Reading the Tree of Life and the Chakras through the Body's Shared Language: A Working Hypothesis on Paired Organs and Positional Correspondence

English translation of the Japanese original published at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19509563 This paper focuses on a structural commonality between the Tree of Life in Western esotericism—especially within Kabbalah—and the chakra system rooted in Eastern thought. While the Tree of Life consists of ten Sefirot, it can also be read as containing a core set of “major levels” arranged in a layered, step-like manner. The chakra system, likewise, has long been understood as a model that depicts human existence in stages. Taking the widely shared reading of “seven major stages” as a starting point, this paper places the two systems side by side as comparable models and examines possible correspondences using the layout of the human body (organs) as an interpretive key. The central idea is that the recurring left–right pair structure in the Tree of Life (paired Sefirot) appears to overlap, in terms of placement, with recurring paired organs in the human body (Figure 1). In this study, Keter and Malkhut at the top and bottom of the Tree are treated as boundary conditions that preserve the overall structure rather than as direct organ correspondences. Similarly, the 1st and 7th chakras are treated as boundary conditions indicating the bodily endpoints, not as visceral correspondences. The proposed mappings are: Chokhmah/Binah (= 6th chakra) ↔ brain; Chesed/Gevurah (= 5th chakra) ↔ lungs; Tiferet (= 4th chakra) ↔ heart; Netzach/Hod (= 3rd chakra) ↔ kidneys; Yesod (= 2nd chakra) ↔ stomach and intestines. The paper further notes that, although not perfectly identical, multiple partial overlaps can be observed between organ functions and the symbolic meanings historically attributed to the Sefirot/chakras, and that pre-modern medicine and theological discourse often endowed organs with rich interpretive layers—points used here as supporting material for internal coherence. In conclusion, the paper frames the resemblance between the Tree of Life and the chakras not as an identity of meanings, but as a correspondence in placement grounded in bodily structure (paired organs, a central core, and mediation), and suggests a continuity in the human impulse to explore the mystery of life from antiquity to the present.