Further reading about the Chakras

Look at my downloads page to find recordings of previous chakra workshops!

Below is a list of books and audio that I can recommend for learning more about the vast subject of the chakras. There are so many books on the subject now that it boggles the mind, but much of what is out there is shallow and following a commercial trend, so I have limited this list strictly to the books I think are most practical. I have given them a five-star rating according to my personal appreciation of them, based on their level of practical application and, of course, quality of information.  Click on the title for a direct link to Amazon.com

 The Chakra Bible: The Definitive Guide to Chakra Energy - by Patricia Mercier  - **** This is an excellent book to start with, as it gives an overview of nearly all aspects of the Chakras. Not much depth, but useful for quick reference, and take the word "definitive guide" with a grain of salt...

Energy Anatomy - by Caroline Myss - ***** Recorded workshops - A really useful look at how to understand the chakras and apply that to your life - very practical as a guide for personal transformation - tough love!
  
Advanced Energy Anatomy - by Caroline Myss - ***** Another great series of talks, this time adding a lot of information about Archetypes into the mix.

The Subtle Body, by Cyndi Dale - **** This book gives a great overview of all the major energy systems and traditions, with a section on the chakras.

The Book of Chakras: Discover the Hidden Forces Within You - by Ambika Wauters - **** A really good look at the symbolism and meaning of the chakras on many levels, making it a good basic reference guide.

Chakras and Their Archetypes: Uniting Energy Awareness and Spiritual Growth  - by Ambika Wauters - *** A useful in-depth look at how the different archetypal energies are reflected in the chakras.

Chakra Balancing- by Anodea Judith - **** Workbook and CD are provided in this practical kit for working with issues in your own life through the chakras.

The Chakra System - by Anodea Judith - ***1/2  An audiobook read by the author explaining her understanding of the chakras through 30 years of working with them.

Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System (Llewellyn's New Age Series) - by Anodea Judith - *** Somewhat more esoteric that the rest, but worthwhile.

Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System As a Path to the Self - by Anodea Judith - *** Interesting look at the psychology behind the chakras.

The Sevenfold Journey: Reclaiming Mind, Body and Spirit Through the Chakras - by Anodea Judith and Selene Vega - *** Theory and practical exercises for personal transformation.

Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation - by Harish Johari - **** Provides the traditional Hindu understanding of the chakras, somewhat esoteric - not for casual interest!

Chakra Yoga: Balancing Energy for Physical, Spiritual, and Mental Well-being - by Alan Finger -**** A good way to integrate the concept of the chakras into a hatha yoga practice, by a lovely teacher.

Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth: Book 2 - by Peter Kelder - **** I recommend book two as it covers the same basic info about the Five Tibetan Rites as book one, plus it has good advice on breathing and health issues.

The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power - by Christopher Kilham - **** A good guide to the Five Tibetan Rites with an explanation of the chakras and how they are affected by the sequence.

Om Namo Shivaya!

A balanced view of the current debate on who "owns" yoga

Yoga, as it is practiced now, is a mix of several techniques, including some Western ones, a historian has said.

Meera Nanda, visiting professor of history of science at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, says for most Indians, yoga is a living symbol of their way of life, like apple pie is to Americans. But, she adds, they are unaware that the yoga of today can't claim Vedic antiquity.

In an article in Open magazine, she writes: "Lately, Hindus in America have started flying the saffron flag over American-style yoga, which consists largely of yogic asanas and stretches. The leading Indo-American lobby, Hindu American Foundation (HAF), has recently started a vocal campaign to remind Americans that yoga was made in India by Hindus… The purist Hindu position, articulated by the HAF, is that all yoga, including its physical or hatha yoga component, is rooted in the Hindu religion/way of life that goes all the way back to the Vedic sages and yogis."

In Nanda's words: "There is only one problem with this purist history of yoga: it is false. Yogic asanas were never ‘Vedic’ to begin with. Far from being considered the crown jewel of Hinduism, yogic asanas were in fact looked down upon by Hindu intellectuals and reformers—including the great Swami Vivekananda—as fit only for sorcerers, fakirs and jogis."

She says Western gymnastics and body-building techniques show up in the world-renowned Iyengar and Ashtanga Vinyasa schools of yoga.

"Far from honestly acknowledging the Western contributions to modern yoga, we Indians simply brand all yoga as ‘Vedic,’ a smug claim that has no intellectual integrity," she writes.      

She disputes the 'Take Back Yoga' movement, and says "Yoga is to North America what McDonald’s is to India: both are foreign implants gone native."

Nanda says, "By and large, the US yoga industry does not hide the origins of what it teaches. On the contrary, in a country that is so young and so constantly in flux, yoga’s presumed antiquity (‘the 5,000-year-old exercise system’, etcetera.) and its connections with Eastern spirituality have become part of the sales pitch."

Following articles and blog posts appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post, HAF’s Shukla and New Age guru Deepak Chopra got into a spat. Shukla complained the yoga industry wasn't giving credit to Hinduism, and called Chopra a "philosophical profiteer", while Chopra argued that yoga existed in "consciousness and consciousness alone" much before Hinduism.

Nanda describes both views as "equally fundamentalist". She explains: "The reality is that postural yoga, as we know it in the 21st century, is neither eternal nor synonymous with the Vedas or Yoga Sutras. On the contrary, modern yoga was born in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. It is a child of the Hindu Renaissance and Indian nationalism, in which Western ideas about science, evolution eugenics, health and physical fitness played as crucial a role as the ‘mother tradition’."

By her reckoning, "the physical aspects of yoga were hybridised with drills, gymnastics and body-building techniques borrowed from Sweden, Denmark, England, the United States and other Western countries."

Nanda writes: "Contrary to the widespread impression, the vast majority of asanas taught by modern yoga gurus are not described anywhere in ancient sacred Hindu texts. Anyone who goes looking for references to popular yoga techniques like pranayam, neti, kapalbhati or suryanamaskar in classical Vedic literature will be sorely disappointed…. The four Vedas have no mention of yoga….The Upanishads and The Bhagvad Gita do, but primarily as a spiritual technique to purify the atman."
Nanda says BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga alone teaches 200 asanas, while the 14th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists only 15 asanas, as do the 17th century Gheranda Samhita and Shiva Samhita.

She also credits the Mysore palace under Krishnaraja Wodiyar IV (1884-1940) for the popular revival of yoga in India. She recalls: "The Maharaja, who ruled the state and the city of Mysore from 1902 till his death, was well known as a great promoter of Indian culture and religion. But he was also a great cultural innovator, who welcomed positive innovations from the West, incorporating them into his social programmes. Promoting physical education was one of his passions, and under his reign, Mysore became the hub of a physical culture revival in the country."

She concludes: "The HAF’s shrill claims about Westerners stealing yoga completely gloss over the tremendous amount of cross-breeding and hybridisation that has given birth to yoga as we know it. Indeed, contemporary yoga is a unique example of a truly global innovation, in which Eastern and Western practices merged to produce something that is valued and cherished around the world… Hinduism, whether ancient, medieval or modern, has no special claims on 21st century postural yoga. To assert otherwise is churlish and simply untrue."

From Yahoo! India News