A change in one of the three centers invites a corresponding change in the other two…
- Receptivity at the head center invites a seeing of the truths in the reversals of any stories, and of all as Spirit. And this in turn invites a sense of connection with others, and a felt-sense of life as safe and OK.
- Receptivity at the heart center invites a sense of connection with others (with anything seen as other), and a loving of all as Spirit. This invites more fluidity of view, and a felt-sense of all as Spirit.
- Receptivity at the belly center invites a sense of safety, nurturing, and trust in life, and a felt-sense of all as Spirit. This invites fluidity of view, a sense of connection with other, and loving all as Spirit.
Similarly, practices at each center influences each other center either directly or indirectly…
- Head center practices invites us to see more clearly what is already more true for us.
- Heart center practices invites an open heart, empathy, gratitude, loving all as Spirit.
- Belly center practices invites a felt sense of safety, deep nurturing, trust in life and existence, and of all as God’s will and Spirit itself.
These changes allow us to deepen into who we are as individual humans and souls, making it easier to be who we temporarily take ourselves to be, and inviting a continuing healing, maturing and development of our human self. And they make it easier for what we are to notice itself, for Big Mind to awaken to itself, even while functionally connected with this human self.
It all goes together, threads in one tapestry.
Initial draft:
There can be more or less receptivity at each of the three centers, and a change in one invites a change in the other two. And this in turn invites or (apparently) blocks a deepening into who (as individual humans+souls) and what (awake void) we are.
Reduced receptivity shows up in some of the following ways…
- Head center: More attachment to stories, rigidity in views, sense of needing to protect beliefs and identities, sense of a split between I and other, either/or attitude
- Heart center: More closed heart, sense of separation, sense of I and other. Less appreciation, gratitude.
- Belly center: More emotional/behavioral reactivity, fear, hostility, flight/fight. Less sense of trust in life/existence.
Increased receptivity…
- Head: Less attachments to stories, less sense of needing to defend beliefs or identities. More fluidity of views, seeing the truth in reversals of any story.
- Heart: More open, empathy, recognition of self in other/others in self, gratitude, appreciation for any experience.
- Belly: Less reactivity. More sense of safety and trust in life/existence, meeting experiences through a felt-sense, sense of nurturing fullness and richness.
In general, reduced receptivity at the three centers deepens the sense of a split between I and Other, and the other way around. And less split tends to make it easier for us to heal, mature and develop as a human being (deepen into who we are), and for the void to notice itself (awaken to what we are).
There are many ways of exploring the three centers… a change in one invites a corresponding change in the other two, and most practices also directly work with more than one center.
- Head center, inviting a seeing all as Spirit, reorganizing our view to reflect a nondual realization
Inquiry (the work, headless experiments, big mind process), insight practices, witnessing, choiceless awareness, projections/shadow work. - Heart center, inviting a loving all as Spirit (all situations, all experiences)
Heart prayer, Christ meditation, tong len, gratitude practice. - Belly center, inviting a felt-sense of all as Spirit
Body-oriented practices, any forms of yoga (including the Taoists ones of tai chi and chi gong), Breema, breath work, emotional release, etc.
And all of these practices work because they, in different ways, mimic Big Mind… they give us a taste of Big Mind, and reorganize the three centers to be more closely aligned with how they function when Big Mind awakens to itself. This, in turn (a) allows for an easier life for who we temporarily take ourselves to be (a separate self), (b) invites Big Mind to awaken to itself, and (c) has pre-prepared this human self to function as a vehicle for void awakened to itself (less massive reorganizing needed following the awakening).
Through head center practices, we find what is already more true for us (closer to Big Mind). Through heart practices, we find appreciation and gratitude for more and more experiences, and come to see them as expressions of Big Mind and love. Through belly center practices, we come to have a felt-sense of all as inherently OK, of safety, of trust in life, of all as God’s will and Spirit.
We can also explore how changes in each of the three centers influence the other two:
- Receptivity at the head center: allows for an open heart, and a felt-sense of all as OK and God’s will. We see the truths in the turnaround of the stories we initially held as more true, so feel more of a connection (open heart) with those holding those views, and there is also less need to defend any particular belief or identity so a more felt-sense of trust in the world.
- Receptivity at the heart center: allows for a more receptive head center, and a felt-sense of all as OK. An open heart allows for a sense of connection with those holding other views, which in turn allows us to more easily see the truths in those views, all of which invites a more felt-sense of life as safe.
- Receptivity at the belly center: allows for a more fluid view and a more open heart center. It gives us a felt-sense of trust and life as safe, which invites more fluidity in views, and a sense of connection and empathy with others.
This is all quite rambling and painted in broad strokes, but it is of course possible to go into all of these connections in far more detail. Maybe I’ll do that in some other posts.