The Three Jewels of Taoism: Qi

In traditional Chinese culture, the second of the Three Jewels (also known as The Three Treasures) is Qi (Chi), an active energetic principle that is part of all living organisms.

Chi or Qi can be thought of as life-force energy – the energy which vitalizes our bodies, and which empowers our movement.  This movement consists not only of locomotion, but also includes the movement of the breath and lungs, the coursing of our blood through the heart, lungs, and blood vessels, digestion, and the functional movements of all of our organs.

Qi is associated most particularly with the Liver and Spleen organ systems. If we think of Jing as a candle, then Chi is the candle flame - the energy produced via the transformation of the wax into fire. In our computer analogy, if Jing can be said to be your computer hardware, then Qi is the electricity that powers the system. Qi is the energy or life force that “boots up” our bodies.

In Tantric Qigong, we say that there are three types of Chi: Heavenly Qi, Earthly Qi, and Personal Qi.  Heavenly Chi is the robust energy that resides in the air or atmosphere and is sometimes known as the solar principle. Heavenly Chi is related to the naturally occurring negative ionic charge that is generated by the atmosphere and its interaction with solar radiation. One reason we feel revitalized in the mountains or at the beach is that these areas are naturally abundant with Heavenly Qi. In some systems, Heavenly Chi is thought to be closely related to the evolution of Cosmic Consciousness. It is sometimes thought of as the Masculine Principle.

Earthly Chi is resident in the earth and may be more naturally accessible in geographic areas with crystalline formations or vortices, such as those near Sedona, Arizona. Sometimes thought of as the Feminine Principle, Earthly Chi seems to have a grounded, generative, and healing quality. In Tantra Yoga, this earthly polarity is said to be directly linked to our sexual energy, so it would have some direct interface with what the Taoists call Jing (Ching).

Ordinarily, in persons not trained in Tantric Qigong, Earthly Chi is absorbed and transported within the body through the digestion and metabolization of food. Heavenly Qi is absorbed unconsciously through the process of autonomic breathing. Part of Tantric Qigong training and discipline is to learn how to master and absorb these energies more consciously and powerfully through certain Chakras and meridians. In some forms of External Qigong, Qi is the energetic force which can be radiated from a Master’s hands for healing purposes. This type of Chi is called Emitted Qi.

Earthly Qi interacts with Heavenly Qi to form our Personal Chi, which is a combination of these energies that abide within our bodies vitalizing our Soma and empowering our Psyche.  The relative levels of our vitality, intelligence, and the plane that our consciousness evolves to are partially determined by our ability to consciously absorb, transmute, and direct this Qi. Thus, one who masters the absorption, generation, and direction of Qi will have a tendency towards improved health, higher intelligence, and ease of spiritual evolution.

Next: The Three Jewels of Taoism:  Shen

Presencing - The Power of Now

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How does Tantric Qigong™ work?

It can be said that Qigong works by uniting heavenly and earthly energies. While Western science does not yet have a full explanation of how Qigong does this, it most likely that it works by amplifying your personal Chi (Qi, life force, vitality, Ki) by drawing in earthly and atmospheric / solar ionic energy to supplement your existing vitality. This is attained through gentle movement, breath control, mental focus, Intention, and the most efficient grounding technology yet known.

Although it may appear that many systems of meditation and yoga aspire to similar effects, in practice and effect they are quite different.

Hatha Yoga has a general objective that is comparable to that of Qigong and achieves its ends through breathing, concentration, and stretching.  Yoga tends to lower somatic resistance, which allows energy to be freed up and diffused in a general way throughout the physical and emotional bodies.

Meditation attempts to unify these polar energies through mental control and creating inner peace. Most forms of meditation reduce mental disorder; thus indirectly allowing the body to relax its resistance to a certain degree. The effects are felt most strongly in the mental and emotional bodies. Both meditation and Hatha Yoga can create some of the same effects as Qigong, but may take longer to achieve it.

Forms of Kundalini Yoga, Kriya, and pranayama quickly push energy into the body and chakras through aggressive breathing techniques and movement. The relative bioenergetic charge thus created can vary quite a bit depending on that tradition and teacher. These systems generally lack a comprehensive and efficient grounding component, which can make their practice somewhat tricky for those persons wishing to remain in the world. Forms of Kundalini practice can create dramatic physical, emotional, and mental side effects and should not be undertaken without a teacher. Preferably in an ashram, under supervision 24/7.

I have met many students and teachers of these arts that have applied them in an extremely yang fashion and none of them have seemed grounded and balanced to me. Although they do experience a lot of energy, the energy meets the resistance of their body, mind, and karmic history. This creates a lot of unnecessary drama and significant side effects. This seems to be a result of too much energy meeting too much resistance and with too little grounding. Gurus who achieve spiritual power in this manner are very much a mixed blessing.

With Qigong, both the practice and the effects are quite different. Unlike the yogic paradigm, which asserts that the first chakra is the perineal / coccygeal area, Qigong knows that the first chakra is located in the bottoms of the feet. This is the way that nature intended earthly life force (kundalini, chi) to be conducted into the body. There are built in safeguards and processes of energetic transformation that makes this raw power easier to deal with and to apply to the body, mind, and emotions in a purely positive way.

The movements of Qigong are very gentle (virtually no energy is consumed by strenuous work) and coordinated with deep breathing, supreme mental focus, and proper bioenergetic alignment of the body. The effect is to amplify one’s vitality while simultaneously reducing internal somatic, emotional, and mental resistance, all in a grounded and balanced fashion. This Taoist approach generates a lot of Chi safely and quickly, often within a few seconds. Mastery may take somewhat longer.

It has been said that Qigong supercharges the body with a balance of earthly and atmospheric ionic energy. This energy suffuses the body, mind, and spirit. The Chi that is birthed in this fashion can be used to invigorate tissues, blood, lymph, bone, and the central nervous system; purifying, soothing, and healing along the way.

Tantric Qigong™ is to regular Qigong as a Lexus on the Autobahn is to an oxcart in a muddy field. They will both get you to your destination, but differ quite a bit in speed, efficacy, and comfort. While Qigong is supreme at creating the benefits mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, the traditional Taoist process of creating personal freedom and spiritual liberation through burning karma is less well defined. The Taoist approach to chakra activation and transmuting negative emotional patterns is convoluted and obscure at best. In contrast, with Tantric Qigong™ we avail ourselves of esoteric Taoist, Tantric Kriya, Kundalini Yoga, and Tibetan techniques not yet generally known in the west to simplify and enhance our process of self mastery and liberation.

There are five basic levels of Tantric Qigong™ training that begin with elementary Qigong and culminate in powerful and efficacious practices rarely taught publicly. We employ principles of Bioenergetics, Chakra, Kriya, and Kundalini yoga, Emotional Freedom, Karma burning, Tibetan Tantra, and Tumo in a safe, balanced structure that requires only a few minutes each day to perform. © 2009 Keith E. Hall Inner-tranquility.com. All rights reserved.

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Q. Jeff asks: I have plantar fasciitis in both feet due to my tight tendons. My right heel is pretty sore from walking around barefoot during both Yoga and Tai Chi class. I wonder if I can wear any kind of soft shoe during either class?

A. Heel spur / plantar fasciitis (also sometimes spelled “fascitis”) is a condition where the bottom of the heel is extremely painful. A heel spur is a bony overgrowth and is usually a result of an inflamed plantar ligament on the bottom of the foot attaching to the heel. Constant pulling of this ligament irritates the heel and a bone spur overgrows as a protective mechanism. There is usually pain with the first step in the morning, some relief after activity, but pain returns after long periods of weight bearing activity. The plantar fascia is a tough structure, but can only stretch about 102% of its length before tearing. Its relative inflexibility incurs the absorption of tremendous force in the fascia every time the foot hits the ground

This type of condition is not well understood medically. It seems to be associated with obesity, poor shoe design, alignment of the heel, gout, pronation, and arthritis. According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, “Doctors have no medications that help heal the plantar fascia. Surgery to cut the plantar, called fasciotomy, is usually ineffective and may even prevent healing.”

Plantar fasciitis also seems to be present in a number of individuals with fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a condition of painful, stiff muscles and connective tissue whose medical etiology may involve auto-immune, central nervous system, and psychological or perceptual components. There is no medical cure for this condition, and patients are usually dissatisfied with their treatment options.

From an Eastern (both Taoist and yogic) perspective, the deeper causes may relate to a bioenergetic imbalance. There can be an underlying karmic imbalance within and between the first 4 chakras. This imbalance is further shaped and expressed through genetic and environmental factors. There is also the feedback loop of hypersensitivity to discomfort creating anxiety and emotional resistance, which in turn increases the perception of threat and pain and perhaps an involuntary subconscious tightening of the musculature which can further inhibit the flexibility of the affected area.

The systems of T’ai Chi and Tantric Qigong that I teach are ideal for intervention in this process.

Consistent T’ai Chi & Qigong practice will:
- Improve biomechanical alignment and efficiency.
- Increase healing life force.
- Transmute underlying emotional issues.
- Improve flexibility and blood flow through gentle, conscious, weight bearing stretching.
- Increase empowerment, decrease anxiety and emotional resistance.

Here are some suggestions to improve Plantar Fasciitis (fascitis):
- Take a warm hip-bath before class to relax foot, leg, and hip muscles.
- Keep these muscles warm when traveling to class.
- Slowly, gently, & Consciously “step into” the stiffness and pain.
- Relax your body and mind.
- Breathe deeply.

In regards to a shoe, though I prefer that you go barefoot to maximize pedal flexibility and groundedness, it would be OK to wear something with a soft sole and arch support. In addition to the cushioning support, some beneficial warming of the sole may occur. A T’ai Chi ( or Kung Fu) shoe with a rubber sole and a thin orthotic insert would be ideal. You can purchase these shoes via the Internet or try them on at a martial arts studio. My students can get a discount at the Flying Dragon. They have Chinese sizes, so unless you know what your size is you might have to try them on. Also some reflexology and foot massage might be helpful.

With committed, daily T’ai Chi and Qigong practice (more than once a day would be better,) you will soon experience some improvement. Though there can be some discomfort and resistance at first, the student who perseveres will notice definite progress. Copyright 2005, Keith E. Hall. all rights reserved.

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Qigong & Fibromyalgia: From the Arthritis Care and Research study

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Red Tantra, White Tantra
Q: Bamise writes: I have a couple of questions. I am not very ‘deep’ in Tantra, so I know that there are many things I do not know about Tantra–could you explain what is White and Red Tantra?

A: The short answer is that Red Tantra is focused on sensuality and sexuality, while White Tantra is more oriented towards a spiritual approach. There is also Black Tantra which is obsessed with power and its permutations, e.g., siddhis, manipulation, control, etc.

White Tantra

White Tantric Tara

White Tantra evolved in a disciplined way from the more ascetic yogic traditions. Like many other yogas, White Tantra endeavors to transcend the ego through disciplined mental and physical practices under the guidance of a teacher. While containing aspects of many standard Yogic asanas, Pranayama, and doctrine, White Tantric traditions are often characterized by an accelerated approach. In essence, the practice of White Tantric Kundalini Yoga, Kriya Yoga, etc., is rather pushy and fast. “Evolution now!” might be its motto. This is attractive to Westerners, particularly Americans, as our world seems to be continually speeding up. On the other hand, this approach can also create a lot of arrogance, students and teachers being sure they are on the express train to enlightenment, and some pain and confusion as our egos are quickly challenged. In the East, this is counterbalanced by teachers and students surrendering to their Gurus and lineage, accepting the wisdom of the sages and consenting to be “mentored” by them. The difficulty in the U.S. is that we really don’t wish to surrender to anyone!

Red Tantra

Red Tantra evolved as the “bad boy” of the Yogas. Seeing that yogic and even White Tantric approaches could create their own spiritual materialism, Red Tantra was created as a kind of yogic “shock therapy”. Having something in common with the Dionysian traditions of Greece, Red Tantra was the antidote to strict Hindu caste structure. Pujas often were orgiastic in nature, utilizing, among other techniques, sex, drugs, and wild dancing (Doesn’t this sound a little like our contemporary Bacchanals: Dead concerts and Raves?).

Red Tantric Tara

Often one was forbidden to practice the sexual techniques with one’s own spouse, or even with another of the same caste. Ritualistically challenging one’s persona, social and ethical values, prejudices, expectations, resulted in the stripping away of one’s “comfort zone”, our usual ways of perception, intellection, and judgment. This could result in a state of Transcendence and Presence and an innate realization that we are more than our collection of socially conditioned responses, perceptions, prejudices, rules, and preferences. Like White Tantra, this approach has a certain built in aggressiveness and does require surrender to the teacher’s guidance to be safe and effective.

Tantra is a Maha Yoga or Master Tradition. It is very ancient and many practitioners have conflicting judgments on what Tantra is. Of course, this is because each practitioner has only a partial experience, perceptions, or concept of Tantra. Teachers will teach from their experience, which is shaped by their perceptions and comfort level. It can be interesting to look at this in terms of the Chakra System and how we tend to get “stuck” or fixated at certain Chakra levels. As in most things, there are two sides to each Chakra. I will list here each Chakra’s issues (which can be a sort of wounding) and the compensatory desires associated with each. Starting with the lower 3 Chakras:

Chakra imbalance—————————-attachments, what we seek:

First chakra: fear of death ——————— courage, abundance or money
Second chakra: emotional pain—————- pleasure, ecstatic sex and sensuality
Third chakra: anger, violence, manipulation——–siddhis, power(self control)

The Higher Chakras are presumed to be the more “spiritual” Chakras. Perhaps this is a little more complicated than it may seem. We can easily become fixated at these higher Chakras as an escape from the world and our unresolved issues of the lower Chakras. Starting with the throat Chakra (5th):

Chakra imbalance—————————-attachments, what we seek:

Fifth Chakra: poor expression———————- creative self-expression, bliss, purity
Sixth Chakra: psychosis, cerebral escape—psychic powers, harmony, intelligence, mental yogas
Seventh Chakra: atheism, disbelief, dogmatism, dilettantism–transcendence, out of body travel, asceticism

Both the lower and upper 3 Chakras naturally seek to balance their closed and open (yin and yang, dark and light) aspects and also desire full balance or alignment with each other. In other words, evolution requires each energy center to be in balance within itself and with the others. Being fixated in the lower 3 Chakras means we are lost in the world. Fixation in the higher Chakras often means a rejection of the world. Neither is complete. Of course, this is just a summary and there can be an almost rococo complexity as the Chakras interact with each other and their imbalances and agendas.

By now, some of you may have noticed that we skipped a major Chakra. This is a case of perhaps saving the best for last. The Fourth Chakra, the Heart.

The Heart is the center where it can be most easy to combine and integrate upper and lower energies. The Earthly and Heavenly, World and Spirit, Transcendence and Acceptance. In my experience, this Chakra has its own unique balance within itself and in its relationship to the other high and low centers. The heart concerns itself with Unconditional Love, acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude. This is a direct mixing of our human nature and our experience of the Divine. The heart is a sweet space in that it holds no judgements, gratefully accepts and forgives ourselves and others, and creates connection and loving support.

When not fully ready to open, the issue of the heart is “yearning“. Yearning for connection and Unconditional Love, on a human and Divine level. This yearning is a hunger so deep that we often throw ourselves into a search for its satiation or to be distracted from its persistent (though at times subconscious) desire. Since we have so little experience with Unconditional Love, we often mistake this yearning for other things and may cast about searching for them. Examples of “substitute yearning” can include sex, perfect partnership, intellectual and artistic distractions, money, power, obsession with success and our careers, spiritual dilettantism and dogmatism. We can also simply react with pain, fear, anger, depression, violence, self loathing, judgment and prejudice and a host of other distractions. On some reflection one can see that our social world really has many more of these other energies moving through it than true Unconditional Love. When our heart’s desire is frustrated or denied in some way, it seems we can easily perceive a lack of unconditional support for our precious hearts, and we quickly retreat to the agendas of the lower Chakras or the higher, or both!

We can read about archetypes of Unconditional Love in traditional scriptures (the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Tara, born of the tears shed by the Buddha in compassion, etc), and we can see some contemporary examples e.g., Mother Teresa, yet how can be manifest this principle within ourselves? Can we create through intellection and philosophy? Good works, right action, traditional spiritual practices, faith? Or is their another way? We invite your feedback.Copyright 1997-2009, Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

If you have a question on Tantra or the Spiritual Path in general that you would like to have answered, please email us your question. All questions submitted and answers given become the property of Jade Garden Tantra and Inner Tranquility, and are copyrighted by Rev. Keith E. Hall

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“Love alone is capable of uniting human beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves.” -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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At the Pinnacle of Power is Surrender

In Taoist cosmology, the entire phenomenal world evolves from the interplay of the forces of yin and yang. In both an enlightened society and a healthy individual, these forces are co-equal and in a dynamic state of

Waves of Yin & Yang

balance. Just as a mountain needs the valley, and soft receives hard, impetus needs receptivity to fully empower and balance it. You can’t surf on crests alone, you need a trough to create the wave.

So it is with people. You can’t control your entire life and all of the world. The universe isn’t designed on Yang alone. And it is not wise to turn your power against yourself through resistance. This is an unhealthy effort to suppress, to freeze the flow of yin and yang. In this state you can neither will change nor surrender to it, and it takes the majority of your available energy to engage in this struggle. Attempting to use this stratagem, we eventually become like a pot ready to boil. If we do not remedy this, we are apt to harm ourselves or others through outwardly directed violence, or inwardly directed dis-ease.

“…ultimate freedom is surrender.”
–Vajrama

Many times you have heard that people can’t change. This, of course, is not true. Though it may be statistically unlikely that a person will alter their core programming, people can change. We can evolve. We just don’t want to. More precisely, we are afraid to change our defenses, our ego structure, our perception that it is our resistance that has allowed us to survive. Many of us choose the illusion of safety by erecting a fortress around our most tender parts, denying all access. The promise of joy, freedom, and fulfillment that we have yet to consistently experience is insufficient motivation to let go of the suffering, anxiety, frustration, and defensive / aggressive temperaments that make us feel so safe. Safe because we know these dysfunctions so well. They seem to have allowed us to survive, and we’ll be damned if we let them go. Better to forgo freedom and joy for a hunkered down safety. Look around you, is it not so?

We stop ourselves from surrendering to our spiritual yearning with fear and an unconscious stubbornness. Stubbornness born of our anxiety and belief that we cannot safely Be another way. So we acquiesce to both the protection and prison of our ego and habits. We allow ourselves to remain stuck between resistance and letting go, will and surrender. Between our animal history and our evolutionary future. We enlist our power in resistance, in being scared and stubborn. And a little lazy.

“At the end of our wanderings there is only the soul’s yearning to return to God.”
–Ram Dass

Throughout our lives we have been taught to use our power, our life force, to pursue the material world. We have lusted after romantic love, and for pleasures both gross and refined. At some point, it would behoove ourselves to invest similar vigor in turning our yearning to the care and nurturing of our soul. It takes all our will to journey to the threshold of self-realization. Yet we cannot enter by will alone. We have to surrender.

The mating of spiritual willpower with yearning gives birth to this Divine surrender, this yielding to the Higher Self. True emotional and spiritual freedom is really the purpose of spiritual power and its mate, surrender. Yang begets Yin and, whether directed inward for self-liberation or outward in service to others, power manifests its highest expression in surrender.

Trust. Relax. Let go. Allow yourself to fall into the waiting arms of the Divine © 2008 Keith E. Hall. all rights reserved.

The 3rd Chakra and the Spiritual Purpose of Power Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Another article on the 3rd Chakra:  Sea of Chi

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Chakra Balancing

The Power, The Key, The Gate
The sense of yearning is a coded message that the soul is sending to our ego. Yearning takes on different characteristics depending on one’s state of evolution, one’s level of consciousness. To the individual awakening to higher consciousness, first the physical necessities must be met. Then desire drives us until the social / emotional domain is filled. Yet a yearning remains. It cannot be satiated by any quantity of money or sex, romance or power. We desire to attain these things, yet when we do we eventually remain unsatisfied. This is like a dirty little secret that we can tell no one.

No matter how great our material achievements are, how sexy our trophy spouse is, how much status and power, there always comes a time when we become aware of a gnawing sense that we are not fulfilled. Why are the wealthy so propelled to accrue more than they could use in a hundred lifetimes, whatever the karmic cost? Why are the socially well heeled secretly so miserable and judgmental, and control freaks so driven to manipulate others? Libertines can exhaust themselves in the pursuit of pleasures that are never enough, and career workaholics are forced by the stress of chasing their own misplaced ambitions and aspirations to dig their own graves. And why do the majority of people who marry their soulmates end up having extramarital affairs? What can be missing?

“The grief you cry out from
draws you toward union.
Your pure sadness
that wants help
is the secret cup.
Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.
There are love-dogs
no one knows the names of.
Give your life
to be one of them.”
– Rumi, “Love Dogs”

Sometimes alone in the wilderness, or sleepless in the wee hours of the morning, with external distractions absent, we can feel a longing for something. A vague feeling that we require something or some state of being that we know not. A longing for something that our basic drives cannot assuage. It might appear as a quiet desperation, or perhaps a personal crisis. For some it can be discerned as a yearning of the spirit so deep, so profound, that it moves one to tears.

In spite of the smiley face we put on for others, we secretly know we are not fulfilled. We suspect there is more to life than this, and we often cannot understand what we are yearning for. Our intellect and the desires of the lower chakras are no help in traversing this pit. Like Eliot’s “hollow men”, we are unable to communicate or express what might fill the secret abyss in our gut and heart. We have tried everything the material and social world has to offer; yet the chasm remains. Exhausting ourselves with work, duty, and diversion, we seek an unknown opiate to dull our aching spirit. Alone in this most secret of times, we long for a caress of compassion from One who understands, for we do not. Are we not like dogs, chained and moaning for Love in the dark night, hoping to be invited to our Master’s bed?

“Resistance is futile.”
–The Borg

Desire cannot be safely suppressed. Resisted and turned inward, those energies can only become twisted and concentrated, becoming dangerous to oneself and others. One Tantric approach to desire is to fill any edacity you have, to appease that domain of your consciousness with whatever it desires, within reason. This is not to be done reflexively, but as a meditation, with full attention on what you are doing, while taking responsibility for both your desire and your actions in filling it. This is a middle path, neither denying what the mind, body, and emotions lust for, nor chasing your desire unconsciously until exhausted.

Over time, one begins to notice that less is more. Being fully attentive and karmically responsible elevates your consciousness. You require less to satiate the hunger of the lower chakras, and the processes of attentiveness and self-responsibility become satisfying to some degree, in and of themselves. This is one of many Tantric techniques for Transmutation, the letting go of old programs, and the recycling of life force trapped in those habits. Tethered less to lower agendas, consciousness begins to yearn for more experience of its higher aspects, to agendas of the heart and soul.

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“Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.”
– Eugene Ionesco

Will and power both help us meet the needs of the lower chakras, and empower us to maintain a spiritual practice. Ten to twenty minutes of practice each day is enough to make progress, if the technique is sufficiently efficacious. When the yearning for evolution, for a relationship with the Divine becomes great enough, and joins with authentic, powerful technique and pure intention, the gateway is revealed.

The Gate of Yearning can physically be felt at the solar plexus, and this is the key. Turn that key with purity of intention and high Taoist Tantric methodology, and admittance to the next evolutionary level is attained. The intellect, with its concepts, ideologies, and philosophies cannot by itself find the Way. Our dreams of unconditional love, of living in gratitude and compassion, of being fulfilled from the tips of our toes to the top of our soul, have a somatic pathway. This dream, this promise, lies slumbering betwixt the belly and heart, dormant in the solar plexus.

Once an aspirant realizes this spiritual desire, only anguish will remain if he or she stubbornly resists. It is one thing to wander through the desert of an unconscious life, being pushed and pulled by the mandates of the material world and whatever subconscious urge or resistance that bubbles up within us. It is quite another to know that the Promised Land exists and to travel part way, only to turn back. When called to Awaken, we are compelled to let go of our old habits and antiquated self-definitions. The time comes when we must surrender our insistence on suffering, the pretense that we don’t know better, and the illusion that we are powerless to change. Only fools turn back from the Gate of the Kingdom. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

Part 9: At the Pinnacle of Power is Surrender

The 3rd Chakra and the Spiritual Purpose of Power Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Tantric Qigong™

Presencing™: Learn to Be Present

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Empower Your Higher Self

Romance, Eros, Agape

If material acquisition, pleasure, and power cannot fully sate our most secret yearning what can? Romantic love comes closer to assuaging this questing of the soul. It is of a higher vibrational level than the mere competition for survival, status, and advantage inherent in the money and material chase. Over the millennia, a large percentage of art, music, and literature has owed its genesis to the impetus and ideal of romantic love, its power and desirability goes without saying.

Yet, after going through the trials of attaining this ideal in the form of possessing the desired Other, why does it seem to begin to slowly fade? The biologic explanation has to do with pheromone chemistry, survival, and mating instincts. The psychological explanation involves the various processes of the maturing love relationship, and “healing” of inner childhood “wounding.” One spiritual explanation is that if we do not allow the biological, karmic, and emotional energies of romantic love to be transformed into unconditional love, the energy driving us towards this evolutionary goal is thwarted, staying in the lower chakras. If we are paying attention to our internal emotional state, we might find ourselves eventually experiencing disappointment, frustration, ennui, a mid-life crisis, or general malaise. If ignored and left unaddressed, the thwarted energy may busy itself with lower chakra agendas, where it abides until consciousness or grace allows it another opportunity to be transmuted.

In the newly awakening individual, the karmic or energetic process is that, after the love object has been safely acquired, part of the energy inherent in romantic love begins to transform itself into unconditional love or agape. This is the true evolutionary function of Eros, the linking of the biological with the heart, sexus with agape, separation ultimately leading to communion
Romantic love is a high-energy state of pursuit of the love object. Individuals of both genders have their own unique styles of this dance. Agape, though also a high-energy state, manifests itself a little differently - as surrender. Surrender to the heart, to the other, to Unity, to the Divine. To be in romantic love, the love object must meet numerous requirements, physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral to be attractive. To exist in a state of agape, gratitude, and compassion, no such conditions apply. There is simply the act of Loving.

On a very deep level, this is what our soul yearns for - the giving and receiving of spiritual love. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

Part 8: The Power, The Key, The Gate

The 3rd Chakra and the Spiritual Purpose of Power Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Tantric Qigong™  Presencing™

Learning Self Mastery

The Spiritual Function of Yearning

The first three chakras compose a unit; a triad of our animal drives. At this stage in our evolution, it is easy to observe that, as a species, humans are still controlled by these animal motivations. There are certainly many enlightened buddhas, saints, and prophets that have appeared over the millennia, but the vast majority of people are still centered within their animal heritage, though we can see that humans have certainly invented many complex variations of the basic animal instincts. This is why the animal experiments of Skinner can be applied to people. Stripped of our technology and with our rational faculties stressed, most of us still behave much the same way rats would. And, if possible, all too often we use the gift of our higher cortical powers to serve our animal instincts.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t fulfill animal needs as best as we can. Neo-Tantra often glorifies the senses, which are extensions of the body and animal in nature. Certainly, before we can turn our attention to the spirit, our basic needs must be met. This does include the need for pleasure. It is just that we are out of control, using our technology and mental power indiscriminately to sate our animal appetites. We most often do this reflexively, blindly, and with risk to ourselves, others, and the very planet we live on. Still, if one is acutely observant, it can be noticed that however accomplished we are at gratifying our animal natures, a hunger remains.

Beyond what is needed for basic and comfortable survival, the pursuit of material possessions, power, sensuality, and wealth cannot satisfy the desires of our higher consciousness. No amount of money or social status can satiate the spirit’s longing. Inflame the passions of the lower chakras? Perhaps. But liberate the spirit and fulfill the heart’s true desire? Never. Many try at this, all fail. The game of acquisition and dominance does not feed the soul. It can only drive us to conflict, warfare, an ever-faster rate of conspicuous consumption, and the intrigue of political, financial, and technological supremacy. This extends even to the point where we are willing to destroy our selves, individually or collectively, in one way or another. Perhaps this is one expression of Thanatos. Like the mythical rush of the lemmings, we would rather stubbornly fall to our deaths than give up this dance.

So, most people find themselves trapped in this box, the unconscious drives of the first three chakras. Physically this box is described in the lower half of the body. The “lid” of the box is the solar plexus. The life force inherent in both the emotions of pain, fear and anger, and the quests for money, pleasure, and power aspires to connect with the energies of higher consciousness. Yet our vitality seems trapped in this box that we so stubbornly defend, as if it were a great palace instead of the prison that it has become. To begin to join with higher consciousness in the body, life force must literally push off the lid of this box, and physically ascend through the solar plexus. It yearns powerfully to be allowed to do so.© 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

Part 7: Romance, Eros, Agape

The 3rd Chakra and the Spiritual Purpose of Power Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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The Tower of Ego
The over compensation for survival challenges and the perception of lack in the material or emotional realms leads to the quest for dominance. This makes sense on the animal level as the best hunters or providers will ensure their own survival and pass on their genetic material. If you are say, a wolf, this can benefit others in your pack because the alpha male really can only eat so much of a kill; the rest is shared by the pack. In the human realm this is often not so. Technology, social, financial, legal, and military structures can allow a few to garner vast reserves of “kill” without necessarily having to share much of the bounty with others. This is an over-compensation for fear of insufficiency; including the material, sexual, emotional, and other domains.

The same principle holds for social status. Those who lust for acknowledgment, recognition, and fame, will overcompensate for the perceived dearth of love and support by seeking solace in the adoration of the masses, or the privileges of the socially elite.

Those who are the most aggressive and successful at dominance often have the most difficulty in personal

Fall from the tower

relationships. This should be a little spiritual hint, a clue from the Tao. Aggression and arrogance do not lend themselves well to sensitivity and negotiation, which are necessary for healthy relationships including the personal, professional, and geopolitical spheres. The will to dominate and control becomes self-limiting as internal and external forces seek to thwart or mediate unbridled aggression. Excessive yang eventually leads to yin, and pride does go before a fall.

Fall from the Tower
Nearly everyone has a secret desire to be the top dog. Many of us would secretly love to be a celebrity. We love to fantasize that we are a movie star or a rock star on stage before a multitude of fans and groupies, even if it is really only a moment at a karaoke bar! Would you rather be the multimillionaire CEO, or the wage slave? The admired and envied socialite, or the geek ignored and sitting in the corner?

We are pretty much programmed by our animal instincts to seek some sort of dominance in some sort of way, however modest. We desire at least a little niche where we are better than someone else. This is a normal state of animal consciousness. Of course, this is greatly mediated by the fear of being cast out of the herd. Even the alpha dog cannot prevail against the will of the entire pack. So there is this tension between dominance and submission on a basic animal level, which rises to rococo intricacy in the human world. There are some elements of this dynamic which both rise to, and serve the spiritual, as we will see.

From an evolutionary perspective, we need to have a strong, almost maverick personality to succeed on any authentic spiritual path that is unbridled by dogmatism. Any process that seeks to achieve a direct religious experience, a personal encounter with the Divine, will require both patience and persistence to consummate.

On the other hand, will, over-independence, or a love of rebellion for its own sake, can be a seductive trap. Fortunately the universe and our higher Selves are pre-loaded with the software to correct this. No matter how huge the ego, a path to a balanced spiritual perspective will eventually be made clear. We will be shown the limitations of the small self, our desires, and self-aggrandizement. This transition from the mundane games of survival and dominance, to the game of knowing Oneself, and oneself in relation to the Divine, is what the School of Life is about.

“You are dying in a prison of your own devise…”
– Jim Morrison, Unhappy Girl

This is what the tarot card known as “The Tower” describes - the earthshaking alteration at the core of your life’s paradigms. Change is inevitable, and whether this manifests easily or with great struggle is up to you and how well you accept and flow with the change. Transcending your ego patterns can be liberating, freeing you from old behaviors and habits; yet it can also be terrifying, heralding the loss of what you perceive as familiar and safe. The only way for you to lose in this process would be if you stubbornly refuse to allow a necessary change to occur, thus reinforcing an old pattern and imprisoning yourself in an obsolete mode of understanding and being.

“I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased;
I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.”
– St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul

Perhaps this transition from ego to spirit centered life may show up in a dramatic form such as a life threatening challenge, loss of someone deeply loved, a near death experience, or some other sort of major life stressor. It may also appear in our consciousness in a less sensational, more subtle and quietly persistent form. The dark night of the soul can be painted in many shades of gray. It is best to pay attention and both seize and surrender to the opportunity. If you are destined to evolve and you ignore it, the universe will only get more insistent. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

Part 6: The Spiritual Function of Yearning

The 3rd Chakra and the Spiritual Purpose of Power Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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Part 4: The Mystery of the Solar Plexus

For many years I have seen various charts and books written on the subject of the chakras. There seems to be some general confusion as to the location and spiritual function of the solar plexus. I have seen some charts put its location as low in the body as the navel, or as high as the heart. Its actual physical center is near the end of the sternum.

Like its physical location, the energetic character of the solar plexus also seems a little confusing to many authors and teachers. Some describe its nature as identical to the lower sub chakras of the belly, e.g., will, action, centeredness. At least one school teaches that it controls the sense of the passage of time, which one can see is related to the concept of action. I believe that the confusion over its energetic function has two explanations.

First, is the confused, contradictory, and sometimes arbitrary placement of its location. If it is placed in the location of other known sub-chakras of the third chakra, it takes on the characteristics of that particular energetic “neighborhood.” This confusion might be due to the repetition of ancient disinformation, problems with the translation of texts into English, or it could just be due to ignorance and dogmatism.

While this first rationale relates to an apparently long standing historical confusion, explication number two is: The energetic nature of the solar plexus is changing as we evolve! I have invested quite a bit of time over the last few years meditating on the sensations and qualities of the solar plexus. I have also closely observed its activity in others who are on a path of awakening and I have come to see that the solar plexus is the energetic and somatic frontier in our evolutionary process. If you can perceive it, its essence is dynamic, ever changing, questing, and persistent.

Let me say that it is demonstrably so that, as long as we are incarnate in a physical form, all truth will have its roots in the body. We may lie with our words and thoughts, we may be deceived by our perceptions, by our minds, but the body never lies! It does not know how to. The ultimate truth of our human experience and the fruits of our actions will always be revealed in the body. Sensations, body language, physiologic processes, all are part of the somatic code that can lead us to awakening and understanding. It needs but to be deciphered. The codex is obtained through the practices of receptivity, attention, and silence. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

Part 5: The Tower of Ego & The Fall

The 3rd Chakra and the Spiritual Purpose of Power Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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