Positive Energy Guide

If possible, please aim to suspend any preconceptions about what two words mean, so you can stay open to what I hope to be able to convey in this post. The two words are: “God” and “Love.” These words can be catch-alls and vague because people mean so many things when they use them. I’m trying to write about a particular experience, not a concept or belief. And I’m not trying to make you believe anything.

If it’s useful to have a sketchy sense of what I might mean by “God,” you could say I’m talking about “That Which Is.” In terms of direct personal experience, including energy, sensation, and emotion, there are innumerable points of access to expanded or transcendental EXPERIENCE.

For some months I have been doing breath meditations from my spiritual teacher. During one practice, I inhale The All Pervading Life in Space and exhale focus on and if possible dialing in the experience of love, then Divine Love, and then God’s love. It takes focus to evoke or pull through the real energetics instead going by concepts or imagination.

I found the “God’s Love” part most challenging. I had lots of reasons to find the words annoying. They didn’t give me access to direct experience. I did not want to make something up. I wanted to bring forth something real. I have experienced the vibration or energy frequency of quite a few different flavors or expressions of divine love such as divine forgiveness, divine compassion, an ever-expanding field of love, and so forth. As for the straight-up experience of God’s Love Itself, I couldn’t wrap myself around that to draw it forth into sensation and experience. I would have scraped the practice if I my teacher was one to blabber about an abstract concept without the energy to back it up. He’s not, and can bring forth all manner of wonderful flavors of Love at will, so I keep trying.

After a period of regularity with that and other practices, I had a spontaneous experience that fit the bill. This experience would have been easy to misinterpret or even to miss, but once I identified it as a direct expression of God’s Love I was in delight:

I was walking around my house about to leave to the grocery store. I might have been singing something. I had been listening to an excellent and engaging but brutal detective novel. My heart was open. I was feeling spunky and talking to myself in my head.

I heard something inside saying, “I LOVE all the villains (in the novel) and all the horrible things they do!” Then I recoiled a bit and thought that I rather hated them, that those sorts of people are in the world and cause problems and agony. But the characters were so well done and so interesting! Then I heard inside, “I LOVE those bad people in the world too. I LOVE everything they do!” And I felt a horror because the things they do are despicable.

But my heart was springing open, so I tested this experience of loving the unlovable, by thinking about the things I have always hated in myself, and in that state I was able to feel, “I LOVE that too!” No matter where I turned “my” attention for about ninety seconds, I felt total and unconditional Love and acceptance.

On later reflection, I realized that this state of being divinely detached enough to feel total Love and acceptance for the worst of the worst, without fear or the myriad of usual human (and necessary) concerns, was a real experience of God’s Love. It was like the sun, shining on All Things without differentiation, yet simultaneously valuing them each in their uniqueness. In that state felt no fear. Everything was what is was in its own right, for its own mysterious, wonderful, awe-full SUCHNESS. Obviously this was not rational or logical or politically correct or even especially human—but it felt absolutely wonderful and it was a lot of fun.

I hope my words convey something real. I find it so annoying to hear this and that about “God’s Love” and be unable to imagine what that might really mean.

I do not believe I could recreate this experience intentionally. Perhaps sometime it will visit itself upon me again. Or perhaps I will have a totally different experience that I fits with the words “God’s Love.” I don’t know. I do not want to grasp or assume or make anything up. I will say, however, that the surprising, totally free, unconditioned, wonder of being able to feel Love not only despite but even FOR all the things that I usually recoil from or judge was like a fresh breath of life-giving air.

Do YOU remember a time when your concepts about something were uprooted by an actual experience?

How do concepts about what you should be feeling impact your ability to experience life?

Getting regular with energy practice or spiritual practice may not seem like a sexy topic. Actually learning to make regular practice appealing is rewarding and alive as we begin to engage more and more completely, and reap results in our lives.

If you do not practice some form of energy work, Inner Work, meditation, inspirational reading, Qi Gong, or martial art, most of the same processes apply to any type of health practice or personal discipline. Practicing regularly helps to cultivate all forms of success.

Strategies to increase and enhance regular practice:

• Start now. Start now. If you’re lousy at it, start with just a few seconds. You will build over time.
• Pick a spot to practice where the energy and conditions support your desired focus. When possible, always practice in the same spot. Energy builds up here over time and assists you.
• Practice at the same time of day when you can. You may soon find your body heading to your spot at that time.
• Get clear about exactly what you are going to do during your practice time. Lack of clear intention dilutes results.
• Do one set of practices over time until you get results. Consistency builds neurological circuitry and focus.
• Dial in an energy connection to your sources of inspiration, whether these are people, teachers, places, deities, elements, Nature, or Spirit. Allow their energy to enhance your focus.
• Shift “I have to . . .” to an attitude of loving invitation. Invite and allow without pushing yourself.
• Shift from ‘I missed my time to do it’ or ‘I don’t have time,” to “Something is better than nothing,” “Even a minute builds momentum,” and “I will at least find small windows of opportunity throughout my day.”
• Cultivate your own trust by following through on promises to yourself.
• Don’t say “I should do more.” Either motivate yourself and DO more or stop aggravating yourself with this type of litany.
• Reinforce motivation to practice by noticing results: at the time you practice, throughout your day, and cumulatively.
• View this Work as a karma account or bucket of holy water that accumulates as you put in a drop of practice.
• Understand that sometimes you may feel nothing as you practice, or for periods of time, and then suddenly find yourself in the energy of the practice when you aren’t focused on it. Notice when this happens.
• Keep bringing the fundamentals of your practice into direct expression throughout your day.
• Intentionally enjoy the good feelings you get from practice. Remind yourself you prefer feeling this way to the way you feel when you are resistive or negligent.
• Identify and speak kindly to your points of resistance.
• Notice the vague disappointment you feel when your practice is flat. Seek to recapture the next moments by coming fully into what you are doing. Keep coming back.
• USE your practice time well: Avoid vain repetition, going through motions, or empty ritual. Bring yourself wholeheartedly to the moment.
• Catch yourself practicing when it feels good and tell yourself, “I enjoy this and want more of it!”
• Get past thinking that things are important just because they are urgent. Deadlines increase urgency but not importance. Practice is very important even if it lacks urgency or deadlines.
• Increase your urgency to practice by remembering that you could die without its fruits.
• Notice the difference between wholehearted engagement and doing something because you ‘should.’
• Notice how practicing being wholehearted begins to impact other aspects of your life.
• Notice how practice impacts your sense of life purpose.
• Notice what it feels like to take a fully-aware breath.
• Bring the fragrance of successful practice into your day, to make your day more enjoyable.
• If you flake out, come back. No blame. No recriminations. Just come back. Keep returning, keep returning, keep returning. . .
• Think of practice as watering a garden in which you are cultivating joy.
• Use your relationship with practice as a venue for being kind to yourself.

What works for YOU?

How do you feel when your resistance ‘wins’?

As you will have observed, I don’t sugarcoat things or use excessively positive language. I reserve words like “awesome,” and other choice superlatives to describe the sublime. I will share and comment on an experience I had that was delicious–and truly awesome:

Toward the end of a spiritual camp and an evening of intentionally cultivating our energy and shared atmosphere with singing, breath, and synchronized movement, the group achieved what I would call a Holy Silence.

Consider the majesty of heartfelt love and deep connection between 250 people, feeling safe, accepted, open, at peace, loving, and quiet of mind. We stood awash in this beauty. This had nothing to do with concepts, beliefs, being good, or acting something out. Struck by a magical silence, we remained suspended in the atmosphere we just generated, unwilling and almost unable to move.

This type of experience takes attention, intention, great leadership, and practice. Gently at first and with growing momentum one person turns aside from the circle, then another. The silence that kept us spellbound began to peel away with these gentle, solo movements. Even a whisper shifts the energy. The circle rolls slowly apart as we step away from moving as One, fractionating into selfhood, some hoping to retain a whiff of the perfume of Unity.

Even after such lovely moments the busy mind, the personality, our urges and bodily needs reassert themselves, and our stories about ourselves and others kick in too quickly. Yet going about life having had experienced this–even once–changes something vital. Our hearts can open like a rose unfolding in the sun, and still we may fall right back into the aspects of personality that feed on feeling separate and alone. Feeling the painful contrast between these states, it is understandable that some feel a need to protect their hearts, or feel ‘down’ reentering daily life.

It takes courage, but practicing keeping our hearts open proves to be more satisfying. This Work includes compassionately addressing the issues that cause us to close down. Heading into instead of away from this inner territory expands our ability to remain open to Love.

Achieving a sublime silence in a large group is a wonder–and a minor miracle.Unlike the quiet of simply not talking, the atmosphere becomes refined, harmonious, and expansive. Sitting spellbound after a transporting performance has similarities. The Silence I am talking about holds no division between performer and audience. After invoking this state of Unity, one is fully a part of the beauty. Whether or not we have the skills to bring this about ourselves, since we are united with it, something of the experience sticks with us. An experience with a large group cannot easily be dismissed as imagination, a passing sentiment, or a private response. It is real; it lives and breathes within a culture of acceptance. Knowing that it is possible to feel totally inclusive can change what it means to us to be human. We know what loving community feels like. This shared sense of unity and love dispels alienation and inspires hope.

Group experience can free our hearts from the constraints of believing that love, intimacy, and safety exist exclusively in highly conditional personal relationships. So many feel alone if we are not happily partnered, with close friendships. We may feel a sense of scarcity about Love. Freedom of heart invites us to let our love flow more naturally, including but not limited to partnerships and friendships. Without scarcity, we love because loving is fulfilling. We need not grasp our loved ones tightly when we ourselves generate and participate with Love.

Within those precious moments of shared silence, the seeds of this freedom of heart took nourishment.

Have YOU ever experienced a powerful sense of Love and safety in a large group?

If so, how did your experience carry over into the way you feel connected to others when you are by yourself?

If not, what does hearing about it bring up for you?

What do you do to free your heart?

(Continued . . .)

At the close of the retreat we again sent blessings to one another, and customized them. We were then asked to communicate blessings as completely as possible without using words–in the space of two breaths, before moving to another partner.

To my delight I saw that I was about to pair with B.. Of course, at that point I’m thinking that I’m glad I’ve done a bit of breath training, so I can lengthen those two breaths! Picking my brain as usual, B. stepped up and took two half-second breaths, just to make me laugh. The intimacy of non-verbal humor is one of the greatest joys!

We met soul to soul, smiling, and tracking one another’s breath and energy. In our shared space, we brought our energy way up and out, expanding into bliss but staying grounded, then we washed it from above down and around us into the earth. This experience was vivid, and keen in the moment. It was a delight to share a pure Love, intuitive connection and play.

As always, the group ended by sending the concentrated energy we had generated together and the results of this Work out to All Beings.

Accepting compassion, healing, Love, and blessings makes it possible to serve others without draining ourselves. We all need activities in our lives that allow us to reinvigorate, inspire, and heal ourselves.

Over the course of the retreat L. had marshaled and crafted the energy of the group, sweetening and focusing it. She tenderized and stretched our hearts, then built clean power. And when this power began to crest and flower, banked it back and softened it so it would stay internal instead of spending itself in full expression.

For the group, full participation required resilient silence to maintain the energy and attunement, grounded Presence, synchronization of movement and intention, and a heart-full willingness to surrender the unimportant or irrelevant for a more global shared outcome.

Through breath, through tuning our instruments and voices, through rhythm, through the glance, through trust, and through loving discipline we achieved an extraordinary atmosphere, charged with Love and able to hold all that is human. Listening carefully to change our intonation, volume, movement and expression simultaneously helped hone the group’s ability to shift in a few heartbeats from laughter to the sweet sobriety of sincere and dedicated focus. In moments of inner silence, singing or chanting and moving together felt like being one of the arms of a sea anemone in a gentle ocean of love.

Our acceptance of death, suffering, and global realities, I believe, made the experiences I had possible. Wholeness and total acceptance do not blossom from a standpoint of denial or resistance. Saccharin approaches bring up cynicism for me, as they charge the shared atmosphere with whatever we deny. Purifying the heart by releasing judgment and finding ways to come to love within the realities of life is a more challenging but rewarding process.

Three sassy horses stood by the neighbor’s fence as I left the monastery after the retreat. They looked like they were waiting for me. I had a big fat apple on my passenger seat, which was odd since I usually don’t like apples. I stopped my van and bit off big chunks to parse it out, setting a few on a fence post for one beastie who was so eager I thought I might lose a hand.

Longing for new territory, I headed home through some mountains, finding my map and directions sadly lacking. I pulled over in the middle of nowhere, unsure whether to turn on a forest service road. Within two minutes a ranger happened to drive up. He showed me the way and gave me his own copy of an enormous forest service map. I headed home full and happy.

What do YOU do to fill yourself when life has taken too much of you?

Where do you allow yourself the freedom to be your real self?

(Continued . . .)

Forgiveness and blessing soften, open and release stuck energy.

The next day the retreat group did a Forgiveness Practice, eye to eye, singing: “Please forgive me, for all that I have done and all that I have not done. Please forgive me.” It could have been hokey. The beauty of the music and sincerity of the group made it powerful.

L. encouraged us to approach and sing to anyone in the room who we needed to clear something with, or to allow someone to stand in for a person in our lives or our hearts. Tears came up here and there around the room.

Contemplating this song, my best formulation of what many of us need to say to our best Selves would be: “Please help me to forgive myself for not forgiving myself for all that I am going to do or not do next.”

While a bit lawyerly, this formulation covers that niggling sense that if we forgive ourselves in this moment we might not still be quite up to forgiving ourselves later, and may find ourselves doing the same darned thing!

We need to be able to let ourselves move forward despite shortcomings in not yet being able to sustain our ideals. We need to be willing to forgive ourselves when we fall back. Then can we move forward with the confidence that we can return to grace again if we fall.

Most of the day we did prayerful song with movement–like the one I shared in Part 1, but varying widely in type, intention, and tone.

We shared blessings later that afternoon, starting with some standard blessings: “May you be well and happy. May you be free from pain. May you live in peace. May you return to Love.” After warming up to it we began making blessings up for the person in front of us, giving and receiving, then moving on to someone else. I challenged myself to craft blessings that perfectly fit the inner longing of the person in front of me, such as:

“May you find yourself always around people you can trust, who understand you so you can be totally silly and get to play in joy,” or “May you be recognized for your lovely and unusual gift of congruence between your body, movements, emotions, thoughts and energy.”

The second one brought tears, and the woman later said she had been hoping all her life that someone would notice that about her. It’s an amazing intimacy to connect soul to soul without knowing someone’s personality. We had never spoken with one another before. Her response speaks to how vital it is for us to be ‘seen.’

I had another profound experience that evening. The group, in a long line, doubled back on itself, snaking through the room so some of us would pass face to face. The fleeting glance of one man astonished and transported me. Faster than thought, my heart literally rocked in my chest. I was riveted, yet we had already passed.

What I felt was The Beloved. This had nothing to do with the man as a personality or a body. He was so Present, inwardly silent, and connected to Source that the Divine shone through him at that moment.

I felt a brief confusion. Yes, I wanted the moment back–and forever–but this flash of feeling had nothing to do with anything that could survive a moment of grasping. This was the mystical experience of longing for the Divine. There was no where to look for it but to cultivate it inside myself.

To have mastery over our energy requires assessing our experiences accurately. We are safe to open to deep feeling when we trust our perception and therefore our decisions.

Is there anyone YOU need to forgive, or to receive forgiveness from?

How does thinking about this impact your energy?

I would like to share an experience that speaks to the beauty and importance of spiritual wholeness. By spiritual wholeness, I mean accepting our humanity and feelings in an inclusive way instead of using spiritual practice to seek escape from the same.

During a spiritual intensive involving circle dance, the group had built up energy, interconnection and trust for several days. We did a practice with song and movement, greeting one another one by one and pouring compassion, loving kindness, sympathetic joy and equanimity into one another’s hearts.

In the afterglow of this practice, Bodhi, one of the leaders, asked the group how we were feeling. People called out “an expansive sense of love,” “connected with everything,” really peaceful and in my heart,” “bliss,” “deeply content,” and expressed other beautiful states.

As they spoke, I found myself wondering how this exercise felt for the few people in this group of seventy who were not accessing a wonderful state. Feeling discomfort can be especially painful when everyone else is feeling joy.

Just as this passed through my mind, Bodhi asked, “Does anyone in the group still feel disconnected or isolated?”

At this moment I loved him even more than I usually do. He was representing wholeness and integration, allowing for our humanity to be embraced within the compassion we were generating. This could take our practice into real life instead of merely having a pleasant feeling.

A handful of people laughed or tittered, thinking, perhaps, How could anyone NOT feel good now?

My stomach tightened. Then Bodhi said quite soberly, “I assure you this is no laughing matter.”

Bodhi looked around the group until everyone was present and attentive, then he added, “There are a few people in the room who feel disconnected. I can feel it in the room.” He took a few breaths while this soaked in, then said, “I’d like to invite anyone who feels isolated to step forward and let us know what you’re feeling.”

My relief was palpable as a few people spoke up. One woman had last done this practice with her husband, before he died. Several spoke.

As their brief commentary was gently absorbed into the group I felt the energy in the room shift. A giddy edge was replaced by grounded compassion and a sense of integration. By embracing the humanity of these few people we had a chance to embrace our own humanity, and to make our practice count for global humanity. This energy was nourishing. It could be applied in daily life. It had real meaning.

The value of spiritual work rests in its lasting impact in daily life, not in simply achieving and enjoying pleasant states.

Feeling the energy in the room change to acceptance was truly a blessing. It is terribly uncomfortable to feel like the odd man out in a group while everyone else is having positive experiences–or hiding out in silence if they aren’t. Many people who would benefit greatly by group experience pull away from practices that could nourish them because they have been exposed to people who associate spirituality with feeling only what is nice.

Creating spiritual wholeness in groups takes courage. We need to remain authentic, trusting that love and compassion are powerful enough to assuage our distress and absorb shortcomings. Group work that encourages wholeness and expression heals the heart.

What have YOU noticed about bringing authenticity to spiritual work?

How does being real with your feelings actually impact others?

What are your fears about sharing who you really are?

How do you get ready for Awakening?

Paying attention makes a good start.

PAYING attention is an interesting phrase. Paying attention costs us something. What does it cost? What inner experiences are hiding out when we resist paying attention? 

Some of us act as if paying attention will cost us a chunk of our lives–the chunk of time we spend on focusing. It might cost us something the ego identifies with, like an opinion, misconception, belief, habit, or attitude.

Resistance flourishes in inattention. Resistance is the opposite of accepting life as it is. Habitual resistance is passive denial. It takes up the space and time we would otherwise use to create something of value.

Paying attention costs us the risk of releasing resistance.

To pay attention we engage with intention. This is a more Awake state. Practicing full engagement may initially seem like a restriction. What we get is well worth the price of practicing focus. During the time we spend paying attention, we get MORE for our investment of time. Life is vastly richer when we are fully present to experience it.

We may think we feel freer spacing out–if we notice feeling at all in that disjointed place. We are just less Present. We may feel freer of our issues because we’re not there to feel them.

Not being Present is stuckness.

Self-awareness is what Awakens us. We do become more aware of others and of our environment. The blocks to this awareness are inside, not outside.

To awaken safely we need to be deeply anchored in ourselves or we’ll go nuts instead of becoming connected with all of life in a healthy, balanced way.

On the road to Awakening we may go through painful and confusing periods. It can be rough when we begin to really see yet have little ability to control our limiting or destructive patterns.

Being aware is prerequisite to being able to change behavior. But before we can change it, we need to be able to observe it without condemning ourselves and shutting down again. This is one of the many reasons why heart-opening is an essential component of transformation.

Some of us challenge ourselves too much. We need more acceptance of life as it is. We may be addicted to stimulation, or even to stress. Remember the old French saying: “The more things change the more they stay the same.”

We can stay stuck by constantly trying to change instead of sinking in to the moment. Meditation supports natural and balanced growth.

Some of us are addicted to comfort. We may fear change and live in constrained boxes or by paint-by-number rules. Discovering the distress hidden beneath engrained habits can be freeing. Comfort habits are usually driven by buried anxiety. We benefit by honing inner longing; becoming thirsty for change.

If habitual fear keeps you stuck, try using fear differently. Sharpen your fear of staying the same. View the results of being stuck with the kind of discomfort with which you were viewing change. Contemplate how you can find comfort and relief in change.

These practices support Awakening:

• Pace personal growth so you are working compassionately in the current moment rather than driving toward some huge change you hope to see in the future.
• Enter more and more fully into the moment by gently becoming aware of everything you tend to avoid.
• Read the Inner Work Series under the Personal Development Tab above.
• Aim to accept or transform the issues and limitations that arise in your day-to-day life.
• Do whatever spiritual practice you are inspired to do without becoming extreme or forcing anything. Stay open to where it takes you and what it gives you instead of just trying to get something.
• Live the details of daily life with the attention you bring to spiritual practice.
• Spend time around people who have the type of energy you feel drawn to. Aim to resonate at the same pitch.
• Explore any feelings of discontent that arise within you.

Discontent is a handmaiden of Awakening. Discontent indicates that we need to be doing something else or something more. Use discontent as a guide.

Does YOUR concept of comfort support you or keep you stuck?

Is your comfort zone aligned with your most important values?

What would it take to welcome insight about yourself with kindness and compassion?

What types of sensations and experiences accompany Awakening?

This post is focused on the details we don’t usually don’t hear about.

Radically increasing awareness causes the energy in your body to move through you differently. It moves in different channels. Our sensations change. An increase of energy in different areas can cause uncomfortable stimulation. Unfamiliar stimulation can make it hard to sleep.

Re-routing energy in the body can open up pain we had previously shut down. One can get buzzing, streaming or vibrating sensations in a body part, organ or chakra.

Sudden energy changes sometimes provoke severe symptoms by causing the processes in one or more organs to work differently. These organs begin to react to pathogens or toxicity they previously did not have the energy to repel. This type of symptom does invite real healing, but gradual change is much more comfortable.

In addition to changes in sensation, perceptual changes occur from changing the flow of “subtle” energies in the body. These changes can be extremely varied, and range from subtle to intense. Focus and concentration can change. Different senses may sharpen or seem foggy and vague. Dreams may be powerful or occur during a waking state. Your sense of internal balance can change. You may become uncomfortably intuitive and hear people’s thoughts or see energy forms or Beings.

Alterations in perception may be transient, long lasting, or permanent.

I know someone who started to see through walls by accident. This happened to me on one occasion and it was disconcerting.

As we Awaken our bodies may also change chemically, becoming more sensitive to influences. We may be unable to tolerate substances we are accustomed to eating or drinking. Again, this can be temporary or permanent. Higher states of awareness demand different body chemistry. The body can become more particular in order to get what it needs to run the chemical end a new level of awareness and energy.

In actual fact, many of us will do almost anything to get rid of mysterious, uncomfortable incomprehensible sensations. Some begin to wake up and then binge on junk, eat heavily, drink, or intensify old emotional patterns to distract themselves and shut down again. This is an urge toward homeostasis, which the body and younger parts of us crave.

Every advance in development UP and OUT must be counterbalanced by moving DOWN and IN. We need grounding and introspection to balance higher states of awareness. This means learning to recognize, work with and accept anything that stands in the way of self-awareness.

Traditional spiritual wisdom tells us there are two kinds of suffering. One is brought about by poor choices, like eating allergens or drinking and driving. The other type of suffering results from prayers, transformational practices, and strong intentions to change, awaken, or do good.

The results of positive intentions and right actions do bring about positive change. The processes by which this occurs are often painful even though they are ultimately of great benefit.

If you pray for more love, for example, you are likely to bring about experiences that awaken your heart. You may need to expand your ability to feel compassion. This type of change usually occurs through life events. We stabilize learning through embodied life experience. That’s what the body is for. Learning compassion and opening to love may require facing suffering or practicing overcoming selfishness. This happens in the context of life.

When we catch on to the fact that good works can increase certain types of suffering we may well ask ourselves: Why not avoid transformational pursuits?

Waking up–becoming evermore Present–provides a powerful experience of life purpose and meaning. Moving toward being fully alive makes us happier, even if the process includes periods of intensity.

In practice, the discomfort we experience by pursuing the values we are passionate about is well “worth it,” and carries elements of joy. Moving toward something of great value is a joy in itself, especially in contrast with a life lived without inspiration.

I have been through periods when the results of intensive spiritual work was overwhelming. For a time I pulled back from spiritual work. Now I aim for slow, consistent growth instead of radical breakthroughs.

We do not need to push ourselves to the point of misery to make ourselves better or get happier. Accepting ourselves as we are is spiritually sound. A balance between aspiration and acceptance that works for your current needs and circumstances is ideal. Some chapters of life require this balance to shift in favor of intensity and spiritual Awakening, others toward learning to be comfortable with everyday life. That in itself can be a meaningful spiritual pursuit.

What is YOUR current balance between aspiration and acceptance?

How do you feel about your level of Presence and contentment?

What do you need to do to feel you are fully engaged with life?

What happens when we Awaken?

As we explored in previous posts, moving toward congruence means moving toward integral wholeness. Establishing a state of internal congruence also builds a solid base for spiritual development and “Awakening”.

What Is Awakening?

Various groups talk about Awakening. If they define Awakening at all, this definition tends to be vague, abstract, and integral to their particular belief structure. You need to at least think you know what they are talking about and agree to get into it. Some groups are talking about different experiences and calling them by same word.

However defined, Awakening involves becoming more aware. Without being lawyerly about definitions let’s talk straight about what Awakening may entail:

Awakening is a process, and it has consequences. You need to be ready for perceptual shifts and ready to make life changes.

Some people believe in sudden enlightenment and call that Awakening. When that seems to happen it is after very extensive preparation. For the most part Awakening occurs in gradual stages. These stages can be considered preparation, or an increase in awareness that forms an end in and of itself.

What do we become more aware of if we awaken?

Everything.

In addition to becoming more aware of subtle energies and getting an increase of intuitive access, new awareness often includes:

• Strong emotions that may have been suppressed
• Intense body sensations as parts of your body wake up
• Discomfort and perhaps emotional reaction as you begin to notice your previously-unconscious behavior patterns
• Awareness of all manner of things we customarily block out largely because we have trouble dealing with them

A number of my clients have had different types of major “intuitive awakenings.” Several are working to assimilate what came up for them, years after it happened.

Are they totally Awake? No. The a process that takes place in stages, if and when we are ready for them. Trying to force spiritual processes or to bring them about because our egos like the idea can cause serious problems depending on your level of success.

From a psychological standpoint, we shut down awareness partly to protect our egos from material we can’t deal with. Increasing awareness challenges our ego constellations.

As one client pointed out, spiritual highs can be even harder to process and integrate than spiritual lows. Here are a few things that can come up:

• Feeling like you can’t live up to the way you now “should be”
• Fear of giving up reactive emotional habits without behaviors to replace them
• Worry that other people won’t understand you any more
• Fear that your husband/wife/goldfish won’t be comfortable with your changes and will go away
• Self-judgment while suddenly confronting previously-buried selfishness
• Finding aspects of your life intolerable now that you are sensitized to how they impact you
• Feeling that those around you are callous, slow, or out of touch
• Radical change in values and interests
• Feeling out of control as everything we are familiar with starts to change
• Feeling “down” in contrast to how we felt during the change, and feel unhappy with our lives as they were before

It is important to distinguish these states from depression or normal anxiety.

Of course the above things do not always happen. Nor do they mean that what is going on is not fully positive. You could in fact experience most of these symptoms from truly falling in love, or going on a long and glorious vacation and returning home. It’s like that–but more-so.

It is wonderful to confront limitations in the interests of moving into greater experience of unity with all Beings. Let it happen in a gradual way, respecting yourself in the process. Radical practices require preparation and supervision.

Frustrated by their seemingly-slow pace of awakening, several friends were later grateful that the changes they provoked didn’t happen any more quickly. It’s easier to start a process that seems abstract before you get results than it is to integrate new awareness into your body and daily life.

I’ll bring up potential energy, perceptual and body changes in the next post.

How have YOU felt coming from a spiritual high into your usual daily experience?

What happened if you tried to hold on to or get back BACK TO the high?

Let’s look into approaches and intentions that support us to develop Guidance skills.

There are two basic approaches to any type of self-development:

• Work to strengthen your weaknesses
• Work to strengthen your strengths

Education is often focused on strengthening weaknesses. This is not always the best path to mastery. Building from what we are already capable of brings satisfaction more quickly and can build from a foundation of strength.

The best path may not be to either strengthen weaknesses or strengths but to create an intelligent hybrid approach. You can strengthen skills that come naturally and use these skills while gently rounding yourself out by developing weak functions. Some big marketers say to stick with the strengths. Let someone else do the things you’re weak at. This can work in business. From a personal development and brain function standpoint, working with weaknesses has far-reaching advantages. I believe Guidance to sense which approach is best in any given moment.

My mode of perceiving has always been considerably more kinesthetic (sensory, feeling and movement) and auditory, and less visual. First I strengthened my ability to recognize and access intuition through sensation. Strengthening this strength made me highly effective in clinical practice, especially with body therapies, intuitive coaching, and matching nutrients to client’s individual requirements via body reflexes and changes in energy.

Then I took up the photography as a hobby in order to develop visual perception and the related parts of my brain. Strengthening this weakness has increased my ability to pick up images intuitively, and makes me feel more balanced and whole. I am certain that strengthening visual skills makes my brain work better.

When it comes to increasing intuition I always want to know the motivation. Intuition and Guidance can only go as far as we are able to trust ourselves. I have observed that as we develop and grow in self-trust, our range of Guidance grows organically. Those who manage to develop skills without self-trust and emotional balance tend to get into problems. Developing integrity, wisdom and clarity naturally evoke Guidance skills.

Giving yourself good cause to trust yourself and cultivating sincerity prove in the long run to be of greater value than intuitive skills alone. Self-trust and sincerity support effective service.

The above being said, this entire post series is full of countless recommendations and exercises that will increase your range of guidance if you practice them. To get the most from this series let descriptions of experiences you do not relate to roll over you and work with strengths unless you are fairly experienced. I am speaking to a whole range of guidance skills. Whether you are just learning or rounding out your experience,consider the following:

• Allow your skills to grow gradually, within your comfort level
• Latch onto suggestions that resonate with you and put them into practice
• Remember that simple things done consistently are of much greater value in the long run than becoming overextended
• Do not try to get yourself to believe anything that doesn’t sit well with you
• Respect but do not take your lack of belief in things very seriously
• Let your beliefs change in response to direct experience
• Rely neither on belief nor disbelief but relax your opinions and stay open to experience
• Remember that being open to getting something wrong allows you the space and grace to learn real accuracy
• Do things your own way–but not from ego
• Do not manipulate yourself or others; invite instead
• Never criticize the level you are at now
• Cultivate honesty and value your authenticity
• Seek to remain sincere in your efforts
• Always verify or confirm intuition with factual means or alterations in sensation and experience

Remember that skill with guidance is an art. It is cultivated in the soil of your values. This art depends on your personal level of integration. Every time you successfully confront internal conflict by choosing your Highest Option or support yourself kindly in the face of a frightening emotion or work with your own energy you are developing your capacity for insight and guidance.

Verifying or confirming intuitive hits with actual fact is an excellent way to give yourself cause for self-trust. We will cover confirmation of Guidance after first looking into sincerity–which proves to be foundational and to offer surprising practical utility!

How do YOU feel about your current range of guidance?
Why do you want to extend this range?
What do you think it will do for you?
How do these motivations feel in your body?