Meditation, Chakras, and the Journey to the Center
By Kavita Chandran
There are very few books that quantify the spiritual body in a scientific manner. That’s what is exceptional about Daaji’s book, Spiritual Anatomy. By doing so, he has allowed the readers to delve deeper into understanding the Soul and what it means to be “spiritual within”.
Written in a simple, scientific and structured way with a plethora of anecdotes that can be applied to the modern world, the author Daaji, aka Kamlesh Desaibhai Patel, spiritual leader of the Heartfulness Organization and fourth in line to the raja yoga tradition, has explained in detail, often with illustrations, a system inside our body that’s beyond our physical and mental state. This third system, which he refers to as spiritual anatomy, comprises of the centers of spiritual energy – the chakras – which propel our consciousness and enable the life force to flow, keeping us spiritually alive.
“When we neglect our spiritual growth, we miss the chance to realize our full potential,” writes Daaji in a chapter that explores one’s true potential. “You may not realize it now, imagining that the opportunity will always be there for you. But I would compare it to the feeling of watching the train pull away just as you arrive on the platform, or missing your flight even after you’ve run through the terminal to make it. You were nearly there.”
Just as scientists use a periodic table to quantify the building blocks of the material world, Daaji breaks down the spiritual anatomy into the Soul and its components: the chakras, koshas and subtle bodies. And then he takes each component, explains their properties and delves into the techniques to blossom them and evolve our consciousness.
“Our body benefits when we work on the arms, legs, chest and core muscles. Similarly, consciousness is a beneficiary of the work done on the systems of the Soul,” writes Daaji in the book, emphasizing that a spiritual practice doesn’t necessarily eliminate day-to-day problems, but it gives us the courage and endurance to accept and deal with them with equanimity. “The secret is finding a practice that integrates seamlessly into your daily life.”
The inspiration to write the book came to the author in 2016 when he was in New Jersey conducting meditation workshops. Six years later, the book became a collection of spiritual research on the Soul and its hallmark quality – peace. “In this peace, you begin the journey to return to a state of inner balance, order, and harmony,” writes Daaji.
The book is a guide for meditation practitioners of all levels as it is broken into segments: Read and Enjoy; Do and Feel; and Meditate and Transcend, the last section is an effort that fills more than half the book’s pages.
Well crafted, the author has intended to prepare the reader for the third section by first introducing them to mindful learnings on emotional conditioning, demystifying of chakras and heartfulness meditation. He then takes us through a journey of the heart and the mind, explaining various chakras in detail, helping us transcend into the inner workings of the spirit and its mystical anatomy. The book is interactive, with questionnaires, tips and suggested practices for readers. Beautifully broken into parts, knowledgeable and easy to comprehend, this book truly seems like a perfect candidate to be taught in a wellness course.
