Seventh Chakra

[Guest guest]

Day Seven - Seventh Chakra

 

" We make our destinies by our choice of gods. " Virgil

 

Element:::Earth

 

Name:::Sahasrara (thousandfold)

 

Purpose:::Understanding

 

Issues::: (all issues in all chakras are each a

section in the book...a good read)

 

Consciousness, Awareness, The Witness, Transcendence,

Immanence, Meaning, Information, Intelligence, Meaning,

Belief Systems, Operating Systems, Universal Identity,

Attachment, Higher Power, Divinity, Union, Vision

 

Color:::Violet

 

Location:::Cerebral cortex

 

Orientation:::Self-knowledge

 

Basic Rights:::

To Know and to Learn

 

This includes the right to accurate information, the right

to truth, the right to knowledge, and the right to simply

know what's going on. Certainly education is an important

part of knowledge. Equally important are one's spiritual

rights—the right to connect with the divine in whatever

way we find most appropriate. To force on another a

spiritual dogma infringes upon our seventh chakra

personal and spiritual rights. To deny information and

education is to close down the natural questing of the

seventh chakra.

 

Affirmations:::

 

" Divinity resides within. "

" I am open to new ideas. "

" Information I need comes to me. "

" The world is my teacher. "

" I am guided by higher power. "

" I am guided by inner wisdom. "

 

Identity:::

 

In the crown chakra, we come to the final and largest

identity: our universal identity. The more our conscious-

ness expands, the larger our identity can become. As we

realize the magnificent scope of the cosmos, we have the

opportunity to transcend our smaller, more limited world,

and identify with the entire universe. This is a common

theme in mystical experiences where the identification

with the smaller ego states gives way to recognition of a

unitary identity with all of life, indeed all of creation. In

Eastern philosophy, this is the basis of true

self-knowledge—the knowledge of divinity within.

 

Demon:::

Attachment

 

While attachment is necessary for making and main-

taining commitments essential to the lower chakras, it

inhibits our ability to expand in the crown chakra.

Attachment denies the constantly fluid state of the

universal system. It keeps us anchored in time, unable

to move forward, trapped in a small place, unable to

embrace a larger space. In Eastern religions, attachment

is seen as the basis of suffering.

 

For some, letting go of attachment is synonymous with

letting go of responsibility. It can become a means of

escape. When the going gets rough, we simply let go of

our connection rather than work through sticky issues.

In so doing, we experience freedom but sacrifice growth.

 

In the truer sense of the word, letting go of attachment

is about how we direct our psychic energy. To let go of

attachment is to release our fixation upon something

external, to relinquish our need to control, our desire for

a certain outcome. Attachment is our way of not

trusting the wisdom of the universe while it actually tries

to teach us something. We stay attached because we

are defending against our suffering, rather than seeing that

suffering as a teaching. Attachment says we are certain

we know what is best. It does not allow the humility that

opens us to something larger.

 

Opening to the Mystery of Heaven

 

The Separation of Spirit and Matter

 

Western civilization is founded on the belief system

that spirit and matter are separate and distinct. The

Earth is treated as an inanimate object to be used

wastefully, at our own lack of discretion. Science

examines the world rationally and methodically,

pointedly avoiding the more nebulous issue of spirit.

Corporations are built to enhance their economic

prowess, often with little regard for the spiritual

well-being of their workers or the environment.

 

People who give spirituality a high priority are often

considered fringe members of society. for many

seekers and respected masters, spiritual practice is

seen as antithetical to mundane existence. Monks

leave their homes and families and renounce all worldly

pursuits in order to obtain enlightenment. Nuns

cloister themselves to be closer to God. New Age

ascension philosophy advises transcending the body and

becoming nothing but light. Eastern philosophy tells

us to let go of worldly attachments.

 

The separation of spirituality from the rest of life

leaves us spiritually homeless. In reflection of the

archetypal divorce between Earth Mother and Sky

Father, we are taught to seek enlightenment by denying

the basic nature of our biological existence. This

chasm between Heaven and Earth creates a correspond-

ing abyss between spirit and soul into which many fall as

they engage in ascetic practices, sign their will over

to gurus, and disengage from the world. Denying our

basic nature in order to achieve unity is a contradiction

steeped in dualistic thinking which will never lead to unity

or wholeness.

 

The seventh chakra is about merging with divine

consciousness and realizing our true nature. The

petty concerns that occupy the bulk of our waking life

often distract us from remembering who we truly are

beneath the jobs and the cars, the kids and the

clothes. It is important to know that we are children

of the divine seeking our way back home--that there is

a deeper meaning to life than is normally perceived.

 

What is valid about this myth of separation is that we

do need to disconnect from the illusions and

attachments we place between ourselves and the divine,

from the substitutions we use to fill the emptiness of

our soul. I believe the ultimate source of these soul

wounds stems from stripping our ordinary existence of

its spiritual meaning, leaving the average person

without purpose or direction.

 

The crown chakra is the thousand-petaled lotus. Most

people think of the petals as reaching up into the

heavens; actually, the lotus petals turn downward like

a sunflower, dripping nectar into the crown and down

through the chakras. In this way, the two ends of the

spectrum are profoundly connected. How can a lotus

bloom without roots in the Earth? How can it reach

Heaven if its roots are not deep and wide?

 

The Rainbow Bridge, like any bridge, is about

connection. The two ends of the spectrum connect the

individual self with universal creation. The middle

section of the bridge takes the combination out into

the world, through appropriate action, right

relationship, and creative contributions. Our

purpose in the seventh chakra is to contact the

divine, but also to manifest divinity in our bodies and

actions and so transform the world. In the seventh chakra,

we see divinity in all matter and in all its infinite

arrangements. Crossing the Rainbow Bridge is about

stretching to connect the limited with the infinite,

while still retaining both qualities. It is through

that stretch that we grow.

 

To arrive at the fully blooming lotus crown chakra,

our stem needs to be connected all the way to Earth,

our roots deep in the ground. Through this

connection, our lotus is nourished and continues to

bloom, its petals ever unfolding. Our purpose is

indeed to liberate the spirit, but if we are to avoid

getting lost in the infinite we must retain a home to

which the spirit can return. This is the challenge of

a psychologically balanced seventh chakra.

 

Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith

 

(Also can be found in our Group Files: Chakras KAS-1)