The premier book being used as a reference for this course is Barbara Brennan's book, Hands Of Light (1988). I believe it is the most thorough and intelligent book on the subject of chakras and the auric layers. It is written by a person of high intellect, education, and vast personal experience. The material is detailed. She is a Ph.D. who worked for NASA, and has researched the scientific proof of chakras and auras and has direct experience with the skill herself. Her book is a thick educational text-book style masterpiece which could be used as a classroom text in any school that teaches chakras and auric layers. She has founded her own school in New York City, NY, and has trained many teachers and healers in the use of chakra and auric diagnosis and healing. She is well known throughout the metaphysical community as an authority on the subject. If there were to be a textbook for this course, this book would be the one. It is a must have for any metaphysical healer, counselor, or teacher.

Barbara Brennan's second book, Light Emerging (1988), is also written in a text-book style and goes even deeper into the subject of chakras and auras and the diagnostic processes, especially when it comes to psychological structures, personality defenses, and other such topics. I have used this book less often in this course material for it delves more deeply into the subject of chakras and auras than this course will go, therefore, this book is used as a secondary source. Brennan's first book, Hands Of Light (1988) is more appropriate for this course. However, Brennan's second book, Light Emerging, is also a must have for the serious metaphysical practitioner.

Another book which I have found to be of great value in my research and exploration of this subject is Genevieve Lewis Paulson's book, Kundalini And The Chakras (1991). This book has an extensive coverage of chakras and their functions, and she also has vast personal experience with this subject. She gives workshops on chakras and kundalini. I found this book useful in cross-referencing similarities of the chakras with other books, including the Sanskrit names of the chakras.

Healing with the Energy of the Chakras (1998) by Ambika Wauters is another of my favorite works on the subject. Ambika Wauters is a psychotherapist, homeopath, workshop leader, writer and healer. She practices in Boulder, Colorado. I have used her descriptions of the chakras and their functions to cross-reference the most common traits of each chakra, for she is very knowledgeable on the subject. She gives many exercises, meditations, movements, affirmations, and questions to ask of each chakra in order to find and adjust whatever blockages may appear in the energetic structure of the human.

The book The Third Eye (1986) by T. Lobsang Rampa is a wonderful story about a young aspirant who studied with Tibetan masters in the Chakpori Lamasery, the Temple of Tibetan Medicine. He gives a very detailed account of his tests, endeavors and even the ceremonial opening of the third eye, which is immersed in the brow chakra, and the results of this operation. It was an amazing procedure that makes the reader cringe, but at the same time wonder if it is possible for even the ordinaryhuman to open the third eye in this fashion.

The late Vera Stanley Alder was a successful portrait painter who began to investigate ancient wisdom for her own enrichment. Since 1938, she lectured and wrote, "demonstrating a rare gift for condensing and synthesizing the essentials of esoteric teaching." Her book The Finding of the Third Eye (1976) is a very enjoyable work on the auric layers of the human energy field. She also brings in the ideas that sound and color, particularly when used on the chakras, can create great changes for the better in the human being.

Chakra Breathing (1994) by Helmut G. Sieczka is a small book with information about the chakras and the auric layers. He also has comprehensive and thorough exercises for the chakras using sound, colors, and other techniques for opening and clearing the chakras. He gives a structured presentation of the chakras, the blockages in each, and how to remove them. His focus is how the "breath is the vital bridge between body and soul" and he gives specific breathing techniques to "clean and charge each chakra and experience a new harmony..."

How To See And Read The Aura (2000) by Ted Andrews is another wonderful little book with precise and useful information on the auric fields only touching briefly on chakras. He explains what the observer is seeing when he or she begins to develop the talent for "seeing" auras. Many exercises are given. He teaches the reader how to send and feel energy patterns, detect auric intrusions, measure your auric field using dowsing rods, learn the meanings of colors in the aura, saturate your body and aura with quick energy, see and interpret the health of an aura, and cleanse the aura of energy debris.

Magic Eye (1993) by N.E. Thing Enterprises is a picture book. It is not full of pictures of auras, but is instead a book of 3D illusions that look like scrambled pictures of static or chaos, at first glance. As the observer continues to look at the picture, and finds a special focus with the eyesight, a 3D image that is immersed in the chaos suddenly emerges with great clarity. This is the type of vision that is needed for the beginner to be able to see auras and charkas. I used it as a teaching aid in my live classes on the subject of Aura Viewing.

Amrut Laya (The Stateless State) (1998) was written by Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj. This book is rather heady and difficult to read, but he has a very interesting and unique take on the auric layers, calling them the four bodies. He gives detailed accounts of common experiences that are usually had when the aspirant is living in the different states of awareness that each of the four layers contain. The "four bodies" are directly related to four of the seven auric layers described by others.

The Nature Of Personal Reality (1974) is one of many books in a series by Jane Roberts, a favorite in metaphysical circles in the category of metaphysical authors. Jane Roberts channeled an intellectual spirit named Seth in the 1970's. It is a vast amount of material. For simplicity's sake I have chosen only one of her books to use, even though there are many references, throughout her material, made to the auric layers, in differing terms, and how they are underneath physical experiences.

Opening To Channel (1987) is a book by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer. I have not used it extensively as a reference guide for chakras and auras, but I did find it interesting to note which chakra they found most likely to be the place where channeling "happens."

Meditation, The Art Of Ecstasy (1976) is a book by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a well-known and respected spiritual teacher from India, even though his leaving the USA and his death were controversial. His comments about kundalini, chakras, and the seven layers of the auric field are quite fascinating. He expounds on some original ideas about these topics, for instance, the kundalini is a passage, rather than the life-force itself, which so many books call it. He also speaks of the seven layers of the aura as being each a different combined set of polarities, mentioned in the "Findings" chapter of this essay. Rajneesh has many books, and this is only one of many in which he addresses this topic.

Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain (1973) by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder is a wonderful wealth of information about scientific discoveries about the human aura and its particular dynamics as observed by researchers. I found this to be an excellent source of information (among others) about Kirlian photography, a particular type of photography that detects at least the first layer of the human aura.

Your local library contains a reference section with an encyclopedia-style set of volumes called Man, Myth & Magic (1985). The editor in chief is Richard Cavendish, although there is an extensive list of editorial board members, consultants, and assistant editors. This set of reference material had some good information on the topics of auras (Vol. 2), chakras (Vol. 3) and kundalini (Vol. 6). Even the astral body is addressed (Vol. 1).

The Complete Hatha Yoga (1983) is a useful source of information on the chakras and auric levels, with a focus on Eastern thought. The authors are Kevin and Venika Kingsland. Kevin is the director of the Center for Human Communication and is a neuroscience/communication teacher and researcher who has devoted his life to the integration of the inner and outer sciences. Venika is a yogipatni, specializing in the physiology and psychology of nutrition. Both authors have taught yoga practice, therapy, theory and science since the sixties. They teach courses in America, Europe and India. This book has also been a wonderful source for finding the Sanskrit names and meanings of each chakra, and the Eastern thought on chakra functions.

Shirley Maclaine wrote about her personal experiences with chakras in her book Going Within (1989). I found it to be an interesting take on the subject, although she does not go into the Sanskrit words or meanings of the chakras. She uses her own experience to tell her what to do for each of the chakras as she goes along in life. This is not a textbook type of book, but is the story of Maclaine's exploration of the charkas and how she worked with them. This is a more fanciful and whimsical addition to the roster of books used in the research for this course.

Many Voices, The Autobiography of A Medium (1968) by Eileen J. Garrett, is not a book about chakras or auras per se, but I did find her descriptions of how auras look to the physical eye fascinating and worthy of noting.

Soul Psychology: Keys To Ascension (1994) was written by Joshua David Stone, Ph.D. This book is one in a series of many about the hierarchy of the soul, and the structure of self evolution in general. It has been a common book to find in metaphysical bookstores in the self-help section. Stone's books have many headings with a paragraph of information under them. It is an easy read. His speculation, inspired by Eastern teachings, about the purposes and uses of the chakras beyond the first seven that most readers are familiar with is quite fascinating.

The Encyclopedia of Psychic Science (1966) by Nandor Fodor has a useful and informative section on auras and also the astral body, which is one of the layers of the auric field. It is not as precise a guide to how the aura works or its functions as most of the other books I have used for this study, but it did have a few noteworthy things to say on the subject, especially about scientific research on auras.

Thomas S. Kuhn wrote a brilliant and original analysis called The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions (1962). He delves into the idea that paradigms resist change, which is a point I use in the discussion area of this course when I ask the question: Why have medical sciences largely ignored the factual research on the human aura and its functions?

Last but not least is a book by Bob Larson called Straight Answers On The New Age (1989). His is a skeptic's view on all things metaphysical, including chakras and auras. Bob Larson is the host of "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," a daily radio talk show that addresses Christian contemporary issues. He is a lecturer and travels to more than seventy countries. I have to admit I am amazed that the amount of research and writing he did on the subject of metaphysics did not make him a believer. He is a devout Christian and believes that the metaphysical movement is a detriment to human potential and leads people astray, away from God. I found this book interesting to peruse, for I enjoy reading differing points of view, devil's advocate arguments, and finding the ability to see more perspectives than those I agree with.