Friday, July 10, 2015

The Lotus and the Star

Now we turn our attention to the seventh and eighth chakras: the lotus and the star.

The seventh chakra is the crown chakra. It is located on the crown of the head. Colors associated with this chakra are violet and white. This chakra is the locus of divine connection. I like to think of it as the power source, where we can fill our tank with loving divine connection or energy.

The symbol for this chakra is the lotus flower. Think of a lotus bud, opening and blooming at the crown of the head. It is open to receiving divine love and funneling that love down through our bodies, through the other chakras, through our energetic channels. That's why I think of it as the power source. We receive divine energy through our crown and it fuels the rest of the system.

The lotus blooms, the chakra opens, through prayer and meditation. As divine love opens and enters this chakra, it affects our self-esteem, our inner peace, our sense of well-being, and our capacity for happiness.

"The more love we allow into our lives through opening our awareness to the source of life, the more love we will then have to give out in all areas of our life." Ambika

It is through opening in this chakra that we begin to lose the judgmental mind. We begin to accept self, others, what is. This is a state of surrender. We give up trying to control situations, other people, ourselves, and surrender to what is. This surrender comes because we connect to the universe. We are profoundly, deeply connected to all that is through the power of this chakra opening. And because of this sense of "oneness" we release the need to judge self and others. We are all one, after all.

Seventh chakra energy pouring into us pushes us to find divine connection in all that we do. This is very different from connection to religion, which is more of a first chakra function. This is motivation to have a deep, ongoing connection with the divine.

The sacred truth in this is Live In The Present Moment. For it is only in the present moment that we actually experience the divine. This can be profoundly unsettling, as we leave the tribal experience of religion, which defines God for us, and embrace our spiritual truth as we experience it, day by day.

This is seeking union with the divine where we experience the truth that we, as a part of all that is, are a part of God.

When this chakra opens, awakening begins. This can trigger a spiritual crisis where a person becomes aware that their life lacks meaning or purpose. This, in turn, can trigger new fears, such as feeling one is losing oneself. Finally, a person begins to feel an urge to be devoted to something greater than themselves. These three things are symptoms of profound spiritual awakening and a clue that the crown chakra is opening.

Some stirrings might include:
What questions have you asked that seek insight into your life's purpose?
What fears do you have related to your understanding of God?
Have you judged your life as meaningless when you evaluate it within a spiritual context?
These questions can be found in "Anatomy of the Spirit" by Caroline Myss.

A journey of meditation and contemplation lead to opening and new understandings of the divine and of the self related to the divine.

Now the eighth chakra, called the Soul Star and the Seat of the Soul. Color is said to be magenta or white. Located six to twelve inches above the crown chakra, this is where divine light and energy filter down and into the crown chakra. This chakra is related to infinite energy, spirituality, supreme divine wisdom and spiritual compassion. It is the origin of enlightenment, ascension, and the idea of transcendence.

When this is open we are capable of a state of complete surrender and of allowing the pure white light of God to enter our life. Access to this chakra can be quite confronting because it allows one to release old attitudes that may otherwise hold one back. It may be a powerful aid to allow one to make momentous changes in life, in one's way of thinking, and in how one experiences this universe in which we live. If one truly experiences profound connection with all that is, things like the mass shootings become inconceivable and completely intolerable.

Some claim this is the deposit for karmic residue from past lives and the repository for lessons learned related to soul purpose.

I see it as the place where our soul's truest nature radiates outward from us. Our essential essence as spiritual beings. Thus, the symbol of the radiant star.

© 2015 Janet Tuck