So: here’s a question. More than one of my sisters (all very conservative, very Catholic), goes to a chiropractor/nutritionist who I refer to as the Witch Doctor. She has diagnosed many allergies in many of my nieces and nephews and…neph-dogs? She energy tests what she prescribes to make sure it’s what the body needs and is a proponent of homeopathic remedies (which one of my sisters explained to me and it’s crazy!). But. It works.
I once asked my sister how she reconciled the Witch Doctor with her religious beliefs (thou shalt not suffer and so forth). Her answer was basically, “if God created it, it’s good,” which I honestly felt (and still feel), was a cop-out. When I was at her home recently, a friend of hers and I started talking chakras and she got into that, too (so God created them, too, presumably).
My question is this: what are your thoughts on chakras (specifically)? Ever felt them? Ever had occasion to believe in them? Do you believe they jibe with your beliefs, or not? Why?
Personally, I’ve had occasion to think they are very real and work in mysterious ways. But I never felt that they could be compatible with…well, with Western religion, really. My Muslim office mate certainly felt that they were anathema. Thoughts?
4 responses so far ↓
1 nee // Nov 7, 2006 at 4:00 am
I started seeing an acupuncturist while I was active lds. As a result of her recommendations I read many things. Some would have been questionable in fellow lds eyes because they celebrated womanhood in ways much different than R.S. Initially I didn’t find them incompatible so much with church as with western medicine. The things I learned from my acu. regarding traditional chinese medicine were more in line with the entire word of wisdom than the actual diet of most members - since they’re stuck on the don’ts to the exclusion of the do’s.
I would say, however, if one invests themself fully in studying alternative medicines and exploring the mind/body connection that one may eventually find philosophies about life that seem more logical than western religions. That was the case with me. I did eventually leave christianity. While my experiences with alternative health practices were not the catalyst, they did lay some groundwork that I thought a lot about when I began having doubts.
As for chakras specifically, I think there is some validity to it. My first exposure was the writings of Dr. Christiane Northrup. How I view my body has definitely changed as a result of exploring alternative health options.
This is far more rambling and incoherent than I intended. I stumbled over here after getting woken up by my pager and recalled john dehlin mentioning you quite favorably. I’ll come back and read more (and reply more thoughtfully) after more sleep.
2 pilgrimgirl // Nov 7, 2006 at 1:51 pm
I don’t know if I necessarily “believe” in chakras, but I do believe that getting to know our bodies better is a good thing, and that it often helps if we have some sort of methodology for doing so. For example, I find yoga to be important on many levels, not the least of which is that it lets me out of my head and into my body for awhile. But is there something particularly magical about down-facing dog or fish pose or whatver the contortion of the day is? Um, no, I don’t think so. But the magic is in the focus, the awareness, and in the connection.
Ah, but I do have to add that there is magic in John’s massages. He has ‘the touch.’ Oh, and the best part is that it’s all mine.
3 John // Nov 8, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I’m not at all qualified to speak about chakras, but my first reaction is a weird mixture of Western skepticism and respect for Eastern spirituality. I think that I use chakras as conceptual tools for meditation: I sometimes imagine a line going through the center of the earth, through the base of my spine, through the crown of my head, and up into the heavens. This keeps my spine straight and my imagination both ‘grounded’ and aware of the universe. When I close my eyes in meditation, I focus on the ‘third eye’ which is a point just above the bridge of the nose–this really helps me to concentrate.
Share your experiences with us, Miko!
4 Kirk W // Nov 15, 2006 at 11:38 am
Not on chakras specifically, but on the idea that “if God created it, it‚Äôs good.” This may have seemed like a cop-out, but actually this line of thinking has a long pedigree.
I chart out some of that in reflections on Bob Dylan’s song, “Don’t think twice, it’s all right.”
Along the same lines, there’s an idea that was once widely accepted, that if there was a disease or condition in the world, God had already provided a cure (usually in an herb that could be found if one searched diligently). So if there’s something “bad” in the world, there is something good that counter-balances it. Maybe chakras and energy tests would fit into that equation as well?
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