Strength is a Virtue
Every day, I do a series of harmonization exercises, designed to align my energy centers and bring myself into harmony with certain virtues that relate to each energy center, or chakra. For the root chakra, the virtues that I have long felt aligned with its energy were strength on the masculine side, and resolve on the feminine side. Strength and resolve are very important to me. When I attained 2nd Path in the Theravada tradition, I had a moment where I had the opportunity to completely refashion myself if I so desired. Under normal circumstances, I would have had a laundry list of things I would like to change about myself. However, at that moment, without knowing why, I chose to remain myself, only with more strength and resolve. Those attributes were ultimately a key aspect of my successful spiritual growth from that point forward.
As I have grown, I have come to realize that strength is something much more than I understood it to be. Previously, when I thought of strength, I thought of force: our capacity to inflict our desires upon the world. Yet that is unwholesome strength. True strength is much more than that. There is physical strength, and there is strength of arms. And there is also strength in every other domain.
Strength is foundational. It is our capacity with respect to any domain. Someone who is physically strong is capable of moving heavy weight. Someone who is mentally strong is capable of solving difficult problems. Someone who is strong of character is capable of remaining who they desire to be, regardless of external influence.
Strength is neutral; it is simply capacity. As with all things, it is how we choose to direct that capacity that matters. We can focus on becoming strong in wholesome ways, by focusing on strength of kindness, strength of equanimity, strength of sovereignty.
When we look to the chakras above the root, we can see how strength and resolve influence all of the higher chakras. When we turn strength towards our sacral chakra, which relates to self, we discover self-strength, also known as self-confidence, which is the same thing as health. When we turn strength towards our solar plexus, which relates to our larger relationship with our current reality, we discover outward-strength, also known as power: our capacity to effectuate change in our reality.
We can choose to turn our strength towards positive things and become strong in them - become more capable of being and doing good. We can pair our strength with resolve, and thereby find fortitude. If we choose to be strong in our resolve and resolute in our strength, anything is possible.
