sources of chakra knowledge:

the upanishads
The concept of the chakras originated m
Hindu culture and they are therefore rich in
associations with the Hindu religion. The
term Hindu means "of the Indus" and
refers to the river running from the Tibetan
Himalayas through Kashmir and along the
length of modern-day Pakistan. The history
of the Hindu people stretches back more
than 5,000 years and has given rise to one
of the most profound spintual traditions in
the world.

the four collections

The information we have about the chakras

comes principally from the Upanishads,
sacred writings that form part of the Hindu
scriptures known collectively as the Vedas.
The word Veda means "knowledge," and
the four collections or earliest texts-the
Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Vedas-are
referred to as sruit, knowledge that was
revealed to the great seers. It is a difficult
to put a date on the Vedas because they
are assumed to have been passed down
orally for nearly a thousand years before
they were first written down between 1200

and 900 BCE.

The earliest Upanishads were written in

the 7th century ace. In total there are 108,
although most commentators identify 13
key texts within that group. The term
Upanishad literally means "those who sit
near" and suggests the practice of
listening closely to the secret doctrines of
a spiritual teacher.

key upanishad texts

The main message of the Upanishads is
that enlightenment (and even immortality)
can be achieved by meditating with the
awareness that your soul is at one with all
creation. The soul is identified with what is
real and immortal, and with the life-breath
or prana. The texts also explore the
concept of karma and reincarnation. The
two key Upanishads for chakra teaching
are the Brahma Upanishad and the
Yogatattva Upanishad.
The Brahma Upanishad This describes four
places occupied by the soul (the navel,
heart, throat and head) and says that each
place is characterized by a particular state of
consciousness: the navel or the eye is the