CHAKRA

also spelled Cakra, Sanskrit Cakra (wheel), any of a number of psychic-energy centres of the body, prominent in the occult physiological practices of certain forms of Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. The chakras are conceived of as focal points where psychic forces and bodily functions merge with and interact with each other. Among the supposed 88,000 chakras in the human body, six major ones located roughly along the spinal cord and another one located just above the crown of the skull are of principal importance. Each of these seven major chakras (in Buddhism, four) is associated with a specific colour, shape, sense organ, natural element, deity, and mantra (monosyllabic prayer formula). The most important of these are the lowest chakra (muladhara), located at the base of the spine, and the highest (sahasrara), at the top of the head. The muladhara encircles a mysterious divine potency (kundalini) that the individual attempts, by Yogic techniques, to raise from chakra to chakra until it reaches the sahasrara and self-illumination results. See also kundalini.