Chakra
Points & the 13th
Chakra
Many of us are familiar with the seven chakra points, the major
energy centers of the body that run from the base of the spine
to the crown of the head. These chakra points are represented
by the seven colors in the visible light spectrum and seven
notes of the diatonic scale, beginning with the color red and
the note C and ending with the color purple and the note B.
Fewer of us are aware that there are actually more chakras
as well: two more above our head (8 and 9), one below our feet
(10), one in the palm of each hand (11 and 12), and the 13th
chakra, which is about arm's length from the body, slightly
below the level of the heart.
(There are more chakras - the 14th chakra
is the gateway to the next dimension, but that is another
story).
The Heart chakra is represented by the color
green; however, in some contexts it is referred to as having
two colors - green and rose, or pink. Until I learned about
the 13th chakra, this always confused me. How could pink
be in there? How could a chakra have two colors? The answer
is that the 13th chakra is outside the body, but the energy
of it is experienced in the heart.
The energy of the 13th chakra is that of Unconditional
Love. Unlike the seven major centers of the body, this one
cannot become blocked. What can become blocked however, is
our awareness of it. This center is like a beacon of love
and light that is eternally shining on us, delivering to
us bliss and well being at every moment of our existence.
It is our interconnectedness to All That Is, to our Source.
The 13th chakra
has been symbolized in the image of a Rose. Throughout
history, myth and religion,
this symbol appears to represent the energy of Love, or God,
or the Light (which are essentially all one and the same).
If the Rose spoke, it would say one thing: "You are
Loved."
The truth contained
in the awareness of this energy center is what everyone
is looking for: it is simply, happiness. Buddha's famous
last words were (allegedly), "There
is no Way to Peace and Happiness - Peace and Happiness is
the Way." These are profound words, and yet they are
not the words we are taught to live by. Somehow we have swallowed
the belief that happiness lies outside ourselves, that it
is something to be pursued, purchased, found in a mall, a
restaurant, a relationship, or a pill.
And so we go from store to store, from person
to person, or perhaps therapist to therapist, seeking the
elusive Bliss that calls to us. We get lost in addictions
that whisper lies to us about happiness. From Heroin to Sugar
to Online Catalog Shopping, we answer that whisper and fall
headlong into the temptation of the short-lived high, only
to find ourselves on the desolate beach of the inevitable
crash soon after. Lost at the mall.
Our awareness of this Source of Unconditional
Love is blocked on a personal, as well as cultural level.
This has occurred for a number of reasons, the primary one
being the Creation Myth that is known by nearly everyone
in our culture whether they choose to subscribe to it or
not. Put simply, we are the children of a couple that blew
it (it was her fault) and we have been cast out of the Garden,
separated from God, to suffer forever in the world of Duality.
This story has, on a subtle level, defined
the reality of our culture. Its basic message is that we
are all guilty sinners living under a judgmental God. This
belief instills in us a powerful message that we are not
worthy of Bliss, Happiness, Joy, and Ecstasy. We are worthy
of pursuing it, yes - in that shiny SUV, in that Beautiful
House, in that Fit Body and all the other images that Madison
Avenue holds up to us as Desirable. We are worthy of pursuing
it in Food, Alcohol, Shopping, Sex and Busy-ness. But of
finding it? Of truly finding it and choosing it and owning
it? Of really living it?
Well, living
it, that's scary stuff. Because somewhere in this belief
system there is this lurking thought that if we let ourselves
feel too good, something terrible is going to happen. Therein
lies the whole lie: this is where Unconditional Love becomes
conditional love - "I can
be happy if all of the conditions are right - when I am fit,
rich and have the perfect mate," or whatever your personal
conditions are. The thought that it is too scary to have
all of these things that we think will make us happy because
we might lose them all and then become unhappy keeps us in
a cycle of perpetual unhappiness - it keeps us Stuck.
The truth is,
that while this is a world of suffering, it is merely an
illusion and love is behind all of it. All of the seeming "tragedies" that "happen" to
us are lessons laid with love before us so that we may know
Love, and are all essentially Maya, the mask of God. In truth,
we have never really left the Garden - we are still connected.
The 13th chakra is, was, and will always be there.
(There is an interesting sideline here about
the Goddess Tradition and the Number 13 and how it was stamped
out by the Church of Rome and what all that means, but that,
too, is another story.)
Many people bog down in the healing process
when it comes to truly and fully opening to this energy.
Most people are so accustomed to feeling bad that feeling
good is outside their comfort zone. We are programmed, especially
through Television, to focus on the negative. Whatever one
focuses on expands, and so we have expansive depression in
our culture, and it is accepted as normal. In fact, we subscribe
to the curious notion that depression is a result of being
victim to hormones and body chemistry beyond our control,
that it is a condition to be fixed with a pill.
In fact, the
entire notion that we need to be fixed is incorrect thinking.
What we need to do is remove the blocks that stand between
our essential nature and Unconditional Love. The first
step in removing these blocks is identifying them. Any
place where we experience "stuckness" is
a place where we hold a false thought or belief about ourselves,
a notion that limits us and disconnects us from our Authentic
Selves.
Much unhappiness comes from the fact that we
are culturally programmed to be that way, because it is no
great secret that this inherent dissatisfaction with life
is what drives the ever-important Economy. The lie that happiness
lies in the accumulation of stuff (especially expensive new
stuff) and status keeps our consumer culture functioning.
The hard truth is that we are all slaves to a system that
seeks to rob us of our joy, our time with loved ones and
our freedom, while all the while feeding us propaganda that
we are free and rewarding us with shiny possessions for our
sacrifices.
A good starting point in identifying the sources
of your unhappiness is to recognize that many of your own
issues are holographic to the culture at large. You are part
of something bigger than yourself, and were most likely educated
within a school system that stamped the authenticity right
out of you in order to make you easily manageable and able
to fit nicely as another cog in the machine of commerce.
(Today's children who do not fit nicely are labeled ADHD
or something like that and drugged so that they do fit).
This belief system
frowns on the concept of "following
your bliss" as irresponsible, selfish and foolish, so
you have learned well to put aside the things that make you
happy to the point where you may not even be sure what makes
you happy. The price that you pay for this surrendering to
the System is depression, addiction, rage, or apathy. Ultimately
it becomes disease.
The process of healing the planet is one of
healing ourselves - of taking the time and the energy and
the self-worth to re-establish our connection to the energy
of the 13th chakra and discover the things that bring us
joy. It has been noted that time seems to be speeding up
- the rapid exchange of information has allowed the evolutionary
process of all sorts of human systems to accelerate at an
astounding speed.
Technology is not the only factor that benefits
from this process - the individual healing process is also
speeding up. Issues that previously may have taken years
to get through are now being healed within a matter of months,
even weeks. It is as if time has speeded up - or more appropriately,
our beliefs have expanded to include a simple truth: we can
heal ourselves, and so the process is not altered by false
beliefs any longer.
When your belief is geared to physical healing
only, healing time will naturally be on a slower vibration
(or physical vibration), thereby taking a longer time to
heal oneself. As we begin to heal on the emotional and spiritual
levels, our vibration and awareness expands and healing time
becomes almost instantaneous.
When we come to a place of spiritual healing,
we see that all illness arises from places where we are not
letting love in. Health or wellness then becomes a choice,
becomes our own responsibility. This is where the awareness
of the 13th chakra is such a profound tool for healing -
in many cases the simple reconnection of our energies to
this source of bliss can eliminate all kinds of mental, emotional
and physical distress.
As people become healed (unblocked) and in
touch with the energy of Unconditional Love, they become
liberated to do the job they came here to do. Freed from
shoulds, from guilt, from depression, they are rising up
to take their place among those who are working to restore
balance, to create sustainability, to improve education,
and to heal each other and the planet. They are reconnecting
with their bliss, claiming their power, and answering their
callings, and doing so at an increasingly rapid rate. It
is in this way that lightworkers are also riding the powerful
wave of change that is sweeping the planet.
A good and simple
way to begin to connect to this energy is through the use
of color therapy. Pink is a color that many of us, especially
men, tend to shun, or at the very least pay little attention
to. Using it deliberately, therefore, has a powerful effect
on our psyches. You can buy pink flowers, burn pink candles,
wear pink underwear. You can visualize the color pink emanating
from a location arm's length from the body just below the
heart while meditating. It so happens that pink is a very "in" color
this year, so it is very easy to find.
Along with visualizing
the color, associate it with the emotion of "unbridled bliss;" try
to awaken that concept in your heart and your mind. A good
metaphor for this is the image of a cup that is brimming,
gently spilling over the top. Truly feeling this emotion
doesn't come easily to most of us, but with practice it
becomes much more so.
It is important to note here that this isn't
about being blissed out all the time. Life happens: pets
die, neighbors do unneighborly things, the government does
questionable things, and so we will feel and have every right
to feel sad, or angry, or confused or any other emotion that
people tend to label as unspiritual. The difference is that
we are not afraid of these emotions - the undercurrent is
one of trust that all things that rise up fall away and that
ups and downs are part of life and that the ultimate ground
of all of this perceived reality is Love. The energy of the
13th chakra acts as a rudder that keeps us on course and
on keel regardless of what winds are blowing.
| Authors
Details: Chakra Points & the 13th Chakra - Eileen
McKusick is
a Breakthrough Facilitator from Northeast CT who specializes
in helping people identify, define and release stubborn
blocks. She can be reached at 860-928-3672 or emckusick@hotmail.com. |
|
