Rationale
Understandings of the Tantric body have been mass appropriated in Western consumer culture (Flood, 5). We see advertising for chakra balancing, meditation music for chakra balancing, even jewelry that is said to correspond with certain chakras. But how far does this understanding truly go? Often, the symbolism of chakras is taken too literally and I personally believe that this is because there is a gap between the symbolism and their meaning. The purpose of this website was to make a contribution to this gap. I chose a website rather than a paper because these days, the internet is our primary source of information. I wanted to first provide a basic background of the history of the chakra system, its development and evolution; because all too often the information we can easily access on the web disregards this history. It is important because from here we realised that the chakra system, like all yoga philosophy, has its roots in ancient Indian and Buddhist philosophy and has developed and evolved not in a linear way, but dialogically through time and place via the interaction of different cultures and schools of thought. Knowing this is essential to understanding the philosophy and symbolism behind the chakras and furthermore how to interpret them. Regarding interpretation I thought it was important to analyze as many perspectives as I could. It was surprisingly difficult to find credible sources to help me with this, which I think is important to mention because it only further proves my belief that there is a gap between symbolism and meaning. I wanted to be critical to avoid falling into the common mistake of taking these symbols to literally and skipping over how they can be interpreted. I found that the truth is there are many ways to understand the chakras; through tradition and ritual aligning the body with universal principles, to states of consciousness of humanity as a whole, to individual stages of the psyche and more. There is no straight answer to the question, “are chakras real?” because ultimately it is a matter of interpretation, and what we define as “real”.
The use of Carl Jung as a main source of discussion was a decision made to show how the chakra system has developed through a dialogical process. Jung is the first notable Western psychologist to integrate cross-cultural theories and practices into his own theories (Best, 11). Jung allowed Eastern Buddhist and Hindu philosophies to shape his own. Thus, Jungian psychology is one of the first to bridge Western psychology and Hindu psychology and bring it to the forefront of public knowledge and discourse (Best, 14). Jung’s insights are powerful and remain relevant even today. We learn that by understanding the philosophy behind the chakras we can come to know ourselves and the human psyche better. Through the symbolism of the chakra system there is still much to gain and contribute to own personal development, even if this system does not have a scientific foundation.
Copyright Annisha Lashand 2012