Embody Cosmic Harmony
by Jude Currivan
The following excerpt is taken from the book The 8th Chakra, by Jude Currivan, Ph.D.. It is published by Hay House (May 2007) and available at all bookstores or online at: www.hayhouse.com
To the Vedic sages of ancient India, the human soul is a droplet of the infinite ocean of consciousness that is Brahman. This spiritual metaphor, now many millennia old, sees the journey of the soul reflected in the cycles of life-giving water on Earth. Distilled from the vastness of the cosmic ocean, we soar. Light beings of vapour, we are carried by light breezes and tossed about in the midst of storm clouds until we reach land. Falling as rain, we find our way through the fertile soils of the welcoming Earth and dance within the intricate networks of subterranean water. Aeons may pass before we stream to the surface and then flow with the small and great rivers of life until we find our way back to the ocean.
This ancient metaphor offers us a profound insight into how our individuated consciousness expresses itself. For just as a river is comprised of many tributaries, so our consciousness is far greater than the small stream of the ego-persona we explore in a single human life.
Life After Death After Life
Vedic literature offers us the oldest written teachings of our human family. Their wisdom informed the ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Sumerians and thus many later traditions, all of which perceived the continuation of the human psyche after the demise of the physical body.
Most traditions consider that when we return to Spirit, we move on unless there is a reason for us to remain close to the physical plane. These reasons may include a traumatic demise, when we may not even be aware that we have passed over, or an emotional attachment to a person or place. Whilst many of us, like my beloved mother, may choose to remain close to those we love for a short time after we pass over, remaining for much longer ultimately serves neither those for whom we care nor ourselves. Indeed, spirits sometimes become eventually entrapped through such attachment, remaining long after their loved ones themselves have moved on.
In the last few years investigating such entrapped spirits or ghosts has become a more recognized aspect of parapsychological research. Facilitating their release has also become a more common means of spiritual support.
At the University of Arizona, psychologists Gary Schwartz and Linda Russek have spent several years investigating the claims of mediums who are in touch with the spirits of the departed. They and other researchers who are studying a range of phenomena from near death experiences (NDEs) to after death communication (ADC) are progressively coming to the same view: that there is increasingly strong scientific support for the ancient and spiritual view that our human psyche does continue after our physical body has perished.
Most world religions also believe in some form of reincarnation – the view that we live life after life as we continue to explore what it means to be human. The early Gnostic Christians also held this belief although the concept was subsequently deemed heretical.
The research of psychiatrist Ian Stevenson provides us with the best scientific evidence we yet have for reincarnation. Stevenson has studied the cases of young children who have claimed memories of other lives. He has sought both to minimize the danger of ‘false’ memories and collect details that can be independently verified. So far, he has amassed over 3,000 case studies indicative of reincarnation.
Our Ego-Self
When we incarnate as a human being, a three-fold stream of consciousness weaves within us the underlying fabric of our life.
The first stream represents our genetic inheritance and thus the lineage of the family and culture we are born into. Whilst the sequence of genes encoded in our parents’ DNA is the primary directive for our physical make-up, scientists are also now becoming aware that generational characteristics and environmental factors affecting our parents and even our grandparents can result in the way genes are epigenetically expressed in their offspring.
The second stream is represented by our personality, the emotional and mental lens through which we respond to the circumstances of our experience.
Within the ever-changing matrix of consciousness we call our Solar – or Soular – System, the combined holographic influences of the Sun, Moon and planets at the time and place of our birth engenders the fundamental characteristics of our personality. And these co-ordinates are unique to every one of us, for even identical twins born in the same bed will come into the world a few minutes apart.
The third stream of consciousness arises at the level of awareness of our higher-self. As the purpose for our incarnation or destiny is chosen, so the opportunities and objectives of our life experiences are decided. And it is this level of intention that determines the circumstances of our coming into the world – where and when we are born and who will be our parents – and the subsequent environment in which we live our life.
The dynamic interplay of all three streams is then expressed throughout our life at the level of awareness we call the ‘ego-self’.
Mind, Heart and Will
The role played by the awareness of the ego-mind of our ‘normal’ waking consciousness is primarily to persuade us by all means available to it that its reality – the physical world – is the only reality. Furthermore, fulfilling its role of individualizing our experience, it seeks to convince us that we are separate from others and the wider world.
But whilst our ego-mind thus aims to maximize the creativity of our unique perception, our hearts yearn to re-member the unity that underlies the diversity of the holographic Cosmos.
Both mind and heart find their creative expression through our will. The three together form the fundamental trinity of male, female and child principles through which we live life.
We each choose to incarnate either as a man or a woman. Whilst equal, these are intrinsically and energetically different, not just physically but also emotionally and mentally. The inner balance of our male, female and child energies and their appropriate use, regardless of our gender, are fundamental to the full expression of our humanity and a prerequisite for our continuing journey to wholeness.
Subtle Energy Meridians
Vedic wisdom perceives that the subtle energies of the human personality interface with the physical body through the spinning vortices of subtle energies known as chakras.
The chakras are considered to connect with a triad of subtle energy meridians, or nadis, known individually as the pingala, ida and shushumna, which act as conduits for the subtle life-force energies of our biofield.
The trinity of nadis embody our inherent expression of male/yang (pingala), female/yin (ida) and child/neutral (shushumna) energies. These positive/active, negative/ passive and neutral/creative principles are depicted by the ancient symbol of healing known as the caduceus. The central staff represents the shushumna, up and around which twin serpents representing the pingala and ida energies coil and come together at each chakra.
As the caduceus reveals, it is the balanced expression of all three cosmic principles within us, as mediated through the chakras, that enables us to manifest the full ego-self.
Chakras
There are seven primary chakras relating to our ego persona. These are located just in front of our spine and extend from our tailbone up to the crown of our head. These are the root chakra (tailbone), the sacral chakra (pelvic area), the solar plexus chakra, the heart chakra, the throat chakra (all located where their names suggest), the third eye chakra (at the centre of the brow just above the base of the nose) and the crown chakra (at the top of the head). These locations have been correlated with the major glands of our endocrine system. Secreting a wide range of hormones whose inter-relationships are not yet well understood, these glands regulate a huge range of physical and emotional responses.
The chakras mediate the subtle energies of our biofield and the freedom with which both subtle and physical energies flow through us is directly correlated to our overall well-being. Any blockages or restrictions will result in imbalance and dis-ease at psychological, emotional or physical levels.
By understanding our chakra system and how it operates, we can become aware of our own energetic blockages. As we do so, we empower ourselves to go beyond the manifestation of dis-ease to its causation and therefore to initiate real and sustained healing.
A Corporate ‘Office’
Each of the chakras is traditionally understood to express a different aspect of the human experience. In total, they may be likened to seven floors of a corporate office building.
On the ground floor, the engineering department (root chakra) ensures that all the utilities and facilities that support the corporation’s activities are well grounded and have strong foundations.
On the next floor (sacral chakra), the role of the personnel department is to facilitate the appropriate care of everyone in the organization.
The third floor (solar plexus chakra) is dedicated to operational efficiency by ensuring that every activity throughout the corporation works together to express the corporate purpose and creativity.
On the fourth floor (heart chakra) the responsibility of stakeholder services is to make sure that the relationships with all the stakeholders of the organization are met and honoured.
The sales and marketing departments are based on the fifth floor (throat chakra). Their roles are to enable the voice of the corporation to be heard and thus its unique products to be known by and shared with the wider world.
The sixth floor (third eye chakra) is home to the strategic planning team. Here an inner vision is created which allies the organization’s resources and capabilities with a wise perception of the outer world to secure and sustain abundance.
On the seventh floor (crown chakra) is the boardroom, where the corporation’s disparate activities are brought together and an overview of its well-being and relationships with the wider world is maintained.
Organization to Organism
Just as, in the corporate example, where the focus of the lower three floors is primarily internal to the organization, so the focus of our lower three chakras is ourselves. These three chakras emphasize the basic physical, emotional and security-related needs of our own organism and essentially how we can survive in the world.
The fourth floor, or heart chakra, is where we begin to open up to and empathize with the wider world. And the fifth is where we start to express the unique product that we have to offer – ourselves.
As we ascend through our imaginary corporate office building, we can look out of the window on each floor and get a better view of the surrounding landscape. Similarly, as we ascend through the chakras, our own body gains an expanded view of the wider world.
By the sixth floor, or third eye chakra, we are able to collate our understanding of where we are with the perception of how to go forward in alignment with our resources and higher purpose.
From the vantage point of the seventh floor, the directors have an overall understanding of the entire corporation and its interactions with the world at large. Equally, from the awareness of the crown chakra we gain an overview of our ego-selves and how we relate to others.
Depending on our level of awareness as expressed through each chakra, from the root to the crown, we will interpret differently what are objectively the same outer circumstances or events.
Complementary Energies
Before we go on to discuss each chakra in turn, we need to recognize that in choosing to incarnate as a man or a woman, we are also choosing to manifest the energies of our chakras differently.
Men and women are energetically polarized in a complementary but opposite way, although we all embody the universal principles that we describe as male, female and child. A man primarily embodies the male or yang expression that is energetically directed outward and is active and explosive. Conversely, a woman generally embodies the female or yin expression that is energetically directed inward and is passive and implosive. Crucially, each gender also embodies the child expression which is energetically neutral but from which all creativity arises.
As we move up the body, each chakra also switches its polarity. So for men, the root, solar plexus, throat and crown chakras are expressed in a yang or outward way and the sacral, heart and third eye are expressed in a yin or inward way. For women, the root, solar plexus, throat and crown chakras are expressed in a yin way and the sacral, heart and third eye in a yang way.
Thus men generally express themselves in an outward or yang way through the security needs associated with their root chakra, the urge to express power and purpose mediated by their solar plexus chakra, the communication of their throat chakra and the intellect of their mind. But the yin polarities of their sacral, heart and third eye chakras mean that their expression of the energies of these chakras is naturally directed inwards.
For women, the opposite is generally the case. With the innate active or yang expression of their sacral, heart and third eye chakras, women are naturally able to express inner feelings, empathy and intuitive insights outwardly. But the yin polarity of their root, solar plexus, throat and crown chakras means that issues relating to security, power, communication and intellect are naturally expressed and focused more inwardly.
For everyone, the ever-present child energies are the creative conduit for the combination of these two complementary polarities of yin and yang. Ultimately, the expansion of our awareness enables us to achieve such balance and dance with its appropriate manifestation – not to attempt to homogenize gender expression but to offer ourselves a much richer symphony of experience and spiritual empowerment.
Imbalance to Balance
We’ll now review each chakra in turn to understand its perspective and how its energies are expressed both in imbalanced and balanced forms. As we move up the chakras and fully awaken and balance the energies of each, we take a quantum leap in our awareness of the Cosmos, for each represents a progressively higher note of the energies of our ego consciousness.
Imbalances in the chakras, as we shall see, show up in many different guises – but ultimately all of them are about whether we are expressing ourselves authentically and being true to ourselves. When we are, we are in the flow of life and in harmony with the Cosmos, whatever our outer circumstances. We stand straight, neither leaning forwards in our eagerness to prove who we are nor leaning backwards, afraid to show ourselves and fearful of sharing our unique gifts with the world. On page 247 you’ll find a simple exercise to help you understand and clear energy imbalances and blockages in each of the seven chakras.
The first three chakras – root, sacral and solar plexus – are primarily about us as individuals. The root is about ‘finding our feet’ in life, the sacral is about how we gain pleasure and the solar plexus relates to our manifestation of power, purpose and creativity.
The Root Chakra
The root chakra is located at the base of our tailbone or coccyx. Its awareness is instinctual and its aim is to survive. Its sole responsibility is to itself and the sustaining of its own physical needs of shelter and food.
Within the perspective of our ego-self, this chakra is the root by which we connect with the Earth. Like a tree, if our roots are shallow, the storms of life will uproot us, but if our roots are strong and deep, we are supported and nourished.
To feel balanced on this level, we need to physically be where we need to be. Each of us has our own authentic needs and it is important that we differentiate them from our desires. If our real need is to live in rural surroundings, the hubbub of a large city will deplete and drain our energies. But if what we truly need is to live in such an urban setting, whilst every one of us needs a connection with Nature in some way, a rural idyll will not sustain and nurture us.
To ensure that the needs of our root chakra are met requires us to be as truthful as we can be with ourselves. To balance the entirety of our lives as best we can, we may be prepared to compromise to some degree with regard to the specific aspects. But every compromise that denies our authentic needs takes us out of balance with ourselves to some degree.
Facing Our Inner Fears
The choice to be where we know we truly need to be will almost certainly require us to face our inner fears to some degree or other. We may as well address this issue now, because it will continue to arise as we consider each chakra in turn.
Fear is a healthy emotion when it alerts us to danger. However, if it becomes chronic at every appearance of change or uncertainty and thus effectively is a continuing way of being, then it is most definitely not healthy.
As we continue our journey to wholeness, fears will almost certainly come up. And as they do, their concerns need to be understood and appropriately honoured. But we must acknowledge that at some stage our inner journey will inevitably take us into the unknown. At that point, as at any time when such uncertainty may arise, all I would encourage you to do is to hear the voice of your heart. Indeed, the very word ‘courage’ resonates with the French word for heart – coeur – and so when we embody courage it is our heart that spurs us on.
And very soon, we’ll be sharing a way of listening to the wisdom of the voice of the 8th chakra of the universal heart and our own highest guidance.
But let’s now return to the root chakra.
Cultivating Roots
The root chakra’s focus is fully on us and no one else. Therefore unless its needs are met and its energies balanced we’ll find that survival issues dominate our experiences. Unless our need for security is satisfied, it is unlikely that we will be able to focus on much else in life. So understanding what makes us feel secure is crucial to balancing the root chakra’s energies. This is especially true if it seems to us that we never have enough, despite having sufficient resources to sustain our needs.
Cultivating roots where we need to be and in the ways we need to be and beginning to perceive and appreciate the inter-relationship of all life are other important steps in disengaging from the habitual fears of an imbalanced root chakra. If we are not able to do this, we may find our awareness remaining primarily at the root level, with our prevailing emotion being isolation and our sole focus being on material gain.
The Sacral Chakra
The second, sacral chakra is located in the area of our pelvis and its primary energetic drive is the attainment of pleasure as a basis for our physical relationships with the world.
Balancing the energies of this chakra relates to the development of our personal values and discernment as to what we will or won’t do to access pleasure. By enjoying an experience in the moment and allowing its pleasure to flow through us rather than hanging onto it, we are able to avoid the danger that the quest for such experience can become its own pleasure. Otherwise, we may entrap ourselves to the extent that as soon as someone or something is attainable or attained, it ceases to offer us pleasure and our quest goes on. When such an imbalance continues, it is ever-more difficult to find fulfilment and we make ever-greater attempts to satisfy a need that cannot be fulfilled. This is called addiction.
Imbalances at this level may, if not curtailed, lead to needing increasing doses of whatever we are addicted to in order to overcome our feelings of emptiness or dissatisfaction. Such a spiral may involve a deep fear of the loss of our pleasures. In relationships this can engender obsessive behaviour, jealousy and a neediness that is unable to be salved.
Also, when we’re energetically imbalanced at this level, we may continually compare ourselves with others and in so doing suffer an ongoing feeling of inadequacy.
The first step to balancing the sacral chakra is to see life as joyfully abundant rather than bereft and scarce. Rather than desiring what we don’t have, we need to delight in what we do have. Such contentment is not complacency; by being willing to see the abundance in our life as it is, the cosmic principle of resonance is enabled to attract ever-more abundance to us.
To be balanced, each chakra also requires the balance of the one below it. It’s like trying to build a house of cards – the security of the upper levels is dependent on the stability of those below. So for the energies of our sacral chakra to be fully balanced, we must resolve any issues relating to those of our root chakra too.
The Solar Plexus Chakra
The solar plexus chakra is located exactly where its name suggests, at our solar plexus, around the area of our navel. This is the power center of the body and mediates the energies relating to our will, purpose and creativity.
With the energies of this chakra we essentially assert who we are to the wider world. Under-use of this chakra may result in an inability to assert ourselves when appropriate or feelings of guilt when we do so. Alternatively, overuse leads to us seeking to impose our will rather than expressing our innate power.
In asserting who we are in a balanced way, we also need to define our boundaries without deliberately or inadvertently raising barriers against the outside world. Such discernment is essential to our progressive self-mastery.
Add Comment