This Month's Article:
"Seven Centers: the Journey of Humanity (Part 2)"
by Connie Habash
[In honor of the chakra series starting this month in my classes, I'm writing a two-part article on the psychological aspects of the chakra system. This month, we're covering chakras 5-7]
They are known as "chakras", the Sanskrit term for "wheel". Some consider them to be a manifestation within the etheric field, our energetic blueprint from the cosmos. They are known to be vital points along channels in the pranamaya kosha, the vital life force "sheath" that permeates the physical body. Although there are hundreds of minor chakras, there are seven that are considered paramount. Seven energy centers essential to our development, and potential transcendence, as a human being.
Last month, we explored the journey of the 7 main energy centers in the body -- the chakras -- and how they embody the process of human evolution for each individual. The first 4 chakras take us from birth through adolescence, and from basic survival, through feeling, and empowerment, up to the stage of learning right relationship with self and others.
The 4th chakra is the pivotal point of the journey, where we turn our awareness from simply our own self-development to our relationships with others and all of life. 4th chakra awakens us to the giving and receiving of love, even on the spiritual level: perhaps for the first time, we may understand being loved by God as well as loving Him/Her. This is the deeper layer of unconditional love that lies dormant in 4th chakra, for as we open ourselves to that infinite source of love, we find increasing capacity to hold others in that space of acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, and innocence.
This takes us to the threshold of 5th chakra. At the throat, it is hardly surprising that this chakra embodies communication and expression. It is related to sound and speech -- and not only the ability to speak our truth, but to listen deeply (the sense of hearing). We revisit the 2nd chakra's creativity here but in outward manifestation. Now, creativity takes form in our words, actions, career choices, and home life, as well as through artistic expression.
The throat chakra also is the container of our knowledge -- we being to "own" what we know at this point of our evolution. From young adulthood through mid-life, we journey from college, vocational studies, or our first jobs, through our career (and perhaps a few career changes). We may marry and begin a family. Along the path we continue to learn in a variety of ways, and we may even be compelled to pursue deeper knowledge -- exploration of the mysteries of life, scripture, and spiritual study.
Eventually, within 5th chakra a longing grows to share what we know and understand. It dawns on us that it is not enough to just know, but the continued development of our species depends on sharing what we know. As Erikson states about his 7th stage of "Generativity", we develop a concern in "establishing and guiding the next generation". Besides the obvious expressions of passing on what we know to our own children, there is a drive towards "making our mark" through our own unique contribution to the world. We tend to measure this in career success or having a family, but also can be found in pursuing studies of interest, undertaking creative and artistic hobbies, and volunteer work to support those in need of our skills and care. Service to our community arises in 5th chakra.
Having journeyed through our development as physical, emotional, mental, relational, and occupational beings (which continue to evolve through our lives), we reach another significant shift at the 6th chakra, located at the center of the forehead. There is a realization of something beyond the doings of the world, the activities we pursue, the relationships we cultivate, and even the thoughts we think. A realization of a deeper understanding than our acquired knowledge -- intuition and insight come to the fore. Certainly, throughout life, many have noticed these abilities of the mind to "know without knowing", like a 6th sense. But the 6th chakra specifically develops this inner knowing and wisdom. It also is the seat of imagination, dreams, and integration: the ability to perceive life from a broad view, taking in the meaning of our relationships, all levels of our being, life pursuits, past, present, and future.
Erikson's 8th and final stage of life, called "Ego Integrity", is the ego's "accumulated assurance of its capacity for order and meaning". This is integration and inner knowing. It is not only the confidence and ability to create an orderly life and to find meaning in what we do. It is also the wisdom that develops from accumulated life experience. This is beyond what we learned in college or on the job, but what we learned when a relationship ended, a child was born, a parent died, or when we harvested vegetables from our own garden and ate them. Wisdom comes from the ordinary and extraordinary events of life and how we survived and even thrived.
This wisdom reveals awareness of a greater order in the universe and pursuit of the meaning of life. The individual begins to penetrate into the question of what is beyond life and death. Spirituality moves to the forefront as we recognize the impermanence of our existence. The 6th chakra turns us back inward, but not to our personal self -- to the exploration of what is beyond the ego and the body.
Erikson's developmental theory, based in social and emotional development, ends there. But the chakras move on, because yogic theory impels us to look beyond even our thoughts, insights, and ideas. At the 7th chakra, seen as a thousand-petaled lotus on the crown of the head, we move into experience of transcendence -- the greatest point of human evolution.
For most of us, this remains a mere potentiality, but a few great souls have awakened this potential at the 7th chakra. They describe it as consciousness itself -- oneness with all of existence, an attunement with the vibration of the entire cosmos. Some call it experiencing ultimate truth and reality, beyond form, the source of all known and unknown. Some see it as becoming one with the Divine itself. The full expression of this last chakra is enlightenment, illumination. It is beyond the pale of ordinary human experience: truly extraordinary, yet achievable according to the ancient yogis through many paths of yoga, such as consistent, steady, and long-held practices of meditation, devotion, selflessness, and internal inquiry into the nature of the universe.
The journey through the chakras is powerful and transformative, and unlike Erikson's theory of development, does not necessarily occur in a linear and predictable progression. Some of us skip ahead to higher chakras at different times in life, and often we return to strengthen the energy of lower chakras. In fact, all the chakras can be accessed at almost any time during the lifespan.
However, skipping ahead to focus on the experiences of the 7th chakra, for example, without having a solid grounding in the other chakras, can lead to poor, even disastrous results. Some have leaped to meditation without dealing with ego issues: this can result in dissociation from the sense of self, and can make a person blind to their own faults, feeling that they are overcoming them by distancing themselves from them. They can unconsciously be reacting to others in inappropriate ways and cut themselves off from relationships that fall apart, over and over, rationalizing that others just don't understand how "spiritual" they are.
One can also become stuck or fixated in a particular chakra (such as power-hungry people who obsess in the realm of 3rd chakra), and healing work at that particular chakra plus developing strength and balance in underdeveloped chakras shifts the fixation. Working with a therapist or teacher experienced in the chakras, doing internal exploration of the issues at each one, meditation on the aspects of a particular chakra, using healing stones specific to the chakra, and work with yogic practices for supporting that chakra are some of the various ways one can heal and develop the qualities of these energetic centers.
You can do your own internal exploration of these chakras. A simple practice would be to sit in a comfortable position for meditation. Start with a few deep and relaxing breaths to bring you into the present in your body. Then, beginning with first chakra and slowly progressing up to the seventh, spend some time feeling each one, visualizing them (you can learn the colors, geometric shapes, sounds, etc. associated with each in either of the books below), and especially exploring the issues in your life that arise at each energy center. Take time to journal about the experience of each chakra, and make note of where your strengths are and where you feel you need the most development.
Then brainstorm ways that you can practice that in your life. If your 5th chakra seems closed, tight, weak, or hazy, consider: What wants to be expressed within you? What artistic pursuit to do you long to explore? How can you improve your ability to communicate, or to listen? Do you own what you know? Are you paying attention to sounds, music, or intonation? Whom can you benefit by sharing your knowledge? Or is there an area of knowledge that you recognize you need to develop for yourself? After your internal reflections, end your meditation, and then come up with a simple plan for working on one of the chakras. Conscious development of these seven powerful energy centers can transform your life.
Copyright © 2008 by Connie Habash
My two favorite books on the Chakras:
"Chakras" by Harish Johari (more traditional Hindu perspective)
"Wheels of Life" by Anodea Judith (more modern, western perspective)
