The Crown Chakra: Ideal or Idyll
This week, with another teacher called out for unethical conduct, I've been reflecting on the Crown Chakra--the symbolism, the idealism, and my love/hate relationship with notions of spiritual attainment.
The Sahasrara Chakra or Thousand Petaled Lotus is located at the fontanelle at top of our heads. It is the space where the infant's skull expands to accommodate our big brains and the spot, identified by many spiritual traditions, where our soul will leave the body. The Thousand Petaled Lotus is also a meditation image where 20 layers of petals 50 rings round draws us closer and closer into the center of pure awareness. Some images depict the center of consciousness rising up from the lotus petals, but I prefer the earthier version where consciousness points downward, connecting not only to the sun and growth but to the mud soaked earth where her roots nourish.
Just as the Lotus cannot grow without light and soil, we cannot grow without integration between our flesh and our thoughts. Somatically-oriented practices are critical to help us attune to ourselves and tether our embodiment to the sublime. For many of us, it is obvious when we are too attached to the body, but it can be less apparent when we are fixated on ideals. In much of yogic and Buddhist practice, Enlightenment is a much sought after (destinationless) destination where our minds merge with pure awareness. Many of us devote ourselves to yoga and meditation for significant periods of our lives only to find that off the mat, our idyll quickly fades.
The Crown Chakra with her downward pointing center holds the uncomfortable truth that enlightenment might grant super powers but it doesn't turn us into gods. The real world is much closer to the benthos than the heavens. When we look to transcend the human experience we are cutting off our own root supply. The pain we are looking to avoid is subconsciously amplified and we begin to act out. This is writ large in the now too familiar story of deposed spiritual teachers or leaders in general. The sad part is not just the breach in ethics and bad acts, it's that those teachers built their reputation while denying their own humanity. Their mistreatment of themselves becomes a wound carried by the whole community, eventually causing everyone great harm.
When we practice without repressing our soma, we do not have to signify our ideals--we can trust in them. And we can be watchful of our tendency for our higher self to split ourselves off from our more primitive wounds. The Crown Chakra reminds us that when we accept the thousand-petaled messiness of our own unfoldment, the light of wisdom can reach our most vulnerable aspects and help us heal. Then we are free to do exactly what we need to do--the only thing we ever need to do-- which is to take the next step forward on our path toward integration.