Chakra

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Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) at Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia.
File:Lord of Gods Vishnu.jpg
Painting of Vishnu, Shrimad Bhagavata Mahapurana by MahaMuni, Gita Press Gorakhpur.

Chakras (from Sanskrit: m., चक्र cakra, [ʧʌkɽʌ], literally: "wheel, discus, circle"), are organs of the astral body. They are also called lotus flowers, derived from the sacred Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), because they show themselves to the clairvoyant gaze in a circular, flower-like form, which justifies their name. In modern man they stand still, but can be set in motion through spiritual training. In the advanced clairvoyant they rotate clockwise and thus open up to him the view into the spiritual world. Modern clairvoyance is associated with strict thought control.

In the Atlantean age, the lotuses were still mobile, in the Lemurian period they even moved very violently, but turned counterclockwise. This is also the case with today's mediums with atavistic clairvoyance. The clairvoyance of mediums, however, is an unconscious one that is not subject to thought control (Lit.:GA 94, p. 173).

Chakra or Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शन चक्र sudarśana cakra, roughly: "easily visible wheel" or "auspicious wheel") is also the name given to the throwing disc of the Hindu god Vishnu, which, along with the mace (gada), the conch shell (shankha) and the lotus (padma), is one of his four essential insignia. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, the spinning discus is considered a symbol of the wheel of time, also called Kalachakra[1].

The system of the seven main chakras

There are seven main chakras and, in addition, numerous secondary chakras, e.g. in the hands, in which the 7 main chakras are reflected in a special way. The entire, closely interconnected system of main and minor chakras forms the so-called lotus tree. It corresponds to the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha received his enlightenment, but also to the fig tree cursed by Christ, which was meant to indicate that the time of atavistic clairvoyance has expired. The Prophet Muhammad also received his revelation through the Archangel Gabriel "Near Sidrat al-Muntaha (a lote tree of the utmost boundary over the seventh heaven beyond which none can pass)" (Quran 53:13-14)

Main chakras

The system of the seven main chakras, from bottom to top in Indian terms (colors according to Charles W. Leadbeater):
1. Muladhara
2. Svadhisthana
3. Nabhi-Manipura
4. Anahata
5. Vishuddhi
6. Ajna
7. Sahasrara.

In his lectures "Popular Occultism" (Lit.:GA 94, p. 129ff) Rudolf Steiner described the system of the seven main chakras as follows:

„Seven such astral organs are distinguished. The first, the two-petalled lotus, is in the region of the root of the nose; the second, the sixteen-petalled, is at the level of the larynx; the third, the twelve-petalled, at the level of the heart; the fourth, the eight to ten-petalled, near the navel; the fifth, the six-petalled, a little lower down; the sixth, the four-petalled, still lower down, the swastika, which is connected with all that is fertilisation; the seventh cannot readily be spoken of. These six organs have the same significance for the soul world as the physical senses have for the perception of the sense world.“ (Lit.:GA 94, p. 173)

In oriental tradition the seventh lotus flower, of which Rudolf Steiner does not speak further here, is largely unanimously called the thousand-petalled lotus flower. It is located as the parietal chakra near the pineal gland. Its activity is revealed in the head aura of the human being, in the halo.

„One should not think of these organs as something that has an imprint of its reality in the imagination of its sensual image. These organs are precisely supersensuous and consist in a definite soul-activity; and they exist only in so far and so long as this soul-activity is practised. Something that can be seen as sensuous is as little in man with these organs as there is some "vapour" around him when he thinks. Whoever wants to imagine the supersensible in a thoroughly sensuous way gets into misunderstandings.“ (Lit.:GA 13, p. 345)

Not of Indian origin is the assignment of the rainbow colours to the chakras, which was only introduced in 1927 by Charles W. Leadbeater in his book "The Chakras".

Hand chakras

The hand chakras are important secondary chakras. On the one hand, they enable the seven main chakras to radiate their special qualities in a very differentiated way, on the other hand, they can also receive fine impulses from outside and make them perceptible. As far as is known, there is no information from Rudolf Steiner as to how the seven main chakras are reflected on the inner surfaces of the hands. It is generally assumed that the root chakra is mainly expressed on the inside of the wrist, and the crown chakra in the middle of the palm. The remaining 5 chakras are usually roughly assigned to the five fingers, although not always in a consistent manner. This is hardly surprising, as the chakra system is actually much more differentiated. Each finger receives effects from all 7 main chakras, of which it expresses one more and others less depending on the situation. A rigid classification does not do justice to the living essence of the hands, which is why this is also dispensed with here.

The hands of the human being are in the process of ascending development. They are destined to become new organs of thought on the New Jupiter (Lit.:GA 156, p. 80ff). Already today they are exceedingly fine sensitive organs of feeling. Frequent hand washing promotes this subtle sensitivity of the hands. Furthermore, they are also subtle organs of thought for destiny, karma (Lit.:GA 181, p. 94ff).

To the clairvoyant gaze, the hands appear as particularly wonderful entities. They emit etheric radiations through the fingers, the back of the hand and especially through the inner surfaces of the hands, which can have an invigorating, healing effect in people with a correspondingly high spiritual development. The hand chakras also play an essential role in this. This is the real basis of blessing and laying on of hands.

Foot chakras

The foot chakras reflect all seven main chakras on the soles of the feet in a similar way to the hand chakras on the inner surfaces of the hands, for example the root chakra in the heel area, the heart chakra in the middle of the sole of the foot and the crown chakra in the upper toe area.

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.

References

  1. ↑ Agarwala, Vasudeva Sharana (1965). Indian Art: A history of Indian art from the earliest times up to the third century A.D, Volume 1 of Indian Art. Prithivi Prakashan. p. 101.
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