Perspectives on the Past

Over on The End of Evil, LiberatedSelf asked about past lives. The feedback that emerged is worth sharing, edited for this scenario.

“I’m kind of interested (why wouldn’t the ego be?) in getting to know past lives, sometimes I wonder why I have chosen this scenario at this moment.”

Hi LS
It is our nature to want to understand. It is part of our evolutionary process. The ego aspect is in wanting to find a fixed truth and control. The secret however is in allowing it to be as it is. Openness.

I’ve written on past lives a number of times. This article, discussion in comments, and various links cover some of that.

The thing about past lives is there’s a lot of “noise” out there. People talking about being famous, etc. etc. Most of us have past life memories here and there. But they’re so fragmentary, we don’t recognize them as such. They arise just like a memory of being 18 or 12. But there is a different quality to them, a different sense of person – yet a continuity of being.

Keep in mind that it’s not the “me” that does the choosing – that takes place on a soul level and in context of the whole. The basic framework is simple but is very complex in effect due to the vast field of action and the momentum of time.

I’ve never found any techniques required. Memories will simply arise naturally if there is a value on your journey. They’ll fill out and grow stronger if they’re real. Fade if not. Contrived explorations are much more likely to bring you distorted fantasies. And always remember you’re having these experiences from where you are now, not how you experienced them then – just like memories of your childhood. History is always revisionist.

From what I’ve seen, first memories arise that are associated with current events. As such, they are typically something unresolved and there is often a quality of resistance, an unwillingness to see. That’s partly why many don’t see past lives. We have to process that resistance to some degree before the underlying driver can be seen. As we step into the witness or observer role, this becomes much easier.

As the memories get clearer, they start to expand from those fulcrum points and a bigger picture emerges. Why such motivations were present to create that scenario, for example. And the connection those events have to still prior lives. And so on.

Somewhere in there, we run into a historical fact that can be verified we’d have no other way of knowing about. What you were called and what you did, for example.

Within a few lifetimes, usually most of what’s playing out now is seen. But even that usually has still prior causality.

In time, the overall flow of lifetimes become apparent. The rising and falling tides of awareness in lives. Some are noteworthy and remarkable. Many are mundane. Some horrid or where we do something horrid. As I mentioned in the article, we’ve all done just about everything at some point.

As the larger cycles of time become clear, we step past the last fall into times of the last golden age. And farther and farther back, many thousands of years- depending of course on how old your soul is. But if you’re reading this, it’s less likely to be young.

We may also begin to see the way certain events are nodes in consciousness that interconnect us with our past and the past of others. Many of these nodes we can call resistance, residual karma, or stress. Energetic knots. Unresolved experiences or points of holding. They form a kind of mesh that holds us to our past. As we clear those resistances, the nodes dissolve and the mesh slowly collapses. We actually change our past. (remember it’s all consciousness)

Deep transcendence can roast mountains of unsprouted karma and collapse large sections of the mesh.

It should be noted that some older nodes were formed in times of higher consciousness. These are more self-made memory bookmarks for quickly finding reference points in the long cycles of time where lives were vastly longer than now. Like when you make a conscious point of remembering an intimate moment, only these have an extra attribute. A marker on the timeline. A node of attention rather than resistance.

As we step deeper into our essential nature and the bounds of separation loosen, time begins to collapse into the moment. Those node points are found to be concurrent and align in a single “person” in the present. One person having many experiences in many seeming lives, all at the same time. I’ve linked to a couple of videos in the past that illustrate what this is like – think of the many armed gods…

Those nodes of the mesh that interconnect us with other people are also found to be concurrent, drawing everyone together into one “person”. Thus we can “shuffle” through any life anywhere in any time. As we are all beings, we can experience what they experience, but from the consciousness we’re in, not theirs. (stepping right into theirs would be unsafe – that’s how consciousness becomes trapped in a me.)

More deeply still is the experience of being all beings in all time at the same time. This is not really possible until we are the ocean of love that contains all things. Partly because it takes this point to get the overview. And partly it takes this to experience all suffering at once and not be overshadowed.

More deeply is the cosmic person and the role of all beings in that. Think of each of our souls journeys as a cell in the cosmic person with a certain role. Each of those person/cells is a mirror of the whole, built of numerous devata – each with a certain role. Each of the devata is similarly composed of numerous elementals. And so on. At the same time, all values are one and the same, so each person, devata and elemental is cosmic, not a part but the entirety of the whole. It’s kind of like zooming into a part and finding the whole, as in a hologram.

By this point we’re no longer talking about lives or past, so I’ll stop there. (laughs)

However, I will observe that such experiences are not necessary on an evolutionary journey. But they may arise. They can give you a sense of overview and perspective on the challenges and circumstances of your life. And help you lose the fear of death, as i mentioned in On Death. Just remember – they are the past and an ongoing focus on this arena can lead you astray. More important to be present than try to cram thousands of years into the moment. That will happen on its own anyway.
Davidya

Seeing without Believing

There is a famous saying – “seeing is believing“. When it’s our experience, we know it’s true. And this is true on one level. But it is the mechanism of illusion on another – the way the story and our beliefs are made real.

When we see that the world is a projection of our consciousness, the dynamic changes. Of course, the key word is here is OUR – the world is built together. We just fill in the nuances for ourselves. Ideas like manifestation are meaningless if taken out of this context.

If we also understand that believing is a form of mental and emotional attachment, a fear driven desire for control, we can begin to get a sense of how such a famous saying also describes the mechanism of our suffering. We create our world, then become attached to that experience by believing in it being a certain way. Of course, it then changes. It’s like drawing a picture, then believing it to be real. Or believing our dreams after we wake up from sleep.

When we make that deep inner connection to source, we begin to let go of the need to control, resisting what is. This allows us to begin to let go of beliefs. This can be slow as they become embedded as habits of thinking. But over time, we begin to see things as they are. No belief, no story, no suffering or drama necessary.

Then we can see without believing. And then, the truth is revealed.
Davidya

On Death

It’s curious how life tends to bring certain kinds of events in batches. I suppose this is because when a certain kind of energy arises, related sorts of actions transpire. This can be due to how our attention is or the trends of time and local area awareness.

Recently, within days of each other, several people close to me experienced a health crisis that brought them close to death. One recovered quickly, another I arranged long-term recovery support for, and the third is in a hospice.

The third is a very spiritual person having a very conscious death. It has been fascinating to share her journey and see how similar death is to awakening. We could say every stage of growth has the same basic pattern.

In our culture, we tend to hide death away. Put the dying in facilities. Repress grief or at least mask it in public. Many of us have rejected superficial ideas of the afterlife but if this is not considered further, one is left with a blank spot. Death becomes an emptiness, invited by a grumpy old fellow in dark robes.

Yet if we read documented stories of people who have begun to die and have “come back”, we find a very different theme. While the details vary, the fundamentals are common.

A variety of scientific research has been mounted to try to understand this. But science is still hampered by the idea that mind and consciousness are effects of the brain rather than the other way around.
News article on NDE’s and the AWARE research project

A study of brain wave spikes at death (the opening)

Looking at the subjective experience more deeply, we find a common thread of stages. Stages that are similar to awakening. How similar depends on how conscious the person is – it may be something that just happens, it may be like soul realization or even close to Self realization. For the awake, death is the completion of awakening in mahasamadhi. (the great transcendence)

Close to death many:
- come out from behind the “veil” and ego story to some degree
- have celestial experiences of light, the predeceased and angels
- there can be a kind of practicing leaving, gradually expanding and letting go of the body
- threads of connection to others and the ego may resist letting go, pull us back
- uncertainty about “leaving” can gradually release
- a looking for something to “do” to die rather than surrender

[Update: as death approaches, there can be considerable expansion and possibly peak experiences, bigger versions of the above. ]

- when the trust is there, the surrender takes place and the shift happens
[ like awakening, there can be a burst of release such as intense happiness or love]
- after the shift, there is a newness, often astonishment or initial uncertainty
- realization of what seems to be happening or support from others
- deeper surrender to the process, and so on into the new state

This is by no means a complete list, just some recent observations. I don’t have a suitable name for this shift in state and perspective. Death Consciousness? (laughs)

Unlike awakening, death is not a permanent change or state. In fact, it can be quite brief. Only until a new roll is adopted. The film What Dreams May Come illustrates what one persons processing might be like. (stylized for film)

Many people fear death. This is often due to the egos fear of being lost and possibly prior experiences of dying roughly. (also the source of persistent phobias) But death itself is not unpleasant. It is a liberation of sorts. Many are quite relieved from the burden of an aging or injured body.

We tend to think of death as a concept and thus what happens afterward is unknowable. Yet many people do experience prior lifetimes. With sufficient detail, points emerge that can be verified historically.

Experiencing our long past and remembering prior passings will lead to the loss of the fear of death. This will also occur when we step deep enough into our eternal being. What is death when we are eternal?

The long past will also offer context to the curious circumstances we may have in our life and the backstory to some relationships. This will unfold naturally if its awareness will serve your journey.

One of my friends said “When we come into the world, we’re upset and everyone else is overjoyed. When we leave, the reverse happens. We’re relieved and everyone else is sad.”

That’s another difference with awakening. With awakening, everyone is happy. The heavens celebrate.
Davidya

Knowing Everything

Kasminnu bhagavo vigyate sarvam idam vigyatam bhavaiti
Know that by knowing which everything is known.
– Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.3

Bhaga means God
Vigyat I don’t know but is clearly about knowing as it repeats
Sarva is everything, whole
Bhava means becoming

Thus we can see the context. This is not referring to knowledge of superficial values of things. It is knowledge of wholeness or unity and of becoming, of God expressing. Only from the level of wholeness expressing can we have the big picture.

Once established, that is not lost in the details.
Davidya

Giving Challenge

I’ve spoken about Gratitude here a number of times. It was a key step in my own cleaning house. It is an excellent preparation for awakening as it helps us to let go of resistance to what is. It is an opening to be happy and happiness is the nature of reality.

There are a number of variations on this that can similarly trigger this OKness.
Many faiths suggest tithing 10%
Many people do service like volunteering or simply helping others, Altruism
I mentioned Gratitude Week to end homelessness.

Ran into this today – the 29 Day Giving Challenge. Their goal is to “revive the giving spirit” in the world. Under “How it Works”, see the Story for the impact this can have, including healing, and her note about not making a list and trying to control the process. She understood that manipulating the process would defeat the purpose. This is about inner healing, not outer doing.

The key of course is where we’re giving from. Because we’re supposed to? Because it makes us look good? Or is it a celebration of Thanksgiving? True Altruism does not result from loyalty or duty or moral obligation. (not that these are bad) It is giving without seeking reward or benefit. We may have to do some clearing like forgiveness to get this right.

We could get into a big philosophical or ethical debate around altruism. But really, it is very simple. It is stepping out of the perspective of a me and seeing things a little more from the we. That we’re in this together. Indeed, the Kabbalah is said to define altruism as the desired goal of creation. It is the compassion of Buddhism. In the Bible, “love seeks not its own interests.“

Give of yourself. There is no other.
Davidya

Stages of Understanding

In a long discussion on various esoteric traditions and belief, the question of what is true arose.

What came out of my mouth was interesting, so I thought I’d share it here. I’ve touched on this in related ways before.

Understanding basically comes in 3 types or stages:

1) The Believer. We follow a teaching or faith.

2) The Maverick or Synthesizer. We ‘figure it out for ourselves’, blending various teachings.

3) The Seer. We experience it for ourselves. Revelation.

The third is of course the key – anything before that is based on belief or the intellect rather than perceived truth. This stage in itself has its own subroutine of “sorting it out”, finding the understanding and language to grasp mentally what has been experienced.

It’s also worth noticing that this is also a fairly typical sequence of personal development. The Tribal keener tends to outgrow the box and become more Individual. Gradually, they have more and more direct experiences until they transcend the ego of Individual and step through Self realization. Then the journey of awakening begins.

And what a journey it is…
Davidya

Stop, Look

“Stop looking where you are looking,
and look where you are.
What bounty! Love loving you just as you are.

Then, how does your life respond to that?
It is your lifetime.
This lifetime of attention is all we have.
Where is it being spent?”
– Gangaji

I thought this was a particularly interesting quote, given recent discussions on places like Takuin’s blog. People talk of looking at the finger pointing (the teacher/teaching) rather than what the finger is pointing at.

Here, she observes one should stop looking ‘out there’ and just look ‘here’, “where you are”. It is saying the same thing but a little differently. Occasionally, that makes all the difference.
Davidya

Healing Intention

Recently, I wrote about how Intention is key – practices like visualization are based on the creative drive or intention behind it.

I’ve written before about Adam, the Dreamhealer. He has recently launched a web site for just this – using intention and visualization in healing. They do periodic intention “Research Projects”, asking “well-intentioned people” to be active participants in the projects.

The site includes the visualizations to be used at a specific time for 10 minutes. The one coming up appears to relate to healing someones brain. They release the results after followup testing.

Imagine having hundreds of people focus their intention and attention on your healing. This would certainly cut our medical costs.
Davidya

IntentionHeals.com

Dreamhealer.com

Guardians

I’ve always enjoyed a cartoon’s ability to capture the essence of a story, idea, or vision. Both word and picture have to be refined to an aphorism. What they call in Sanskrit a sutra, meaning thread.

While many people view cartoons as childrens fare, they did not start out that way. Characters such as Wile E. Coyote and Daffy Duck were first used in pre-movie cartoons for adults. If you watch them on childrens shows now, you’ll see the deeper message often present. Cartoons use humor or irony to step them past our guard, open us to the message.

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Guardians of Being, a work that blends distilled messages of presence from Eckhart Tolle with images from Patrick McDonnell, creator of Mutts.

The main message is how dogs and cats live in the now. By spending time with them, we can be present. Be in the Now. Enjoy life as it is. Love unconditionally. The cartoons capture it beautifully.

Most intriguingly, Eckhart suggests the purpose of the dog-human relationship.

“They have been with humans for thousands of years, and now there is a link between dogs and humans, much closer than it has ever been.”

“So part of their divine purpose is to help us. But it goes both ways. Because by living with humans, dogs also grow in consciousness; it is reciprocal.”

“Because dogs and cats still live in the original state of connectedness with Being, they can help us regain it. When we do so, however, that original state deepens and turns into awareness.”

Beautiful. Of course, Eckhart’s Springer Spaniel would be a more present dog to start with. Some pets become overshadowed by their owners emotional state or have unresolved traumas from the past. But it’s very true that animals have a natural innocence and presence that can lead us out of our story. And we all enjoy being loved.

A review with a few slides from the book

Eckhart

Mutts

Davidya