Your Root Chakra:
Your right (and obligation) to be Self-ish
by Tomas Martin Bell, OpD
Co-Host, Circle of Angels Radio
Co-Host, Circle of Angels Radio
Claiming your Roots and your right to exist begins with
affirming the right of every other living creature to exist in a world of freedom.
If you want to balance your Chakras, you must be willing to balance the Chakras
of the entire existent world around you.
You must abandon any ideas that cause you to live in a hell of illogical
thinking and reason-less justification when it comes to causing others pain and
depriving others of their right to exist without pain.
This week Circle of
Angels Talk Radio broadcast the first of seven shows focusing on the
Chakra Energy System. Our first show served as an introduction to
the idea of the Chakra and exposed listeners to the theories related to what is
known as the Root (or Base) Chakra. In order to give our audience the most
information about the Chakra system, we’ve teamed up with our sponsor, A World
Apart, LLC and Tranquil Oasis Holistic Living Community to help us spread the
word about the importance of balancing the energies of the Chakras both for the
individual and the world at large. This
week we focus on the Root Chakra.
This Chakra affirms
your right to exist. It deals with
tasks related to the material and physical world and your ability to stand up
for your self as an entity that exists and has the right to continue to exist
and thrive. Your Root Chakra can be out
of balance when you experience needs having to do with your material survival
or impediments to your right to thrive.
The Root Chakra has power when you make a conscious decision to ensure
your existence in this world by employing the energies of your self to continue
your own healthy presence while committing to ensure the healthy presence of
all life.
Circle of Angels
Radio co-host, Sherry, often refers to the oxygen mask on an airplane when
discussing the health of this Chakra.
Why? Think about it. The airplane is that which lifts you to new
heights and takes you to new destinations (much like the physical body is the
vehicle that takes your spirit to the peak of the mountain of thought). If, heaven forbid, there is a problem during
your flight anyone who has traveled by air knows the ‘drill.’ An oxygen mask will fall from above your head
(in the same way that during times of turbulence in life, higher
thoughts---reason and logic---descend to help you think through the storm). If the passenger next to you has trouble with
their mask, you can’t help them until you first place your mask securely on
your face. If you don’t, you place both
of you at risk. You have to ensure that
you can breathe and survive because if your air runs out before you help the
person near you, you could both suffocate.
This sounds like a common sense idea with which most people would agree.
In order to help the world around you, it is necessary to
commit to ensuring your own ability to breathe in the life-giving energy of
existence (and the divine thoughts of intelligence). This is vitally important during times of
stress. The lesson of the Root Chakra
teaches us that we must connect with those root ideas and material necessities
that help us to animate our presence in the world. Imbalances and inabilities in life can often
be traced back to the roots of our own thoughts. Balancing the Root Chakra involves ‘pruning’
our thought tree. As above so below,
says the spiritual formula. The Root
Chakra theory ties our head (above/thoughts) with our feet (below/body). Many people teach the Root Chakra and connect
it with material balance only. So, there
is enough material out there on this side of the Root theory. Today I will focus on the intellectual side
of the Root imbalance.
Is it good or
necessary to be selfish?
If there is one idea that has become the ‘enemy’ of the
‘ethical’ person it is the idea of selfishness.
For the most part, humans are taught during their youth that to be a
good person is to be a ‘self-less’ person.
The ‘good’ person is the person who ‘puts others first’ and is
‘self-sacrificing,’ right? Certainly I
am not going to disagree with the core idea that supports the value of caring
for others and doing what’s best for the community at large (especially since I
am about to tell you that to balance your Root Chakra you must commit to
universal balance), but the idea of self-sacrifice flies in the face of common
sense---at least when discussing the idea of one’s right to exist as
affirmed by the Root Chakra theory. When
discussing the Root Chakra and the ideas and energies that balance the Root, I
think we have to take a ‘hard look’ at the idea of selfishness.
Now, let me frustrate you a little by saying that in order
to justify being selfish, you must understand that every right you claim, you
must freely give to every other person in life.
I support the idea of serving the self first so long as every person has
the same experience of life that you seek.
You want freedom, love, and prosperity? Great…then first you must be
willing to live in a world where every other living creature has the same
rights. This may call to mind some
religious ideas like ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you…’ however,
I want you to divorce yourself from the ideas of any religious system when
synthesizing the ideas presented here.
Why? The Universe is a place of logic and reason. The Universe is not a place that embraces
sentimental and false morality.
Unfortunately contemporary religious systems have perverted
the truth presented in many sacred texts by creating a God that is emotional
and illogical. The God of religion is a
childish and impotent idea compared to the Universal reason which fuels the
phenomenon of existence. Why do I attack
the idea of the God of religion in this stream of thought? I don’t. The God created in the religions is an
emotional character having many useful functions. One such function is to
challenge our commitment to universal logic in the face of emotional illogic. I love the God of religion because it serves
its intended purpose. In this stream of
thought, I have no need for the character of the emotional God. So, I am not attacking that God, I am simply
dismissing it as irrelevant to our discussion.
I ask you to do the same. This is not a religious text. If you judge it as such, you’ll throw all
your chakras off balance.
In order to balance your Root, you will need to develop a
healthy ‘self-ish-ness.’ You will have
to learn to respect the idea that the ‘self’ is your own epitome of
existence. Your self is the idea-microcosm
of the macrocosm of life. How you view
your self determines how you view the world around you. Your perceptions determine your reality. This is important because the world we
experience is the sum of the perceptions of all living-thinking creatures. We experience each other in a world of
shared-reality. The theory of the Root
Chakra (and the Chakra system in general) presupposes that there is one
universal Root Chakra. Each of you is a
facet of the universal root chakra.
Balancing the individual requires a thought-energy empowered to balance
the whole.
Developing a healthy self-ish-ness has to do with developing
a sense of the ‘universal self.’ What you think about your ‘self’ affects the
thought-waves that build the universal experience of the great ‘self.’ We can’t get to a place where we can discuss
the higher thoughts of true ethics until we first explore the imbalance related
to our core or root ideas about the self and its right to exist and
thrive.
The image of roots can call to mind the image of the
web. Pull one part of a web and the
entire structure is affected. When your
Root Chakra is not balanced assume that to effectively balance the chakra you
must commit to not throwing the universal root out of balance. The thought inventory exercise that follows
will help you to determine whether or not you are aiding the process of
balancing the universal root chakra or throwing it out of balance.
Balancing your Root
by exploring your ideas about life it-self
Let’s take an inventory of your ideas concerning your own
existence and then we will relate your answers to a set of Root Rules that you
can use to balance the energies of the Root Chakra:
1 Decide whether or not you are of value to the
world. If you are of value to the world,
commit to remaining in the world and
participating in the evolution of the world and the development of society. If you decide you are of no value to the
world, it’s time for you to reach out to some practitioner (be it a clinician
or spiritual advisor) who can help you understand why you have determined that
your life is not necessary.
2 Decide whether you want to ‘survive’ or ‘thrive’
in life. If you choose to simply
survive, understand the implications of that choice. You will be given what you seek---only what
you seek. If you decide to thrive, commit to ensuring a firm foundation in
life that provides you with all the basic needs of existence as a human person. This means you must embrace your self and
care for that self, first...then follow through by caring for the universal
self.
3 Collect your thoughts about what it means
to be alive in this world. What does
that mean? Answer the questions below to
help identify the ideas you hold which give power to your Root:
Do you believe that this life is a struggle?
Do you believe you are in competition with other
humans for those material things which sustain your life?
Do you believe that life itself is short and
ultimately ends in permanent non-existence?
Do you believe that it is permissible to deny
certain people basic necessities of life…for example those people who break
human laws?
Do you believe that every person is of value to
the world?
Do you believe that pain and suffering is a
natural part of life?
Before we create our Root Rules, let’s take a closer look at
your answers to the questions we listed in the section above:
If you believe that life is a struggle, you are experiencing
an imbalance in your Root. The Root
Chakra affirms your right to exist.
Existence is not a struggle. You
simply exist. You put no effort out in
order to ensure your existence. To exist
is a ‘gift’ given to us from the Source of Life. If life is a struggle in your mind, we must
first break down some of the terrible psychic programming that has been put
upon you by the systems of the world.
Whether those systems are religious, societal, or familial…if they have
implanted ideas in your mind that make you believe that life is a struggle, we
must abandon those ideas before we can balance your Root Chakra. (more on this idea later in the series)
If you believe that you are in competition with other humans
for your material sustenance, then we must root out that idea as well. Competition is an idea created by societal
systems, not nature. Not even Darwin
would agree that any creature is in danger of not existing due to a lack of
renewable resources. Everything is
energy. Energy cannot be destroyed
therefore all that is needed for material survival exists now and will always
exist. If you decide life is a
competition, you have also decided that life has losers. This places you in a terrible mental
state. The goal of life is to exist. If
you exist, you win…congratulations. Competition
is an illusion---more, a delusion. Take
yourself out of the mode of competing and you take yourself out of the system
of winners and losers.
If you believe that life results in death, you don’t
understand the nature of life. I won’t
have the space to develop this idea in this article, so a brief exploration
will have to suffice. ‘The tree produces
fruit of its own kind.’ This is a saying we find in many sacred systems of
knowledge and logic. Your enemy is lack
of reason. Your friend is logic. If you are one who is part of that which we
call life, you are fruit of the tree of life. The fruit of the tree contains within it the
seed of the tree. The seed of the tree
of life produces more life. Life cannot
produce death. If you believe that you
are a limited ‘thing’ that will eventually ‘not exist’ there is very little I
can do for you to help you balance your Chakras.
One of the most dangerous lies taught to human children is
that they will one day not exist. Decide
that you are an eternal being and then never permit any person or idea to strip
you of your right to exist eternally. If
your church or your family has taught you that there is some great being in the
sky controlling all existence and that it is possible for this being to snuff
you out if you do something wrong…walk away from those people and ideas. Please. The most effective way to balance
your Root Chakra is to understand that your right to exist is perpetual. You are in the heaven of religion right now. You exist and existence is the free gift of
that which we call God. No one can take that from you. No one. Look at that I told you this wasn’t a
religious text, then I preached at you. I must have caught the Holy Spirit for
a minute. Let’s blame God for that slip
up. Now back to our show…
If you believe that it is permissible to deny certain people
basic necessities of life (even those who break human laws) then you miss the
point of eternal existence entirely. We
are all in this together and we are all eternal. The criminals of our day, too, are eternal
creatures. This means that we must---MUST---begin
to shift our understanding from the ideas which make us ‘punishers’ and
‘accusers’ to the ideas that make us ‘rehabilitators’ and ‘affirmers.’ The vengeful ideas you hold will determine
your own lot in life, not the lot of others.
You must abandon the desire to punish and deprive others. Certainly that doesn’t mean I think we should
all tolerate violence, abuse, or crime.
It does mean that we must begin to understand that we are all a human
family and we must eliminate the situations that lead people to crime instead
of punishing those who commit crime without any love or compassion for that
person. I promise you solemnly, until no
one hungers, there will always be ‘crimes’ committed by those whose needs are
not met.
Balancing your Root Chakra includes a commitment to balance
the Root Chakra of the world by shifting your thought energy and using the
power of your belief system to bring about universal commitment to giving all
people---all life---the respect of co-existing.
Every person is of value to the world. Every person has the
right to exist and function in their own way to bring light and beauty to
existence. The lesson of the Root Chakra
is one that first forces you to decide that life is worth living and that you
are not the master of life. You are not the
‘boss’ of existence and in order to claim your right to exist you
must---MUST---respect the right of others to exist. If you compete and deprive others (or believe
that those ways are acceptable), you create a path of winners and losers. You will place yourself in a cycle of death
and rebirth into a system of winners and losers. You will trap yourself in your own hell of
torment and competition. Stop. For the sake of your own
existence---STOP. Wake up to the fact that
to take Root in this life is to take responsibility for the root of your
thoughts and ideas. Balance your root by
being selfish enough to commit to a path of eternal existence, but understand
that you will eternally exist in your thoughts and ideas. If your thoughts and
ideas accept that suffering and competition is simply part of existing, you
have paved your own road with thorns.
Root out ideas that permit any world to exist that does not
give universal respect to the life of all.
Then commit to living as the microcosm of that perfect world. When each of us produces thought and action
from a balanced root, we will see the tree of life flourish.
Create a Root Rules list for your everyday existence
What can you do each day to ensure that
your thoughts and actions create a world where no one is deprived of their
right to exist and flourish in freedom?
What can you do today to eliminate the
thought-pattern of competition that creates losers in life?
What can you do today to plant seeds of
thought that will grow into idea trees that will produce fruit to feed a future generation, ensuring that healthy universal existence thrives?
What can you do today to fulfill the basic needs
of your material existence without depleting the resources needed to sustain others?
Will you give in proportion to what you receive to create the kind of synergy needed
to sustain all life?
Use the questions above to create your own plan to balance the
thoughts that fuel your Root Chakra. If these
ideas are of value to you, share this article with your loved ones. If you have any productive thoughts to add to this
article, feel free to add your comments below. We may use your thoughts to help us develop the
ideas we present here.
Tomorrow I will offer
you an article that discusses how Nature Therapy can help you get to a place of
personal balance in your material Root Energies. Until then, I honor the divine life within you.
Be at peace.
+Tomas
