Choosing Mental Frameworks For A Spiritual Practice

The mind abhors a vacuum. Therefore we invent mental frameworks in order to work with our emotional/spiritual feelings. They may or may not be coherent with the material realm of nature although the most powerful frameworks are.

Roman Pantheon as is looked like in 125 CE reconstruction by the Institute for Digital Media Arts Lab at Ball State University. This building was originally built to honor all the pantheons of the Roman Empires but it was quickly was turned into a temple for the Roman state instead honoring all the Roman emperors. It survived because it was turned into a church during the 600's. Online at: https://idialab.org/virtual-roman-pantheon-in-blue-mars-cryengine/

Choosing a Pantheon or Deity

(August 31, 2022) Or as Pagans say, the deity chooses you because your feelings direct you towards some ancient conception of a deity that represents you dominant feelings at the time.

Sometimes your feelings do not fit any ancient conception that has come down to us so you just make up your own name for it or just interpret it as a spiritual power. Not everyone needs to personify a spiritual power or cluster of powers into a human living on a different plane of existence. Yet many do because their brain is wired to related best to other people.

If your deity is personified then you will connect with it in the same loving way as with human partner. These connective practices are:

Giving words of affirmation or praise
Giving quality time as mindfulness during a ritual or mediation.
Giving gifts as offerings
Giving acts of service
Interacting with physical touch with various correspondences representing the deity.

References

The Pantheon by Dr. Paul A. Ranogajec. Online at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ap-ancient-rome/a/the-pantheon

The modern chakra system assigns emotional resonances between different regions of the body. If these resonances are valid for you then they can be used as a meditation focus to help uncover emotional blockages. If the standard assigned resonances don't work for you then find some that do.
The modern system is an adaptation of the older six chakra system found in the Vedas which was based upon actual body openings and depressions (fontanelle, nostril, mouth, depression just under the sternum, belly button, urethra, anus).

Shown below are river vortices which interrupt water flows. They also indicated hidden obstructions under the river's surface. Emotional flows are analogous to rivers and we often develop hidden blockages in our emotional/spiritual connections.

Chakra Framework for Meditation

(July 7, 2022) Identifying emotional blockages is difficult. The main emotional conflicts which lead to emotional blockages are outlined by the chakra paradigm developed in India.

The chakra system is based upon the idea that a full connection with the Divine is only possible if a person's conscious emotional/spiritual currents are freely flowing. This produces the maximum spiritual power in a person. This spiritual power is called "kundalini" power in the eastern traditions.

Achieving this full Divine connection requires the removal of all emotional blockages. These blockages may be put into the chakra correspondence framework in order to aid in their discovery by meditation.

The word "chakra" means "vortex" or "whirlpool" in Sanskrit because vortices in rivers block straight fast moving current flows. These chakras are associated with different emotional problems (blockages) associated with different regions of the body. The typical associations are:

Crown chakra - is associated with the crown of the head and represents the problems which occur in connecting to the divine realm.
Third eye chakra - is associated with our brain and it represents the problems which occur in reasoning and thinking.
Throat chakra - is associated with the voice box in the throat and it represents the problems which occur with miscommunication.
Heart chakra - is naturally associated with the heart and it represents the problems which occur with feelings of life-growth, that is, the feelings love, romance, self-worth and self-esteem. This is one of the life forces. These are also the cleanliness emotions because if you feel clean and pure you feel accepted and worthy. Consequently, this chakra is the water correspondence.
Solar plexus chakra - is associated with breathing and air as represented by the body’s diaphragm muscle. This represents the life force of movement. Consequently, this chakra represents problems of insight and empathy about the underlying causes and motions of things. This chakra is the air correspondence.
Sacral chakra - is associated with the sexual organs and it represents the problems which occur from interacting with heat and fever of our passionate primal emotions. This chakra is the fire correspondence.
Root chakra - or the first chakra is associated with the butt which sits us on the ground. As such it represents the problems of grounding and emotional stability. This chakra is the earth correspondence.