Recently I borrowed a book from a
friend called Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self, by Anodea Judith, a
psychotherapist. In the introduction she lays out the major theories of
psychological development, and then shows how the chakra system matches that.
The various theories of
psychological development divide the maturation process in different ways; some
have four stages (Piaget), some eight (Erikson). Judith’s book provides an
outline of psychological development in seven stages (matching the seven
chakras):
- Learn you are a separate person, it’s ok to be here and be taken care of physically
- Learn that you have feelings and needs, and that when you express them you get an appropriate response; this communicates to you that it’s ok to have needs and to have them met
- Learn to express your will in the world without being demeaned or shamed for what you express
- Learn to have relationships with others; learn to reach out rather than just pull towards self
- Learn to communicate your needs, feelings, and will
- Learn to visualize, have intuition, and be inspired
- Learn to be conscious and aware, to integrate knowledge and experience
What I really liked about her
approach is that it emphasizes a balance of all the levels, not a progression
from the lower to the higher. When I’ve read psychology books I always got the
impression the developmental process was a straight line. You couldn’t go back;
you were stuck with your issues and had to deal with them the best way you
could. Other writers who have tried to integrate western and eastern thought, such
as Ken Wilber, have given me the impression that the later stages are better
and development means leaving the lower levels behind. If you get spiritual
enough you don’t need to worry about the problems you have with, say, asserting
your self in the world.
Judith, on the other hand, gave
me the idea of development as a spiral;
we initially go through the stages in a linear fashion but as an adult we can
cycle back through and heal the traumas that were inevitable as we grew up (no
matter how wonderful our childhood might have been, there will still be issues).
This is important, she shows, because if there are gaps and problems in earlier
psychological stages, that will affect our ability to successfully navigate the
later stages.
By cycling back through these
stages of development, and healing the problems we have at each level, we can
then become a balanced person, with an integrated life.
