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..:: Perspective 02 ::..
By
Alan Schneider
A term that has been used often in
these essays, but never fully explored, is perspective. The
purpose of this essay is to illuminate the function of our
personal perspectives in determining the quality and content of the
consciousness that we experience. I will approach this investigation
using the Hindu Chakra System of classification, since this system is
well known in the Mystery Theories, and generally understood by many
observers.
If we begin at the First
Chakra, Muladhara, the Root Chakra, and the logical starting point of
our inquiry, we find ourselves dealing with what the Western Mysteries
refer to as the Physical Plane of manifestation. Muladhara is concerned
with material, physical survival and prosperity – issues that are
focused in the perception of the body and physical senses. Although the
net affect of the senses is to provide a composite of sensory
perception, this phenomenon is processed through the ego as the
psychological interpreter of experience, and our egos determine what
will be the focus of our attention at any given time, at least on the
Physical Plane of expression. This interactive focusing process, in
turn, determines our perspective of awareness on the Physical Plane, and
additionally involves the instantaneous access of the memory by the ego,
which is actively cross-referenced to our momentary sensory impressions
to complete the final element of the physical perspective of experience
– our personal attitude toward that experience. Perspectives on
the Physical Plane are rarely neutral, but tend to by evaluated as
either positive or negative by the ego in association with the complex
of information constituting those perspectives. All of this occurs as
the direct result of the influence of the body on perception at the
level of the Physical Plane – it is not unreasonable to say that the
body is the determinant of perspective on the Physical Plane, if
we include the supposition that the ego is functionally a part of the
physical apparatus of perception, whether or not it is also treated as a
mental construct.
In fact, there is much
support for the contention that all of the first three Chakras
operate with different aspects of physicality on the Physical Plane.
Muladhara concerns basic survival operations – making a living, shopping
for necessities, moving through the world, and communicating, to name a
few. The Second Chakra, Svadhisthana, is concerned with mating, family
life, reproduction, and sexuality, all slightly higher functions in life
that are presumed to follow the successful achievement of the survival
requirements of Muladhara. And all of these are also elements of
existence and expression on the Physical Plane. However, it is at this
level that the consideration of Tantra becomes relevant. Although most
individuals will probably choose the practice of Left Hand Tantra as the
inevitable consequence of physical sexuality, the acculturated option
for beginning the practice of Right Hand Tantra, the vehicle of
spiritual Ascension, also exists, and will be identified by those
sufficiently so inclined. This is the first perspective of Yoga,
the path of spiritual reunion with the Logos.
The Third Chakra, Manipura,
is the focus of social activity and acculturation – the processes of
educating the individual in the norms and expectations of the
surrounding society and social systems – again manifestly literal
elements of the Physical Plane. Even if these processes are
present in consciousness as mental constructs, they are
demonstrated as physical behaviors with attached physical expectations
for anticipated outcomes. And the ego, the personal pilot mechanism of
waking consciousness, is ultimately a social phenomenon,
constructed and reinforced through our interactions with each other
taking place on the Physical Plane. The distinction to be made here is
that of degree and implication – Manipura tends to involve the
perspective of national, racial, ethnic, and civic perception – what we
believe to be true and proper with regard to the social sub-groups we
experience in the world, as opposed to our immediate family or partner
at the level of Svadhisthana, or our personal circumstances at the level
of Muladhara. Obviously, our perspective is quite possibly a matter of
complex involvement of elements of all three Chakras manifest
simultaneously concerning a given event, or events, occurring at a given
time, but this is all referenced at this stage of consideration to
Physical conditions on the Physical Plane. And, for the most part, these
perspectives are mediated by the ego as the Physical Plane pilot
mechanism. (2.3.4)
We can exist as physical
organisms with no more than the action of the first three Chakras in our
consciousness, and, in fact, we can do quite well on the Physical Plane
if our Karma permits this. We may never even hear the terms “Physical
Plane”, “Karma”, “Chakras”, or “Reincarnation” in a given incarnation,
and still do well in the material sense. But the human being is woefully
incomplete who experiences no more than physical processing of physical
sensation in this life which has so much more than that to offer!
Beyond the collective perspective of the first three Chakras lie the
remaining four spiritual centers of higher consciousness, each of which
successively, exponentially dilates our consciousness through the
addition of the spiritual perspectives to the perception of
existence.
This process begins with the
experience of Anahata, Chakra Four – the Heart Chakra. Anahata is
the Seat of the Soul – or Atman in the Hindu tradition –
and the gateway to the three additional higher Chakras beyond. Because
the Soul as a condition of consciousness is inevitably concerned with
moral sacrifice as the mechanism of compassion, working with Anahata can
be very challenging. At this level, we must relinquish many of the
material pleasures experienced in the first three Chakras as the price
of the attainment of the selfless love and compassion that
enables the spiritual recognition of all of the other Soul
manifestations in life. Through this process, we are affectively
learning a new acculturation that teaches us to view life and all of its
elements as Soul Emanations – even rocks and trees are
seen as Soul expressions apart from, and yet including, their material
forms in this new perspective. This mode of perception expands all the
way to the entire physical universe, which is perceived as having the
Logos as its Soul, and all of the Soul Expressions are connected in a
network of Love and Light within the Logos as the Supreme Absolute Truth
of Consciousness. Compassion as experienced in the Heart is more than
sympathy or empathy for beings and conditions that remain external in
perception – it is the comprehensive inclusion of all life, all
consciousness, and all experience in One Loving perception of the
Unity of Being. This is life’s most challenging, and, at the same time,
most valuable lesson to be learned, because compassion embodies the
Truth, and that Truth will set us free as conscious beings to
perceive our real spiritual nature as manifestations of Light.
Many individuals spend lives
and lifetimes simply working at the level of Anahata to develop
compassion as the foundation of the personal spiritual perspective. Once
this goal is realized – and this process has an ongoing
maintenance requirement through the performance of Dharma and Good Works
– the gateway of the Heart is opened to the Chakras that follow. These
are Vishuddah, Ajna, and Sahasrara, in the order of their significance
in Ascension Theory.
The Fifth Chakra, Vishuddah,
or Throat Chakra, is concerned communication of spiritual
vibrations, processes, and information across all of the Chakras
and associated Planes of Expression. This includes chanting Mantras,
singing hymns, preaching, teaching, and conducting public presentations
on spiritual themes, and other forms of Dharma and Good Works that
express spiritual Love and devotion to the Logos. The Christian term for
this level of activity is Bearing Witness for Christ, but every faith
has an understanding of the essence of communication involved in
Vishuddah. By this time, Dharma to God has become the single most
important process in the Aspirant’s life, long since eclipsing personal
needs and conveniences on the Physical Plane. My gift of these words is
Dharma occurring at the level of Vishuddah, the Chakra that I spend the
bulk of my conscious time working with. Inasmuch as every thought, word,
and deed on the Physical Plane expresses some kind of communication, we
are always continuously reaching out to each other regarding our
condition. Working in Vishuddah shifts the emphasis of communication
away from personal coefficients and toward universal spiritual
coefficients as the most positive possible use of our time while
incarnate on the Physical Plane. The perspective of consciousness at
this level amounts to sharing the perception of the Soul with the
Soul wherever, and in whatever form, it may be – including,
individually and collectively, other people, animals, plants,
Angels, spirits, and the Logos of Love and Light.
Following Vishuddah is the
Sixth Chakra Ajna, the Third, or All-Seeing, Eye. Ajna looks within,
seeing existence as the Soul Expressions composing it. By looking within
in this manner, Ajna achieves spiritual insight for the practitioner
across all of the Chakras in much the same fashion as Vishuddah achieves
spiritual communication. This includes extrasensory perception on the
Physical Plane of Expression involving the first three Chakras,
spiritual visions of Love in the Heart, and inspired communication in
Vishuddah. The Seventh Chakra, Sahasrara, the abode of the Logos, can be
perceived as the Thousand Petaled Lotus of Light from the perspective of
Ajna – spiritual visions and visualization of higher consciousness of
all kinds are the focus of perception in Ajna. These visions communicate
the Word of the Logos to the Soul as Divine Symbols and Archetypes of
Light that require no further verbal or written interpretation. From the
perspective of Ajna, the Soul can see God. From the perspective
of Sahasrara, Chakra Seven, the Soul can take the final step in
Ascension and be God.
Sahasrara, the Crown Chakra
is the Seventh and final Chakra to be encountered in Hindu spiritual
theory. Located above the physical head, it is outside the organism, and
beyond all conventional perception. It can only be perceived at the
level of Ajna, which is still nominally “inside” the body, and requires
a profound leap of faith to attain, since one must be prepared to
surrender all sense of physicality and personal identity – in a
word, to die – to do so. This perspective of consciousness is
referred to as Samadhi in Sanskrit, and means to deeply
meditate. At such a depth of meditation, only the perception is that
of the Presence of the Logos as a manifestation of omnipresent Pure
Light, unconditional Pure Love, and the Supreme Absolute Truth of
Consciousness. At this level, the sufficiently clean Soul – that
is, detached from all material, physical involvement – can experience
full reunion with God in the state of Ananda – the profound
spiritual Bliss beyond expression. It is significant that Sanskrit
refers to physical death as Maha Samadhi – the ultimate
depth of meditation and experience of complete spiritual reunion with
the I AM Presence of the Logos.
The Hindu Ascension Theory, Sahasrara is considered to be the origin of
all consciousness, all manifestation, and all existence. This Supreme
State then radiates down through the Chakras, manifesting in
successively more dense expressions as it does so, finally arriving at
the most dense expression as experienced on the Physical Plane in
the form of material sensory reality – at the level of Muladhara.
Because God is Love, and loves completely at all levels of
conscious expression, the Chakra Muladhara contains a small packet of
the Divine Spark in the form of the initially dormant Kundalini Energy.
The practice of spiritual Yoga will activate this energy and send it
progressively back up through the sequence of the Chakras in the process
of Ascension, becoming more and more pure in expression as travels
upward. After many lifetimes of Dharma and Sacrifice, the Kundalini
finally reunites with its source at the level of Sahasrara. Tantra
refers to this process as Shakti, the Female Principle, seeking
and achieving reunion with Shiva, the Male Principle, but couched
in whatever terms, there seems to be an intrinsic process at work
within human consciousness that seeks meaning and purpose in life at the
highest, most universal level of expression. As conscious Ascends
through the Chakras, the myriad initial perspectives encountered on the
Physical Plane become focused on the successively simpler, and for that
reason more potent, perspectives of higher consciousness,
culminating in the ultimate Potency of the Logos. So it is that we are
all blessed with the possibility of Ascension by virtue of the gift of
conscious perspective wherever and however it might occur!
- With Love, Alan -
(CR2008, Alan Schneider)
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