The chakras are an oft-misunderstood part of our subtle anatomy. In this episode of “5 Minutes”, Dr. Svoboda explains what they are and how we can work with them to assist our spiritual progress.

Please note my pronunciation: that is chakra, not chaakra, not shakra, and for sure not shaakra. Thank you very much.

The chakras are highly misunderstood. Many people are absolutely certain that there are six chakras, no more and no less. In fact, there are a number of different chakra systems according to the kind of sādhanā that requires you to create a chakra, or more than one chakra, within yourself.

I did use the word create because, in fact, the chakras do not exist as chakras in an individual until the point at which they are created. Where and why are they created, you will ask? They are created in the very subtle portion, possibly the subtlest portion, of your subtle body within suṣumṇā. To give an idea of the fact that even in suṣumṇā there are gradations of subtlety, they speak of three different sheaths, one within another.

A chakra is, number one, extremely, extremely subtle, subtle, subtle. In the context of the six chakras that we think we know and love very well, the lower five, in the form in which you and I are currently experiencing them, are not chakras at all. They are knots that tie the subtle body to the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. These are the five elements that make up our individual microcosms, our physiological experiences of life, and the big world outside.

It is only when you have brought to bear a good deal of attention and prāṇa, usually in the context of a focused sādhanā, if not in this lifetime then in a previous one, that a chakra will be created.

Because these knots tie the five elements to our subtle bodies, these are locations where there is a large amount of focused prāṇa in the organism. Naturally, as we move toward the less subtle, denser, and grosser varieties of experience in the organism, they will manifest in the tissues at whatever level they appear.

So yes, we will have nerve plexuses. We will even have nāḍī plexuses in the denser, grosser part of the subtle body. But even those nāḍī plexuses are not the real chakras. The real chakras are extremely, extremely subtle.

We really do not encourage people to activate their chakras before their subtle bodies are purified and prāṇa is circulating very calmly, very slowly, and very regularly. If you disturb the connection between one or more of these five elements and your subtle body, it is quite possible that you will throw your entire organism into a very deep state of imbalance – imbalance at a very existential level. We need to align ourselves positively with the five elements in order to do the various things that we want and need to do in our day-to-day lives.

As my mentor pointed out repeatedly, if you focus on one chakra, it is quite possible that you will put so much energy, attention, and awareness into that chakra that it will take over your life and start dragging you in the direction it wants to go instead of the direction you want to go, which is toward the supreme reality.

Please salute the chakras and acknowledge that they are valuable, but do not try to perform sādhanā of the chakras unless your guru specifically tells you to do so.