I recently finished reading In Search of the Miraculous- Healing Into Consciousness by Eliza Mada Dalian. It’s a book for spiritual seekers wanting a manual on the path out of fear, pain, and suffering. This is a largely down to earth book that attempts to simplify the mystical and make it accessible to the average reader. It is not St. Theresa of Avila, The Cloud of Unknowing, a Buddhist sutra, or a Sufi text. Dalian grounds her work and for that we can be thankful.
The one section I found to be particularly useful was the part concerning the development of the ego-mind in each of the chakras. Chakras can be thought of as circular energy centers, and for our purposes, we will use the traditional Indian system of seven chakras. Dalian is careful to point out that spiritual development through the chakras is not necessarily a linear one. I take that to mean that life’s trials and tribulations can have us working in any chakra at any time or in several (which seems likely given the complexity of life). Let’s take a look at the spiritual work associated with each chakra and see if you can identify where you are in the process.
1st Chakra (Root): Foundations of Life: (located at the base of the spine)
Although some writings on chakras are different, Dalian identifies this chakra as the center for sexuality. The spiritual work here involves breaking through sexual fears, taboos, and conditioning.
2nd Chakra (Hara): Survival of the Physical Body: (located 2” below navel)
Here the spiritual seeker deals with fears or insecurities over your physical survival. Eventually you develop trust that the universe will take care of you.
3rd Chakra (Solar Plexus): Developing Self Power & Decision Making Ability: (located in solar plexus region)
Spiritual work here involves developing the courage to make decisions, set boundaries for protection, and accept the responsibility for one’s actions. Considerable maturing of the ego-mind happens here.
4th Chakra (Heart): Developing Unconditional Love: (located behind the sternum near the heart)
The heart chakra is the bridge between the lower instinctual chakras and the higher spiritual chakras. Dalian believes that 90 percent of humanity is stuck in the first three chakras and I’d tend to agree. The work of the spirit in the 4th chakra is to transform the body’s need for survival and the instinctual lust of self- gratification into unconditional love.
5th Chakra (Throat): Developing Individuality & Self Expression: (located at the base of the throat near the thyroid) The spiritual challenge here is to develop honesty and integrity that allows an individual to break free of old patterns, beliefs, and social conditioning to bring freedom of expression and individuality into the world. There is a turn inward for truth and compromising the soul is no longer possible. People begin to speak and live their purpose.
6th Chakra (Third Eye): Developing Wisdom & Intelligence: (located in the center of the forehead between the eyebrows)
Spiritual growth in the 6th chakra is associated with the revelation and expansion of psychic knowing. Sometimes called the opening of the third eye, the door to cosmic reality opens. An individual begins to develop extra-sensory abilities, intuition, and begins to glimpse who he/she really is in cosmic terms. Interconnectedness becomes apparent.
7th Chakra (Crown): Dissolving the Ego: (located at the top of the head, acts as the transition point between physical reality and cosmic reality)
This is what Buddhists call Enlightenment. It’s the ultimate goal, the end game. Here, spiritual work involves the death of the ego-mind and ultimate liberation. Through the 7th chakra, the life force moves from time/space reality into timeless reality of ever-evolving consciousness. It’s important to remember that enlightenment (or liberation) is available at every moment of life or at the point of physical death.
If you’d like to learn more about any of the specific challenges associated with the chakras or techniques and meditations that may be useful, grab a copy of the book. There is a whole chapter packed with resources to help. You can also visit the author’s website at www.madadalian.com.
ellisnelson 
Pingback: Awareness as a Key to Spiritual Growth - Galaxy Of Yoga
Happy Holiday
~ Eric
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Reblogged this on At the Table, On my Plate.
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Thanks!
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I never knew about chakras. Thanks for the explanation. And thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate it. You’re welcome to return on Friday’s for a free flash fiction story.
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Thank you for the layman descriptions of the Chakras. I’ve never understood them so clearly before.
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This was great to read, I feel very much that the descriptions are accurate, especially given my experiences in the effort to get them aligned. VERY VERY accurate.
Thanks 🙂
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Thanks for the like on my award today. I believe in chakras, though most Christians don’t or know nothing of them. I appreciate your writing.
On the chance this interests you…
https://aholisticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/first-aid-from-my-apothecary-bumps-bugs-cuts-poison-sun/
No obligation to respond in any way. =)
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That looks like an insightful read!! I’m now doing an energy healing which I call The Superhuman Grounding to ground the 7 chakras and awaken to the above 6!! So good!
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Hello 🙂 you visited my blog back in April – thank you.
Today, I finally dedicated some time to check out your blog. I have found this post both interesting and useful.
Om shanti
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Glad to hear it, YogaCat!
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Thank-you for dropping by my blog. 🙂
I liked this post. I have studied pranic healing and during the course we learned a lot about how chakras function and how you can heal emotional issues and physical diseases by healing the right chakra. I practiced chakra healing for quite sometime and experienced good results. 🙂
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I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I’m wondering if you know about heart based techniques… If you can (through meditation/prayer) activate the heart chakra and feel the energy moving in your hands, is this healing energy? What modality or method might build on this?
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Thank-you, for visiting, That’s good stuff, really easy to understand, and solid, Thanks and Peace J.A.M.
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Reblogged this on MetaRead360 Small Press presents and commented:
Highly recommended…thanks for visiting my blog!
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Thanks!
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Reblogged this on James' World 2.
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Thanks!
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You are most welcome!
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Thank you for stopping by. I absolutely love reading your work and appreciate what you share with all of us!
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Thanks!
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Thanks for liking some of my posts Ellis. The chakras are interesting but a little obscure as a developmental strategy. I think they are something a person may become aware of with development rather than a way forward.
Your post on habits reminded me of a phrase from spiritual teacher Richard Rose that goes:
“You don’t have habits, habits have you”
This is very true
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This is very nicely explained.
Good luck on your journey and with what you are trying to do. I hope your hiatus works well for you.
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Thanks for this succinct and informative post on the chakras as well as the book recommendation. Always looking for the next book on my journey. 🙂 Thanks also for reading my post Heart Swell. Best to you. Cora
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Good post
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First of all, thanks for liking some of my posts on “depressionsgift.com”. I know absouletly nothing about the subject matter of this post but I read it anyway. I’m a Christain but I appreciate learning from many sources and find some of this not that different from what I’ve read in various sections of Scripture.
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Inspirational! Maybe I’ll write a series of blog posts on using the chakras and writing potential…
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Thanks for sharing!
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Reblogged this on Veraiconica's Blog.
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As you know, I work with the chakras and always love to see more people supporting information about them. There are so many different ‘maps’ for working with them, whether from an energy healing, psychological or ‘kundalini-raising’ perspective. They really have levels to them, and we may cycle through ‘lessons’ of sorts on one level, and then return back to that chakra for more ‘lessons’ later in our life. It provides such a wonderful framework for working…
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The subtle energies are attractive and intriguing. Thank you for sharing your delight in them.
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Wonderful review of the Chakras. Thank you.
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Reblogged this on Soul Magnitude.
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Thank you. I had just been thinking if to write or share about some basics about energy healing and if to start with basics of the chakras, and here you are. 🙂 PS. For some reason I don´t receive your posts to my reader although I follow your blog.
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I haven’t had any recent posts so that’s probably why you have received anything. You can sign up for the email alerts on the blog page but I’m taking a break for a while to figure out life…
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Yes, I then noticed that. (Still, the reader has only a few posts sometimes, even if I´ve not been reading any posts for days, but that is not such a big problem.) I´m wishing you a fulfilling break.
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I will definitely be checking out this book. Thanks!
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Mada also has a big launch coming in the fall with a follow-on so I’m looking forward to that!
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I am with Angel Pricer regarding non linear growth. I also really appreciate such an approachable writing style about a complex topic. thank you Ellis for sharing this treasure!
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It is interesting to see the differences in opinions about the chakras. I like hearing (and reading, or course) new insights about them.
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Beautiful blog and a great post! Thank you so much for sharing your words and knowledge. 🙂 Best wishes to you from Berlin!
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wonderful post …thanks for sharing as it got me really motivated to think about spirituality and more …thanks for visiting mine 🙂
Have a lovely day!
Cheers,
Kavita
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Very clear information. I was taught that the first and second housed the opposite energy than is discussed here, first survival, second sexuality. Interesting to consider the switch. Someday I hope to make it to the fourth.
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This is a goody, thank you for sharing…
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What a wonderful post, I found it on a great day–I needed to remember about chakras and me and spiritual development. It’s been some time since I read in this area. Thank you! And thank you for popping in at my blog. PS I love the art I am seeing to my right, as I write this.
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It’s Tantric art that’s in the public domain.
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Adding to my reading list! Question: “Dalian is careful to point out that spiritual development through the chakras is not necessarily a linear one.” Do you mean that she argues one can develop, say, the first two chakras, skip the third, and develop the fourth, etc?
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Yes, that’s my take on it from what I read. And then there’s the issue of what “developing a chakra” means. If we look at it as an alchemical process, we would be circling through the chakras countless times refining our lessons and learning new ones. I don’t know if you can totally skip one but it might have been a while since you last had lessons there.
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Thankyou Ellis for this wonderful enlightening debate about Chakras – indeed the main task is ego dissolving – ego is after all our gravity, each material entity (Earth) has it, and so do we, part of our intrinsic nature – but when you want to ‘soar’ in space it wont do and has to be overcome – also thanks for visiting my post on the great Indian philosopher saint Shankar – i suggest you also go see Surdad’poem on the elephant’s prayer, lotus held up as offering for help from his ego – and also scroll to see other mystic poets, Kabir, Tulsi. Meera, Rai, Sur – all engaged in overcoming the ego and getting to know the divinity within.
I am a follower now!
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Interesting article and comments. I have worked as a Healer for years and of course am familiar with Chakras but by no means an expert. I agree, my version has the Roots Chakra dealing with grounding and physical/material security while the Sacral deals with emotions, sex, warmth, joy in life and being happy in your skin/healthy love of the self.
I rarely came across a client who had a clear Sacral Chakra. Show me someone who has not been touched by life at some stage or another. The first two Chakras certainly rely heavily on each other to function well and clear. If not, the womb, bowel and urinary tract problems can manifest among a host of other problems. If a Chakra goes belly up, the nearest one will try to compensate and may go into overdrive in an attempt to restore balance.
Last year, I had embolization for a large Uterine Fibroid that had grown in the Fundal part of the womb. I have also been afflicted with bowel problems in recent years and undewent a colonoscopy last Friday. Unfortunately, they couldn’t complete the procedure because I woke up out of sedation screaming like a mad woman with pain. Great Fun!
So what has changed in my life in recent years to cause such sudden negative activity in these Chakras? I lost my 11yr old son to cancer at the end of 2007. I had considered myself strong and very bravely dealt with his illness and death. However, I now believe that my Chakras took a terrible hit regardless of how I was outwardly coping. Did I mention that I also developed Ectopic Heart Beats and Arryhthmias in the last few years too? The Heart Chakra!
Yes, I am in and out of hospitals for tests and treatment but I am also attending healers, osteopaths, accupunturists and kineisiologists too. I gave up doing healing on others because I did not feel balanced enough and by then, it was a case of ‘witch heal thyself’. I know my Chakras are trying to recover from the trauma of my past but I thought I had got away with it all. After a Chakra has been damaged, distorted, slowed down or speeded up it can take some time for the fallout to manifest in the physical. By the time it does, we generally haven’t a clue why or where it is coming from.We find it hard to connect our health condition with an incident or trauma from several years ago.
There are some interesting ways in which you can find out which Chakras are dominating at present without having to do bodyscans or use pendulums. By the way, the colours of the Chakras from my knowledge are determined by their speed of vibration and correspond with the colour spectrum. The lower chakras have the densest, warmest energy and are what make up our personality. The Root Chakra is associated with the colour Red and Black. Both very dense colours. As the Chakras move on their vibrations increase and so the colours begin to lighten cool. The Heart Chakra acts as the bridge for all energy. Any spiritual energy coming from the upper chakras must first pass through the heart to become physical and any physical energy must first pass through the heart to become spiritual. This is why you hear healers speak of ‘healing through the heart’.
Great reading all the comments.
Vivien
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I’ve read some people experience the traditional colors associated with the chakras and some have developed their own individual system. As I study different cultures and modalities of healing I’m also struck by how all of them are heart centered. After experiencing this on a personal level, I don’t know why I should be surprised. Vivien-may you be wrapped in light, love, and healing.
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Interesting post. The centres are sometimes referred to in the Sanskrit language as LAYA points. The root for the word LAYA is LI, and carries the sense of ‘absorption’. There are many chakras found in the Etheric counterpart of the physical body. imagine an energy body, composed of countless tiny filaments of light criss-crossing each other at many points. Where the criss-crossing occurs repeatedly, there a major Laya point is formed. It is through these seven major laya points within the Etheric body that our development of consciousness occurs and manifests. When duly activated in course of time and through experience gained, a centre will begin to ‘absorb’ and ‘radiate’ outwardly, particular energies emanating from higher dimensions. The radiation of each laya centre is distinguished by a particular quality of consciousness.
There is much for us all to discover and understand about the true constitution of Man, and it is wonderful that many of us are beginning to explore these topics more seriously and open-mindedly.
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I relate to the chakras as color-energy – light waves of color, each with its own vibration. It’s a sensory doorway into the chakra themes, an approach that works well for me.
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Do you sense the same colors as those traditionally attributed to each chakra? Like the heart chakra is green, the throat is blue, etc?
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beautiful said. the chakra system is so interesting, I love posts like this as it reminds me which chakras I need to work on more
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First of all thanks Ellis for visiting my blog, I feel honored. Secondly I have limited knowledge about the chakras and I thoroughly enjoyed reading in detail. Thanks for the post.
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Do you believe the chakras are a part of the physical body or are they a part of an astral body?
In one of my posts on blog, I argue the chakras are actually in the brain.
Humans like other mammals necessarily have concentrations of nerve fibers at various point critical to survivability and life: the eyes and ears, the throat for swallowing and communicating via sounds or words, the heart, the diaphragm, the stomach and intestines, the genitals, and the anus. These locations are mostly the same locations as those identified for the chakras. It follows then that the brain would have neurological structures or complexes devoted to processing these the nerve impulses from these centers. These complexes would consume a fair amount of the brain’s energy.
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I’m by no means an expert on chakras or kundalini. Nor am I a materialist. I don’t feel there has to be a concrete physicality to energy. I don’t accept the mind as being confined to the chemical/electrical activities of the brain. I think that’s an outmoded paradigm.
You might want to take a look at The Subtle Body- An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy by Cyndi Dale. See p. 247 for work by Dr Valerie Hunt at UCLA who has detected radiation at the chakra sites and p 249 for work by Dr Hiroshi Montoyama. For cross-cultural comparisons dealing with kundalini energy take a look at Shaking Medicine by Bradford Keeney.
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Just wanted to thank you for the book recommendation The Subtle Body- An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy by Cyndi Dale . . .just bought it. Been looking at it for days but finally tempted
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It’s not one of those books I can read cover to cover, but a great reference when you want to learn more about something. I consult it a lot.
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Thanks. I will check the books.
Just because I say they are in the brain doesn’t mean, however, that mind is necessarily confined to the brain. I think body and mind, maybe even matter and mind, are much more entangled
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Nice to hear.
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Always lovely to read about chakras. The first and second chakra are very surprising, though, completely opposite to what I have read…
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Yeah- I’ve seen the root chakra described more as grounding, related to family/clan and the second as sexual. Dalian defines them the other way round but says they are closely linked and share back and forth.
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I agree. The author has switched chakras 1 and 2. I wonder why. –Aggie
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I’ll have to check my library for those. Thanks!
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The library has The Essential Gigong Training Course by Ken Cohen on DVD. That might be good. 9 hours on healing.
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It’s a wonderful course! He also has an entire box set of DVDs, audio CDs and a book on Qi Gong healing. He does talk about The Microcosmic Orbit as well as a Chakra meditation. And The One Finger Zen is a beautiful standing meditation.
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It’s so good to hear the emphasis on non-linear growth. We’re all growing in our own ways and, even though there may be the temptation to see ourselves as “further ahead” than another, it’s all relative to our own trajectory. It’s also quite lovely to notice how one ‘system’ (chakras) dovetails into and compliments another (qi gong).
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Yes, that’s why I mentioned Qi Gong. So many of these systems blend, merge and flow into each other, including Native American shamanism.
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Reblogged this on Journey to zen.
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Great post. Very informative.
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I definitely agree that chakra development is not always linear. Practising Reiki has enhanced my crown chakra but I still have issues with my heart chakra.
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I hear you. I’m firmly working in one chakra but have active lessons in the one below and the pull of the one on top.
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These Chakras also are in harmony with the points along the Microcosmic Orbit in Qi Gong and even the interpretations of each is very similar. In Qi Gong, there are corresponding points along the front of the body (Ren or Conception Vessel, which is Yin) and the back (Du or Governing Vessel which is Yang).
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Interesting. I’m waiting on a book at the library about Qi Gong and healing.
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Do you remember the book? Two very good ones are Ken Cohen’s “Way of Qi Gong” and Daniel Reid’s, the name of which escapes me right now.
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