Editing Sahaja Yoga (section)

=== The subtle system – chakras and nadis ===
[[File:DiagrammaChakraKundalini.jpg|thumb|upright|Chakra Kundalini Diagram]]

Sahaja Yoga believes that in addition to our physical body there is a [[subtle body]] composed of [[nadis]] (channels) and [[chakras]] (energy centres). Nirmala Srivastava equates the Sushumna [[Nadi (yoga)|nadi]] with the [[parasympathetic nervous system]], the Ida nadi with the left and the Pingala nadi with the right sides of the sympathetic nervous system. Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar writes that Nirmala Srivastava's additions to this widespread traditional '[[tantra|tantric]]' model include giving it a scientific, neurological veneer, an elaboration of the health aspects and an introduction of notions of traditional Christian morality.<ref>Sudhir Kakar wrote in his book ''Shamans, Mystics and Doctors'', "Essentially, Nirmala Srivastava's model of the human psyche is {{sic|comprised |hide=y|of}} the traditional tantric and hatha yoga notions of the subtle body, with its 'nerves' and 'centers,' and fuelled by a pervasive 'subtle energy' that courses through both the human and the divine, through the body and the cosmos. Nirmala Srivastava's contributions to this ancient model are not strikingly original: as a former medical student she has sought to give it a scientific, neurological veneer; as a former faith healer, she has elaborated upon those aspects of the model that are concerned with sickness and health; as someone born into an Indian Christian family she has tried to introduce notions of traditional Christian morality into an otherwise amoral Hindu view of the psyche." See Kakar (1991), p. 196</ref>

Chakras do not physically exist<ref name="Shermer 2002">{{cite book |title=[[The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience]] | publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-653-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA538 538] |editor-last=Shermer |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Shermer |volume=1 |year=2002}}</ref> but in a variety of ancient meditation practices they are believed to be part of the subtle body.<ref name="Sharma2006p193">{{cite book|first=Arvind |last=Sharma |title=A Primal Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiO8lKUs9-YC |year=2006 |publisher=[[Springer Verlag]] |isbn=978-1-4020-5014-5 |pages=193–196}}</ref>