The sacred holiday season is in full swing. As spiritual aspirants, this time of the year presents a unique opportunity for us to practice self-awareness. If we are not careful, before we know it, we are entering the New Year flat on the couch, with a fully belly and an empty wallet.
Temptation is everywhere during the Holidays, and while a bit of indulgence is not a bad thing, we can easily lose balance. In its essence, Pranic Healing is a system of creating balance. We balance the chakras during a healing session. We balance the virtues during our practices of character building in Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga.
In Pranic Healing, we learn that the condition of the chakras affects our health and behavior, but also that our behavior affects the condition of the chakras (Master Choa Kok Sui, Pranic Psychotherapy book, p. 2). When we over-spend and over-indulge during the Holidays, we not only affect our financial health but our energetic health as well. We create areas of imbalance, internally as well as externally. For example, if you have a Pranic Healing background, after spending past your comfortable limits, scan your basic chakra. Notice how the energy is affected. Maybe also scan the solar plexus and the ajna. What happens? What about your spiritual cord? (Master Choa Kok Sui, Miracles Through Pranic Healing book).
The beauty of the spiritual path is that challenges are not obstacles. They are opportunities. Moments of temptation provide a rich opportunity for self-honesty and transformation. If we pay attention to the areas where we easily swing out of balance, we can begin to move in the opposite direction. When we feel tempted to speed up, perhaps that is the very moment we are called to slow down. When we feel tempted to be careless, perhaps that is the very moment we are called to pay particular attention. When we feel tempted to over-spend and over-indulge, perhaps that is the very moment we are called to practice moderation.
We have many priceless spiritual teachings from our teacher, Master Choa Kok Sui, but teachings only become wisdom when they are put into lived experience—when they are put into practice. This quote from Master Choa Kok Sui provides a powerful teaching, at a time of the year when we have ample opportunity to put it into practice:
“If you don’t budget your expenses, you are not in the position to give anything because you’re in deficit. In general, try to be debt-free. Without budgeting, without moderation, there is nothing to save; there is nothing to invest.” Master Choa Kok Sui
Master is calling us to assess what is truly possible—taking into consideration the entire picture. In the same way that we view depletion as an energy condition of concern in Pranic Healing, we need to have the same level of discernment when it comes to our financial health. Over-spending and taking on debt causes a depletion. When we are depleted, there is no financial energy (money) left to save, nothing left to invest.
The key to maintaining balance during this Christmas and Holiday season is the practice of moderation and non-excessiveness, and this is not only in regards to money, but also in regards to time and energy. Be mindful of what and where you are spending, and assess your limits in the larger picture of where you truly are, and what you have available. You may surprise yourself. No matter what the malls and posters tell us, the essence of the Holidays is not about indulgence anyway. The essence is about simplicity and love. And when you are in balance, love is much easier to access and give freely.
