How is hrit different from anahata?

Anahata is the structural centre at the sternum, part of the six. Hrit sits just below it, has eight petals, and is the seat of devotional feeling rather than the hinge of the series.

Why is it called the sun centre?

Because it is described as warm and luminous, in contrast to the moon imagery of bindu and soma higher up. The sun and moon pairing runs through the whole subtle-body literature.

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Secondary centre

Hrit chakra

Hṛt · हृत्

An eight-petalled lotus just below anahata, also called the surya chakra. The texts place the wish-fulfilling tree inside it, and devotional practice that appears to address the heart is usually addressing this.

devotion sun wish eight petals

Location: Just below the heart centre
Petals: Eight
Also called: Surya chakra, the sun centre
Contains: Kalpa vriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree
Paired with: Heart chakra
Sources: Devi Bhagavata, tantric commentary literature

The heart beneath the heart

Sanskrit distinguishes anahata, the wheel at the sternum, from hridaya, the heart as a seat of feeling and of the self. Hrit chakra is the second of those given a place in the subtle body: slightly below anahata, eight petals, warm rather than airy.

The two are easy to confuse and worth separating. Anahata is where the lower and upper series meet. Hrit is where a person is moved.

The wish-fulfilling tree

Inside the eight petals the texts place kalpa vriksha, the tree that grants what is asked of it. The image is not a promise of magic. It is a statement about how desire works at this level: what is wanted here, wholeheartedly, tends to organise a life around itself.

Devotional practice uses this directly. The image of a deity, a teacher or a beloved is placed at hrit and held there, and the practice consists of keeping it company.

In practice

Bhakti traditions work here almost exclusively. Chanting a name, holding an image, singing rather than sitting silently. The centre is also used in some traditions as the place to bring attention back to at the end of a session, being warmer and steadier than the base.

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Above it

Heart chakra

Anahata, the twelve-petalled centre at the sternum.

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Its practice

Solar plexus chakra

The fire below, which hrit is often distinguished from.

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Its sheath

Manomaya kosha

The sheath of mind and feeling.

Frequently asked questions

: Anahata is the structural centre at the sternum, part of the six. Hrit sits just below it, has eight petals, and is the seat of devotional feeling rather than the hinge of the series.
: Because it is described as warm and luminous, in contrast to the moon imagery of bindu and soma higher up. The sun and moon pairing runs through the whole subtle-body literature.