Chart of the Plexuses or Chakras

Wherever several nerves, arteries or veins interlace each other, that point or center is called a plexus.

Similarly, there are plexus or centres of vital forces in the Suksham or subtle nadis and these are called chakras or padmas. The nadis are the astral tubes made up of astral matter, and serve as passages for subtle pranas through which they operate in the subtle body as do the nerves, arteries and veins in the gross physical body. 

The Crown of Life – Part I, Chapter II,
2., IV:Plexuses or Chakras,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

Yogis, for instance, try to work up their way through the five body chakras below the eyes, step by step, in order to reach the eye centre sometime – this is a very tedious and dangerous process and all Masters dissuade from it.

The Masters say:

When standing on the midst of a mountain’s elevation, that one wants to crest, what sense does it make, to go back to the valley in order to start with the ascent? Would it not be better to start from where one already is?

Therefore, those initiated into the Surat Shabd Yoga start at the point behind and between the eyes – the seat of the soul – right from the start.

On the following pages, there is a chart of the Chakras with their various aspects, as they are presented in ‘The Crown of Life.’