The purpose of this paper is to describe the Hindu system of healing that uses the energy of the chakras. The thesis to be investigated is that healing by means of the chakras is efficacious because it enables the body to mobilize its natural healing abilities. Hinduism has evolved much longer than Christianity; it resulted from an amalgam of the beliefs of the "Aryan" invaders of about 1500 B.C. with those of the Dravidian peoples who were already occupying the subcontinent of India. The Aryan beliefs, like those of other Indo-European peoples, such as the Greeks and the Romans, focused largely on a trinity of gods, those who came to be called in Greek Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The parallel trinity in Hindu belief is Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, who rule or symbolize creation, preservation, and destruction and renewal, respectively. The Dravidians worshipped mainly goddesses, and many of the goddesses of modern Hindu belief are derived from those of pre-Aryan times.
Hinduism therefore has become much more diversified than Christianity and has never had a central authority that attempted to outlaw any sort of beliefs or practices as being "heretical." Hinduism functions like a confederation of independent sects, focused on specific temples, and devoted to the worship of specific deities. Nevertheless, a central philosophy about the concepts of karma and reincarnation dates back to the earliest Hindu sacred scriptures and serves as a
10 
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= 1948
= 8 (250 words per page)
