:: October 2005 Volume 4/Number 7

Ancient Energy Systems
Meridians, Marmas and Nadis

By Robert Sachs

The nature of our energetic body is well defined and described in two of the oldest medical systems in use in the world today. Thousands of years ago, Chinese Medicine and the Indian system of Ayurveda elucidated two of the most widely used and respected systems of the energetic or subtle body; these are the meridians of Chinese medicine and the marmas and nadis of Ayurveda.

In order to understand these two systems, we will start at the energetic beginning. The Word is the start of it all, so we’ll begin with the sound of Om, which both cultures share. Strictly speaking, it is A-U-M, a trinity of expanding (yin) and contracting (yang) sounds linked together by a channel that allows for a dance between the extremes. The higher vibrations of light and the denser vibration of matter both emanate from the vibration of sound.

The ebb and flow of the vibrations of sound are recognized by the world’s wisdom traditions through spiritual and healing rituals. Overcoming our sense of separation from the universe is not about becoming different from who we already are, but occurs through a process of “tuning in” and becoming aligned with not only the body’s physical form, but energetic overlay, returning to a state of harmony and flow.

The two most noted traditions that have remained intact with respect to their appreciation of vibration or energy for health and healing come from the East: Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. The concept of vibration and energy as organized in the subtle body is expressed differently in various traditions for many reasons, including the environment of the culture, historical contexts, and the circumstances under which the traditions were born. But they do share some important similarities. Both Eastern systems of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda emerged onto our planet around 5000 years ago.

Chinese medicine and Ayurveda have each identified and mapped the energy matrix of the body from their own cultural perspective. Some people assert that the acupuncture points and meridians of the Chinese medical system and the marmas, nadis and chakras in the Ayurvedic medical system are completely different from each other. Others tell us that the concepts are one and the same and only appear different because of differences in language and culture. Indeed each system is distinctive, but they also share substantial similarities, because the truth of the body’s energetic system is the basis for both modalities.

Each system has as its foundation an understanding of the body and mind as a coherent energy matrix or system of vibrations. This energy vibration circulates in and around our psycho-physical manifestation along coherent pathways. These pathways have junctions and sites of greater and lesser intensity. Both systems describe humans as conscious focalizations of cosmic energy, interacting with the universe at subtle and gross levels.
Healing in these systems is related to accessing this universal subtle energy through the body’s energy channels and meridians. The work of the healer or medical practitioner in both these Eastern traditions is to monitor energy and intervene when necessary, in order to keep the flow on the grosser or more tangible levels harmonious and tuned to the universe.

The Rivers of the Subtle Body.
The energy lines, or meridians, and the acupuncture points that make up the Chinese system and the energetic lines of Ayurveda, known as nadis, and the points known as marmas, may seem at first mysterious. After all, we cannot see them with our external eyes nor can we touch them directly. But once understood, they provide valuable insight into our holistic, energetic self – insight that healers in these systems utilize in Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.

In the Chinese system, each of the five elements (see five element story, following) is associated with anatomical structures (organs, channels, tissues) and physiological functions in the body as well as energetic lines and points that assist to maintain full body health and balance. There are twelve primary meridians that continuously circulate energy through the body. These twelve are reminiscent of the Earth’s magnetic ley lines that run from North to South Poles. In our own case, like a Pole or even the Earth’s magnetic core, we have two central meridians that fuel all the other twelve. Both run up the body, from the base of the pelvis towards the head. These two are called the brain governor, which starts just behind the scrotum or vagina and runs up the spine over the head and ends just below our nose. The conception vessel flows from the tip of the penis or the clitoris and moving up the front midline of the body to just below the bottom lip.

For both spiritual and health purposes, there are exercises (i.e. tai chi, qi quong) and therapies designed to strengthen these two core meridians. One way in which it is possible to develop this strength comes through focusing on the tan tien, or what the Chinese define as the physical core of the body. Strengthening the tan tien and ensuring that the core meridians are flowing effectively maintains the smooth function of the other twelve meridians. The goal of practices including exercises mentioned above, or acupuncture, is to create a continuous flow that promotes the support and regeneration of the elements and their associated psycho-physical manifestations. As Americans, we are familiar with the medical system of Acupuncture, in which stimulation of specific points that appear as regions is one treatment for balancing the meridians.

While the elemental forces in Chinese medicine are directly integrated into meridians, and stimulation of the meridians is used as a form of healing, the Ayurvedic body-view also includes the identification of the chakras, which are significant energy centers located within the subtle body. The chakras are often viewed as locations where the physical, subtle and spiritual energies of the bodies are linked together.

The chakras are associated with the five elements.
•Muladhara or the root chakra is associated with Earth
•Svadhisthana or the sex chakra is associated with Water
•Manipura or navel/solar plexus chakra is associated with Fire
•Anahata or heart chakra is associated with Air
•Vishuddha or throat chakra is associated with Ether
•The Ajna (third eye) and Sahasrara (crown), the subtlest chakras,are also connected to the subtle element of Ether.

The chakras all appear in the body’s subtle anatomy where the central energy pathway, or nadi, called sushumna is wrapped around by two primary side nadis named ida and pingala. Through prayer, meditation, exercise including yoga asana (posture), pranayama (breath techniques) and Ayurvedic therapies, the inner core of our being is influenced and worked on for physical, emotional and especially spiritual growth. The spiritual focus on health is one important concept where Ayurveda differs from Chinese medicine. This manifests in the differing views of the anatomy of the subtle body, particularly in the chakras.

As in the system of Chinese meridians, in Ayurveda there are secondary nadis that move up along the central channel and then branch out to all the organs and tissues of the body, eventually making their way to the surface to what are known as marmas.
The marmas are the endpoints of a long pathway beginning with the chakras, connecting the Five Great Elements and the three doshas. Therefore, some marma points stand alone as unique energy points that affect the system of nadis and their respective functions and tissues. Other marmas are locations where the two systems (meridians and nadis) interface because these points are highly significant to both systems.

For example, one is the first and foremost marma, murdhni, which is located at the crown of the head and known as the meeting place of 1000 nadis. In the Chinese system, this is called DU20 and considered to be a master point on the brain governor central meridian, used in both the Chinese and Tibetan systems of acupuncture. Another is hridayam marma, in the center of the sternum. Known in the Chinese system as CV or conception vessel 17, it is an important Fire point, helpful in allaying anxiety, one of the worst culprits to affect the heart.

Although many in the West classify Chinese medicine and Ayurveda as faith or superstition based, unlike our supposedly more sophisticated scientific approaches, modern quantum physics is confirming all that these “belief” systems have to say about vibration, energy and the importance of harmony. The mechanistic, materialistic view of the world in which our civilization has become bogged down, is slowly being replaced by the fluid, dynamic, expanding world where causes and effects include the invisible working of energy and vibration. We see this in modern medicine as not only an increased acceptance of acupuncture and Ayurveda, but also an inclusion of this energetic modality for physiological problems in the practices of more practitioners. This is recognition of the power of the energetic body, to affect and heal the physical.

For ultimate health, it is necessary to focus beyond the physical body to our energetic self. In Eastern medicinal systems, disease can often originate from the subtle or energetic body, and then manifest in the physical. This understanding can have great impact on health and healing. The degree to which this new understanding is accepted, and influences our modern Western paradigm will be the degree to which we can free ourselves and our planet from sickness, poverty and warfare, the cause of so much suffering. This process can be hastened along when practitioners of the various healing and spiritual systems come together to embrace, and become stimulated and inspired by the similarities and differences of interpretations and experiences in living in and being none other than an expression of the vibration of The Word.

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