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Inner Transformation towards Spiritual Maturity
In India, the ‘Upanishads’ are considered by Hindus to contain revealed truths concerning the nature of ultimate reality and describing the character and form of human salvation. With regard to salvation or moksha, chakras play a wide role, where the origin of the word ‘Chakra’ is from the Upanishads. Chakra is the Sanskrit name for ‘Wheel’ otherwise called as ‘Energy Centers’.
There are seven chakras in the human body located vertically along the spine. They are Muladhara, Svadishthana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara. Here Muladhara, Svadishthana, Manipura are lower order chakras since individuals in these chakras are bound to the materialistic world. And Visuddha, Ajna, Sahasrara are higher order chakras as individuals are in their spiritual path or attained enlightenment. Where Anahata, the heart chakra is the golden bridge between the human world (lower order chakras) and divine world (higher order chakras). These seven levels of consciousness describe the seven stages an individual experience in his personal and spiritual development process towards spiritual maturity. It is about the psychology of enlightenment, the science of inner transformation (Rama, Ballentine, & Ajaya, 1976; Scotton & Hiatt, 1996).
1. Muladhara
The first is the Muladhara (root) chakra located at the base of the spine, is identified with basic survival and self-preservation. When we are born, the root chakra is first activated. It develops from birth to about 3-4 years of age. The root chakra is about learning to take responsibility for oneself and to develop a basic trust in life. It also relates to money, work and home. This chakra relates to our capacity to generate money and understanding that existence is abundance and not just a struggle for survival.
2. Svadishthana
The second is the Svadishthana (sacral) chakra located in the genital area, is identified with sensuality and procreation. The sensations start to develop from 3 to 7 years of age. The sacral chakra is about psychological issues in relation to other people, for example parents, family and friends. It also relates to the ability to feel sympathy and being emotionally connected with other people. This chakra relates to the relation between food, sex and emotional issues.
3. Manipura
The third is the Manipura (navel) chakra located in the abdominal area of solar plexus is associated with the assertion of will. The power chakra is usually activated around 7-10 years of age. Children begin to become occupied with competition, achievement and to show their accomplishments around this age. The power chakra is the centre of the ego. It is about control, power and dominance over other people. A person who is in the power chakra wants to change other people, but he does not want to change himself.
The society is created out of the ego, and the need of the ego to create a hierarch of power, status, respect, position, norms, roles and conformity. Many people in the West lives in the power chakra, and is occupied with competing with others to prove that they are somebody important, and finding their place in the hierarchy.
During the 20th Century, the psychological development level of humanity has been on the awareness level of the power chakra. The focus of humanity has been on power, dominance, position, status, money and control over energy resources. We are technologically advanced and the technology governs the development of the society, but this technology is at the same time destroying the earth.
On the third level of awareness, a person begins to ask himself the question: “Who am I?” He comes to a point in his psychological development when his drama, defences and self-sufficiency no longer works, and he begins to search for something more. But what? He may not know what he is really searching, but there is a feeling of dissatisfaction, a lack of meaning, and an inner need to be in contact with himself, with other people and with life, in a more true, meaningful and real way. This is what Indian mystics have called “The darknight of the soul”. It is when the endless desires of the ego and the rewards of the outer world are no longer satisfying. The outer world seems dark and empty, and when he turns within himself to the inner world, it is also dark and empty. This is the point in a person’s development when he realizes that real power is love and compassion.
4. Anahata
The fourth is the Anahata (heart) chakra located in the upper chest is associated with the expression of unconditional love. Individual’s heart chakra gets activated when one reaches middle adulthood. Then and only then, whether one progresses towards the higher order chakras or gets stagnated depends upon individual’s life experiences. The heart relates to unconditional love and acceptance both for others and ourselves. It relates to qualities of empathy, joy, acceptance, trust, intuition, understanding, compassion, playfulness, healing, friendship, sincerity and a feeling of unity in love.
The heart chakra is the centre in a system of seven chakras. The heart is the golden bridge, where the physical and spiritual worlds meet. The heart is the most important chakra. The heart is the base for spiritual growth. It is the seed for unconditional love, for the inner capacity to feel love for all and everything. Love is the create aspect of life. Societies that only emphasize intellectual and academic education create spiritually challenged people.
The heart is the golden key to the greatness of being a human being. It is through the human heart that mankind has made the greatest achievements. The human heart is the only way to save mankind out of the present situation in the world. Humanity as a whole is in between the power chakra and the heart in its psychological and spiritual development process towards spiritual maturity.
Our heart is the door to allow Existence to guide us. Our heart is the door to surrender to life. Our heart is the door to our inner being, to the innerworld. When we begin to open our heart, we realize that we are a part of life, a part of the Whole.
5. Visuddha
The fifth is the Visuddha (throat) chakra located in the throat is identified with creativity and expression. It is about recognizing our creative potential, and its function is creativity and communication both in relation to ourselves and to other people. On activation of throat chakra, our love becomes more and more meditative; we realize that we are not the physical body but we are the soul. A country that has developed the fifth level of awareness focuses on equality, where issues like injustice, racism and socio-economic rifts in society need to be solved.
6. Ajna
The sixth is the Ajna (third eye or brow) chakra located in the center of the head behind the eyes is associated with intuition and wisdom, where ‘Telepathy’ is experienced. When we begin to open the third eye, our thirst and commitment increases to discover our inner being, to understand the ultimate mystery of life, and to become one with Whole. On activation of third eye chakra, love is no longer a relationship. Love becomes a presence and a quality of our being. Love becomes a natural quality in our aura. It is no longer a question of loving a certain person, we simply are love. We are unconditional love.
On third eye activation we develop psychic abilities like clairvoyance, telepathy… Clairvoyance means clear seeing or psychic powers that a devoted meditator develops. Clairvoyance is a form of intuition, which is not limited in time and space. Through clairvoyance we can remember past lives, which can help us understand unconscious psychological patterns from past lives, and give us a broader perspective of life.
Another psychic quality that is developed on the sixth level of awareness is a telepathic perception and sensitivity, which gives us the insight that no man is an island in the ocean of consciousness. We are all parts of the same whole, we are all small individual rivers on our way towards the same ocean and on the inner plane we are continuously in contact with each other.
7. Sahasrara
Finally, the Sahasrara (crown) chakra located just above the crown of the head, symbolizes not only the highest state of consciousness but complete and total union with the source of all creation. It relates to truth, unconditional love, to enlightenment and to the experience of being one with the Whole. When we have began to open the seventh chakra, the thousand petalled lotus flower opens. We have learnt the lesson of life. Our inner tree has given fruit. We have become spiritually mature.
The word “religion” originally means “to return to the source”. It means to rediscover the contact with our inner being, with the source of life within ourselves. The deepest pain in our heart is that we are disconnected from our inner being, that we are separated from life. The deepest thirst and longing in our heart is to return to our being, where we are one with life.
The goal of meditation is enlightenment. In the depth of our being, we are already enlightened. We are an inseparable part of Existence, but we have forgotten our true nature. We have forgotten our inner Buddha. Meditation is the way to discover our inner being, our authentic self, our inner Buddha. Enlightenment is the fruit of meditation. It is to realize the highest attainment in human consciousness. It is to climb the inner Mount Everest.
Each human being is unique; each human being contains a divine spark, an aspect of God. We are much more than we think we are. The mystery of life is that it is impossible to understand, but we can live life. We can never really understand life, but we can become one with life. We can become one with the dance of life, one with the ultimate mystery of life.
I had a magical day during one Sunday when I walked out in nature, there was suddenly a silent explosion within me, and my whole perception of reality changed. In a single moment, everything changed - although nothing on the outside had really changed. Everything on the outside was exactly as before, but my way of seeing had changed. The difference was that before I did not see, and now I could see. My eyes were open. Suddenly I was one with everything, one with the stones, one with the trees, and one with the people that I meet on my walk. My heart danced with joy together with a feeling of: “I am God”. Not that I am the creator of everything, but that I am part of the Whole, part of the divine. It felt like coming home, that Existence is my home. I saw that even if the people that I meet did not understand that they are a part of the Whole,they still are a part of the Whole. I felt the waves of Existence in my own heart and being, and I felt like a small wave in a great ocean. It gave me a taste of the eternal, a taste of the limitless and boundless source of creativity. Wisdom is basically the understanding that we are all a part of the Whole. We are all small rivers moving towards the ocean. I laughed at the fact that enlightenment is really our innate birth right, and that small children already lives in this mystical unity with the Whole.
This unity with the Whole does not mean that our unique individuality disappears. It means that the richer our life experience is, and the more qualities of our being that we have developed, the richer the quality of our enlightenment becomes.
When we realize that we are one with life, the world becomes our home. We are at home everywhere.
The seven levels of consciousness are about learning to accept and appreciate all steps and levels of our psychological and spiritual development process towards spiritual maturity. It helps us to see that both positive and negative experiences are teachers in life to help us to become spiritually mature. It is about learning to love the imperfect and incomplete within ourselves.
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