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Published by Inner Traditions
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
The first guide to working with microchakras, the channels within each of the 7 major chakras
• Identifies 147 microchakras that affect our spiritual evolution and daily well-being
• Introduces the new field of Microchakra Psychology and its practical component of InnerTuning, the use of precise sacred sounds that release energy blockages within the chakras
Each of the traditional 7 chakras contains 21 microchakras, which enable the chakras to process information related to our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. When the energy flowing in the chakras is blocked, our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being is compromised. Through the unique practice of InnerTuning--a system of precise, potent sounds and mantras--blockages in the microchakras can be released so the subtle body can become realigned and physical and mental health can be restored.
Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar developed the InnerTuning technique from his early work with breath and sacred sounds, which began at age 12 with his guru in India. In 1967 his discovery of the 147 microchakras inspired his creation of Microchakra Psychology, a blend of ancient wisdom and contemporary psychology that explains the workings of the subtle body and how openings or blockages in the chakras can either encourage or sabotage psychological health and spiritual development. In this book, Shyamji describes methods for optimizing energy flow in the microchakras using the practice of InnerTuning in order to enhance one’s well-being and promote spiritual growth through the power of sound, breath, and the divine energy that resides within us all.
• Identifies 147 microchakras that affect our spiritual evolution and daily well-being
• Introduces the new field of Microchakra Psychology and its practical component of InnerTuning, the use of precise sacred sounds that release energy blockages within the chakras
Each of the traditional 7 chakras contains 21 microchakras, which enable the chakras to process information related to our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. When the energy flowing in the chakras is blocked, our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being is compromised. Through the unique practice of InnerTuning--a system of precise, potent sounds and mantras--blockages in the microchakras can be released so the subtle body can become realigned and physical and mental health can be restored.
Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar developed the InnerTuning technique from his early work with breath and sacred sounds, which began at age 12 with his guru in India. In 1967 his discovery of the 147 microchakras inspired his creation of Microchakra Psychology, a blend of ancient wisdom and contemporary psychology that explains the workings of the subtle body and how openings or blockages in the chakras can either encourage or sabotage psychological health and spiritual development. In this book, Shyamji describes methods for optimizing energy flow in the microchakras using the practice of InnerTuning in order to enhance one’s well-being and promote spiritual growth through the power of sound, breath, and the divine energy that resides within us all.
Excerpt
Chapter 3
Fundamentals of Microchakra Psychology
Microchakra Basics
The intersection of a chakra with the right channel (vajrene) segments it into seven microchakras. In a similar way, segmentation of a chakra into seven microchakras occurs in the left channel (chetrnee) and in the central channel (Sheva naadee).
Hence each chakra may be divided into twenty-one microchakras. The seven major chakra-s together contain 147 microchakras--49 microchakras in each channel. The fundamentals of Microchakra Psychology described in this book are primarily built upon the microchakras of the right and left channels with some reference to those in the central channel.
Table 3.1. Dominant Trait of each Chakra
Seventh Chakra (beyond guna-s) contentment
Sixth Chakra (guna-s) intuition
Fifth Chakra (aakaasha) creativity
Fourth Chakra (air) feeling
Third Chakra (fire) assertiveness
Second Chakra (water) fluidity
First Chakra (earth) stability
Definition of an Opening and a Block
Chakra-s and microchakras are located in the feeling body and are functioning perfectly at all times. It is the access to the microchakra that becomes blocked in the physical body. Calling a microchakra “blocked” is only a manner of speaking, like saying, “The sun is rising.” It would be more accurate, albeit cumbersome, to say that the physical pathway to the microchakra is blocked.
A microchakra is open when all seven rays of the solar spectrum pervade that microchakra. It is designated as blocked when all seven rays are absent. This is true in all three channels.
Blockage may commence at any level--from organ to molecule. It proceeds to the quantum interface between the physical and subtle fields. Microchakra Psychology represents degrees of opening on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (blocked or minimal vibration) to 7 (completely open or maximum vibration).
Formation of Openings and Blocks
At conception the right and left channels are completely blank--a tabula rasa.
The Fetus
Some blocks may develop during the fetal stage if the mother experiences any of the following while carrying the child:
1. Various types of physical injury or infections
2. A poor diet
3. Use of certain drugs or inhalants
4. Sexual intercourse during the late stage of pregnancy
Birth
At birth, all of the microchakras are in a neutral state (neither opened nor blocked) with two exceptions:
1. The microchakras that have become blocked during pregnancy
2. In the fifth, sixth, and seventh chakra-s most microchakras in the left channel
are open
This is why some very young children may show amazing intuition and openness to all life. These natural assets usually disappear by puberty, as most cultures do not provide an environment necessary to maintain the required openings.
The Right Channel
All fetuses have solar energy in the cerebral cortex. When the baby is ready, the mother’s contractions massage baby’s head and the energy begins its gradual descent in the right channel from the top of the seventh chakra to the bottom of the first chakra. In girls, this process requires three years; in boys it takes three and one-half years. The downward descent of energy in the right channel is a perilous journey. The human child during this time is quite helpless. It is dependent upon the wisdom and love of the adults who are caring for it--usually the parents, particularly the mother. If the care is optimum, all microchakras in the right channel will be opened and the arrival of the total spectrum of light in the first chakra can be represented by the elephant with a trunk of seven rainbow colors.
Unfortunately, optimum care is the exception and not the rule. Many child-rearing practices are blemished, usually through ignorance of the subtle energies. The result is impaired flow of energy in various microchakras. These blocked microchakras of the right channel form obstacles to ego refinement and are part of the karmic package with which the individual must cope. Once a block is made in a right-channel microchakra there is no known way to remove it or open it to any degree. That is why the first three or three and one-half years are a critical period, which require the utmost attention to the needs of the child.
Though a right-channel block cannot be removed, the effect that it has can be greatly mitigated by using the mind and InnnerTuning practices to open the corresponding microchakra in the left channel. Energy ascending in microchakras of the left channel will compensate significantly for the blocks of the right channel. Other issues surrounding right-channel blocks will be discussed below.
The Left Channel
Beginning in the second half of the first chakra age, right-channel development is complete (all openings and blocks have been established). When the hot solar energy reaches the bottom of the right channel, it is cooled by the earth element in the first chakra and converted to lunar energy. This lunar energy then ascends in the left channel toward the “third eye” and crosses over to its ultimate destination in the right hemisphere of the brain. The greater the degree of opening at the base of the right and left channels, the more copious will be the flow of energy up the left channel.
Openings and blocks may form in the left channel at any time in life. Their formation is a consequence of life experiences and determined by psychospiritual practices (saadhanaa).
Fundamentals of Microchakra Psychology
Microchakra Basics
The intersection of a chakra with the right channel (vajrene) segments it into seven microchakras. In a similar way, segmentation of a chakra into seven microchakras occurs in the left channel (chetrnee) and in the central channel (Sheva naadee).
Hence each chakra may be divided into twenty-one microchakras. The seven major chakra-s together contain 147 microchakras--49 microchakras in each channel. The fundamentals of Microchakra Psychology described in this book are primarily built upon the microchakras of the right and left channels with some reference to those in the central channel.
Table 3.1. Dominant Trait of each Chakra
Seventh Chakra (beyond guna-s) contentment
Sixth Chakra (guna-s) intuition
Fifth Chakra (aakaasha) creativity
Fourth Chakra (air) feeling
Third Chakra (fire) assertiveness
Second Chakra (water) fluidity
First Chakra (earth) stability
Definition of an Opening and a Block
Chakra-s and microchakras are located in the feeling body and are functioning perfectly at all times. It is the access to the microchakra that becomes blocked in the physical body. Calling a microchakra “blocked” is only a manner of speaking, like saying, “The sun is rising.” It would be more accurate, albeit cumbersome, to say that the physical pathway to the microchakra is blocked.
A microchakra is open when all seven rays of the solar spectrum pervade that microchakra. It is designated as blocked when all seven rays are absent. This is true in all three channels.
Blockage may commence at any level--from organ to molecule. It proceeds to the quantum interface between the physical and subtle fields. Microchakra Psychology represents degrees of opening on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (blocked or minimal vibration) to 7 (completely open or maximum vibration).
Formation of Openings and Blocks
At conception the right and left channels are completely blank--a tabula rasa.
The Fetus
Some blocks may develop during the fetal stage if the mother experiences any of the following while carrying the child:
1. Various types of physical injury or infections
2. A poor diet
3. Use of certain drugs or inhalants
4. Sexual intercourse during the late stage of pregnancy
Birth
At birth, all of the microchakras are in a neutral state (neither opened nor blocked) with two exceptions:
1. The microchakras that have become blocked during pregnancy
2. In the fifth, sixth, and seventh chakra-s most microchakras in the left channel
are open
This is why some very young children may show amazing intuition and openness to all life. These natural assets usually disappear by puberty, as most cultures do not provide an environment necessary to maintain the required openings.
The Right Channel
All fetuses have solar energy in the cerebral cortex. When the baby is ready, the mother’s contractions massage baby’s head and the energy begins its gradual descent in the right channel from the top of the seventh chakra to the bottom of the first chakra. In girls, this process requires three years; in boys it takes three and one-half years. The downward descent of energy in the right channel is a perilous journey. The human child during this time is quite helpless. It is dependent upon the wisdom and love of the adults who are caring for it--usually the parents, particularly the mother. If the care is optimum, all microchakras in the right channel will be opened and the arrival of the total spectrum of light in the first chakra can be represented by the elephant with a trunk of seven rainbow colors.
Unfortunately, optimum care is the exception and not the rule. Many child-rearing practices are blemished, usually through ignorance of the subtle energies. The result is impaired flow of energy in various microchakras. These blocked microchakras of the right channel form obstacles to ego refinement and are part of the karmic package with which the individual must cope. Once a block is made in a right-channel microchakra there is no known way to remove it or open it to any degree. That is why the first three or three and one-half years are a critical period, which require the utmost attention to the needs of the child.
Though a right-channel block cannot be removed, the effect that it has can be greatly mitigated by using the mind and InnnerTuning practices to open the corresponding microchakra in the left channel. Energy ascending in microchakras of the left channel will compensate significantly for the blocks of the right channel. Other issues surrounding right-channel blocks will be discussed below.
The Left Channel
Beginning in the second half of the first chakra age, right-channel development is complete (all openings and blocks have been established). When the hot solar energy reaches the bottom of the right channel, it is cooled by the earth element in the first chakra and converted to lunar energy. This lunar energy then ascends in the left channel toward the “third eye” and crosses over to its ultimate destination in the right hemisphere of the brain. The greater the degree of opening at the base of the right and left channels, the more copious will be the flow of energy up the left channel.
Openings and blocks may form in the left channel at any time in life. Their formation is a consequence of life experiences and determined by psychospiritual practices (saadhanaa).
Product Details
- Publisher: Inner Traditions (July 13, 2009)
- Length: 388 pages
- ISBN13: 9781594779244
Raves and Reviews
“More than forty years ago Shyamji Bhatnagar, a then unknown meditation master, brought the concept of ‘chakra psychology’ to the West. Since that time, more than any other person, he has expanded on the understanding that the energies of our bodies are either in balance or out of balance. I have personally met more than one hundred people who have overcome deep depressions and hyperanxiety and uplifted their spirits all through Shyamji’s teachings. Microchakras rises above all the faux material on chakras and is the definitive work for those wishing to use InnerTuning to bring balance back into their body. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
– Gary Null, coauthor of The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing and award-winning talk radio hos
“A remarkable book that could not be more timely. The exercises the authors prescribe for InnerTuning are based on the paradigm that the basic stuff of the universe is sound; readers are taught how to use their reason, feelings, and intuition to attune themselves with this sound. Microchakras will arouse controversy, transform lives, and may help to heal the torn cultures of our era. Its goal is nothing less than spiritual transformation, not only of the reader but also of a species that has become increasingly endangered.”
– Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., coauthor of Personal Mythology
“This beautifully detailed and fascinating book describes ancient Indian yoga teachings that use subtle sound and breath to energize and purify the chakras within the chakras. The authors are to be congratulated for bringing this rare tradition of tantra and mantra yoga into Western psychology and psychophysical healing.”
– Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., author of The Unfolding Self and Professor Emeritus, California Institute of I
“It is extremely rare to find a vast new body of understanding that is so respectfully and logically embedded within ancient yogic science. Microchakras expands our view of the classical chakras by describing in great detail the effects they have on each other, opening or blocking particular spiritual potential. It provides a striking insight into their relationship to sound, breath, purification, meditation, early childhood experiences, and a lot more. Whether you want to help others or yourself on the spiritual path, this monumental legacy promises greatly enhanced efficiency.”
– Peter Marchand, author of Yoga of Truth
"Any library strong in consciousness research will find this packed with extensive coverage of actions that create or open blocks."
– The Midwest Book Review, Oct 2009
". . . overall, if you are ready to take your study of chakras to the next level, this hefty tome will provide hours of study and enlightenment."
– Whole Life Times, June/July 2010
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