Chakra Mantras: Liberate Your Spiritual Genius Through Chanting

I enjoy all of Thomas Ashley-Farrand's work and often use his books as assigned reading for several of the classes that I teach. I was very much looking forward to his "Chakra Mantras" and was not dissapointed...in fact I was ecstatic to see that this book went MUCH deeper into the metaphysics of chakra theory than nearly any other that I had read. It was not a introductory book on the subject at hand, and I was pleased to learn a great deal from this book. For someone who has been studying these subjects for nearly a decade, I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read a book that is not rehashing or restating information that is found in dozens of other books. While I was slightly dissapointed that this book could not be used for an upcoming intro level course that I am teaching, I was thrilled to know that I now had a text book for several intermediate and advanced workshops that I will be holding on the subject! Ashley-Farrand takes the reader through the different chakras, relating each one of them to myths and deities from the Vedic and Hindu religions in order to demonstrate the greater role in spiritual evolution that each region plays. Along the way he provides various mantras that will aid the reader in tapping into the energies involved in each chakra's spiritual process. My only quibble with this book is that is it assumed that the reader has a hefty understanding of chakra basics, metaphysical mechanics, and can readily apply that knowledge to a chakra practice. While this may certainly be true of many of Ashley-Farrand's readers, I would be dissapointed if someone were to pick this book of his up first, find it over their head, and then never read any of his other works which are exemplary introductions to their topics, as well as enlightening for intermediate and advanced students as well. Thomas Ashley-Farrand's work is some of the best available, but his other books are more suited to interested parties who have little formal background in the subject of mantras, Hindu spirituality, etc. If you are new to chakras, this book will likely not serve you as well as others that are geared towards novice studies. An excellent book for those just learning the subject is "The Chakra Handbook" by Bodo Baginski and Shalila Sharamon from Lotus Light Press, available here at Amazon. However, those who have read all the basics and are ready to take their understanding of the metaphysics of chakras to the next level, I whole heartedly recommend this book!

In actuality, only a few pages are devoted to each of the chakras and the information presented, while not useless, isn't detailed. Practically the first have of the book is incomprehensible. There are entire chains of sentences that combine lackluster understanding of Western psychology with Eastern ideas about the subtle body. And I'm not saying this lightly or happily. I really wanted to give this book a chance but sentences that make up its first half have no meaning. Dozens of terms are casually introduced and not defined, attempts at being poetic are just kitsch and, overall, it's just not a good book. I'll have to keep searching for a good, systematic approach to chakras.

Although the content of the book is great, it has far too many typos.

Lovely, informative and easy to follow. I had one of those special moments of 'insight ' while reading this book, hence the five stars. I have studied other works by this author, his depth of knowledge and ability to pass it on in a clear and simple way make his work accessible.

Well written (easy to understand).