Friday 5 June 2015

Chakras - Spiritual Development

CHAKRAS 

The intent of this report is to offer information and guidance to help you with your spiritual development. In the event that you use any of the information in this report, the author assumes no responsibility for your actions and/or consequences arising from them.

I had a theory about the chakras, that a particular chakra is linked with our age and that each chakra (apart from the heart chakra) has a seven year period – I found my theory to be reinforced when I picked up a book called The Enneagram for the Spirit by Mary Horsely. 

The heart is the middle chakra which sits between the top three universal or higher self chakras and the bottom three or ego self chakras. As the heart is linked with love, a person may be “in” that chakra for 21 years as there is physical love, self love, and universal/unconditional love. OSHO also mentions the different levels of love stating that most people get “stuck” at the lowest level, that of sexual or physical love, which is not really love at all. The highest level being compassion and unconditional love – “doing something for the sheer joy of it without any expectation.”

0-7 years base chakra – the red base chakra is all to do with basic survival and security. From birth to about 7 it is said that we are very open channels. It is between these ages that we learn the basic survival skills, to walk , communicate, feed ourselves, clean ourselves, dress ourselves etc. I believe it is the Jesuits who have the saying, “Give me a boy until he is 7 and I will show you the man”.

7-14 years sacral chakra – the orange sacral chakra is linked with desires, procreation, creativity, courage. This links in with the age range as it around this age that puberty and hormonal changes start to kick in.

14-21 – the yellow solar plexus chakra is our power centre, our furnace. At this age we start to rebel, to have power issues/struggles in order to try and find some sense of individuality or identity. We are trying to find out who we are and our own purpose, our individual way of expressing ourselves but we lack the experiences of life at this stage to have confidence in ourselves, so there is this push/pull energy of pleasing the self and pleasing others in order to fit in and feel more confident. It’s also linked with the ups and downs of the emotions – yellow being sunshine energy. When the sun is shining (our solar plexus chakra is balanced), we are radiant and happy. When it is not we become gloomy and can feel a bit sad and sorry for ourselves.

21 – 42 – so now we get to the all important green/pink heart chakra. We go through the phases of being in a relationship, enjoying sharing the physical aspects of love. Many people, as OSHO said, remain stuck at this level. Soon after there is a feeling of emptiness, so we fill it with more physical or material pleasures continuing the cycle. Some of us however, begin to realise, “well, that’s all well and good, all very nice, BUT, like any other earthly pleasure – it’s short lived”. 

So we move on to making our own happiness, loving ourselves. Some of us remain at this level, feeling that “well I’m alright Jack, I’m a good person, I don’t depend on anyone for my happiness, if I want something I can get it for myself. I don’t go round hurting anybody or being a burden, etc, etc,” There can also be a tendency to become self righteous at this point.

Somewhere along that route though, some of us start to make a connection with others, a deeper connection and realisation that there are living beings on this planet who are not happy, fulfilled, content – who haven’t reached that level yet - some don’t care or don’t want to. They may do in their next lifetime or in a few hundred lifetimes. But some do. Empathy and sympathy for our fellow living beings becomes stronger, the realisation that we are all interconnected becomes more and more engrained. When this level of love occurs, it is very difficult to judge another being, to hurt another being, to condemn another being, because as soon as we do, we feel the ripple of our actions as strongly as the being it is inflicted on. We realise that people are not being hurtful consciously – for if they truly knew and were interconnected to the universe, they would not behave that way intentionally. This level is sometimes triggered by parenthood or some similar act of caring for some living being – the act of unconditional love. We don’t give up or turn our backs on someone or something because they make a mistake, because they fail their exams, because our pets mess the house, because the plants drop leaves or need continual watering. What do we do? Instead of giving less, we give more - more love, more guidance, more support – and the universe, as always will balance things out. I heard once, that we are never given more than we can handle, I do believe this. It goes hand in hand with the phrase “that which doesn’t kill me, can only make me stronger” (or words to that effect). So we start to balance our own happiness with the happiness of others realising the interconnectedness of that happiness. If we do something that makes another person happy, without attachment to the outcome, we will inevitably feel happy ourselves. The feeling of it’s just nice to be nice. That includes being nice to ourselves – striving for the happiness of all living beings – the universal love. Gaining that balance however, is much easier said than done! This is the first step of working on a universal level.

42- 49 As we move into our forties we encounter the blue throat chakra. The phrase life begins at 40 comes to mind. The throat chakra is all about being able to speak truth – not as easy as it sounds! By truth it doesn’t mean blurting out whatever we personally feel, that’s energy coming from the lower ego self chakras. Speaking spiritual truths, universal truths – being able to speak in a way that empowers others, that has a healing effect, an inspiring effect. Think of motivational speakers – they have an energy about them that draws huge numbers of people to them. Also, singers who touch the lives and souls of many people with their voices. This is universal energy – many artists pen a bestselling song in 15 minutes. Why? Because they are merely the channel. They allow the universe to work through them and they know this. They are at a level where they want to serve the universe. They open themselves up and allow themselves to be a channel or a vessel.

49 – 56 By the time we reach our late forties we are ready to work with the indigo third eye chakra. This is all about sharing insights, inner vision and foresight. Again on a universal level. Being willing to serve spirit or the universe. Sharing regardless of a person’s socio economic status, and all the other labels we place on individuals.

56 + By now we become as enlightened as can be in our physical bodies, we reach the golden/white crown chakra. There are those who have moments or even phases of enlightenment (very difficult to put into words!). My best description is the feeling of being merged with everything, a sense that you are here but not here. To talk or move at this point breaks it, which is why enlightenment is such a personal personal experience. And that’s just my take on it. When we do this though, an overwhelming sense of inner peace and contentment radiates from us and around us, permeating and positively affecting all those that come in contact with us.

This is just what has flowed and is by no means an exhaustive explanation on chakras. Some of us will find our “soul purpose” in a particular chakra – that chakra may be stronger throughout this life time from birth, which may well explain people who have amazing gifts from a very early age or the ability to reach the masses but without really knowing why. I was about to start talking about soul contracts and lessons etc. Maybe that will be another time! 




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