To: K-list
Recieved: 2004/03/11 11:15
Subject: Re: FW: Re: [K-list] grieving
From: v
On 2004/03/11 11:15, v posted thus to the K-list:
Rose wrote:
>
> Robert
> I came across a text about opening of the heart chakra, might relate
> to your experience...
> Regards,
> Rose;
>
> The Open Heart
>
> by El Collie
> I really appreciated this composition - thankyou. I just wonder if
> some of us weren't born with our heart chakras open already - which
> has caused so many people so much unexplained
> grief and duress?
After the death of my first born son, my heart felt like it had been
trampled on by a herd of wild horses. I thought I too, was going
to die, but I didn't.
But, even as far back as I can remember, I have been crying for the
"state of the world". In Catholic schools as a child, i used to go to
church every day and pray for everybody, instead of going to recess.
I just wonder if - some of this "oversensitivity" might be explained
by the heart chakra being open before it's ready? Maybe even the other
chakras aren't open yet, but the danged heart chakra leaves one wide
open and hurting?
It seems like I've been in grief forever so far!
Are people sometimes born with one or another chakra open? Being
born with the heart chakra open would go a long way in explaining the
moodiness and heartache some of us are born with.
all my best,
valerie
http://aflow.net
ps (may i publish this essay on my website?) )
The Open Heart
by El Collie
In many spiritual traditions, it's considered the greatest blessing when
the heart chakra awakens. Many regard this the most important energy
center of the human psyche. The heart -- or fourth -- chakra is located
at the center of the chest. When this chakra begins to awaken, a variety
of sensations and physical symptoms can arise. Often there is a
pronounced pressure or heaviness in the chest. This can sometimes
interfere with breathing. All kinds of discomfort can riddle this area.
The milder disturbances may take the form of fleeting, shooting pains;
muscle tensions or the feeling of having wrenched a muscle in the front
or back of the chest; dull aching; chest congestion; stabbing pains;
vibrating sensations; heart palpitations; irregular or rapid heartbeat
and so forth. There can also be more severe pain: a feeling of being
impaled by a stake through the center of the chest; a sense of the heart
area being ripped open; or even symptoms that convincingly mimic a heart
attack. Often there is heat focused in this area when the chakra is
awakening. This may feel like a warm, glowing sensation or a feeling of
incandescence, with the chest blazing hot as a furnace. After my heart
chakra awakened, I discovered that whenever I was in the presence of
anyone who felt sad, I would feel a dark weight on my chest. And when I
was with anyone who was directing love toward me, my chest would become
very warm. Alan Arkin noticed this same heat in his chest when reading
inspirational literature or poetry (Halfway Through The Door: An Actor's
Journey Toward the Self). As the heart awakens, profound emotional
changes frequently occur. The heart seems to both literally and
figuratively break, releasing torrents of sadness and grief. For about
six months prior to my acute "illness," I was having periodic bouts of
labored breathing (my chest felt very constricted). During this same
period, I was often overcome with intense compassion for people. I would
be easily moved to tears upon hearing of any adversity in my friends'
lives. This was not maudlin pity, but a deep sadness at the spiritual
opaqueness of the world. Everyone evoked sweet-sad, deeply affectionate
and reverent feelings in me; I felt such innocence and beauty in them
all. There are many transcendent states that can accompany the heart
awakening. Numinous beings of love and light may appear. Deep feelings
of gratitude, joy and bliss may arise. A sense of the incredible beauty
of all creation can be staggering. Tears of rapture can flow as easily
and uncontrollably as tears of sorrow. Realization of unity with the
divine and/or with all existing beings is dramatic at this time.
Tremendous feelings of appreciation and compassion arise. Every sentient
being is felt as precious. Often, the suffering of all living beings can
be acutely felt. At this stage, people may find that they cannot eat
meat or even pick a flower, so exquisite is their awareness of the
suffering of other living things. Along with this heightened empathy is
often an obsessive desire to do something to raise the consciousness of
others and to bring about healing for all. At this point, many people
become ardently involved in causes or other concrete actions to benefit
others. Much good can come of this. But in the early stages, the
compelling urge to help can become evangelical zeal: instead of offering
assistance to others, we may try to force our aid and insights upon
them. Even with the best intentions, this tactic is counterproductive.
As perilous and urgent as the situation seems, it's not within our
capacity or our responsibility to save the world (or anyone in it)
single-handedly. In The Ultimate Transforma- tion, Dr. R.P. Kaushik says
that those who are ready to receive what we have to give (or to teach)
will be magnetically drawn to us when the time is right. "So never be in
a hurry to uplift other people," he advises. Of course, when one is
aflame in a proselytizing frenzy, such wisdom falls on deaf ears.
Usually, we have to knock ourselves out (and suffer many head-on
collisions) before we learn to detach from the compulsion to do good. In
my own experience, and that of others who have spoken to me about this,
the heart doesn't remain in this heightened condition for the duration
of the transformational process. Rather, it seems to move through cycles
of recognizable peaks and plateaus. To those who have experienced the
super sensitivity of the wide open heart, these plateaus may seem
regressive. Sri Chinmoy compares the chakras to windows which may open
for awhile, then shut down. "Sometimes," he says, "[the heart] opens for
a few seconds, a few minutes, or a few days; then it may close again."
(Kundalini: The Mother-Power) Although the chakras may open suddenly,
they generally take a long time to be fully activated. This gradual
processs allows us to acclimate to these extraordinary energies. What
appears to be periods of relapse or regression are more likely periods
of refinement and harmonizing. As powerful and "saintly" as the newly
awakened heart consciousness can be, it is simply too overwhelming for
most of us to sustain this heightened state indefinitely. We need to
assimilate these experiences, and to be able to move from them back into
our ordinary human concerns again. To me, it seems that the entire
transformational process is not merely an elevator that delivers us to a
"higher" level of awareness. Evolution is a continuum, though we rarely
progress in a linear fashion. Even if we seem to be at a standstill or
moving backwards, in actuality, it's a long, intricate process of
expansion and balance.
DISCLAIMER!
Home | Archive Index | Search the archives | Subscribe
K. List FAQ | Kundalini FAQs | Signs and Symptoms | Awakening Experiences | K. list Polls | Member Essays | Meditations | List Topics | Art Gallery | Cybrary | Sitemap | Email the moderators.
symbol.