Chakras

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DAWN
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Re: Chakras

Post by DAWN »

ccharles wrote:Thank you all for your responses. I know that's not what Dhamma is practice for, just wondering if that could be a side effect. Aside from dhamma practice, could any of you recommend any effective systems of "energy work" (qi gong, yoga, tibetan yoga, kundalini, etc.) so I could work with these energies/ keep them healthy? I'd personally like to see if I could receive any benefit from working with them, however I don't know which systems are effective.
Devarupa are reason, there is no specialist in chakras (logicaly).

But actualy, before come to The Buddha for teching, i practice some equilibration of chakras, i tryed to activatet them all at the same moment, i dont remark any negative or positive effects, perharps my motivation was different and i do it just for fun, but in my opinion this kind of practice have not any negative effect, perharps loosing a time? So i cant say that is BAD or WRONG, it depend on your mativation.
But actualy, in your post i dont see the motivation that lead you to this kind of practice, meybe it's somethink personal, but may be the solution can be find in Buddha Dhamma, and so we could help you.

:heart:
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
Tom
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Re: Chakras

Post by Tom »

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Last edited by Tom on Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
befriend
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Re: Chakras

Post by befriend »

[email protected] this is an email to kripalu the yoga center in MA thats very well known. the email link is for general questions and something else, i forget. maybe look for some of the teachers websites and email the teachers if they have that function. metta, Befriend
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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DAWN
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Re: Chakras

Post by DAWN »

ccharles wrote:This explains my motivation: (I PMed someone on this forum about this, and this is what I messaged them): "It may sound silly, but I recently was worried as to whether or not my "chakras" were opened or if I had accidentally closed them by focusing on a pressure I had in my forehead (I know this is not discussed much in Theravada buddhism). Because I was afraid I accidentally closed them, I tried to visualize and feel white light radiating and rising from the different chakra locations (and relaxing those areas) from the bottom up (not during meditation just in regular waking life). I'm now afraid that I may have opened certain chakras too much or that they're not balanced, so I'm wondering what to do next, if I should not worry about it or if I should search for someone who deals with chakras. I'm worried about my "energy bodies" for lack of a better word you could say...I've never formally learned about chakras btw, only scattered information I've seen online... All I know about chakras is the general locations they're normally said to be located, aside from that I know nothing at all about them: how to open them, get them flowing, balancing them, etc..." Also at one point when I was attempting to visualize white light radiating at a certain area and relaxing the area, I had a negative intrusive thought worrying if that negativity could somehow manifest itself in that chakra area and then affect my awareness and my life negatively. I tried to make my self feel safe by countering the thought with white light radiating from the area, however I kept worrying and having the intrusive thought, making it hard to maintain the visualization of white light, and so I felt like maybe I never completely "erased" this "negative energy" (if even "negative energy" was actually created, i was just worried about the possibility of having created it because of the negative intrusive thoughts/ visualizations, which is why I did this Pure O OCD like behaviour). It's got me worried, and I could say it's somewhat in the realm of Pure O (OCD) thoughts, but I do not know whether or not the negative intrusive thoughts I had could manifest because of this, in a way similar to what is described in the "Law of Attraction" teachings (Even though I don't really believe these teachings too much, sometimes I have Pure-O (OCD) worries that my negative thoughts could be attracting those things to manifest, so I'll try to counter them with a thought of the opposite positive situation, thinking that maybe this will help it to manifest and keep me safe. Countering the thoughts however is tiresome and I realize I only do it out of the fear that if I just leave the negative thoughts and feeling of fear alone, something bad could happen.) I'm just asking for advice.
Ok, i think i could help you to activate it, but first of all i would like you to understand sometink very important:
All forms
All feelings
All perceptions
All volitional formations
All consciosness
All this is IMPERMANENT, subject to change, brings suffering, and anatta, out of any control. So dont be conditioned by it's changes, arisings and disapearings, it's not yours, and will brings you suffer.

Of corse you can work with it, like chakras or sport or knowledge, but it must be just for fun, without any attachement.

So.
Some chakras are more difficult to percive then others, more subtils. Generaly most visibles are chakra of your front, and heart, more difficults are neck, estomach, genitails, and the one between your sex and anus.
So if you want to feel them, and develope, i consil you to just putt your concetration in this zone, and just try to feel it, it will become warm and turning on watch sense (from left to right). So take the most simple, and be concentrate on it (without any light or mantras or other things, pure concentration), until it will be here.
To activate others, personaly i does like this, i take the most stable and strengh chakra and, with my concentration, i mouve it on my body, very vey slowly, from one chakra to an another. It like you take a fire from one place at putt it in an another. So doing that, you will be able to activate all chakras. One after another stabilyse it, util you will be able to activate it without any effort, just with thinking about it.

Sometimes, some chakras would be very strong, and this fire will brings some physical pain, and perharps you will understand that you dont able to stop this chakra, it still activate, and brings phisical pain.
So to disactiva it, it' very simple.
Take your hand, put it on the chakra, and just turn your hand in other sense (from right to left). Immediatly it will be desactivated.

You must to know that it's your mind, and not chakras that shaping you, so if you will work with heart chakra and thinking that you will develop your love and compassion, yes you will do, but not because of chakra, but ecause you KNOW that you will develop it.

Do not be attached to somethink totaly impermanent and suffering, to somethink that have no any utility, to somethink what will brings you more suffering, and no deliver from suffering, because, as i see, your motivation is suffering.
Use your wisdom.

And i repeat:
All forms
All feelings
All perceptions
All volitional formations
All consciosness
Are impermanent and suffering.

With compassion :heart: I wish you get free from impermanence :meditate:
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
Raksha
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Re: Chakras

Post by Raksha »

daverupa wrote: For a modern approach which sees a Western empiricist practicing Chinese exercises and seeing Hindu gods, try reading Path Notes.
(It takes me back about 15 years; these are some old neurons firing to call up these titles; the single tattoo I have is related to Path Notes adventures...)
Sensei Glenn Morris :sage: R.I.P.
daverupa
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Re: Chakras

Post by daverupa »

Raksha wrote:
daverupa wrote: For a modern approach which sees a Western empiricist practicing Chinese exercises and seeing Hindu gods, try reading Path Notes.
(It takes me back about 15 years; these are some old neurons firing to call up these titles; the single tattoo I have is related to Path Notes adventures...)
Sensei Glenn Morris :sage: R.I.P.
April 1st, no less! What a joker.

:heart:
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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marc108
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Post by marc108 »

this is particular area of interest from me. I came from a Yogic background to Buddhism and noticed a lot of similarities but that the teachings on the chakras were missing... my personal opinion is that the Buddha was concerned primarily with liberation and teaching on & manipulation of the chakras isn't part of that path necessarily.

the chakras are part of the body, and should be treated as such re: mindfulness of the body. worrying about you or anything else effecting your chakras is about as useful as worrying about catching a cold. the conscious control of an untrained person over their energy system is about as much as over your heart... nearly nothing. the idea that you may have opened, or unbalanced a chakra is strictly a product of new age bastardization & isnt (to my knowledge) found in the traditional teachings.

that being said I've found the practices extremely useful in general, as well as with my current practice. Yoga & Qigong are the most refined, and imo best, systems to study if you can find a legitimate teacher (which is hard). There are Buddhist teachers as well who teach about somatic energies and their usage, re: Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo, & Ajahn Succito They have, again imo, a much more practical and useful teaching on the subject than you will find otherwise.

Worrying that a thought may or negative feeling will 'infect' you is pointless. Intrusive or negative thoughts, in my experience, are much more effectively dealt with the methods taught in MN20 Vitakkasanthana Sutta: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el021.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
"It's easy for us to connect with what's wrong with us... and not so easy to feel into, or to allow us, to connect with what's right and what's good in us."
Tom
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Re: Chakras

Post by Tom »

Thank You all for your responses. I think I should clarify what I meant by my "negative thought". I really hope I'm not being confusing here, because this is something that's seriously been worrying me, and I would greatly appreciate advice: I meant that when I was doing the visualizations (and by visualization, I don't mean that I was simply thinking about my body from an outside perspective and imagining white light being released, it was more as if I was making an internal visualization and focusing my awareness on the area I was working with), focusing on the feeling of releasing/relaxing a certain chakra area, and trying to visualize and "feel" white light being released and radiating out from that area, I had a sudden worry (pretty superstitious) that what if some demonic entity entered the chakra and possessed me, and I then had an intrusive visualization of "black energy" or "demons" or "pentagrams" being absorbed in that area, and an intrusive thought of the sentence "A demon is possessing me" or "I am possessed". My reaction to this was to tighten the area because I was worried I was letting this "negative energy" in and giving it potential to manifest, and to then attempt to relax the area again and counter it with the white light visualization, although the intrusive thoughts/visualizations kept getting in the way, so I never felt as if it was satisfactorily "countered" or that the potential for the intrusive thought's/visualization's to manifest or affect my life was ever completely erased. This is what I meant by a "negative thought" worrying me. In this case would it actually be something to worry about, or should I still follow the advice you all are giving? Should I actually try and hold the white light visualization (without any intrusive thoughts/visualizations) until I feel satisfied? (which hasn't really worked because the intrusive thoughts always get in the way) Or should I just let go of this whole "counter" visualization idea? I really hope I haven't negatively affected my life in some way because of this, aside from the anxiety it's created.
Last edited by Tom on Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:26 am, edited 8 times in total.
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DAWN
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Re: Chakras

Post by DAWN »

Negative energy is created by your own mind.

If your sila (morality) is good, you will be never experiance such kind of negativity. Develop your sila, do good things. :group:
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
danieLion
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Re: Chakras

Post by danieLion »

daverupa wrote:If you are interested in chakras, you are going to become distracted from the Dhamma, but to each their own.
So, is your official position that the Dhamma and chakras are mutually exclusive?
daverupa
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Re: Chakras

Post by daverupa »

danieLion wrote:
daverupa wrote:If you are interested in chakras, you are going to become distracted from the Dhamma, but to each their own.
So, is your official position that the Dhamma and chakras are mutually exclusive?
At least inasmuch as any two fields of knowledge cannot be pursued to the extent that one of them could be, if favored with time and energy. The Dhamma isn't necessarily easy - mental real estate is at a premium... dhammas proliferate with ease...

In any event, we are advised to calm kaya-sankhara, not multiply them and do esoteric maths.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
Nyana
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Re: Chakras

Post by Nyana »

daverupa wrote:To really dive into this stuff in a Buddhist context (and to get up to your eyes in mummy dust and crazy ideas), have a look at The Bodhisattva Warriors: The Origin, Inner Philosophy, History and Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art Within India and China.

For a modern approach which sees a Western empiricist practicing Chinese exercises and seeing Hindu gods, try reading Path Notes.
Not very authoritative or comprehensive sources. Little wonder your knowledge of the subject revolves around "mummy dust and crazy ideas."
Raksha
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Re: Chakras

Post by Raksha »

It's true that Terry Dukes has no academic credibility. For an authoritative version of the same subject:
Stewart McFarlane, ‘Fighting Bodhisattvas and Inner Warriors: Buddhism and the Martial Traditions of China and Japan’ The Buddhist Forum, Vol. 3, 1994.
As for the late Dr. Glenn Morris, in his own field he was both comprehensive and authoritative. His premature death was a great loss to the study of Ninjutsu, and on a personal level to his many students and friends around the world. May I ask what your own qualifications are in these subjects that allow you to dismiss his work in such an arbitrary manner? Have you even read any of his books?
daverupa
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Re: Chakras

Post by daverupa »

Ñāṇa wrote:your knowledge of the subject revolves around "mummy dust and crazy ideas."
Does it? Where is "my knowledge of the subject" displayed in a revolving manner, as you indicate?

I suspect there's a sacred cow with an abrasion, somewhere...
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
Nyana
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Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:56 am

Re: Chakras

Post by Nyana »

Raksha wrote:As for the late Dr. Glenn Morris, in his own field he was both comprehensive and authoritative. His premature death was a great loss to the study of Ninjutsu, and on a personal level to his many students and friends around the world.
Morris was eclectic, idiosyncratic, and at times bizarre.
Raksha wrote:May I ask what your own qualifications are in these subjects that allow you to dismiss his work in such an arbitrary manner? Have you even read any of his books?
Yep, I've read his books. I'm not dismissing his work or being arbitrary. I said that it isn't authoritative or comprehensive, specifically, in the context of Buddhist systems of yoga.
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