Process Meditation

Since somebody asked today, I took a few minutes to write out a basic guide to "process meditation." Here it is:

Usually, we try to quiet our minds by distracting ourselves, with a word or phrase, listening to music, watching a candle flame, seeing a white light, watching our breath, etc. In process meditation, we don't try to do anything about our minds, except to observe them. The trick is not to IDENTIFY with the mind or its chatter. We are accustomed to the belief that our mind is our self. "I think therefore I am" is the trap. Rather, think of the mind as something you have, not something you are.

The mind develops habits, patterns, styles. It likes repetition. It also likes to be busy. Do not expect your mind to be quiet. This only leads to frustration. Many people abandon the effort to meditate because the mind is noisy. Allow the mind to be noisy.

Find a quiet place to sit where you won't be disturbed for a while. Sit comfortably with your back straight but not tense. Focus on your feet. Tense the muscles in your feet for a count of ten, and then release. Move to the next muscle group, the lower legs. Tense, hold, release. Move up to the upper legs, then the buttocks, stomach, chest, shoulders, neck, arms, hands and finally the head and face. Your breathing will slow down naturally as you relax.

Notice your chest rising and falling as your breath goes in and out. Notice any sounds that come in and out of your awareness. Notice any thoughts that arise. Do not evaluate or assess your thoughts. Just let them come. Let them go. Simply observe them. If you find yourself getting caught up in a thought, simply notice that and return to observing. If it helps, bring yourself back to observing by noticing your chest rising and falling as you breathe in and out.

The goal of process meditation is to observe the mind. Continue to return to observing for 15-20 minutes, extending your meditation practice gradually over time.

Remember that every time you assume the position of observer of your mind, you connect with your higher self. Strengthening this connection increases peace, energy and emotional well-being.

What You Think Matters

Everybody wants to know how to do creative visualization. The enthusiasm over the book and movie "The Secret" is testimony to how strongly people want to be able to create their own reality. Yet the pervasive experience is that life comes at you, and the only thing you have any say about is your response. Life just happens to you.

Often we find ourselves in reactive mode, which is even worse. Because reactions do not feel like choices at all. In fact, there is no freedom in a reaction. When somebody jumps you in a dark alley, you react. It's fight or flight. The automatic wiring takes over. There is nothing wrong with this. It just isn't a great way to live.

Today a plane flew low over New York City and people stampeded to escape from buildings. Right now there is a run on face masks and anti-flu medications all over the country. I know people who have stockpiled food and water for years. I also know people who are stockpiling guns and ammunition.

Let's face it, the world is a dangerous place. Just when you have a closet full of face masks and flu medication, a basement full of food and water to last at least two years, and enough guns and ammo to hold off a small army, you get cancer and you have to regroup.

Take a look at the situation. A rock hurtles through space around a star. Things get born and things die constantly. Consciousness blinks on and off like the twinkling of a star seen from the surface of the Earth. Virtually no one has any idea what is going on. People make up stories to reassure each other through agreement. When the final moment comes, they open their eyes in wonder for a brief moment, right before they close them forever. We all want to know what they see.

There is a constant tension between the soul, which knows itself as eternal, and the body, which knows itself as mortal. All fear originates in the body. It arises directly from the experience of mortality. We know our body is going to die, and we will do anything and everything we can to avoid it. Alas, all to no avail. Something is going to get you. That's just the way it is around here.

The soul, on the other hand, has no fear. It is truly fearless. It's also indestructible. I don't know for sure why the soul chooses to incarnate. Some say we are here to learn something. Others say we are here purely and simply to have the experience of a physical life. Some people say we are working out some karmic debt, and this is supposed to explain the suffering. Whatever the reason, we are spirit and body, and the body breaks and the body dies. And the spirit doesn't. That much is reality.

The only thing to do is maximize your experience. The best way to do this is to maintain your connection with your soul. The body will holler and kick and scream in fear and horror (watch the evening news), and there isn't really much we can do about that. But by staying in touch with our higher (soul) self, we can have access to a measure of peace during this life.

Even more, we can manage our energy to maximize the health of our body. Fear blocks the natural flow of energy through the body. It weakens the immune system and encourages disease. When you have a physical injury, the energy to that area gets blocked. By working with your energy field, you can promote energy flow, which will promote faster healing.

If your energy field is positive, negative energy will not be attracted to you. This does not mean you will walk around in a protected bubble. You are in the physical world. Things will bump, bang, crack and crumble. There is no avoiding it. But there is no reason to actively draw it in.

Whenever you have the presence of mind (you aren't in a fight or flight reaction mode), visualize surrounding yourself with white light. Picturing it creates it energetically. Picture yourself healthy and strong and you will be healthier and stronger. Picture yourself weak and sick and you will most assuredly be weaker and sicker. What you think matters.

And suffering is optional.

Coming To The Party

We hear of people dying and of new people being born. Nothing is in stasis in this place. Here everything is in flux. I am getting old, but it seems only yesterday I was in my prime and I still remember clearly being young. Not only is the ebb and flow continuous, it is happening in ever-tighter cycles. Faster and faster the years go by. Everything seems accelerated. The pace seems relentless.

Yet the soul abides. There in the center of being, there is an enduring presence that each of us brings to this otherwise raucous party. It gives us grace to withstand the onslaught of events, so many of which are tragedies.

Don't ever wish to miss it, not even one single bitter bit of it. No, wish to experience it all with a little grace.

See Your Own Light

Turn out the lights and hold your hands in front of your face. Look at the outline of your fingers in the darkness. Do you see the light around your fingers? Move your fingers in the air and see if you can see the light chasing your fingers as they move. See if you can get a tug of war going between your two hands. It's like pulling taffy, but it's only light. It's your light. The light of your aura, your electromagnetic field. Spend some time with it. Get to know yourself as an electromagnetic field.

Being Out In The World

Although I didn't go so far as to pass out my business cards at the reunion today, I also did not hide. Richard's family is a Baptist enclave all unto itself. There are so many preachers, he said, that he has hardly ever gotten to say the blessing before the meal. So he was truly honored to have that privilege today. An odd setting for a fallen-away Catholic who does Tarot Readings and Energy Healing. Not exactly a tailored audience. I thought if this group was aware of my spiritual orientation and activities, they would probably have done with me forthwith.

But still I didn't hide. I established internet connections with two of the women, who will of course be exposed to my spiritual orientation shortly. It will be interesting to see if they are responsive in a positive way, in spite of the family template.

I have no desire to shock or offend.

Magic

Want some true magic? Anybody can do it. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Here's the spell: practice gratitude and wonderful things will happen to you. Believe it! It's magic. Works like a charm. Because it is a charm. And you will lead a charmed life if you practice this.

Keep it simple. In every situation, no matter what, find something to be grateful for. Once you have identified it, be grateful for it. It's that simple. The energy you create will draw positive energy to you. Like attracts like. Positive energy attracts positive energy. Like a magnet.

This is especially important when something pisses you off. Forget about being right. So what? It doesn't attract positive energy. Be grateful. And create your life.

Talent

"I'm telling you, people are born with it," he said. He was referring to the gifts and talents that set people apart from the crowd, that special edge that takes them beyond their time in history or their place in society and sets them completely apart from the rest of us, we masses of squirming, hungry, horny beasts, we who live and die without really leaving much of a mark. Well upon reflection, I think he's right. But I think it takes more than talent. It also takes good fortune, primarily the good fortune to head off in the right direction in life. I mean if Edison had been a farmer, maybe he would have lived and died unknown. Or maybe not. But my guess is that you have to find your niche, and that's where you will shine.

Joseph Campbell said we should follow our bliss, and the rest will follow naturally from that. And what is "bliss?" For me, it is the experience of being fully present in the moment, and I am never as "present" as I am when I'm creating something. When the inspiration is flowing, life is truly worth living.

Mortal Body, Immortal Soul: Thinking About Easter

I was raised Catholic, and Easter was always a big deal, even a bigger deal than Christmas. I mean the possibility of rising from the dead is way more appealing than the virgin birth. I mean who cares if your Mom was a virgin? But cheating death, now you're talking! This is what everybody wants, something we can all agree on.

I mean let's forget for a minute how weird the story is. I mean, he gets up physically and in his body, scars and all, he ascends to heaven on a cloud. A testimony to how attached people are to their bodies, I suppose. They want to live forever, in their current bodies. But why would you need a body in heaven? I can see it now: millions of souls and one body.

And I have to think even in biblical times, people were clear that clouds are not magic carpets. But maybe not.

Be that as it may. The amazing bottom line is that people don't believe in the eternity of their souls. They believe in death.

Now I personally believe in death, of the body. Every body. Everything physical is coming or going. But the soul knows itself as enduring. Why is this so hard for people to see?

Inside the experience of physical being, I'm every bit as fearful as the little mouse that spends its life trembling in terror. As a physical being, I don't want to die. And I'm really worried about being hurt. It's bad enough to die, but to die in agony, horrible!
This fear of physical death persists in spite of my personal certainty that the soul lives on when the body dies. I think this aversion to suffering and death simply comes with the territory. I tend to find serenity suspicious. It's great when it's convenient. But faced with an immediate threat, the instinct to fight or flight kicks in. Even Jesus suffered in the garden of Gethsemane.

So me, I have a mortal body and an immortal soul.

The Voices

When I do a Reiki/energy healing, my guides show up in the form of messages I get and questions that pop into my head as I am working. The same thing happens during a Tarot reading, when I interpret the cards in a unique way for that particular reading.

I've heard this type of thing referred to as "intuitive" work. And I think there is an intuitive component in it. But beyond that, I hear the voices. I feel sure these are the voices of my spirit guides.

The first contact I had with spirit guides, that I was aware of, was back when my now 27 year old daughter was a baby. I was driving along the country road to my house, and I was wondering if there was any such thing as a spirit guide. So I asked a question. The question was, "Should I write?" The answer was a resounding "Yes!" But what was astonishing about it, was that it wasn't one voice, but rather a multitude of voices, all answering in loud, emphatic tones. I was startled. I had expected at best a whisper. Mostly, I expected nothing at all. It was a turning point. I decided that my days as a Bookkeeper were over, and started writing for the local newspaper soon after. I worked as a journalist and freelance writer for several years after that, until the local Judge offered me a job with the local corrections department. Often I have thought that taking that job was a big mistake. Had I not taken it, I would have continued to write.

As it is, having a career in corrections probably gave me as much as it took away. That is just the way things work. Now that I'm not working in corrections, or anything else for that matter, I am free to write again. And what better to write about than my lifelong spiritual quest?

For me, this started in a high school Mythology class. I remained so fascinated with mythology, that I ended up in the Classics department in college, right up until the interdisciplinary Religion department was initiated. I was the first person to major in Religion at my school. None of which changed the fact that I didn't "fit" in any of the religions I was studying. I remained an outsider from orthodoxy.

And so the journey continues. The belief system I find most sensible is Hermeticism.

Lanai Meditation

This video was taken from atop a rock on the beach in Lanai, Hawaii. The beach is called Shipwreck Rock Beach. The water was teeming with sea turtles. It was one of those places I could have stayed forever. See if you can feel the peace as you watch the video.

Dealing With Stress

When things do NOT go your way, when it seems like you are being thwarted at every turn, that is the moment when you most need to connect with your soul self. But it's also the moment when it will be most difficult to make that connection. World weary and frustrated by the events and circumstances of your life, you will most likely lose all access to that peaceful center where none of these seemingly important goings on have much meaning. Fear, anger, frustration all conspire to detach us from the quiet center of our being.

At such moments, it's important to remember that you have a higher soul self, whether you can feel it right at that moment or not. Simply notice the feelings that are arising in you. The observer who notices is your soul self. The more you relax and observe, the more you will become aware of your higher soul self, and with that awareness peace will return.

You may notice that your physical body has to process the adrenalin pumped into it by stressful reactions to events. Simply observe this happening. Do not resist. Be patient and wait for your body to chemically readjust. Do not take any substances into your body in order to counteract the body's natural process.

All drugs interfere with consciousness. I don't care if they are called consciousness expanding drugs, relaxants, narcotics, hallucinogens, whatever. They interfere with your natural higher consciousness.

A to Zen

TRIBE OF ELDERS at Burning Man

The Tribe of Elders Tents at Burning Man.

Being Seen and Being Heard

I don't know what it will take for Rose the spiritual healer and metaphysical counselor to be seen and heard by the world.

I took the bold action of printing business cards, but I don't know who to give them to, or where to be to give them out. So they wait in my purse to be used.

It's my impression that nobody but me reads this blog, although I often invite people to read it, on Facebook and by putting the link at the bottom of my emails.

I'm going to try something new.

Getting To Nothing

There is nothing in the future. There is nothing in the past. There is only the present. Try to grab it. You can't hold on. As meaning-making machines, we populate our past with memories and stories about them. We clutter up our future with predictions and fears.

To get to nothing is to be present, holding nothing and holding nothing back. Without a past that matters to the future. At the very least, to take it all less seriously. Less and less.

The less that is left of you, the better.

In the opening that is nothing, you can create something. The first thing that will arise is love.

The universal consciousness is awakening. We are its eyes and ears, its fingers, its breath and its mind. We invent it all. Try not to let the mechanisms of survival limit your creativity. The more you get to nothing, the more creative you can be, the more creative you are, the more your heart will open to the miracle of which you are a part. The more you open to the miracle, the more your soul speaks. And you will know yourself as eternal.

We are the dreamer

... The Gnostic is the true and original Christian (or pre-Christian) who sees in Jesus the allegorical ideal of man awakening to his true origin and nature. The Literalist is one who bullies everyone into blind belief in dogmas that obstruct and distort true experience of God. ... Gnosis is a natural state akin to lucid dreaming (dreaming, yet consciously recognizing that you are dreaming.) You experience a shift in consciousness and perspective. Your ordinary world and life does not disappear as you enter some new supernatural state or dimension. No, but your consciousness expands to the point that you realize that your old everyday life, including the your old sense of self, is not the totality of existence. You realize that you are part of a greater "life-dreamer" which is dreaming both itself, as well as, everyone and everything. You realize that we are all part of this great dreamer and are all connected at this higher level. We are all One. The purpose of life is to awaken and personally experience to this knowledge- this Gnosis...


This quote is from a book review. I thought it was worth quoting. Gnosis is not a word that I am used to employing. The experience he describes, however, is quite familiar to me. We are the dreamer and the dream.

Breathless and Beautiful

How much of that do you suppose they are getting in Darfur these days? Or Iraq or Afghanistan or Palestine? Or any number of other places in Africa and Asia? Or right at the present moment, in Italy?

The world is a knock around place, whether or not people create the carnage. Carnage there is. And hunger. And that isn't saying anything at all about loneliness or grief or people going crazy with anger or fear.

I am amazed that we are able to keep a positive outlook at all. So if you are in a position to see the beauty and grandeur in the world, be grateful. For you are privileged indeed.

Quote

There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathless and beautiful.



Howard Thurman

The Eternity Club

I was at a funeral yesterday, and the minister presiding over the service actually came out and said that if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you will not have eternal life. So what was he saying? That only some souls will continue to live after the body they are currently associated with has died? I was completely astonished that someone could say something so silly in public and yet there was no outcry. Everyone there listened attentively, as if what he was saying made sense. I almost laughed out loud. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. As if eternity is a club and membership is limited to Christians. That's mainstream religion for you: layers and layers of bullshit.

So what's the truth then? The simple truth is that the soul is eternal. Period. All souls, everywhere. There are no requirements for eternal life. You came in with an eternal soul and you will leave with an eternal soul. And you will know it when you get there.

As I sat there in the memorial chapel listening to that nonsense, I thought how ironic it is that Jack, who the minister claimed specifically asked him to deliver this specific message to us, yes Jack, who had died, knew better than anyone, right at that moment, that the minister's message wasn't the truth at all. By virtue of having died, Jack now knows the truth.

So how is it that I know? Well, to start with a psychic told me that there was a little girl five years old, and an old woman with me. Spirits. Just with me. At the time, I was 28 years old. I'd had an abortion five years before. The psychic said the little girl wanted me to know she forgives me. My grand mother had died a few years before. She also said I would be married within the year, for which there was no evidence in my life at that time. But I was married within the year. This all occurred in a crowded room in a little cinder block building in South LA. It was as crowded as the subway at rush hour. Some people had asked for and paid for a reading. I had not. I was just there with my mother. The psychic just looked at me and said what she said, and then she moved on to the next person.

Then my grandfather came to me in a dream. He was in a burning building. I tried to get him to come out, but he said he wanted to stay. He wanted to be with Mama (my grandmother). I told him to please come out, because he hadn't yet met my little daughter, his great grand daughter. He walked out with me holding my hand. When I woke up, my father called and said that my grandfather had died on the table the night before during emergency surgery, but that after the doctors had already given up, he had come back.

Then my cat died. I was sitting at my mother's house in LA, talking to her and my brother when all at once I felt him saying goodbye. I was overcome with grief. I loved the cat. I went back to my own apartment and dug through my things until I found a picture of him, and I taped it up on the wall over my bed. I sat down and cried. A few hours later, my girlfriend called from New York to say that my cat had died.

Not so very long ago, my deceased first husband came to me and told me he is looking over my grandson, his grandson. Then Carl came to me and asked me to assure Donna that he will be waiting for her when she dies. He even showed me the place where they wait. It is called "the curb." There are all these people there, spirits, waiting patiently for their loved ones to come. Carl was driving a car. He wanted Donna to know that he will "pick her up at the curb" when she comes over.

And the others. I've written about them in this blog. But more than all of that, is the direct experience of my own soul's being.

I believe this direct experience of the soul is available to everyone.

So when this minister stands there and tells us all that our only access to eternity is by being a Christian. Whew. I gotta tell you, that is just surreal.

Spiritual Orgasms?

Absolutely. There is orgasm in the spirit world. It lacks the sweaty muscularity, the grunting and groaning and grinding, the effort and expelling of force of physical sex. But there is definitely orgasm, the envelopment of being in ecstasy, the moment of blissful surrender. Think of the sex scene in the pool in the movie "Cocoon." The alien, who is a being of pure light, simply touches the human and he is overcome with bliss.

How the hell do I know that, you ask? Direct experience is and has always been, my primary teacher. The issue is whether you can tell the difference between a wet dream and spiritual sex with another being. If you've had both, you can tell the difference. There may or may not be a physical dimension to the spiritual encounter.

I remember my first "wet dream." I was about 20 years old and I was in a relationship. It wasn't a good relationship, as I was as yet incapable of that. The sex was one-sided, and afterwards I would unwind myself from whatever excitement had built up, and fall asleep listening to the guy snore blissfully at my side. It was a lonely affair, disappointing to say the least. Then one night, after I went to sleep still aroused and frustrated as hell, I woke up in the middle of an orgasm. It was a rousing orgasm and I awoke gasping for air. When I realized what was happening, I distinctly remember smiling. The dolt beside me woke up too and wanted to know what was going on. "Oh nothing. Just a dream," I told him. This was pure physical release.

Fifteen or so years ago, I was out of town doing training, and I had a student in the class with whom I had an immediate chemistry. A sudden flare of attraction, something that was going nowhere, but was undeniable nonetheless. I made it clear that I was unavailable. He made it clear that he was unavailable. That was that. Then that night, I awoke in the middle of an orgasm. But this time, it was not coming from my imagination. His presence in the room was palpable. His taking of me, while thrilling, was aggressive, invasive. Upon awakening, I was immediately aware of being violated. Mentally, I fought him off. In spite of the sexual pleasure I felt, it wasn't a pleasant experience. The next day in class, he tried to act like nothing had happened, but there was a touch of smugness and self-satisfaction in his demeanor, and he stayed far away from me after that. This was a spiritual assault.

My deceased ex-husband paid me a visit some years ago. Although the experience was thoroughly enjoyable, and I awoke immersed in total self-indulgence of how pleasurable it was, the fact remains that it was uninvited. Consequently, I sent him a mental message to that effect, as soon as I woke up enough to realize who it was I was making love to. It was a little irritating and I felt taken advantage of. The mental message I sent him was, essentially, "Knock it off!"

Most recently, an old friend showed up in a dream and made love to me. It certainly seems my guard is down when I am asleep. When I woke up, I was thoroughly enjoying the encounter, right up until I was awake enough to know what was going on, at which point I recoiled. No orgasm that time, only because I woke up too soon. It was definitely working out well up to that point. In this case, we were both alive and sleeping in our respective beds, with our respective spouses. A few days later, he was back, in another dream. But this time, it was not sex that he wanted. He wanted to connect with someone who loved him, and he wanted reassurance. He was worried. I distinctly remember holding my hand on his cheek and telling him everything was going to be okay. I remember the expression on his face as he looked at me, and especially his eyes. "Yes, it's going to be okay." Three days later, he died.

The rest of the time, if I do have a sexual dream it involves my husband. If I wake up during the dream, I generally wake him up too, so we can make love right away, which is always fun. Sometimes, I wake up horny in the morning or after a nap. It's a no-brainer. I tell him about it, and let things evolve naturally from there. Why waste perfectly good sexual energy?

I never feel guilty about a horny or "wet" dream. But when another man visits me in spirit and we make love, I always feel like I've cheated on my husband. The trouble is, in spirit there isn't the restraint there is in waking consciousness. By the time consciousness kicks in, it is too late.

Personally, I have only gone out spiritually to contact another person on one occasion. That time I was so angry, my intention was to hurt him. When I got there, I saw his bare chest rising and falling with his breath. I didn't see his face or any other part of him, just his chest. At the point of contact with him, I was overcome with love. Any thought of hurting him disappeared. Other than that one time, I've never attempted to travel in spirit to another person.

The exception to this, of course, is Reiki. When I do a distance healing or attunement, I bring the person's spirit into my space. Or, put another way, I create a space between my hands in which the other person's spirit occurs for a time. So, in essence, I am there and they are here. But back to spiritual orgasms. They are disembodied, which makes them no less real, just different than an orgasm "in the flesh."

If there is anything about this physical life that is worth missing, it is probably sex.

Good Quote

If you see good in people, you radiate a harmonious loving energy which uplifts those who are around you. If you can maintain this habit, this energy will turn into a steady flow of love.



Annamalai Swami

All Visions Are Soul Visions

All visions are soul visions. Only the soul sees beyond the five senses and what's in front of our noses. The soul not only sees, it also speaks. And it hears. It is the source and agent of all metaphysical knowing. Yet the majority of people do not notice that their soul is even there. It must be quite a shock when they die. All at once, there is nothing BUT the soul. It is where we are. My soul is the seat of my consciousness. From there, my identity is the illusion.

One thing I know about my soul is that it is not afraid to love. When souls meet in that timeless dimension they move about in, they don't hold back. They don't act cool. If you love someone, the love is thrilling and immediate, true and complete. It is not denied.

Spiritual Cinema

I subscribed to Spiritual Cinema Circle today. Every month, I will get a new DVD with four short films on it. They even come with a discussion guide. It's a beginning.

A Soul Vision

I remember laying on the massage table so the energy workers could balance my chakras and look for any blockages to clear. Richard sat down at the head of the table and started working on my head. he was using small chrystals to clear away any cluttering thought forms that might be getting in the way of having an open crown chakra. Me, I was just laying there enjoying being worked on. When suddenly I realized I had left my body and was floating somewhere, a disembodied spirit for the time being. What a great feeling to be in my soul or spirit self without all that extra baggage of the body. I felt peaceful and light.

I saw before me a stack of layers, like the layers you see in a tree's rings. One on top of the other, each was distinct. Some were thin, some wide. I knew they were each of them one of my lives. I located my current life somewhere this side of the middle. There are a lot of lives before it, but not so many coming after it. And those coming after are longer and longer in length.

I noticed with some disappointment that my current life is one of the shorter layers in my soul's earthly journeys.

For a little while I sat with my soul, in a most perfect state of peace and contentment, observing my lives laid before me. But when it came time to go back, I flew directly into this life, coming to rest where I had started out, on the massage table at Charley and Sandy's, with Richard still working on the clutter around my head.

I woke up and looked around. I was struck with how cluttered, ugly, noisy and hectic everything is in this time and place. A very strange place to come back to. But back to it I did come. Remembering what it was like being with my soul, seeing my lives from the perspective of my soul. It changed me.