Chakras: Energy Vortexes 1-8 PDF

Page 1 of 54 THE SEVEN HINDU CHAKRAS According to Hindu philosophy, the chakras are subtle energy bodies located within the spinal cord and housed within the innermost core of the Sushumna nadi. This core is called the Brahma nadi, the carrier of spiritual energy. The nadis carry subtle energy throu...

Page 1 of 54 THE SEVEN HINDU CHAKRAS According to Hindu philosophy, the chakras are subtle energy bodies located within the spinal cord and housed within the innermost core of the Sushumna nadi. This core is called the Brahma nadi, the carrier of spiritual energy. The nadis carry subtle energy throughout the body and are, as stated above, critical allies in the rising of the kundalini energy. The core of the Sushumna nadi is considered a spiritual energy body, not a material energy body; therefore, the chakras are most often referred to as subtle in nature. Some Hindu systems, however, connect the chakras with the gross nerve plexuses, which are outside the spine. In these systems, the chakras are considered physical as well as subtle and are considered the foundation of all existence, psychologically and physically. Subtle energy medicine is largely based on chakra work, as chakras govern significant aspects of our lives. The following descriptions cover several significant details about your chakras. The meaning of the chakra’s Sanskrit name provides a clue to the chakra’s purpose. Its mission is the overall job relegated to the particular chakra; knowing the mission of each chakra can help you quickly diagnose which chakra you might want to work through. 1 Page 2 of 54 The emotional focus refers to the types of emotions (feelings and beliefs) managed through this energy center; like the merideans, every chakra hosts a different set of emotions. By figuring out which emotions are troubling you or someone else, you can pinpoint the chakra to work on. A chakra’s “spiritual concern” covers two focuses; the spiritual perception afforded when looking at life through the lens of that chakra and in the innate psychic frontloaded into that chakra. Each chakra provides a unique psychic glimpse into reality. Each chakra corresponds with and connects to a particular location within the physical body. Every chakra is also related to a specific endocrine organ. If you’re wondering where to focus healing for a chakra, you can always work through the related endocrine gland. You’ll also learn which of the physical organs are affected by each chakra. This knowledge will help you zoom your healing into the chakra that matches physical symptoms. WORKING WITH THE CHAKRAS Each chakra is a prism that regulates a specific set of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual concerns. This means that we can use them to diagnose problems and create a healing plan for a variety of issues. Understanding the chakras, we can:  Use physical symptoms to clarify the emotional, mental and spiritual components of al illness.  Trace our emotional issues back to the development of a certain part of our body or to the age at which the issues originated. Emotions are the language of the body. If we can re-experience the feeling component and the physical reactions attached to a debilitating situation, we can reprogram self-destructive beliefs and chart a whole new course.  Isolate the mental or spiritual beliefs affecting us, thereby healing our emotional or physical issues.  Awaken repressed memories, including in utero and past-life memories, for the purpose of understanding clearing, and healing. By getting to the root cause of an issue, we can unlock the energy blocks it might be causing.  Become knowledgeable parents to our own children, supporting them through each development stage.  Better parent our own inner child, that natural self within each of us waiting for his or her chance at life.  Make appropriate and wise decisions by pinpointing our current development stage.  Better understand where, how, and why we get “stuck” in harmful habits, cycles and even addictions. In working with the chakras, we are searching for two points of awareness. First we want to identify and acknowledge our positive traits, which might be in need of recognition or revitalization. All too often, we bury some of our best qualities beneath a deluge of conflict and misperceptions. Our second goal is to uncover, understand, and change selfdestructive beliefs, patterns and programs. 2 Page 3 of 54 Anatomy of the Spirit – The Seven Stages of Power and Healing, by Caroline Myss. Sacred Contracts – Awakening your Divine potential by Caroline Myss. #1) Mooladhara (Area of consciousness for the physical body): Name: Sanskrit word moola means ‘root’ or ‘foundation’, base of chakra system Beeja: Lam Relates to: Our connection to the earth, material reality, survival, physical strength, vitality, the blood of life, sexuality, the spine, the pelvis, rectum, legs, bones, feet, immune system, nervous system, emotional/mental health. Symbolic to: Our need for logic, order and structure. This energy orients us in time and space and to our five senses. As children, we perceive and learn about the physical world through our five senses. The first chakra energy has trouble interpreting our lives symbolically, for our five senses give us literal perceptions and cause us to take things at face value. Not until we are older are we able to seek out the symbolic meaning of events and relationships. Emotional focus: Primal feelings Spiritual focus: Deserving to exist; physical sympathy, ability to sense physical energy Gland: Adrenals Physical organs: Genital organs and adrenals; bones and skeletal structure, coccygeal vertebrae, some kidney, bladder and excretory functions, skin. Issues with: Physical family, group safety and security. Ability to provide for life’s necessities. Ability to stand up for self. Feeling at home. Social & familial law and order. Sense: Smell Element: Earth Personality: ‘I am’ Balanced Energy: Centered, grounded, healthy, fully alive, unlimited physical energy, manifesting abundance, master of oneself Excessive Energy: Egotistic, domineering, greedy, addicted to wealth, indiscriminate use of sexual energy, nervous sexual energy Deficient Energy: Lack of confidence, no grounded in physical reality, weak, can’t achieve goals, self destructive, feeling unloved or abandoned Illnesses: Chronic lower back pain, sciatica, varicose viens, rectal tumors/cancer, depression, immune-related disorders, constipation, diarreha, urinary tract infections, cold hands/feet, kidney stones, irrational fears, financial problems. 3 Page 4 of 54 The energy content of the first or Tribal chakra is tribal power. The word tribe is not only a synonym for family but an archetype, and as such it has connotations beyond its more conventional definition. Archetypally the word tribal connotes group identity, group force, group willpower, and group belief patterns. The first chakra grounds us, it is our connection to traditional familial beliefs that support the formation of identity and a sense of belonging to a group of people in a geographic location. To connect to the energy of your first chakra, focus your attention for a few moments on something tribal that triggers an emotional response in you:  listening to the national anthem  observing a military spectacle  watching an athlete receive a gold medal at the Olympics  witnessing the marriage of someone you care about  learning that a child has been named after you The first chakra energetic connection is the emotional/mental body and is seen as the foundation of emotional and mental health. Emotional and psychological stability originate in the family unit and early social environment. Various mental illnesses are generated out of family dysfunctions, including multiple personalities, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and destruction patterns like alcoholism. The symbolic/perceptual connection manifests in our need for logic, order, and structure. This energy orients us in time and space and to our five senses. As children, we perceive and learn about the physical world through our five senses. First chakra energy has trouble interpreting our lives symbolically, for our five senses give us literal perceptions and cause us to take things at face value. Not until we are older are we able to seek out the symbolic meaning of events and relationships. The primary fears are of physical survival, abandonment by the group, and loss of physical order. However, the primary strengths are tribal/family identity, bonding, and the tribal honour code; the support and loyalty that give one a sense of safety and connection to the physical world. The sacred truth inherent in the first chakra is that All is One. We learn this truth and explore its creative power through experiences connected to tribal or group dynamics. It carries the message that we are connected to all of life and that every choice we make and every belief we hold exerts influence upon the whole of life. We begin to discover that ‘All Is One’ as we start life within our tribe or family. To be part of a tribe is a primal need, since we are completely dependent upon our tribe for basic survival needs: food, shelter and clothing. As tribal beings, we are energetically designed to live together, to create together, to be together, to need one another. Each of our tribal environments – from our biological tribe, to the tribe we form with co-workers, to our tribal bonds with friends – provides the essential physical settings within which we can explore the creative power of this truth. Regardless of the “truth” of familial beliefs, every one of them directs a measure of our energy into an act of creation. Each belief, each action has a direct consequence. When we share belief patterns with groups of people, we participate in energy 4 Page 5 of 54 and physical events created by those groups. This is the creative, symbolic expression of the sacred truth All Is One. No one begins life as a conscious “individual” with conscious will power. That identity comes much later and develops in stages from childhood through adulthood. Beginning life as a part of a tribe, we become connected to our tribal consciousness and collective willpower by absorbing its strengths and weaknesses, beliefs, superstitions and fears. Through our interactions with family and other groups, we learn the power life of sharing a belief with other people. We also learn how painful it can be to be excluded from a group and its energy. We learn as well the power of sharing a moral and ethical code handed down from generation to generation. This code of behaviour guides children of the tribe during their development years, providing a sense of dignity and belonging. Maintaining the health of our individual first chakra depends upon addressing our personal tribal issues. If we feel victimized by society, for example, we should deal with this negative perception so that it doesn’t cause us to lose energy. We can, for instance, get therapeutic support, become skilled at an occupation, seek a more symbolic view of our situation, or become politically active to change society’s attitudes. Nurturing bitterness toward the cultural tribe embroils our energy in a continual inner conflict that blocks access to the healing power of the sacred truth ‘All is One’. Our respective tribes introduce us to life “in the world.” They teach us that the world is either safe or dangerous, abundant or poverty-ridden, educated or ignorant, a place to take from or to give to. And they transmit their perceptions about the nature of reality itself – for instance, that this life is only one of many or that this life is all there is. We inherit from our tribes their attitudes toward other religious, ethnic, and racial groups. Our tribes activate our thinking processes. The process of spiritual development challenges us to retain the tribal influences that are positive and to discard those that are not. Our spiritual power grows when we are able to see beyond the contradictions inherent in tribal teaching and pursue a deeper level of truth. Each time we make a shift toward symbolic awareness, we positively influence our energy and biological systems. We also contribute positive energy to the collective body of life – the global tribe. Think of this process of spiritual maturation as “spiritual homeopathy.” Given the power of unified beliefs – right or wrong – it is difficult to be at variance with one`s tribe. We are taught to make choices that meet with tribal approval, to adopt its social graces, manner of dress, and attitudes. Symbolically, this adaptation reflects the union of individual willpower with group power. It is a powerful feeling to be in a group of people or a family with whom you feel spiritually, emotionally and physically comfortable. Such a union empowers us and energetically enhances our personal power and our creative strength – and it continues as long as we make choices consonant with the group`s. We unite and create. At the same time we have within us a relentless congenital desire to explore our own creative abilities, to develop our individual power and authority. This desire is the impetus behind out striving to become conscious. The universal human journey is one of becoming conscious of our power and how to use that power. Becoming conscious of the responsibility inherent in the power of choice represents the core of this journey. 5 Page 6 of 54 From an energy perspective, becoming conscious requires stamina. It is extremely challenging, and often very painful, to evaluate our own personal beliefs and separate ourselves from those that no longer support our growth. Change is the nature of life, and external and internal change is constant. When we change inwardly, we outgrow certain belief patterns and strengthen others. The first belief patterns that we challenge are tribal because our spiritual development follows the structure of our energy system; we clear out ideas from the bottom up, starting with the earliest and most basic. Evaluating our beliefs is a spiritual and biological necessity. Our physical bodies, minds, and spirits all require new ideas in order to thrive. Seen symbolically, out life crises tell us that we need to break free of beliefs that no longer serve our personal development. These points at which we must choose to change or to stagnate are our greatest challenges. Every new crossroads means we enter into a new cycle of change – whether it be adopting a new health regimen or a new spiritual practice. And change inevitably means letting go of familiar people and places and moving on to another stage of life. Many people are stuck in between two worlds: the old world they need to release and the world that they are afraid to enter. We are attracted to becoming more ‘conscious,’ but at the same time we find it frightening because it means we must take personal responsibility for ourselves – and for our health, career, attitudes and thoughts. Once we accept our personal responsibility for even one area of our lives, we can never again use ‘tribal reasoning’ to excuse our behaviour. In tribal consciousness personal responsibility does not exist in well-defined terms, so it is much easier to avoid the consequences of personal choices in the tribal milieu. Tribal responsibility extends mainly to the physical areas of our lives, meaning individuals are accountable for their finances, social concerns, relationships and occupations. The tribe does not require members to take personal responsibility for the attitudes they inherent. According to tribal reasoning, it is acceptable to excuse one’s prejudices by saying, “Everyone in my family thinks this way.” It is extremely difficult to give up the comfort zone that accompanies such excuses; just think of how may times you have said, “Everyone does it, so why shouldn’t I?” This dodge is the crudest form of the sacred truth All is One, and it is commonly used to evade responsibility for all manner of immoral acts, from tax evasion to adultery to keeping the extra change from a sales clerk. Spiritually conscious adults, however can no longer utilize tribal reasoning. Tax evasion becomes a deliberate act of theft; adultery becomes the conscious breaking of a marriage vow; and keeping extra change becomes equal to stealing from the store. Summary of Chakra #1: The first chakra corresponds to the area where the body makes contact with the earth when seated in the classic posture of meditation. It grounds us is in physical life: in the physical arena, every experience, every encounter we have automatically engages our first chakra, which assesses our immediate environment for the basic details of size, shape, people, and all other factors that relate to physical characteristics. The first chakra also grounds us to the groups that support our life. Our relationship with power begins with learning how it works within our family and other social groups or tribal connections, including friends, gangs, religious affiliations, and social class. Other forms of group power connections include genetic 6 Page 7 of 54 inheritance, ethnic heritage, and national identity, as well as group beliefs, values, attitudes, and superstitions. An enormous supply of your energy is invested in potent beliefs common to thousands or millions of other people. Many people have been told that a certain illness runs in their family, for example, and that they have a natural propensity toward that disease. As a result of having this notion reinforced in their psyche, they invest their energy in that thought, giving it power and authority over them. I have worked with many people who, in the process of healing a serious illness, try every form of alternative medicine, including visualization and positive thinking. Yet when I ask whether they believe that they can heal the illness, a high percentage admit to hoping they can while at the same time expressing their doubts, because modern medical research maintains that no cure has been found. So although their mind is focusing on maintaining a positive attitude, their energy, or power – which is the only investment that matters – is connected to the findings and beliefs of the medical community. Their attachment to the power of that group thought-form inevitably dominates, because hope without power is no match for fear with power. Your chakras, like your archetypes and contracts, are essentially, neutral, providing you with either strength or vulnerability depending on how you make use of their energy. Your first chakra, for instance, connects you to family loyalties, traditions, rituals, social laws, and the many positive elements of society that give you a sense of identity. I believe that we agree to be born to parents whose genetic traits and family lineage provide precisely the assets and liabilities that will help us most in learning and contributing what we need to in this life. Our parents’ financial situation, level of intellect, psychological and emotional predispositions, and geographic location are all part of the equation that yields the sum of our own life. There are no “accidents of birth,” as the phrase goes; everything is provided for your particular journey, including the social, ethnic, and religious value systems of your family, which form the foundation of your consciousness and the lens through which you will first encounter life. Making sense of Chakra #1 (case): Loyalty is a beautiful tribal quality, most especially when it is conscious loyalty, a commitment that serves the individual as well as the group. Extremes of loyalty that harm one’s ability to protect oneself, however, qualify as a belief pattern from which one needs to free oneself. The following case history involves a primary tribal violation. Tony, thirty-two, is the son of Eastern European immigrants. He was five years old when his family moved to the USA, one of seven children. During those early years of establishing a home in this country, his parents found it extremely difficult to provide the family with the basics, including food. As the age of eight, Tony got a job at a local candy store, helping with small maintenance tasks. Tony’s family was deeply grateful for the extra ten dollars a week. After two months the boy was bringing home almost twenty dollars a week and feeling proud of himself – he could see how much his parents appreciated his contribution to the family funds. But once that dynamic of appreciation was in place, the store owner began to make sexual advances toward Tony. They began as subtle physical contact, but eventually they led to a situation in which this pedophile totally controlled the young boy. Tony was soon so completely dominated that he had to call the store owner every evening to assure him that everything was still ‘their secret.’ 7 Page 8 of 54 As his double life continued, Tony’s psychological state became understandably fragile. He knew that his frequent encounters with the ‘candy man’ were immoral, yet his family was now counting on his monthly household contribution of almost a hundred dollars. Tony finally found the courage to describe to his mother – in limited detail – what he had to do in order to earn his monthly wage. Hos mother responded by forbidding him to ever to speak of such things again. The family members were counting on his keeping that job, she said. Tony remained at the candy store until he was thirteen years old. The effects of his abuse extended into his student life. He barely made it through his sophomore year in high school, and at fifteen he was a dropout. To earn his way Tony took a job as an apprentice to a construction worker and, simultaneously, began to drink. Alcohol helped repress Tony’s nightmarish experiences of being sexually molested and calmed his nerves. He began to drink every evening after work. By sixteen he was an adept street fighter and a neighborhood troublemaker. The local police brought him home several times for starting fights and for minor vandalism. His family tried to force him to stop drinking but could not. During one incident when Tony’s friends brought him home after an evening of drinking, he screamed in rage at his parents and his brothers for not rescuing him from the candy man. He knew that his mother had told his father about the molestation because even though they did not tell Tony to quit his job, his parents had forbidden his younger brothers to go to the store. And he later realized that his brothers understood what had happened, too, but treated it as a joke, implying at times that he enjoyed it. At twenty-five, Tony stated his own small construction company; he and his crew of four men performed minor repair work on homes. He managed to maintain this business faily successfully until he reached twenty-eight. At that time his drinking became so severe that it triggered attacks of paranoia in which he believed that demons were surrounding him, telling him to kill himself. By twenty-nine Tony had lost his company and his home. As a coping mechanism, he turned completely to alcohol. I met Tony only a month after he began working again. He had been hired to repair a home near mine, and we met quite accidentally. Even while he was managing his small crew, he was drinking on the job. I made a comment about it. He responded, “You’d drink too if you had my memories.” I looked at him, and by the way he held his body, I knew instantly that he had been molested as a child. I asked him if he wanted to talk about his childhood. For some reason opened up, and that dark chapter of his life poured out of him. We met a few times after that to talk about his past. I realized in listening to him was that the pain of knowing that his family had not tried to help him was greater than the pain of the sexual abuse. In fact, his family now considered him a drunkard and fully expected him to fail again and again in his life. The pain of family betrayal was destroying him. Curiously, he had already forgiven the candy man. His unfinished business was with the family. Two months after we met, Tony decided on his own to enter an alcohol treatment program. After he completed it, he contacted me and shared with me the healing impact of the therapy sessions in the program. In therapeutic circles reconciliation more often than not means confronting the people with whom you have unfinished business and cleaning out your wounds in front of them. In the best of cases, the people who wounded you will apologize, and some form of renewal or closure will occur. Tony, however, realized that his family would never be able to acknowledge their betrayal of him. His parents in particular would be too 8 Page 9 of 54 ashamed even to listen to his history. They were emotionally incapable of admitting that they knew what he had to do to earn that money so many years ago. Tony, instead turned to prayer and continual psychotherapy. When his sobriety and his commitment to prayer had continued for more than a year, he told me that his anger toward his family was gone. Given his parents fear of survival in a new country with very little money, he said, perhaps they had made the only choice they were capable of making. He worked on renewing his bonds with his family, and as his new business grew, his family spoke proudly of his success. To him, that represented their apology for the events of long ago. Questions for Self-Examination: 1. List all the blessings that you feel came from your family? 2. What belief patterns did you inherit from your family? 3. What positive traits did your Father mirror to you? 4. What positive traits did your Mother present to you? 5. What negative traits did your Father & Mother mirror to you for your learning? 6. What negative traits have your mate/spouse/ partner mirrored? 7. What positive traits has this person mirrored? 8. Is there a theme or drama in your life playing out over and over again – something that appears through different situations, old fears or negative thoughts? 9. Do you have any unfinished business with your family members? If so, list the reasons that prevent you from healing your family relationships. 10. If you are now raising a family of your own, list the qualities that you would like your children to learn from you. 11. Describe the tribal characteristics within yourself that you would like to strengthen and develop. 12. Have there been people in your life who tried to control you and/or take away your power? 13. Are there any beliefs or thoughts that are keeping you from becoming your best and living up to your greatest potential? 14. What tribal traditions and rituals do you continue for yourself and your family? 15. Do you have a personal code of honour? What is it? 16. What superstitions do you have? Which have more authority over you than your own reasoning ability? 17. Which of those belief patterns that still have authority in your thinking can you acknowledge are no longer valid? 18. Have you ever compromised your sense of honour? If so, have you taken steps to heal it? 19. What makes you angry? 20. Have there been power struggles in your relationships? 9