The Quantum Theory of Reincarnation

Several times recently, I ran into links to an unexpected article by Roger Ebert, the movie reviewer. The Quantum Theory of Reincarnation. Because of his role, the article is getting attention and accolades in the spiritual “press” yet appears to be a practical joke.

He admits he knows nothing about quantum mechanics. (as do most in spiritual circles who use the term) What he means by reincarnation is our parts being found later “in the weather reports”, cast amongst the stars and rain. This has nothing to do with reincarnation but rather the persistence of matter.

While Roger tosses in a number of interesting points, the article is rambling and as he says comes to a vague conclusion. You’ll note he suggests our worlds are created by our thoughts. “…the “self” is essentially an organizing principle which we have imposed upon this chaos.” Yet at the same time, it is our body that “reincarnates”.

This suggests the mind arises as an effect of the body and yet organizes the world of the body. Curious thing for a random side effect. And notice that “We impose” the self as an organizing principle. Who then recognizes there is a we  that imposes a self to organize our reality?

He at least recognizes that he is trapped in his mind. (laughs) And it was a good joke.
Davidya

Surrender and Engage

One of the more curious challenges of the post awakening process can be the shifts in the apparent rules of the game. Habits of mind and action may no longer seem appropriate. But what then is?

There is the falling away of separation. The dropping of the emotion drivers of the drama, the loss of a personal identity, and the dropping of core needs.

What then remains? Love, happiness, passion.

Yet within living life, there can be an apparent duality. The move to surrender and allow what is. And the move to action, engaging with the world. I spoke of this prior in Intention vs Allowing.

The fascinating thing is, if we surrender without engaging we can fall into the trap of meaninglessness. If we engage without surrender, we remain trapped in aspects of our story.

The trick is that balance point, where we engage and intend but from a place of full allowing. What Jesus called being in the world but not of it.

It is looks something like this:

1) Allow what is to be as it is. Beginning is always in an open space.
2) Within that surrender, Intend, but without conditions. Without expectations of it having a certain form.  Just a simple, clear intention.
3) Surrender the intention and to what unfolds.

This is the blending of action and inaction, of doing and non-doing. And it dramatically simplifies intentions when we remove conditions.

This is not to say we add no parameters. We want the intention to be specific. But not so specific it creates a barrier to itself. And not conditional – the only if’s.

One of the conditions we might add is accepting limitations or boundaries. Considering a no vacancy sign to mean not possible. Or to take your impressions of a meeting to be theirs. All you need to consider is what you love and move towards it.

Just remember, it’s not about you. There’s nothing personal going on. How it shows up will be the best for everything.

Of course, we will tend to add expectations and if we watch, we will see some needs for it to be some way. But the closer we come to just intending in an open space, the more potent and powerful will be the consequence. And the smoother.

In a way, that is the challenge of awakening. We gain a more solid connection and more powerful thoughts. If we are less than mindful about the baggage that remains, we can give more power to what is not wanted unintentionally. We can turn up the volume of the story. But it sure is easy to see then. (laughs)

It can take great courage to simply intend and trust life to provide. Using ideas like “law of attraction” without courage is hollow. An amusement. Intention without action can be just adding to our pile of resistance. You have to step forward to meet you intention, encourage cooperation, and engage life directly. Visualization without action is just dreams. Yet it is simply astonishing what can arise when we allow and trust deeply enough to step directly in. As the runner company said, “Just Do It”.

We will probably need to learn this lesson more than a few times, as what remains arises to be seen and challenge our clarity.

The road may seem to have some potholes, switchbacks, and even a few hairpin turns. But it’s mighty scenic country. Enjoy the journey. That’s why you’re here.
Davidya

Enlighten Up!

Liberated Self’s blog mentions a new documentary film opening this summer in select cities in the US, Enlighten Up!

“Filmmaker Kate Churchill is determined to prove that yoga can transform anyone.  Nick Rosen is skeptical but agrees to be her guinea pig. Kate immerses Nick in yoga, and follows him around the world as he examines the good, the bad and the ugly of yoga. The two encounter celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks and world-renowned gurus. Tensions run high as Nick’s transformational progress lags and Kate’s plan crumbles. What unfolds and what they discover is not what they expected.”

Featuring: B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, Norman Allen, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Gurmukh, Dharma Mitra, Cyndi Lee, Alan Finger, Rodney Yee, Beryl Bender Birch, Shyamdas, Diamond Dallas Page and many more!

First impressions are that the film is focused on Hatha Yoga, the practice of physical postures as a path to union. Hard to say what the “not expected” is…

The Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQw0-IlJiY

The web site, with theatre listings.
enlightenupthefilm.com

Rotten Tomatoes has given it a 61%, decent for anything spiritual. Lightweight, humorous, and peaceful are the jist of it.

Why Tell a Story?

Recently ran into a great article on Why Tell a Story, by Gina Lake.

“Every experience we have ever had is in the past. It’s gone, and will never be here again. All we have left is a memory, and a memory is but a shadow of the actual experience—a weak, faded remembrance with lots of gaps. A memory, in fact, is not an experience at all but a thought, which is why memories are not fulfilling, like experiences. As soon as we put that memory into words and tell a story about it, we are no longer in the memory but in the story of the past, which are two very different things. A memory is information stored as an image, while a story is a point of view. The story is much narrower than the actual memory, since it includes much less information than the memory. Certain pieces of information are selected from the memory to include in the story and the rest is left out, including the various perspectives of those present. A story about the past can only be one point of view.

When you tell a story about the past, that story is your point of view, which then seems to be the true story (because we like to believe that our perspective is true). Telling a story about the past solidifies the past and makes the story seem true. And the more you tell that story, the truer it seems. The actual memory it was based on fades or is forgotten, and all you are left with is your story, which you remember because you’ve repeated it so often. [I've talked of how revisionist or history is] You become convinced of your story (you have convinced yourself of it) and attached to it because it’s yours, so then you feel compelled to repeat it, defend it, convince others of it, and make sure it remains true, even if it causes you pain. It becomes your “truth,” which really just means your ego’s truth.

The trouble with stories is that they aren’t neutral, at least not for long, because stories are told by the ego, and the ego always has a personal agenda. It wants you to come out on top, and it likes to create drama and problems to solve…”

“So, here’s the problem: When you tell stories about the past, you are bound to be creating feelings, and since it is the ego doing the spinning of these stories, the feelings aren’t going to be good ones. People struggle so much with the past, not because the past was necessarily so awful, but because the ego’s story about the past makes them feel bad about themselves, others, and life, and that feels like a real problem.”

I’ll let her close with how happiness dawns when we give up our stories.

BTW, if you’re wondering how a channeler can be non-dual, you may enjoy her commentary on the question. She certainly aired my own concepts when I first ran into her through Nirmala. There are some unique paths home.

Nonduality, No Self, and Channeling

Awake Dating

While I would certainly not call myself a dating expert, I thought it would be useful to consider how it changes with dating consciously and awakening.

A lot of what we call “chemistry” is emotional reactivity. What some might call similar emotional vibes and matched neediness. While that might sound coarse, when there is an ego at play, it wants to be right. Thus it seeks someone who will play the story. The Play enters a scene where we can enhance our dramas and turn up the emotions. Relationship is a vehicle for illusion.

But what happens when the ego crumbles away? When there isn’t a point of reactivity? It changes the dating dynamic quite a bit. We may find that there is simply no chemistry with anyone. At least, not in the old sense of it.

As the heart opens and the inner beauty becomes more visible, all members of the opposite sex can seem astonishingly beautiful. That may not longer offer a cue for a relationship.

We may still meet people from our distant past that will bring deep attraction. That’s fine – karma does not mean bad, just activity. It may need to play out but don’t confuse them with the apparent person you once knew. You will still need to meet them as they are now. And you will find they will mirror what remains conditioned and is resisting being seen in you.

Thus, a relationship can be a powerful means of clearing. One of the most potent techniques on the path.

Recently I wrote about Divine Relationship and spoke of some new parameters for seeking a mate.

A key one is what I call resonance. Rather than emotional reactivity, there is an amplification of soul. Spending time together is like a spiritual practice.

There is a deep sense of respect for them that allows a profound acceptance. Perhaps not on the first date though. (laughs)

This kind of connection results in the experience of love flowing through you to them. The relationship itself becomes a vehicle for divinity, a synergistic expression that is greater than what each person reflects individually.

This can give you an idea of how a conscious relationship can change from what you’ve previously experienced. It also demonstrates the potential for Divine Relationship. For a profound expression of being. And for some challenging work to be done.

Awake or not, simple mindfulness of how you are responding can illuminate what is underway. You may discover you are actually still ambivalent about relationship if you have unresolved prior trash. Perhaps that you are motivated to relationship out of fear or how you think others see you or a missing internal connection. You may discover a bag of conditions you are placing on love. Or a bunch of negative expectations that are drawing “the wrong sort”. Same old, same old.

It may not be possible to avoid karmic entanglements, but you may be able to avoid illusory infatuation and disappointment. Find a mate who will enhance our journey rather than detract from it. Of course, all of us have our blind spots – a sure sign of where there is work to be done. But that seeing is what takes us forward, out of our conditioning. And if a relationship is a vehicle for that, hail the lesson bringer.

It’s a beautiful thing, though not always easy.
Davidya

The Instructions

There’s a saying that floats around spiritual circles.

The instructions are on the outside of the box.

The box is the ego, the mental construct we have formed. Our separate reality. We need people or teachers who are outside their box to tell us how to get out of ours. To read the instructions to us.

Ironically, we seek to get outside the box by going further out whereas the way to get out is to go in. (laughs)

When we step into the point of our existence, we step into infinity. That takes us outside the box, into that which contains all boxes. When we can see the outside of the box, we can see that it’s an illusion and let it go.

We see that it’s not so much that the instructions are on the outside but that correct seeing is from outside. Then we can see the box for what it is.
Davidya

The Song in the Key of Life

When we listen to the radio, we’ll tend to hear songs about love. Love lost, love’s pain, love wanted, love remembered. But this love is the shadow love, the emotional love of duality. We know this because it brings pleasure and pain and it does not last.

Real Love is much deeper. It is the love of creation itself, flowing without end. It cannot be lost or damaged or taken away. It arises within us rather than being caused by or dependent on  something/someone outside. It is beyond ideas like space and time, yet they arise within it. It is the very love of our being.

That divine love of creation infuses everything. It can be seen as a golden glow to all life. It can also be heard, heard as the song of life itself.

I have described being becoming through a systematic process. Vibration leading to subtle form, to fields, and expression. This can be seen but it can also be heard.

The beginning is vibration or tone. The classic mantra Om or Aum, the primordial sound of becoming. The vibration begins to step into rhythm and metre. What are described as the Vedas arise. The structure of intelligence, the bija or seeds of becoming. These are parallel to seed forms, the primary geometry of spacetime described by Buckminster Fuller and others.

Those subtle forms give rise to the field stage. This is a kind of simultaneous explosion and implosion, the origins of force that Nassim Haramein describes. The intelligence steps from rhythm into song. All of creation bursts forth into music.

Plato described the large scale of this, the Music of the Spheres. But it takes place at every scale, even just walking down the street or looking at this screen.

The Vedas describe a “loka” or world of music called Ghandarva Loka. In a way, this is a separate place, just as your personal reality is. But that place is not separate from the whole. It is simply that level of resolution where the world bursts forth in song. We can step into a reality or step back into the larger reality.

It’s very much like we may describe the roots of music:
Vibration > Rhythm > Metre > Pattern > Music

I’m looking forward to the day when this form of music is rediscovered. Imagine music that, rather than sharing our sorrows, amplifies the happiness within. Which brings the flow into the field of senses. Where love, light, and bliss can be heard and felt tangibly.

Occasionally, we may hear examples Rise Up in Song.
Davidya

More Sex and Spirituality

Recently, Tom Stine raised the question of Sex and Spirituality. Is celibacy necessary or is sex a natural part of spirituality? This drew out many comments. There was a surprising degree of commonality given the arena but my references to uniting love were not fully supported. (laughs)

I wrote about this in a prior article as sex so often tends to get shoved onto the back burner in many spiritual circles. In one comment, Tom referred to it as the elephant in the room on some retreats.

I would suggest the subject is similar to how a given teacher describes awakening. One will talk of stages or a process, another of a single spontaneous stroke of grace. It depends on their own experience and culture. It can also be about the audience they are speaking to.

For some, sex is a distraction. As sensual pleasure, it can be a trap. In comments, Akemi mentioned the energy exchange. Indiscriminate sex may lead us into collecting connections that may not be desirable. Energy and emotional connections that will need resolution, typically called karma. It may also hold our energy in our more animal natures.

And of course, there is the long held belief that unless one becomes monk-like, nirvana will remain a dream. From what I’ve seen, this is crap. Monks may be celibate but, for most people,  this has nothing to do with waking. If you read the Vedas, you discover that the the majority of the authors (all fully realized) were householders.

Plus, sexual energy is prana. Life force. This does not get used up. With immoderation, we can get out of balance, reducing what is available. But the issue is the context it’s being used in, not it’s use.

Some people may have a temperament where abstaining may help them detach. Others will have a temperament where abstaining will create considerable internal conflict. It is simply not their nature.

And we must not forget that the role of sex can change when we do. Many of the “rules” change/fall away when the pursuer is gone with awakening. I’ve seen some loose interest in sex and relationship. I’ve seen others find a new passion arise. But the motivation becomes quite different. Thus, the relationship with sex may change completely, as it can with so many other areas of life.

Again, it comes down to how the tools are used. How we use our body, heart and mind. Do we focus on things we crave? Or is sex a loving expression? Sex can be an amazing vehicle for drawing 2 into 1, as a uniting force.

We tend to think of vehicles of devotion in the form of God, saints or gurus. But for some, devotion does not flow so easily to God or guru but does to a mate. I spoke of this in Divine Relationship. Our mate can easily play the role of goddess/god in the devotional stroke into unity. Sex then can be an aspect of devotion and an expression of love. The stories of Krisna and the Gopis illustrate this.

When love is first, what follows is always beautiful, whatever flowers from that. What arises one will discover. What happens will be unique.

Like anything else, it’s personal. How do you feel afterward? Degraded? Satisfied? Uplifted? And does that arise from your relationship to sex, or your relationship to your partner?

Follow your heart. That will tell you what to do with your body.
Davidya

Trusting Life

It’s astonishing what arises when we begin to simply trust life to be OK. While you may not think you “mistrust” life in any real way, our culture encourages us to fight and struggle with routine tasks and challenges that arise each day.

If you find yourself commenting or even exclaiming about things that comes up or about what’s wrong, then you are not trusting what is.

That idiot driver. My lousy job. Crappy food. Problem friends. Most people have a litany and they speak it and reinforce it at every chance. They have no idea how powerful their thoughts and voice are. That they are reinforcing what they don’t want, making it increasingly real.

For example, I did not trust things would work out fine. Thus, I became anal about being “on time”.  I would leave early ‘in case’ and usually arrive early. But if something occasionally “went wrong”, I would focus on that, reinforcing the story that things don’t work out well.

As trust grew from seeing what is real, this need to be on time relaxed and I simply allowed what happened to unfold. I have an intention to be there at the prescribed time. But whatever happens is just fine. Sometimes I’m early, sometimes I’m slightly late. But whatever time I arrive, it turns out to be the right time. Sometimes, remarkably so.

The trick is, you can’t see what’s actually unfolding in front of you if you’re busy telling yourself and anyone else who will listen the story of how it went wrong.

Other people I know are perpetually late. This is usually because either:
a) they are vague about their intention to be timely as they find it stressful. Thus they have a resistance to being timely.
or
b) they are putting too much on their plate rather than prioritizing. Too many must do’s and no allowing it to be as it is. Do what’s in front of you, now. Let the rest of it be as it is.

Curiously, sometimes this is a pressure to make it perfect yet misses where we are already perfect. We’re confused about what or who should be perfect.

This letting go dramatically settles down all the daily tension from trying to “hold” a schedule. While you still monitor the appointments and take the appropriate actions, sometimes other priorities or delays arise and we simple deal with what is there, prioritize and move on.

It is what it is. No right or wrong, good or bad.

Same as it’s always been but now without the stress and expectation of it going wrong. And that makes all the difference.

It can take some practice to just let it be OK. To accept what is here and who you are. But it sure makes life a lot more fun when we don’t bury ourselves in “should’s”
Davidya

Ayurveda and Depression

An interesting article on the origins of depression in low digestive fire and unprocessed emotions.

“From the ayurvedic perspective, emotional imbalance is caused by lack of coordination of an individual’s senses, emotions and thoughts.”

“The main cause of emotional imbalance is the lack of ability to process emotions in a timely fashion.”

“So a person with low Sadhaka Agni may suddenly remember a negative situation that happened ten years ago. She’ll think, “Why did this happen to me?” If the “why” has not yet been answered – in other words, if the stress is still lodged in her heart and mind – the memory will cause that person to experience the same trauma she felt ten years ago, and this will cause her to feel depressed. This delayed reaction happens because her Sadhaka Agni is low, and she has not been able to properly “cook” or process that experience.”

While the site is commercially oriented, recommending certain products, many of the tips are things like sleep schedule, walking outside, using a spice mixture, and so forth. For an oil massage, Vata types can just use quality sesame oil.

Note that the idea is to move towards balance, not get stressed over trying to change everything. Pick a few tips from the list that look easy and see if they help. Then add some more. When balance is restored, the emotions can be processed and cleared and the clouds will lift. Simple. Easy.

Beating the Blues: Ayurvedic Insights into Emotional Health

I go into Ayurveda with links to resources here.
Davidya