in women) |
| 2 | Swadhisthana | Six-petalled vermilion | Sacral region, two finger-widths above mooladhara |
| 3 | Manipura | Ten-petalled bright yellow | Solar plexus, behind the navel |
| 4 | Anahata | Twelve-petalled blue | Heart centre, behind the sternum |
| 5 | Vishuddhi | Sixteen-petalled violet | Throat, at the base of the neck |
| 6 | Ajna | Two-petalled silver-grey | Mid-eyebrow centre (bhrumadhya) |
| 7 | Sahasrara | One thousand-petalled multicoloured | Crown of the head |
Each chakra combines six aspects in tantric meditation: the chakra colour, the petals of the lotus, the yantra (geometrical shape), the bija mantra, the animal symbol, and the higher or divine being who presides over it.
The animals represent the practitioner’s previous evolution — the instinctual stages of consciousness already moved through. The divine beings represent higher consciousness toward which the practitioner is evolving. The lotus itself, as a symbol, carries the three stages of spiritual life: the seed in the mud (ignorance), the stem rising through the water (aspiration and endeavour), and the bloom opening into the air and direct light of the sun (illumination).
Chakras and Kshetrams
Each of the upper chakras has a kshetram — a physical trigger point on the front surface of the body, directly opposite the chakra itself on the spinal axis, on the same horizontal plane. The kshetram is the reflection of the chakra and is often used in kriya yoga practice because concentration on the front surface of the body is easier than concentration on the spinal centres themselves.
Mooladhara does not have a kshetram. The other six chakras’ kshetrams:
- Swadhisthana kshetram — at the level of the pubic bone, just above the genital organ
- Manipura kshetram — at the navel
- Anahata kshetram — at the heart
- Vishuddhi kshetram — on the front surface of the throat pit, near the thyroid gland
- Ajna kshetram — bhrumadhya, the mid-eyebrow centre
Concentrating on a kshetram creates a sensation that passes through the nerves to the chakra itself and then travels up to the brain. This is the practical mechanism by which the modern household practitioner can begin to engage the chakra system without years of preparatory training in subtle-body concentration.
The Granthis — The Three Psychic Knots
There are three granthis (psychic knots) in the body which are obstacles on the path of the awakened kundalini. Each granthi represents a level of awareness where the power of maya (ignorance) and attachment is especially strong. Each aspirant must transcend these three barriers to make a clear passageway for the ascending kundalini.
Brahma granthi functions in the region of Mooladhara. It implies attachment to physical pleasures, material objects, and excessive selfishness. It also implies the ensnaring power of tamas — negativity, lethargy, and ignorance. To transcend Brahma granthi is to release attachment to the body as the centre of identity.
Vishnu granthi operates in the region of Anahata. It is associated with the bondage of emotional attachment — attachment to people, to inner psychic visions, to relationships. It is connected with rajas — passion, ambition, assertiveness. To transcend Vishnu granthi is to release attachment to the heart’s preferences as the centre of identity.
Rudra granthi functions in the region of Ajna. It is associated with attachment to siddhis (psychic powers), psychic phenomena, and the concept of ourselves as separate individuals. To transcend Rudra granthi, one must surrender the sense of individual ego and transcend duality to make further spiritual progress.
The three granthis are not gates to be passed once. They are knots to be loosened repeatedly across the arc of a sadhana. Most practitioners encounter Brahma granthi first, work with it for years, and only then begin to notice Vishnu granthi. Rudra granthi is the most subtle and the hardest to release, because the very I that would release it is the thing being released.
The Chakras as Conversion Centres
Beyond their function as control centres, the chakras work as centres of interchange between dimensions. They are intermediaries that transfer and convert energy across three planes of existence: the physical, the astral, and the causal.
Swamiji’s argument in Chapter 15 is structural and worth holding precisely. Through the chakras, subtle energy from the astral and causal dimension can be transformed into energy for the physical dimension — which is the mechanism by which yogis buried underground for long periods of time have been able to maintain their existence, particularly through the activation of Vishuddhi, which controls hunger and thirst and enables subsistence on subtle energy in the form of amrit (nectar).
Conversely, physical energy can be transformed into subtle energy through the action of the chakras, and physical energy can be converted into mental energy within the physical dimension. The chakras are bidirectional. They are the structural reason that body affects mind and mind affects body — not as metaphor, but as energetic mechanism. As the chakras are activated and awakened, the practitioner becomes aware of higher realms of existence and gains the power to enter those realms, and then to support and give life to the lower dimensions from above.
This is the operational claim that organises the entire science of yoga: the human being is a multidimensional instrument, and the chakras are the points at which the dimensions meet. Awakening the chakras is the practice of bringing the dimensions into conscious conversation with each other.
Evolution Through the Chakras
Human evolution — the evolution each practitioner is undergoing relentlessly, both as an individual and as a species — is a journey through the chakras. Mooladhara is the most basic, fundamental chakra from which our evolution commences. Sahasrara is where our evolution is completed.
As consciousness evolves toward Sahasrara, outer experiences come our way in life, and inner experiences come to us in meditation, as different capacities and centres awaken progressively within the nervous system. This occurs as energy flows at higher voltages and rates of vibration through the different nadis in the psychic body.
Below Mooladhara are other chakras known as the patalas — atala, vitala, sutala, talatala, rasatala, mahatala, and patala itself, the lowest. These chakras represent the evolution of the animal kingdom. They are only related to sense consciousness, not to mental awareness. When consciousness was evolving through these chakras, the mind was associated only with sense consciousness — there was no individual awareness and no ego. Patala is the dimension of total darkness, where matter is completely dormant and static. The patalas are situated in the legs in the human body, and the nadis there flow to their controlling point at Mooladhara.
Above Sahasrara are the lokas — higher dimensions of divine consciousness. So Mooladhara is the highest chakra in animal evolution and the first chakra in human evolution. Sahasrara is the highest point in human evolution and the first step in the highest divine evolution.
The three phases of evolution map onto the three gunas: through the animal stages, consciousness was influenced by tamas (the tamasic phase, where instinct, sleep, fear, and procreation dominate). From Mooladhara onward, the practitioner enters the rajasic phase of evolution. From Sahasrara onward, the sattwic phase of evolution begins.
Up to Mooladhara, evolution is spontaneous and self-propelled. Animals do not have to practise pranayama and japa yoga. They do not have to find a guru, take sannyasa, become disciples. Nature controls them completely; nature is benevolently responsible for every phase of their evolution. However, once kundalini reaches Mooladhara — once the human being is born — evolution is no longer spontaneous. The human being is no longer subject to the laws of nature in the way animals are. He has awareness of time and space, an ego, double awareness (he can think, and he can know that he is thinking, and he can know that he knows that he is thinking).
This higher consciousness is a gift and a responsibility. The practitioner has to work toward its evolution. That is why it is said that kundalini is sleeping in Mooladhara — it cannot progress beyond this point unless it is pushed. The push is sadhana. The pushing is the work of a human lifetime.
Discovering Your Point of Evolution
When the shakti (kundalini energy) awakens in Mooladhara, it cannot rise immediately. It may wake up and sleep again many times. In the morning, you usually have to wake your children several times because they keep going back to sleep — kundalini behaves the same way. Sometimes it even ascends to Swadhisthana or Manipura, only to return to Mooladhara again to sleep. However, once the shakti goes beyond Manipura, there is no going back.
Stagnation in a chakra only occurs when there is an obstruction in sushumna (the central spinal channel) or one of the chakras. Kundalini can remain in one chakra for many years, or even for a whole lifetime.
When kundalini gets blocked in a chakra during transit, the practitioner begins to exhibit some of the siddhis (psychic powers) associated with that chakra. This is dangerous — at that time the practitioner may not have self-control and may not understand the fact that she is only on the road, not at her destination. The temptation to display siddhis clouds the practitioner in a thick veil of maya and hinders further progress.
The key practical instruction in Chapter 16 is the method by which a practitioner can discover her own point of evolution. Some of the lower chakras may already be functioning without our knowledge. We are all at different levels on the scale of evolution, and therefore it may not be necessary to start the process of awakening from Mooladhara. The whole concept is explained as if kundalini begins at Mooladhara, but due to progress in previous lives, or to the sadhana that one’s mother or father may have done, the practitioner may have been born with the kundalini already in Manipura, or even Anahata.
Before commencing the practices of kundalini yoga, the practitioner should try to find out at which point her ascension will actually start. The method Swamiji prescribes:
“In order to do this, the best method is to concentrate on mooladhara daily for fifteen to thirty minutes, then swadhisthana for fifteen days, manipura for fifteen days and so on up to sahasrara. You will soon discover your point of evolution.”
Some practitioners find concentration on Anahata easiest; for them, Anahata is the centre. Others find Ajna very powerful and attractive. Others find Mooladhara easiest to relate to, while the higher chakras seem almost impossible to locate. Eventually the practitioner identifies her most sensitive chakra and is ready for the next step — awakening.
Even if a higher chakra such as Anahata has awakened at random, the practitioner must still try to awaken the lower chakras. The purpose of awakening kundalini and ascending it through all the chakras is to awaken them and their related parts of the brain. To awaken the whole brain, all the chakras must be awakened.
The Awakening of the Chakras
Awakening of the chakras is a very important event in human evolution. It should not be misunderstood for mysticism or occultism, because with the awakening of the chakras, consciousness and mind undergo measurable changes that have significant relevance for day-to-day life.
Our present state of mind is not capable of handling all the affairs of life. Our love and hatred, our relationships with people, are consequences of the quality of our present mind. Our sufferings, agonies, and frustrations are not so much due to the circumstances of life as to the responses of our mind. The purpose of awakening the chakras, sushumna, and kundalini should be related to our day-to-day life.
Thousands of people are born with awakened chakras and kundalini, and these people virtually rule the world — not through governing or holding office, but in the sense that they are superior people in every aspect of life. They are the great thinkers, musicians, artists, builders, scientists, research scholars, inventors, prophets, statesmen. There are many children born with awakened chakras and kundalini who, as they grow up, show different manifestations. However, our materialistic societies consider these manifestations as abnormal and those who display them are subjected to psychoanalysis and psychological scrutiny and treatment.
It is not regarded as abnormal if the practitioner undergoes personal conflicts in relation to family or work events, but as her mind and consciousness expand, she becomes very alert and sensitive to all that is happening in her family, colleagues, society, and country — and cannot ignore even the tiniest things of life. This is not regarded as normal by ordinary people, but it is the natural consequence that follows awakening of the chakras. Consciousness becomes very receptive because the frequencies of the mind change.
The Manifestation of Higher Qualities
Every form, sound, and colour has a certain frequency. All sounds, colours, and forms do not have the same frequency. In the same way, every thought has a frequency — some thoughts are of a low frequency and some are of a high frequency.
Swamiji’s example in Chapter 16: once the great scientist Isaac Newton was sitting in a garden and watched an apple fall from a tree. We have all seen apples fall from trees; because it does not seem strange to us, we have not given any thought to the process. But Isaac Newton had what we could call philosophic attention. This was a quality of his mind, and because of it, when an apple fell before him, he discovered the theory of gravitation.
The Lord Buddha example, immediately following: once Lord Buddha went hunting with his cousin Devadatta. Devadatta shot an arrow at a pigeon and it fell, injured by the arrow. Lord Buddha felt the pain of that bird and immediately rushed to remove the arrow. But Devadatta did not feel the pain; he was very pleased with himself because he had struck his target. Buddha’s consciousness had attained a higher frequency vibration, as a result of which he was sensitive to the bird’s pain and was therefore manifesting compassion.
The higher qualities of love, compassion, charity, mercy are not moral virtues to be cultivated through willpower. They are the expressions of a mind influenced by awakened chakras. This is precisely the reason why so much importance is given in the tradition to the awakening of Anahata. All scriptural texts place great emphasis on the awakening of Anahata, Ajna, and Mooladhara chakras. Yogis emphasise Ajna and Mooladhara; all of mankind emphasises Anahata. When Anahata is awakened, the practitioner has a sublime relationship with God, with her family members, and with every being.
When the chakras are awakened, the mind automatically changes. Values in life also change, and the quality of love and relationships improves immensely, enabling the practitioner to balance out the disappointments and frustrations in life. The practitioner is able to live a little higher than she does now, and her attitude toward herself and toward this life is much better.
The Closing Claim
The two chapters from Kundalini Tantra on which this page draws end with a sentence that organises the entire teaching:
“Frankly, man needs a happy mind and a happy family. It does not matter what he does or what his children are. Does it really matter if there is little to eat? Happiness and inner contentment are above all, and as far as I can see, true contentment can only be gained by a systematic awakening of the chakras.”
— Kundalini Tantra, Chapter 16, p. 126
This is the operational claim. Not theology. Not philosophy. True contentment — the goal that every human being in every century has chased through career, family, accumulation, religion, achievement — can only be gained by the systematic awakening of the chakras. The practice is not an addition to the good life. The practice is the technology by which the good life becomes accessible.
The chakras are why the Bihar School of Yoga exists. They are why OMJOOMSUH exists. They are the architecture beneath everything the lineage carries.
The Chakra-Endocrine Correspondences
The chakras correspond, gland for gland, with the endocrine system of the gross body. This correspondence was published in the modern English-language yogic literature in May 1990, in the Bihar School of Yoga’s Yoga Magazine, in an essay called The Psycho-physiology of the Yogic Chakra System by Dr S. M. Roney-Dougal — sixty years before Western endocrinology renamed PCOS to PMOS in May 2026 in formal acknowledgement that what had been called a disease of the ovaries was in fact a multi-system endocrine condition. The chakra-endocrine map:
- Mooladhara → uterus, gonads, kundalini substrate
- Swadhisthana → ovaries; testosterone-and-oestrogen axis; secondary sexual characteristics
- Manipura → adrenal glands (the stress glands)
- Anahata → thymus; cardiac plexus
- Vishuddhi → thyroid, parathyroid
- Ajna → pineal gland
- Sahasrara → pituitary, the master gland
The 1990 essay writes plainly: “The pineal and the gonadal system interact extensively… gonadal hormones testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone inhibit the biosynthesis of the pineal hormone melatonin.” This is the chakra-endocrine axis described in modern biochemical language. Western medicine is only now arriving at the multi-system framing that the Bihar School has been teaching for half a century. For the longer treatment of this convergence, see the essay Upstream of the Lab Report.
Related Concepts
The chakra cluster, as it sits in this wiki and as it will grow:
- Mooladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddhi, Ajna, Sahasrara — the seven principal chakras
- Kundalini — the dormant energy at the base of the spine that ascends through the chakras
- Nadis — the energy channels that intersect at the chakras
- Sushumna — the central channel through which kundalini rises
- Prana — the energy substrate the chakras operate on
- Granthis — the three psychic knots (Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra) at Mooladhara, Anahata, Ajna
- Kshetram — the front-of-body trigger points reflecting the chakras
- Bija Mantra — the seed sounds associated with each chakra
- Siddhis — the psychic powers associated with awakened chakras
- Maya — the veil of ignorance the granthis represent
- Kriya Yoga — the practical system that engages the chakras through their kshetrams
- Pranayama — the breath practices that awaken the chakras through the nadis
- Gunas, Sattva, Rajas, Tamas — the three modes through which evolution moves
- Bihar School of Yoga — the lineage institution that carries the practical knowledge of the chakra system
- Swami Satyananda Saraswati — author of Kundalini Tantra, the foundational modern text on this material
Sources
Kundalini Tantra by Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, 1984. Chapters 15 (“Introduction to the Chakras”, pp. 113-118) and 16 (“Evolution through the Chakras”, pp. 119-126).
Roney-Dougal, S. M. The Psycho-physiology of the Yogic Chakra System. Yoga Magazine, May 1990, Bihar School of Yoga, Munger.