Spiritual energy is described by different names in different cultures. This energy is considered a universal life force or spiritual source energy that exists in all living matter.
What Is Spiritual Energy
What is spiritual energy? It is the manifestation of divine, pure love. Depending on an individual's religion, that love comes from a deity, deities, or an energy that defies description and explanation. It's considered the life force that binds the soul to the body. In this concept, the soul is itself everlasting. There are many religions that define spiritual energy and teach how to receive it.
Four Types of Spiritual Energy
There are more than four types of spiritual energy, but these four are the most commonly understood; all refer to life force energy using different words.
Prana (Hindu)
Simply defined, prana means "breath" in the ancient Hindu language of Sanskrit, but is "more correctly understood as a life-sustaining force." Ancient Hindu writings identify prana as an energy that thrives in all things, even something as intangible as human thoughts. This life-sustaining force survives the death of the human body and can return through reincarnation.
Chi (Chinese)
Chi energy (also spelled Qi, and both are pronounced as "chee") is the life force of the world and contains female (yin) and male (yang) energies. The goal of working with chi energy is to achieve perfect balance between the two opposites of yin and yang. This is achieved by opening the chakras so the chi energy can flow through the body into all energy vortexes.
Divine Love (Many Faiths)
Christianity, Judaism, and other religions of the world define spiritual energy as coming from the divine love of God. This love is pure and cannot be corrupted. It is eternal and constant. The methods for connecting with divine love varies from one religion to the next.
Mother Earth Spirituality (Native American)
Mother Earth Spirituality is the great common point of the Native American nations that once populated America. Each Nation had its own specific belief system that generated from this spirituality and viewed Earth as the mother and the sky as the father. Total respect for all things of the Earth is the breath of this spirituality.
Transformations Through Spiritual Energy
There are many ways that spiritual energy can transform a person. The result of receiving spiritual energy can be enlightenment and various forms of healing of the mind, body and soul. Obtaining enlightenment is found in many religions as a goal of transformation through spiritual energy.
Kundalini Yoga
The Kundalini energy (prana) rests at the base of the spine (root chakra) and must travel through all seven chakras and three knots before enlightenment (nirvana) can be obtained. Some yogis believe activating prana is a prerequisite to activating the Kundalini while others feel Kundalini and prana are the same thing.
Meditation
There are several meditation techniques that allow you to tap into spiritual energy, and many believe meditation can create transformation and even lead to enlightenment.
- Mindful meditation: Vipassana, practiced by Buddhists, sets the mind free to become an observer of thoughts and not a judge. The meditation eventually frees the person from thoughts as the mind quietens.
- Sitting meditation: Zazen (Zen meditation) is the art of sitting in silence, without thinking, to find enlightenment. It focuses on breathing exercises to connect body and mind.
- Tai Chi: The Taoist moving meditation is also a martial art that balances the yin and yang chi energies. Tai chi is perhaps the only martial art that is foremost a meditation tool.
- Transcendental meditation: This form of meditation is based on the Hindu Vedanta. It involves staying in a sitting pose while focusing on a sacred mantra.
- Walking meditation: Found in many religions, this requires the art of walking while meditating. It can be in nature, in a labyrinth, or along a specific path designed just for meditation.
- Praying: Most religions have some form of prayer whether it is spontaneous, doctrine or chanting. Scientific American states, "...people interpret prayer as a social interaction with God, and social interactions are what give us cognitive resources." Many religious people would disagree and simply state that prayer provides a direct connection to spiritual energy and through this process, enlightenment can be achieved.
- Vision Quest: Native Americans and many Inuit peoples undertake a vision quest as part of a rite of passage or initiation that is designed to establish a connection with spirits. This process includes fasting, no sleeping, and focusing on the quest.
Healing Methods for Spiritual Energy
Most religions and cultures have a ceremony or practice that can deliver healing through the receiving of spiritual energy.
Activating Chakras
This often takes the form of activating chakras to balance spiritual energy. Ancient writings define the body as having various vortexes where the prana or chi flows. There are seven main chakras in the human body. When all seven main chakras are open, the person's chi can flow up and out of the crown chakra to connect with the spiritual energy or chi.
Acupuncture
This centuries-old medical practice opens up blocked chakras or quietens over-active energy channels and chakras within the body's electrical/energy system.
Qigong
This whole-systems practice can realign the body through various repetitive physical movements. Using Qigong can open chakras to allow healing chi to enter and heal the body. Taoism (Daoism) and Buddhism are the parents of Qigong.
Yoga
This ancient practice realigns the body through held physical positions (asanas). The poses force the mind, body and soul to work together with the result of beneficial chi energy flowing freely through the chakras.
Ayurvedic Medicine
Ayurvedic medicine uses the chakras to bring the body, mind, and spirit back into balance so the prana can flow throughout the body.
Daoist Healing Hands
The oldest known Chinese healing art is Tuei-Na. Tuei means "pushing away abnormality," while Na means "taking out abnormality." The two work together to create "manual or implemental manipulation of meridian points to encourage, adjust and balance" the body.
Laying on of Hands
This Biblical practice, especially that of Jesus Christ, is a form of healing that transfers the spiritual healing energy of God through the conduit (person laying hands on the sick) to the sick individual. Many also anoint the sick with oil as depicted in the Bible.
Reiki
A Japanese technique, Reiki is taken from Rei that means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki that translates to "life force energy." A Reiki Master uses a laying-on-of-hands technique to heal an ailing person. Reiki can also be used for long-distance healing since the Reiki Master is able to direct the energy and manipulate it.
Native American Healing Ceremony
The Native American Purification Ceremony is called oenikika (breath of life). The ceremony is different from one tribe to the next. According to medicine man William J. Walk Sacred, the medicine man leads the ceremony as a physical representation of the spirits. He "works within the invisible realm, in order for you to become aware of the healing process within yourself."
The sweat lodge is typically at the center of such ceremonies along with sacred rituals of preparation and tools for accomplishing the renewal. When requesting a Purification Ceremony, the person will offer tobacco (symbol of person's spirit) to the medicine man. At the time of presenting the tobacco to the shaman, the person also states the specific healing required, such as an illness, unsettling personal issue, or "something in the non-physical world."
Faith Healing
A spiritual healing that doesn't involve rituals, ceremonies, or transference of energy through another person is described as a healing of faith. It is through the individual's own faith in the divine that spiritual energy is conveyed directly to the person for a physical, mental, or emotional form of healing. Many Christians believe in this type of spiritual energy that heals based on the person's faith and earnest prayer.
Can Anyone Tap Into Spiritual Energy?
Anyone is capable of tapping into spiritual energy and receiving the various benefits of pure love. An open heart and a willingness to receive without attempting to control are both necessary. Some people are adept at doing this while others will find themselves challenged. Perseverence and patience will assist in achieving the goal of receiving spiritual energy. Try some of the methods listed above, including meditation and yoga, to begin exploring this source of energy.
A Tether to the Divine
It's believed by many religions that each person is connected to a spiritual energy. This spirit energy or life force feeds the spiritual nature of humans and serves as a tether for the soul to that divine spiritual energy. This means that all humans are connected simply by sharing this spiritual energy source.
