Awakening the Chakras-The Seven Energy Centers in Your Daily Life

By understanding the chakras. you can better understand the ways you interact with the world around you and the energetic roots of your inner being. Offering an in-depth guide to this powerful ancient yogic science authors Victor Daniels. Kooch N. Daniels and Pieter Weitevrede-all alongtime students of the late tantric scholar philosopher and temple artist Sri Harish Johari-explain the essence of each of the 7 chakras and provide practical tools to work with these energetic "wheels of light."

Revealing how each chakra is connected with specific patterns of thinking feeling sensing and acting. the authors explore how the chakras offer a vertical map of consciousness beginning with the root chakra at the base of the spine and ascending to the crown chakra on top of the head. They provide dynamic meditations, mantras and other methods to work with the chakras. You will learn how to enhance each chakra's positive features and transform the difficult ones. Coauthor Pieter Weltevrede provides visual portrayals of traditional images of the chakras and their deities explaining the spiritual secrets embedded in each. Sharing profound insights from their studies with Harish johari the authors also include chakra wisdom from other gurus they have studied with, such as Guruji Pilot Baba and Mataji Narmada Puri.

Offering practical wisdom for help in daily life and freedom from the tethers of your past. chakra work provides a powerful way to hear your inner self more deeply and a systematic path for activating higher levels of consciousness.

Victor Danielsreceived his Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA and taught for more than 40 years at Sonama State University. He is the Caughtor with Koonch Daniels of Matrix Meditations and other Books.

Kooch N. Daniels has a master’s degree in psychology from Sonama state University. The Daniels Studied for more than two decades with spiritual teacher harish Johari as well as with SriAmritanadamayi. They live in Bodega. California Pieter Weltevrede is a painter recognized as the artistic protégé of tantric scholar and artsist Harish Johar, his teacher for more than 20 years.

In our travels along spiritual paths, it was a blessing to meet Sri Harish Johari, who introduced us to the chakra system. Dada, as his students called him, spent at least several weeks, and sometimes even months, of each year teaching in Europe and America before he left this mortal realm in 1999. When he traveled, he always carried a bag of gems that he sold along the way to help his students and pay for his journey. The Hindi name Johari means "jeweler" or "gemologist:' just as the name Carpenter in English-speaking countries refers to those whose family history was lived out in the woodworking trade. Even though his family was not from a tradition of jewelers (they were rulers), he took his name seriously and became a knower of gems.

The most valuable jewels Johari carried were the gems of wisdom that he scattered among those who opened their hearts and minds to his teachings. He was a jnana yogi (a spiritual philosopher), a sculptor and painter, and a temple artist. He had deep knowledge of Vedic and Hindu teachings, ayurvedic (traditional Indian medicine) healing methods, and the philosophical traditions of India. He lived those wisdoms by example and sublime integrity in his daily life.

He was also a first-class cook. Rather than subject himself to the cooking of those with less knowledge of the healing properties of food and spices than his own, he spent a good deal of time in the kitchen, creating savory ayurvedic dishes (when he wasn't fasting). Before he ate with others, he always ensured that they were served first.

With unsurpassed charm, he shared soulful talks about various threads of yogic or tantric philosophy. As he did, followers and visitors would almost be transported to the realms of the mystic gurus, sadbus, risbis, and others whose knowledge he seamlessly stitched together," Besides the gems, the philosophy, and the cooking, he created sacred art depicting Indian mythology and philosophy. Each of his canvases and murals tells a story that waits patiently to be seen by all who are ready to receive it. One of the authors of this book, Pieter Weltevrede, was his principal art student, and Pieter's illustrations in these pages replicate the symbolic form of chakra wisdom taught by Johari.

The foundation for this work comes from Johari's thinking, writing, and his many discourses in Europe and America. After years of discussing the gems of knowledge he had left behind after his death, the authors came together to work on this project.

Even though Pieter spends part of every year in India, living and teaching at the Johari house and gathering insights from his long association with diverse gurus, not until 200 1 did Victor and Kooch take advantage of an opportunity to spend time with Pieter in the world's largest spiritual festival, the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, where millions of pilgrims assembled. Together with uncounted others, they plunged into the cool waters of the Ganges on one of the most auspicious bathing days, which is said to wash away all sins incurred up to that point.

But since that experience was many moons ago, this writing project meant that it was time for them to return to India to seek out teachers and more knowledge about relevant sacred pathways to the inner self. And surely it would be valuable to revisit some of the ashrams and temples, fields, and forests that formed the cauldron of transformational experiences out of which the chakra system was born.

"Terms that may be unfamiliar to the reader, such as sadhu or rishi, are defined in the glossary at the end of the book.

When Victor and Kooch arrived back in India, they made their way to the Johari house in Haridwar, where they stayed with Harish's daughter Seema and her family. Seema herself is an important influence in this book, although quietly in the background. She offered food for the body and soul, never-ending cups of chai, and shared valuable insights into her culture and the time-honored traditions of her father and family. From the roof of her house one can look down on a branch of the great river Ganges that flows by just a few hundred feet away. Harish's granddaughter Anushree Agarwal helped in a multitude of ways, taking us places we would not otherwise have gone or known how to get to, and offering valuable information when we needed it. We also thank Seema's husband, Abhai Kumar, who helped facilitate our stay at their family home, took us to his wonderful rose farm and rosewater distillery in the countryside, and introduced us to his neighbors there whose farm allowed us to see what rural life in India was like perhaps hundreds or even thou- sands of years ago.

The day after returning from a side trip farther north to Rishikesh, Victor and Kooch had the good fortune to be in Haridwar at the same time as guruji Pilot Baba, who was at his ashram for just four days before needing to leave for Delhi. He had been a friend of Harish Johari, and the authors had met him in Europe, California, and Allahabad in the years after Johari passed on. He had been trained as a scientist and had a master's degree in organic chemistry; then from 1957 to 1972 was a pilot in the Indian Air Force, decorated for extraordinary feats of bra very. He became a pilot of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's plane, India's equivalent of Air Force One. As Buddha taught, one of Pilot Baba's central attitudes is to test every belief and everything told to you against your own personal experience, and accept only what proves true for you. When he left the Air Force, he felt called to go into the Himalayas on foot, and spent sixteen years studying with the most accomplished swamis, yogis, and other spiritual teachers he could find. What a transition!

Since he was trained as a scientist before he became a pilot and later one of the world's most accomplished public yogis, he thinks critically and creatively about matters that many people take for granted and do not question. With this outlook of encouraging people to actually think for themselves rather than accept others' opinions, he was a perfect person to interview about the chakras. Numerous quota- tions and paraphrases of his comments found in these pages are taken from our discussions with him during three days of sitting and listening to his personal dialogues.

When we talk about chakras, we talk about everything. HARISH JOHARI Why are you holding this book in your hands? Perhaps you think it will help you make personal changes you desire, or deepen your understanding of yourself and others. You may hope to awaken dormant potentials or discover what can make your life more than it is.

These are ancient as well as modern goals. Eons ago, in the dimly remembered beginnings of orally transmitted history, various people aspired to raise their consciousness. One outcome of their efforts was a set of answers that has been passed through the ages: the chakra system. As they sought to live a sacred life, some ancient philosophers found that wholehearted work with the chakras can light the path of awakening. They recognized that observing and meditating on your chakras can help you know your inner self, ignite latent abilities, and create fulfillment of and beyond worldly desires.

The chakra system, a vertical map of consciousness superimposed on points along the spine, underlies many yogic practices. Its study can help a student, or a sadhu or you, to tread a path that leads to lasting happiness and a connection with the universal spirit of creation.

WHAT ARE THE CHAKRAS?

Just when and where the chakra system originated may never be known. Its oldest written records date from a thousand-year period of forest-dwelling rishis' teachings, as chronicled in the Kundalini Upanishad:' Whatever its origins and age, knowledge of the chakra system has been passed down through generations by sage after sage. Sri Harish Johari openly transmitted its essence to Western culture. His classic work Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation is one of the most valuable resources on this subject.' Johari taught that the chakra system is a representation of creation from top to bottom, from the highest to the lowest qualities of consciousness.

The Sanskrit word chakra means "wheel of light." Each chakra has a dominant function or quality and several secondary qualities. Expressively portrayed as vortices of swirling energy, each chakra is connected with specific patterns and potentials of thinking, feeling, sensing, and acting. Each one is aligned with a different consecutive point on the spine, with the first (root) chakra at the base of the spine and the seventh (crown) chakra at the top of the head.

See an overview in the table "The Seven Chakras in Brief" on the opposite page.

**Contents and Sample Pages**