"Be resolutely and faithfully what you are; be humbly what you aspire to be." Henry David Thoreau

"We are ever dying to one world and being born into another."
---Henry David Thoreau

This weekend I was at a local library and I picked up a book that I had to glance through despite the fact that reading it caused me to balk and feel so contentious. Reading it was like how I used to watch horror flicks when I was young. I would cringe---even hide---to avoid the parts that stung too hard---the parts that were too scary. I really try to maintain an open mind as much as possible. In the past, I have noticed that opportunities lie in happenings like the "library book" aggravation. If I shut out and batton down the hatches of my heart and mind, I am apt to lose something I could have, at least, been witness to; something I could have grown from.

After flipping through the pages of the book, I decided to check out a Wayne Dyer book instead. I felt like Wayne's words were much more synchronous with my emotional guidance system. But, the other title did make me think of some stuff.

The first thing that spoke to me from the title was "responsibility." Josiah Charles Stamp said, " It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities."

I highly believe that personal responsibility is paramount to living with integrity and strength. In other words, I believe that the "buck stops here." Looking at the chakra system, chakras one through three define our sense of personal responsibility. The muladhara creates personal responsibility in an individual by setting a foundation for instincts, security and survival. The Swadhisthana creates personal responsibility in an individual by developing a strong emotional system that is healthy and productive. Furthermore, it develops an individual's creativity and sexuality within the same terms. The manipura creates personal responsibility by aiding the transition of simple emotions into complex emotions. An individual's energy is assimilated in the manipura.

Too often these days, I am caught in the dilemma of rejecting ideologies that diminish personal responsibility. Yes, I very definitely believe in our power to choose what we do with the aspect of our lives that we are co-creating. I, also, believe that our stance on things can frequently make or break us, and that those lessons help us achieve a path which takes us to our Higher Self. But, most importantly, I believe in the human body and its innate wisdom.

I have spent much of my life "paying the price" illness-wise for depriving my body of its rightful place in my life [actually, better stated, understanding my body's rightful place]. And because for years I have equated my body to that of a holy temple, I guess it is now pertinent to examine why I believe that.

The number one reason for that "temple" belief is my spiritual upbringing. Since I was a small child I heard that my body was a temple so I just accepted that it somehow was. Right or wrong that is how the belief transpired. The second reason for the belief is that we only get one body per incarnation and it is unique. That makes the body extremely rare and valuable. The third reason for the belief is that I have come to know through the years of my life how a temple works and how my body is a metaphor for that temple in various different capacities.

I especially think the chakra system defines the very platform of a holy temple. Each of the seven levels bring us easily through the human body to worship and relate with God who is very real and extremely tangible. And each of the seven levels is laid out in an orderly fashion within every human's energy network.

I say that the chakra system brings each human being easily through the body to God because for decades I had a very pronounced context of spirituality that made things difficult for me. In other words, I was so far up in my head and heart but I had little grounding. [And what I did have, I really lost when my family fell apart] Unbeknownst to me, I was locked into excessively open upper chakras in order that I might experience God and the mystical; and this particular position in my energy network was such a strain that I believe it tore me in half. I, literally, blew through the "glass ceiling." I experienced psychosis not once but several times.

Yes, my energy system was so far out of whack that when my body developed and matured according to its natural divine blueprint, I eventually just split. My bodymind became: body<<---->>mind [and sometimes just: body---->>>mind].

I have a chronic illness known as Bipolar disorder. It has a strong genetic component. But, at this time in my life, I must speculate that if I had learned about my energy network when I was young, would my disease be so intense today? Would the "kindling" have become so horribly hazardous to my body? OR could I have learned how to better balance every aspect of my overall energy patterns? (I did have some extraneous medical treatment back in the early 90's that I believe created a big physical disparity, also; but I believe that is outside the scope of this blog).

My ex-boyfriend initially taught me about the chakras, energy and how they can impact my health. I have continued the work he started. It has been quite a trek. I have branched into yoga, acupuncture, Bodytalk, Reiki, craniosacral, etc. [Of course not all at once, and I have not been able to sustain many of the practices regularly due to time and/or finances.]

What I do know is that I am healthier now than I have been in ten years, and I am so grateful for that. I work very hard to maintain my body's balance. And I am constantly developing my confidence in me which helps for sure!

I see the human body as a vessel that enables us to interact with God and other life forms on the spiritual, energetic and material planes. Moreover, I know of (and have experienced some directly) seven formative energy field bodies. The energy field bodies are the physical body, the etheric body, the emotional body, the mental body [which incorporate ordinary reality represented in time and space], the astral body [incorporates gradations of light], the etheric template body, the celestial body and the causal body [which incorporates spiritual reality].

As I was growing up I heard all sorts of spiritual propaganda regarding the importance of the the body. Many Christians will tell you that Christ's passion, His crucifixion, was the most heart felt plea as to the importance of our current incarnation. And since that was my foundation, and I tend to operate from a quasi-Native American perspective that says every part of the "animal" is just as important as any other, and that every part must be used, I tend to buy into the passionate view. In addition, to my Christian foundation, I have since done a lot of research regarding the Tantric belief system. Tantra is the religion of the body. It honors every aspect of the human body, especially its sexuality. So I think the two views complement rather than oppose one another.

My reason for saying all this is that I want to try to impress on people the connection between the importance of the body in conjunction with our sense of personal responsibility, as well as our co-creating "leading-edge" thoughts. Again, I feel I must address the most obvious aspect to my perspective which is, despite the fact that we have a Higher Self which is eternal and free of the ego; we, too, have a set of bodies that incorporate our ordinary world---that incorporate and support the Illusion known as Maya. And pain and death are strong attributes of the ordinary world. Because we all experience pain and death, I want to contend that we must be aware of ourselves and our fellow life forms that inhabit the universe with us.

There may come a time, and I believe it could happen at any moment, when these factors are not so important to consider; but, right now, the vast majority of the planet is affected by these "types of relationships" that we share with one another.

We have incredible amounts of power to overcome and succeed at this thing called life. Certainly many of us recognize higher levels of understanding that enable us to disregard various levels of pain as creative pathways to a more rich and diverse life. Some of the levels even enable us to totally recreate our existence as we know it. But many...many...many people and beings do not currently have access to these by-ways.

I am a highly sensitive human being. I work on developing "shields" that keep me from experiencing pain and/or disturbance within my various bodies. Nevertheless, I would appreciate it if the individuals of this earth would learn to take the personal responsibility to love first and act second.

I have learned to love my Selves over the last 3.5 years; but I am still expanding my knowledge and my consciousness. And I feel that when I learn effectively, I will teach. Learning then teaching is my nature---my overall purpose at this juncture.

Life IS/was/Will BE about love. Everything in the universe was intentionally created with love and joy for love and joy. I implore everyone to recognize their roles in loving themselves and in loving others. It is the most important thing we can endeavor to do. For as we love ourselves, we love the universe around us. Ultimately, love is where we need to be, and who we already ARE. Please join with my heart in learning how to practice your love---our love---Love. It is not easy, but it is simple. Believe!