Hi Stacey-
There are two "mini-chakras in the back of the head which most meditators discover in passing as they work their way up to the crown chakra.

I know of very few truly competent authors in this area, and have tuned to Tibetan writings - mostly because the traditional manuscripts from a century or two back have been pretty well reviewed by extremely competent teachers. Because these are from a different culture, thy are not directly comparable with "New Age" ideas like Bruce's, but they give a very well researched and solid basis for spiritual growth, once the differences in expression and cultural traditions have been mastered. As an example, all Buddhist children are expected to sped a couple years in a monastery school, so some of the concepts which they learn as children remain poorly explained to us adults from te West. However, for a sincere practitioner, these are usually trivial.

As a good reference manual the late Swami Sivananda wrote a book on spiritual experiences which you might be interested in, at least in the sense that it gives pretty literal descriptions of the various stages of unwrapping the inner psyche.  For techniques, you might look into the classic by W Y Evans-Wentz, "Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines" in which several types of Tibetan yoga are explained. The part dealing with tummo is probably the most pertinent portion, but the breadth of presentation gives a pretty good insight into indigenous practices.

If you want a slightly less physiologically oriented approach, the Sixth Dalai Lama, Genden Drub wrote an excellent book on transcendental practices related to medittion, the present Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso wrote a very good introduction to Dzogchen (the core ideas of Bon Lamaism and Tantric Buddhism sort of mixed up and put into practice) and if you want a general guide, you might be interested in "The Tree Levels of Spiritual Perfection" by Deshung Rinpoche, translated by Jared Rhoton.  This  gives a view of spiritual growth and methods fom the Lamdre perspective.

Hope this is useful-
d

Daiseymae:

I have lots of experience with energy at the back of my head.  I've experienced things such as waking dreams and rotes of information fed into it.

Barbara Brennan speaks of chakras having both front and back portions. She refers to the chakra at the back of the head as Jade Pillow (Yui-Gen--cranial pump). I agree about the pump part, because I've heard and felt pumping action there numerous times. I can hear and feel it quite well.

This pump seems to play a role in clearing blocks. On an almost nightly basis lately I'll wake up, feel and hear the pumping action begin at the back of my head, and then the energy level builds up until I feel a tremendous amount of pressure. This continues until the energy finally breaks through and makes it way to my crown chakra. As this goes on my awareness feels expanded, and I feel peace and love. Once the block is cleared and the energy reaches my crown, my awareness expands a little more, and I feel more peace and love.

I have awakened kundalini, but what I feel during these nightly experiences feels different than what I feel when my kundalini rises, even though it might play a role in getting the energy flow going. I'm not certain, but I believe that what is sometimes referred to as the holy spirit is the energy that works on me during these nightly experiences. I believe this partly because this sort of experience started to occur for me more often, after I was visited by the presence of Jesus Christ one night and he worked on my energy for about 15 minutes. The energy flow from my heart to crown chakra have been more alive and clear ever since this has taken place.

The experience of this energy isn't limited to my upper chakras. I feel the energy encircle my entire body. This causes my non-physical bodies to open up. When they open by my head I can hear them do so. It feels like the energy cleanses and balances my energy. It has a very soothing sensation.  

A while back I asked what the energy I feel at the back of my head is all about. I was shown the words "Albert's connection to God."

I've read another source that states that when the chakra/chakras at a person's head become active, a person's subconscious mind also becomes active. I believe this is true because I've found that latent memories and patterns of thought have come to life. During the daytime I go over the ideas I need to become clear on.  I've found that it is very helpful to use a notepad when I do this, because often there are a lot of ways to look at the thought pattern I'm examining, and writing them down allows me to become more organized.  It is a team effort when you work with spirit guidance. You do your part, and your guidance can do their part.

Just so you know, it can become very challenging when you unravel the subconsious mind. I don't believe I could do so without the assistance of spirit guidance.

Here's a link that shows the chakra we're talking about. Scroll to page three for the picture.

http://www.kheper.net/topics/chakras/secondary.html