Amesha Spentas & Chakras

Chakras

Chakras, otherwise knows as the energy centers of the human body, have the function of grounding spiritual energies into the physical plane. There are seven chakras altogether, and these are:

1. The Root Chakra –is our connection to the earth and the physical plane and a symbol of our basic survival needs (location: base of the spine)

2. The Second Chakra –is representative of our creative and procreative urges and drives, including sexuality (location: the genitals)

3. The Third Chakra –is the energy center for power and manifestation (location: solar plexus)

4. The Fourth Chakra – is the energy center for love, both human and divine (location: heart)

5. The Fifth Chakra – is the center for expression and communication (location: throat)

6. The Sixth Chakra – is the center for our psychic powers (location: third eye just above and between the eyebrows)

7. The Crown Chakra – otherwise known as he 1,000 petaled lotus flower is our connection with the Cosmic or the divine (location: top of the head)

To summarize, we can say these chakras represent our basic physical and spiritual needs, which are:

1. Survival & operation
2. Creativity and procreation
3. Manifestation of desires
4. Love
5. Communication and expression
6. Psychic connections and powers
7. Divine connection

Furthermore, it is understood that all these energy centers are connected with each other through a channel that runs from the Crown Chakra to the Root Chakra. The purpose of this system is to create a mechanism that on an energetic level can manifest the divine into the physical plane.

There are similarities between this system which is mainly based on Hindu spirituality and Christian spirituality in the form of the Seven Sacraments ¹ and Jewish spirituality in the form of the Tree of Life as described in the Cabala ¹. The question addressed here is since the Chakra system seems to be one representation of a universal system, then is there any equivalence or similarity between this system and Zoroastrian spirituality?

And the answer is yes. The Zoroastrian representation is found in the Amesha Spentas.

Amesha Spentas (the holy immortals)

Although in post-Zarathushtra Zoroastrianism the Amesha Spentas were mythologized to attain angelic status, in the Gathas, Zarathushtra simply refers to them as aspects of the divine or divine emanations. Perhaps if the divine can be represented as a cube, then each of the Amesha Spentas can be thought of as one face of the cube.

For Zarathushtra, the Amesha Spentas were a part and aspect of an elaborate interconnected and interrelated universal system, through which that system was created and based on which that system operates.

According to Zarathushtra, there are six Amesha Spentas, and these are ²:

1. Asha – The spirit of Truth and Right

2. Vohu Mano – The spirit of the Good Mind

3. Khshatra – The spirit of Holy sovereignty

4. Spenta Armaiti – The spirit of Benevolent Devotion and Love

5. Haurvatat – The spirit of Perfection and Well-Being

6. Ameratat – The spirit of Immortality.

Adhering to these six spirits are necessary if we are to fulfil our role and purpose in this physical world, which according to Zarathushtra is the renovation of the world. Furthermore, any digression from these spirits will be wasteful, and as a result will cause evil to a lesser or greater degree.

These six emanations permeate the operation of the universe both at macrocosmic and microcosmic level. In other words, not only Ahura Mazda created the world based on these six divine emanations, but also we human beings can find these spirits in our selves as part of our essence. What’s more, we can see their operation at the level of every action or project that we undertake ³.

In simpler terms, the Amesha Spentas can be described as:

1. The Law
2. The Plan or Blueprint
3. Action & Dominion
4. Love and Faith
5. Perfection
6. Immortality and timelessness

Amesha Spentas and Chakras

Now the question becomes, how are these related to the Chakras?

1. The Law is what determines the basis of the operation of the universe. Our lives and our world, work according to the Law. Therefore we can only operate properly in this world if we understand what the laws are and honor them and base our actions upon them. In other words, unless we understand how the physical domain operates, we cannot fulfil our needs and desires through our decisions and choices. We will not know what cause to focus on in order to create our desired effect. Our survival becomes a matter of reliance on the mercy of the world, and we become randomly determined components of that system.

   Asha is our grounding of the Law – the Root Chakra

2. The Plan or Blueprint is our creative aspect. We desire and then plan in order to create. We have the urge and the drive in order to procreate. If we plan with benevolent intentions, then we have acted in accordance with the spirit of the Good Mind. Otherwise, we have deviated away from this spirit, thus creating evil rather than goodness.

   Vohu Mano is our creative aspect – the Second Chakra

3. Khshatra is our ability to act based on our plans and intentions in order to manifest our desires. It is our power to change our environment and our world according to what we perceive to be the best. If we act in the spirit of goodness, we will plan well and manifest goodness, if not, the outcome will be evil contribution.

   Khshatra is our power and ability to manifest – the Third Chakra

4. Spenta Armaiti is the spirit of Love and faith. It is this center that gives us the ability to love another, both in the sense of individual love (like lovers or parent-child) as well as divine love (love of humanity and Ahura Mazda). If we make our choices in a loving spirit and with faith in the goodness of the world, then we have connected with the spirit of Love, otherwise our contributions are based on disconnection from this spirit and can only have fear based and hateful results.

   Spenta Armaiti is our ability and urge to Love – the Fourth Chakra

5. Haurvatat is the spirit of Perfection, perfection of expression. Part of this perfection is working in accord with the totality of the interrelated and interconnected universal system, and such work needs communication and communion. This communication is not just limited to person to person communication, but includes communication with animals, plants, objects and our environment. In other words, if we make our expression in the spirit of Perfection, then we express ourselves perfectly, and we communicate with all aspects of life perfectly.

   Haurvatat is our ability to express ourselves perfectly – the Fifth Chakra

6. Ameratat, the spirit of Immortality is an understanding of the timeless nature of the universe. While our physical existence is time-based and time-dependent, our soul or essence is timeless and immortal. Ameratat is our ability to be in touch with our soul or essence, which itself is a part of the divine and as such connected to every other soul. Our level of sensitivity and empathy, our level of contact with others (people and things) is also a measure of our psychic development. If we develop our psychic powers, we will experience the spirit of immortality. If we put it to Good use, then we will experience the goodness of this connectedness, otherwise, we will only be harming ourselves, immortally.

   Ameratat is our psychic energy center – the Sixth Chakra

Now the question remains, what of the Crown Chakra?

According to Zarathushtra, if we make our choices in accord with the six Amesha Spentas, we will be a Cosmically Conscious human being. In other words, the development of Cosmic Consciousness is not a separate project, but a byproduct of our development of our six divine aspects.

According to Zarathushtra, the person who operates in accordance with the Law, Plans well, Manifests accordingly, is Loving and has Faith, strives for Perfect expression, and is in touch with his/her Immortality, is in union with Ahura Mazda. In other words, this person is Cosmically Conscious.

Therefore, in this representation, the Crown Chakra which symbolizes our gateway to the divine, is in fact our divine connection and our oneness with Ahura Mazda. Zarathushtra did not propose any representation or name for this connection. Instead he made the totality of the six Amesha Spentas become that by calling them aspects or emanations of Ahura Mazda.

To go back to our cube analogy, once all six faces are present and in their rightful places, then we also have the cube!

© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
March 28, 1998

Further Reading:

1. Anatomy of the Spirit - Caroline Myss, Ph.D.
2. The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra - Dinshaw J. Irani
3. Thus Spake the Real Zarathushtra - Shahriar Shahriari

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This page was last updated on Thursday, November 01, 2001.