Why do the hopes and dreams of many people turn out to be forlorn, plunging them into feelings of inadequacy and even hopelessness? Sometimes their lives even move in the opposite direction to where they want them to go.
The answer lies in one of the most subtle dimensions of consciousness, the hara line. This is the level of intentionality. It lies a quantum-level deeper than the Human Energy Field.
In the model of consciousness I have taught for many years, the hara line is the earliest expression of the individual core essence, as it moves towards manifestation into the physical.
Simply put, it is the soul’s intention and purpose in incarnating and brings together our unique qualities and gifts, the longing that drew us into physical existence, our connection to the earth and the material plane. It is also a profound level of personal and spiritual integration and could be likened to a meta-program from which creation happens-be it a love relationship, a new business enterprise or, at a bigger level, even world peace. Enormous creative power comes through the hara; in other words, your intentionality.
Pure expression
Just as each of us has a body and a personalized Human Energy Field (HEF) or aura, we also have a hara line. In fact, the HEF is the product and expression of the hara at the level of energy; and the body is its further expression at the level of the physical.
Sometimes we think that when we were young, we were living in wholeness, our hara line was intact-a pure expression of our essence and our light. Yet this was not the case per se. We are born with disturbances in our hara line that are part of the karmic package we enter this physical world with. Essentially, our karmic package carries in it what we long to create, yet have not yet been able to, because of things "our soul" has not yet learned through its many journeys in the physical world. Our karmic package also carries the tools we need to learn what we must to create our longing. In other words, we will face challenges in our lives that we have not been able to solve before. The solving of our life issues, whether large or small, are exactly what we must do to create our greatest longing. This is good news! We are born with the intent to create something wonderful. The most wonderful thing we can think of. Yet first we must create it within ourselves! In doing so, we learn to help others do the same. Our greatest longing becomes our greatest gift, not only to others but also to ourselves!
One of the reasons life seems simple and clear when we are children is that we are just beginning our creative endeavors and developing a brand new intellect that will see the world from new eyes. In our innocence, we know what is true-and what isn’t because we feel it. It is simple: does it hurt or does it feel good? We lack the mental sophistry and the emotional defenses to shield ourselves from our own hearts and souls. Yet, as children each of us have irrational fears that are unique, and these unique fears are a reflection of the original split in our hara line that we are born with, and that which is carried over from other lifetimes.
Array of defenses
Sadly, as we grow into adult life, we build a complex and sophisticated array of defenses to avoid facing our fears. This creates more splits in the hara line, often in several places. In other words, we lose connection between key parts of ourselves, and there is a loss of consciousness and creative power. This disconnection can happen in a variety of ways and will be reflected in the HEF, and inevitably in the body.
We experience the results of this in our lives at many levels.
The first obvious consequence of splits in the hara line is that our awareness of who we are shrinks tremendously and we identify with a very small part of ourselves. Or rather, we only permit a comfortable part of ourselves into our conscious awareness and the rest is shut away; it remains either unconscious or goes into shadow. The more unconscious the splits, the more dualistic life becomes, with sharp-edged differences between those who we call "good people" and "bad people" and "them" and "us."
Here are some other examples:
• You might really long for a loving, intimate relationship-you’ve read the books, and done the visualizations-but you still find yourself in the middle of an all-too familiar argument with your partner that leaves you feeling wounded and bitter. Because the hara is split.
• For years you have carried within you the vision of a new creative enterprise. In your mind’s eye you can see clearly how it would work. You’ve tried from time to time to make it happen, but it never quite does.
• You have a history of heart disease in your family and you worry about it a lot. But you find it hard to maintain a heart-friendly diet.
Our major difficulties originate at the level of hara. When life feels difficult and the world unsupportive, thwarting your aspirations, it becomes really important to examine our intentionality.
When we return to our hara line, we take responsibility for our creations, for our life experience. With this commitment to self-responsibility there is also tremendous relief and empowerment as we reconnect with our creative power.
At the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, we practice the physical alignment of the hara, bringing together our spiritual connection, our longing, our connection to the physical body and the earth. Each time we practice this, our aura and our cells receive a dose of fresh life, an infusion of the pleasure of being whole again. Big life changes happen, much to our delight.
With meditation exercises, we are able to track the movement of our own psyche and body, to notice when old defenses that split the hara in a habitual pattern get activated. This allows us to see the roots of our struggle in relationships, work, health and every other area of life.
With daily dedication and mindful practice, we begin to notice when we are at cross-purposes with ourselves, how we sabotage what we consciously want because of old, unmet needs.
Work on the hara has to happen at every level-at the physical, through martial arts or other grounding practices that build power in the tan tien, and at the aura level through emotional processing that reconnects us to our deepest longing, and spiritual work that reconnects us to the source of all inspiration. This integration releases tremendous joy and creative pleasure, a level of effortlessness of which the dualistic ego cannot even conceive.
Creations that spring forth through an aligned hara flow from the unitive state in our core essence. There is no self-sacrifice involved, only joy. By their very nature, acts that rise from a unified hara serve and bless us and the world at every step.
"It is easy to recognize clear intentionality
because it feels so wonderful.
It is full of strengthen and purpose, yet effortless.
Everything in dualistic chaos calms down.
All things become quieted, yet vividly alive.
One experiences an expanding powerful self-presence.
Joy, pleasure and gratitude arise."
– Seeds of the Spirit, by Barbara Brennan; 2002.
