By Arnold Keyserling

These energy centers have been referred to in the East for thousands of years as the "chakras". Chakra is a Sanskrit word which means 'vortex of energy'." 
 

Self observation confirms the traditional esoteric knowledge of all cultures that there are seven layers of human energy - seven Chakras. Three additional "higher" energy centers are also known, but will not be discussed in any detail here. The three "higher chakras" do not exist as personal energies, but only as impersonal historical forces. Readers interested in this should refer to Chance and Choice, Laws of Wisdom, as well as the first volume in the School of Wisdom series, New Age Visions.

The seven different energies correspond with the seven realms and functions of consciousness, their organic points of gravity, and seven areas of potential:

1. Sensing. Sensation relates to the data of the senses: colors, smells, tastes, sounds and tones, and observation of the sense of touch. The point of gravity is in the organs of generation and excretion. It is the base of all energies and is present in most people as sexual energy. Its basic potential is for creative imagination, revelations. Its vocation - how it's applied in society - is that of a "Worker" who has confidence, trust, intuition and the ability to heal. This energy feels like a force emitted from your self in order to do something. Its direction is the East and it partakes of the "Power of Fire".

2. Thinking. Breathing relates to Thinking. Its point of gravity is, however, found near the sacrum at the tip of the spine, which is also the point of gravity of bodily movement. All thinking is based on language which is heard through the vibrations of air. Its basic potential is to discern and affirm the differences and the similarities between all things. Its vocation is that of a "Designer" who adapts and conceives new things, including a unique style of life and a creative understanding. This energy feels like experiencing movement from out of the center. Its direction is the West and its Power is the Minerals.

3. Feeling. The function of Feeling has as its contents the impulses. The point of gravity lies in nourishment, in the digestion and de-posination metabolism. Its basic potential is for creativity and inner growth in the synthesis of new forms of understanding and learning. Its vocation is that of the "Helper" who heals through understanding, personal growth and cognition of the underlying archetypes. This energy feels like awakening. Its direction is the South and its Power is the Plants and water.

4. Willing. The Willing function is tied to the heart. It pertains to attention, concentration, acting and deciding. Its potential is self affirmation, finding your unique "medicine", in the Native American sense, that puts the Ego into a healthy, positive relationship with the greater Self. Its vocation is that of the "Leader", with affirmative energies, strategies and imagination. This energy feels like finding your role. Its direction is North and its Power is the Animals and nature. The contents of Thinking, Feeling and Sensing are conscious. Willing puts them together in time, through yes-no action or inaction of some kind. Their continuity, their putting together, changes the data of the functions into data of consciousness ordered in the three realms: Body - Soul - Spirit.

5. Body. The Body continuity, steered by the genetic code, has its point of gravity in the spinal cord and in the central nervous system which is activated from the brain stem and cerebellum just above the neck. This is the basis of material experience; movement activities are stored in the memory so that the force of attention can remain free. Its potential is to start new things and become more human, responsible and discerning. Its vocation is the "Friend," who assists in projects and helps others to see the world and themselves more clearly. This energy feels like becoming an expression. Its direction is the Center and its Power is the Sacred Earth.

6. Soul. The continuity of the Soul, which puts Man into family in its farthest sense by endogen engrams, conditioned and unconditioned reflexes, has its point of gravity in the limbic system. There all personal relations and memories, as well as those of Mankind and our whole evolution, are stored and unite Humanity with the animal realm. The potential is to heal and to synthesize opposing forces into a larger whole through communication and discussion. Its vocation is the "Teacher" who helps set priorities and values, and who has strong communication skills. This energy feels like partaking of an abundance. Its direction is the Southeast and Power is the Ancestors.

7. Spirit. The highest Spirit field of the cerebrum or neocortex with its two hemispheres shows the capacity of mental representation of knowledge in its largest meaning - from language to opinion and world conception. Its basic potential is for responsiveness, to take the lead in reacting to the environment. Its vocation is the "Facilitator" who takes action, questions, cajoles, even fights, so that everyone can find their unique potential and resolve conflicts. This energy feels like becoming aware of the physical totality. Its direction is Southwest and Power is the Nature Spirits.

Summary of Knowledge of the Seven Energy Centers

7. Spirit - Knowledge - Cerebrum - Responsibility

6. Soul - Instinctual - Cerebellum and Limbic System - Healing

5. Body - Conditioned - Spinal Cord - Initiative

4. Willing - Attention - Blood Circulation - Essence/AWARENESS

3. Feeling - Impulses - Metabolism - Creativity

2. Thinking - Language - Breathing - Discernment

1. Sensing - Sense Data - Sex & Excretion - Imagination

Each of these points of gravity corresponds to one of the centers of vibration of the human energy field and is activated in a certain way. All function at once, but consciousness can only refer to one or another. This can be understood by means of the flageolet tone: in a vibrating string, not only the first tone, but a whole series of harmonics resound according to the law of whole numbers. If the vibration is regular, after the first impulse the vibration returns from the ends of the string and forms vibration nodes. This can be visualized in an example. If you take a circular pond and throw a stone into the middle, the point of impact will dive in and up. From this waves go out to the periphery, they reflect back, and where they meet the newly emerging waves there will be a proliferation of water, a node.

If you touch a vibrating string at one of these places you will hear only the corresponding partial tone as a flageolet tone (on the guitar there are points to mark these places) and the other overtones will remain silent. Through the flageolet tone every overtone can be taken as a single tone. The same vibratory phenomenon causes consciousness to alternate attention. But with consciousness the correspondences are reversed. The energy emanates from the nodes, the chakra points. Also, in music and acoustics the seventh overtone is out of intervallic continuity with the others - sounds out of tune - in bioplasma the reverse is true. The seventh harmonic is in tune with our consciousness and the bio-energies that go with it.

Our energies are tuned to the seventh, even though our ears are not. The difference arises from the fact that bioplasma is not made up of material vibrations, but of energetical vibrations which keep bodies together, move them, and make them ripe for functions. The pulsating bioplasmic energy is unlike a string which has a potentially infinite number of vibrations. The bioplasmic field has exactly seven points of gravity or vortices of energy and should be steered from those. These seven energy centers exist along the spinal cord.

The existence of these micro-vibrations was well known to the ancient traditions. The Chinese found their points of gravity and their relation to medicine in acupuncture, an art of healing which can prognosticate illnesses out of the disturbances of the relation between Yin and Yang bio-energies. These energy centers have been referred to in the East for thousands of years as the "chakras". Chakra is a Sanskrit word which means "vortex of energy".

European scientists have tried to identify the chakras with endocrine glands or with different nerve plexus. But Chakras are a completely different kind of energy. They are wave fields without particles; pure potential with no content. They are like the other side of Black Holes where the energy is streaming out, not in.

They can be initially located and identified as void spaces, pure energy fields. Cosmic energy of immeasurable power, called by the Indians "Prana" and by the Chinese "Chi", can flow through the chakras. Technically speaking the chakras are the fields through which the energies flow, not the cosmic energies themselves. They are like doors and the PrimaSounds can rattle them open a crack.

PrimaSounds work by using resonance and attention in the element of Energy. Our center of attention normally exists in another element, in Consciousness. (There are four fundamental elements or fundamental principles: Matter, Energy, Consciousness and Self Organization. This is explained in detail in Chance and Choice.) As shown before, Consciousness has seven basic components: the four functions - Sensing, Thinking, Feeling and Willing; and the three realms - Body, Soul and Spirit. The diagram below shows the natural relationships between the seven structures of consciousness on the left side.

The seven have a natural internal relationship whereby Sensing corresponds with Body, Thinking with Soul, and Feeling with Spirit. Willing stands on its own in the center, connected with Attention and Awareness which is outside of consciousness. For example, the senses are sharpest when perceiving the physical world, as opposed to sensing other people (soul) or an idea (spirit). Conversely the Body is most directly apprehended by sensing. Thinking is most acute when in dialogue with other people, as opposed to pure abstract thinking. Conversely the Soul is understood best by thinking. Feeling, and its twin sister imagination, are at home in the Spirit, where free reign is given to it. Feeling in the body or soul is more limited and often negative. Conversely the Spirit is most easily accessed by the Feelings. Thinking about the Spirit frequently leads to erudite nonsense. Spirit must first be felt before it can be seen or put into words.

When these seven components are moved from the scale of Consciousness to the scale of Energy, there is a fractal variation in the internal alignment. In the world of Energy where Prima Sounds vibrate in accord with the seven energy centers, or chakras, there is a new alignment of the original seven. Now Sensing corresponds with Soul, not Body, and Thinking corresponds with Spirit, not Soul. Feeling now acts on Body, instead of Spirit, with Willing remaining the same, in the center related to Awareness, the dynamic Nothingness outside of and underlying the seven. As a consequence of this fractal variation PrimaSounds should be listened to by Feeling the effects of the vibrations on the body, Sensing the energy of soul stimulation, and Thinking of the Spirit, of abstract ideas or no-thinking. This realignment is shown in the chart below with the connecting lines on the right side.

The seven human energy centers (4 + 3 = 7) also correspond to the seven essential criteria of language comprehension. They combine as four temporal functions and three spatial realms - four times three (4 * 3 = 12) - to create the basic twelvefold structure of The WHEEL. It is shown below in two dimensional form. The twelve basic categories of the Wheel created by the combination of the three realms and four functions are:

1. Soul-Willing

2. Body-Sensing

3. Spirit-Thinking

4. Soul-Feeling

5. Body-Willing

6. Spirit-Sensing

7. Soul-Thinking

8. Body-Feeling

9. Spirit-Willing

10. Soul-Sensing

11. Body-Thinking

12. Spirit-Feeling.

As is shown in Chance and Choice, The Wheel is the summation symbol of my philosophy. It reflects the structure of number, language, and the mind. With The Wheel we can make sense of the many seemingly contradictory elements of the Human experience and attain coherence in the midst of chaos. The Wheel shown below is the latest version of a universal archetype which has appeared in virtually all cultures throughout history.