Feeling is Believing

Recently, I did another workshop on working with your energy centres with Nancy Shipley Rubin. It was part 2 of the “solution field” process we learned last fall.

While the workshop covered all chakras, I’ll focus on the 2nd here. It plays a key role in our experience of life and our ability to create what we’re seeking. The second is the main energy centre for our emotional sheath, also called the astral or vital body. It’s also where we tend to carry the most baggage. The related third drives the lower mind and will, that which names and judges. It is also the lower protector or guardian.

Unmet Needs
Much of our disappointment in life is from unmet emotional needs. Out of touch with ourselves, we unconsciously project our needs into the world and seek them externally. Expecting others to somehow mind-read what we don’t recognize in ourselves, the world fails us repeatedly.

When someone else is projecting on us, it takes a lot of strength not to get caught in it. Ironically, if we close our energy in protection (common for most of us), our energy will amplify their projections, reflecting it back. This of course amplifies conflict and discord too. To just be able to see it as their projection of unmet needs profoundly changes relationships. (not that I’m well-practiced at that)

Many relationships fail because of unconscious needs that cease being fed by the other person due to changing circumstances and growth.

Yet if we can learn the simple ways to resolve internal conflict and repressed feelings, we can clear the way to meet our emotional needs internally. For example, we can’t project when we’re grounded and present. And wouldn’t you like to be happy for no reason? Happiness is part of our nature and will arise if we cleanse the emotions.

This is not to say we shouldn’t love and express feelings, only that this is a giving and sharing rather than a co-dependency. When we don’t depend on another for basic emotional needs, our inner life settles markedly. But this requires skills, like learning to tell the difference between our old baggage (unmet or unresolved) and what we’re feeling now (new).

What we feel, we believe
Like seeing is believing, what we experience directly we tend to believe. However, events can trigger emotional memories that feel real but may no longer be true. Like that we’re bad or unworthy. They have a kind of “magnetic” quality, due to embedded desires. They are the story of what was not met in the past. And they continue to filter our perception of ourselves, others and the world. In some ways, beliefs are named emotions with ideas attached.

This causes us to live driven from the past and from avoidance rather than from what is here in front of us. It also tends to create life dominated by what is unmet (used to want) rather than what we want now. Emotional literacy helps us become aware of our internal dynamics and differentiate between a triggered memory, resistance, and what is actually here now.

Inversely, if we’ve repressed our feelings and don’t feel the dynamics, we’ll tend to try and force things, striving and pushing against what is. This is more common for men. ‘Real boys don’t cry.’ And if you can’t relate to this, numbness is an emotion too, a good sign of long-term overwhelm.

Where do we feel it coming from? What is the “tone” of the feeling? Does it feel forced or resistant? Is it a natural response to circumstance we can let flow through us? If it’s not clear, a reality check may be helpful. Talk it out with someone not involved for perspective. It can take time to resolve an emotion fog. But it’s more than worth it.

One belief we do want to have is that feeling good is safe. Many such beliefs are quite healthy. But many messages we got out of anger or to correct childhood behaviour may no longer serve us.

Conflicting Beliefs
We all experience areas of life that move well and other areas that are bumpier. These bumpy spots indicate we have unresolved emotional dynamics (aka karma) that create a conflict between our higher and lower selves. Nancy called this a “warble.” Where our higher self is open to what is unfolding but our lower self is hesitant and blocking that flow. In a way, we hold both the problem and the solution in a duality rather than letting the solution through. Old past belief-experiences get in the way of solution. But curiously, even familiar suffering can feel safer than the change of opening to happiness. With the familiar, we feel safe and in control even if we feel bad. Or nothing.

Feelings, even fear, are not the enemy. They are life’s richness. Fear and anger are often a form of protection. They are not a problem in themselves. It is the attempt to resist, suppress and control emotions and not let them resolve that makes them an issue. This doesn’t mean dwell in the muck but rather allow them to complete and leave. When we face a large trauma or change, it is natural for it to take time to heal. But we need to give it that time and not repress.

Because we often experience others as emotionally fickle and unable to meet our needs, we may come to distrust love. I’ve met many in my age group who have become ambivalent. But love isn’t a second chakra emotion. It’s the divine in focus and flow. Love is simple and unattached. What we love will grow in our hearts. Love based on needs is not really love. This is why we can love someone but not like them.

When the higher and lower are in sync, we experience the smooth flow of the formless into form. What we know the feel of, we can create. Do you know what hope actually feels like? Safety? Feeling is the energy before form and what sustains our world. What do you feel?

These points were only a small part of the other chakras we also discussed and experienced. But they are key things to get to know in ourselves. Especially for a guy. Real guys do cry – especially out of happiness.
Davidya

Making a Living through Precession

In 1927, R. Buckminster Fuller committed himself and his family to working as he saw nature working. He documents this process, and the spiritual experience he had that  started it, in his book Critical Path (1981), along with ideas like global power sharing, the origins of man, and much more.

“How do you obtain the money to live with and to acquire the materials and tools  with which to work? The answer was “precession.”"

“Precession is the effect of bodies in motion on other bodies in motion.” It operates at 90 degrees (right angle) from the force. For example, the sun’s gravity causes us to orbit around it at right-angles to the gravitational pull.

“The successful regeneration of life growth on our planet Earth is ecologically accomplished always and only as the precessional—right-angled—”side effect” of the biological species’… preoccupations.” For example, the honey bee enters a flower in search of nectar to make honey. Inadvertently, it collects pollen at right angles to its nectar-seeking efforts and goes on to pollinate other flowers. The bees activity supports its own species and unintentionally, the flowers that feed it.

“Humans, as honey-money-seeking bees, do many of nature’s required tasks only inadvertently.” Our side-effects must be nature’s intended effects. He gives the example of weapons-making inadvertently developing  performance-enhancing technology that “can provide a sustainable high standard of living for all humanity, which accomplished fact makes war and all weaponry obsolete.” We’ve been a little slow to recognize this threshold has been reached.

“…since precession governs the interbehaviors of all bodies in motion, and since human bodies are usually in motion, precession must govern all socioeconomic behaviors.”

“In 1927 I reasoned that if humans’ experiences gave them insights into what nature’s main objectives might be, and if humans committed themselves… toward direct, efficient, and expeditious realization of any of nature’s comprehensive evolutionary objectives, nature might realistically support such a main precessional commitment and all the ramifications of the individual’s developmental needs…”

He notes that the effort has to be unique as nature doesn’t support competition or redundancy. It does however support “several angularly nonredundant forces at a given time.” Or, I notice, similar efforts that are distributed in other locations. Cooperatively networked is another of natures modalities.

His particular direction was to raise peoples awareness by improving their designed environment. Something quite attuned to his skills. “Since nature was clearly intent on making humans successful in support of the integrity of eternally regenerative Universe, it seemed clear that if I undertook ever more humanly favorable physical-environment-producing artifact developments that in fact did improve the chances of all humanity’s successful development, it was quite possible that nature would support my efforts…”

“I must so commit myself and must depend upon nature providing the physical means of realization of my invented environment-advantaging artifacts.” He notes that no other human could validate the choices but it would instead require close attention to feedback from nature – what was supported and what not.

“I assumed that nature would “evaluate” my work as I went along. If I was doing what nature wanted done, and if I was doing it in promising ways, permitted by nature’s principles, I would find my work being economically sustained — and vice versa, in which latter negative case I must quickly cease doing what I had been doing and seek logically alternative courses until I found the new course that nature signified her approval of by providing for its physical support.” I referred to this as Nature’s Support here.

He then details the commitment he made, including “paid no attention to “earning a living”" and “found my family’s and my own life’s needs being unsolicitedly provided for by seemingly pure happenstance and always only “in the nick of time,” and “only coincidentally.” He spoke only when asked, never tried to persuade, and committed unreservedly.

“…only the “impossible” continued to happen…” He mentions intuition, frequent course correction, and paying attention to what was evolving. This is not something we attune to once but rather is an ongoing tuning to the shifting flow of life.

For the devotional, this is the same as allowing God to work through oneself. Nature is but the expression of God. St. Francis of Assisi comes to mind.

This does require a significant change in how we look at work roles, the economy and so forth. We cannot understand precession by looking at usual models of human activity or labour nor at personal desires or goals. We have to learn to look at what nature is organizing around us and how our actions seem to be in tune (supported) or not by this. We often have to break through our established, habitual roles and reactions and be willing to let go of various shoulds, musts and expectations. Sometimes, we may even be pushed into circumstances that require a reevaluation. Of course, all this is immensely helped by spiritual evolution.

If you think this is difficult, the reverse is actually the case. It’s actually much easier to work with nature than with artificial economic systems. If you’re doing the right thing now, life is smoother and feels better. But you do have to learn new “listening” skills. You probably already know people living like this, though you may not have framed it that way. The form may even appear as a business, but one that succeeds with little effort. And then there are those people who haven’t had anything resembling a job or income in years but live very comfortably. What they need or the means just shows up. From wherever it is now, as one teacher said.

However, it’s important to recognize the difference between someone working with nature or the divine and someone living off their accrued credits or good karma. The trust account kid who never grows up would not be a good example of the first. But even they will be unintentionally seeding what is needed. This is the nature of living in the field. The idea here is to start doing it consciously so we’re more effective and much happier. As Joseph Campbell famously said, follow your bliss.
Davidya

Natural Solutions – part 2

<Part 1

Nature’s Support
Nature’s support is what some call synchronicities or coincidences or law of attraction. It’s the effect of devata being able to support what we have our attention on. There are 2 general types of devata relative to us. Those assigned to us and those attracted by the environment we offer them. The second kind have prescribed roles but flexibility where they perform them. They tend to be more experienced and thus more useful to attract.

There are others who are assigned to projects. They depart when the job is done. I noticed quite a few on the up-link left after awakening. Apparently, that was a large job.

If we’re energetically unpleasant to be around, those that can will leave or avoid us. Those obliged can be made more sluggish and ineffective. Others who like that stuff (often pests) may come instead. In other words, like attracts like and we get more of the same. Or what we put our attention on grows stronger. In general, our “nature’s support” is lower.

This doesn’t mean we get dumped when we have a bad day. It’s more about long-term trends – what are we feeding our team?

If we culture (favour) gratitude and higher emotions, the reverse is the case. We attract or “feed” the more highly skilled ones. We improve the working environment for the others. Life gets better not just because of what we put our attention on but because of what that attracts. As we progress further in sattva, our body begins to produce a subtle substance called soma or amrita, the “nectar of the gods.” With that on the table, we attract the best available.

Of course, this does not mean we should make a mood of feeling good. Faking it doesn’t work with these guys or ourselves. It does mean doing your healing work so you can have clear feelings, notice subtle feelings and intuition, and can choose to lightly favour the positive.

Note that we all have a small “support team” who are quite accessible, often called  guardians and guides. It’s mutually useful if you’re able to communicate so you can be on the “program”, for example. They’re more likely to have a sense of humour that’s not at your expense too. Some people, like singer Denise Hagan, do occasional workshops to help people connect with their guardians.

It’s also useful to note that asking for stuff a lot is what dependent children do. They want to give you support, not dependency. Surrender is a much deeper form of prayer that creates an openness for things to flow in.

Comprehensive
One of the things that will strike you about nature’s support is how comprehensive it is. What shows up is often far better than what we might have thought we wanted.

How they do this is actually much simpler than it appears. While there are apparently individual, locally-assigned devata taking care of this or that specific thing, this is not where their intelligence operates from. While the intelligence comes through the hierarchy, it is not the King’s either. Devata themselves recognize they are conduits and are thus naturally grateful.

The intelligence comes through the divine via the cosmic body. The cosmic body is the ideation of the divine and contains the entire creation, including our universe. It structures the experiencer and our mechanism, the physiology. The first layer of that is the devata body which structures the process of experiencing. This body is composed of zillions of light beings in close relationship, each managing a function in all manifest bodies simultaneously. Do once, done everywhere.

That activity expresses through creation into apparent individual beings doing things here and there, like the daisy devata. What the Celts and Bardic tradition call Elementals. While the expressed beings are highly coordinated, the true comprehensiveness arises in the devata body of which they are all composed. And that flows from the divine.

The higher devata or devas recognize their divine essence more fully and can thus be apparently in multiple places at once. Archangels, for example, can converse with thousands at the same time making them ever available.

Times
In the current time, not only are more people having spiritual awakenings but more of the devata have been awakening too. In this case, it means something a little different. We’ve come out of a dark period in global consciousness. During such a time, some laws of nature or devas go into a kind of hibernation. In the current time, such laws have been waking up. I’ve been told a few really big ones recently.

These laws awaken in the cosmic body and begin to express as devata in our experience. The dominance of others will also shift. Thus, the rules are literally changing.

Finally, there’s a good principle to abide by: Highest First. The lower emotional range aka the astral plane is where a lot of the crud is. This is not the best place to explore and is definitely not a place to get advice from. There’s an old Indian parable – Capture the Fort. Don’t go after the diamond mine or gold mine. Instead, go for the fort and capture it, then all the mines will be yours. The Fort, in this case is spirit or the divine. Stay out of the muck.

None of this is something you should believe. It’s just how I’ve come to understand this mode. But it’s good to be open to the possibility of it. We don’t have to experience them directly to interact – it’s simply in how we feel and focus that makes all the difference. Experiencing them is not something you need to seek although it can be useful to connect to your guardians. It will develop as a natural byproduct of spiritual development. It’s not something to spend a lot of time on. It’s rather another little something in a good spiritual toolkit for living the best life possible.
Davidya

Natural Solutions – part 1

In another forum, a friend of mine recently spoke about how ~150 robins had settled into his yard for some days, crapping on everything. He loved the birds but there were too many in that small space. He contacted the “Robin King” with a request and shortly afterward, all the robins departed.

The discussion brought up the following points:
- they don’t always cooperate but often will
- the Findhorn approach suggests you also offer a better alternative (over there, later, etc.)
- be “humble, natural, and take a direct approach.” Don’t fight them or complain
- supervisors have a job to do and usually have little interest in shooting the breeze with ol’ dunderhead
- just talking out loud isn’t useful. You have to make some sort of felt connection with their kind
- as energy beings, the best connection is via feelings. You feel them. And they feel you and know how you feel about them
- You don’t have to be able to see or hear them, just feel the nature of their kind, without judgment. That tunes you into their “channel”. With respect, you make a request
- people have cleared mice, rats, ants, birds, and scorpions but not fire ants.
They’ve settled bumpy plane rides or nasty weather
- it doesn’t always work – depends on if they’re playing or its routine or if there’s a need of the time

What the heck were we talking about?

Those that run nature, that do the doing, that enact the laws of nature. We’ve all heard faerie stories. Many of the popular ones are based on human imagination. Other stuff is supposed to be descriptions of real experiences. Some of that is hoax or drivel. The better stuff is much more specific and describes what they learned, not just appearances.

Another common issue for some who actually see them is not recognizing the personalization influence, ie: what they’re bringing to the experience in expectations and such. They thus can put way too much weight on appearances rather than content. For example, is it necessary for a light being not subject to aerodynamics to have wings? You may choose or be more comfortable with seeing them that way and there’s nothing wrong with that. But to make that their truth is to mask what is important.

The key thing to understand here is the difference between personal and impersonal. There are two distinct modes with which we can see the world. In the Impersonal, we see the world in its components with interacting laws or forces of nature. This is the approach of science, the intellect. In the Personal, those same laws of nature are seen as embodied, as light beings, as the doers that make the world happen. This is the felt way of the heart. History is rich with stories of such experiences. This article focuses on the personal perspective.

Devata
Deva or Devata are general Sanskrit terms for light beings. Broadly, the term Deva is usually used to refer to a higher form or god; Shiva, for example. Devata is used for smaller, more specific beings, like daisy devata. But the term is also used as the plural of deva, or for the more impersonal impulse of nature (point of light).

Essentially everything that is has devata to make it so, typically in a whole hierarchy. For the most part, all have prescribed roles. Thus, whatever the plant, animal, or function of nature, there is a devata or their supervisors that can be communicated with. You can tune into the feel of the object or life-form itself, the devata of them (the “group” sense), the supervisor, or the king of that group. Each is progressively more potent.

But out of respect, you don’t want to waste anyones time. Start with the front line. If they’re not in a position to make changes or are not interested in communicating, then step higher. It takes only a shift in intention.

While most devata have little interest in shooting the breeze, they may be open to brief consultation with a polite, respectful ask. They recognize we’re in this together. If you can feel them, you should also be able to feel understanding about them too (who they are, what they do) aka intuition. So you shouldn’t have to ask what they’d see as dumb questions. They usually have a name preference which may or may not match historical records.

(Note that on the subtle feeling level, there are no secrets. But neither is there judgement as everyone has their journey and the same struggles to pass through.)

For a fair number of people, such talk is considered delusional. Thus, those that experience such things tend to keep it to themselves. For many, such experiences are occasional and fleeting and thus easily doubted. But if you get to a certain point in trans-personal evolution, they’ll be as obvious as the wind and rain. You may ignore them most of the time but the option remains in the toolkit.

Most people are oblivious to those who make things happen, support their physiology, and manage their experience. We thus act out of sync and like apparent dolts to many of them. Not to mention our tendency to spew emotional dramas, polluting our mutual environment. Thus, it’s no surprise they can have attitude or be mischievous. To them, we can seem like bulls, crashing around in a china shop they created for us.

Part 2 >

Question Affirmations

During Nancy’s workshop, she made an interesting suggestion. She suggested you frame affirmations as a question, placing the future in the present.

For example, “What will I need to accomplish X?” The question assumes it will be done. It asks not If but How. You’re asking what you need to do from your side to help make it happen. This combines both the intention and the acting steps.

Affirmation is closely related to intention and attention, 2 subjects big on this site. They are fundamental principles of the way the world works. If we can tie into that, we can be quite a bit more effective.

Of course, as with any affirmation, it won’t work unless you can accept it as possible. You may want to start with small believable things and build up.

I’ve not played with it much myself yet but thought it worth sharing.
Have fun!
Davidya

Meeting What You Need

I’ve spoken here a number of times about the importance of allowing, of letting ‘what is’ be there, of letting emotions arise and complete. When we resist the flow of energy, we don’t see what is, our feelings and intuition get blocked and it consumes a lot of our energy. We find ourselves “in our heads” or in a drama of reactivity.

When we allow life to be as it is, we move into the flow and find life full of little miracles. We heal our old wounds. Allowing or surrender is also the key to spiritual awakening or enlightenment. This is a natural state that cannot be reached by force or resistance.

Allowing does not mean we should be passive or should not act. Only that we should learn to act in tune with the flow of nature rather than against it. Capturing the wind with our sails is much easier than paddling upstream.

Recently, I attended another of Nancy Shipley-Rubin’s workshops. This one was themed Creating Intentions that Work.

We again explored the experience of being energetically/emotionally open & closed and how closed would amplify conflict with others while open would diffuse it. Also the difference between a healthy (open) no and an unhealthy (closed) no. These are basic skills for life that surprisingly few people know. And yet how we hold our energy has a profound effect on our experience of life and relationships. Because our energy system is distinct from the mind, the mind is often the last one to recognize these dynamics. It requires new skills.

In this workshop, she added something more to the allowing I mention above. Allowing lets us release old emotional traumas and let go of our resistance to recognizing how we feel. Once we have a sense of how we’re feeling, it begins to open us to our power to create.

Often our will, which serves as a protector, creates a barrier between our upper energy centres and our lower ones. Between our love, intuition, & imagination and our vitality & ability to manifest. Many people live in their heads or in ungrounded spirituality. They’re out of touch with how they feel and thus their creative power. Or, they’re caught in an emotional drama of internal conflict that has no ending.

With allowing, many emotions will complete & dissolve. But some will keep coming back as they’re expressing an unmet need. This requires taking it to the next level.

Nancy asks us to notice what we’re feeling. Give the feeling a name. Ask what need the feeling calls for. Intend the feeling from the 6th (not the mind; make it simple and clean like “safe” or “happy”). This instantly creates the field to meet the need. As mentioned above, mind may be the last to recognize the effect though.

Notice how simple it is. The most powerful techniques often are. The results can be immediate.

To put this another way, most of our emotional needs can be met internally. This unencumbers relationships burdened by expecting others to meet our needs. It also illustrates the habit of seeking outside of ourselves. With this process working, we can meet not just our emotional needs but most needs by directly manifesting our intentions.

The trick is, we first need to do some allowing to clear the deck enough so we can sit comfortably with how we feel. It also helps a lot to have a spiritual practice that grounds us in something deeper and supports allowing. If we find we’re making a lot of story & explanations & objections or processing/ churning, that’s the mind – probably trying to control it. Come back to open allowing.

If it’s not working, we either need to clear a little more or there is a lack of congruence between the upper intention and the lower feeling/instinctive body. The feelings don’t believe it or the protector at the 3rd is acting as a barrier – the mind isn’t accepting it and we don’t feel safe. But we can intend safety too.

This is where an experiential workshop is very useful. A good teacher can guide us into correct experience and past the pitfalls of the mind second-guessing and feelings playing their hiding dance.

Being dissonant between our intentions and feelings creates fear. But curiously, it’s the protector that is creating this fear, not the vital (emotional) body. This fear is a little more subtle and unconscious. It responds with force or with uncertainty: that’s a key to recognize. If you’re trying to force this in any way, it’s not going to work. We have to start from open allowing. Perhaps unexpectedly, therein lies our power.

The lower fields are what power our lives so developing internal congruence can be very beneficial. But we’re typically driven by old habits and automatic responses. Most of us walk around closed, wondering why the world is so grumpy. To make this work, we have to be congruent and the intention grounded.

Of course, there was much more. Nancy gives rich, experiential workshops to help you learn this stuff.
Davidya

Prayer of Gratitude

In the past, I’ve written several articles on the subject of prayer. In Deep Prayer I discussed the difference between the Petitionary prayer of asking for something and an Intercessionary prayer of surrender; the prayer of faith, of Thy will be done. Adyashanti called this second kind True Prayer. It’s ideal when you’re approaching a shift and need to let go of the old.

I also explored different 5-step prayers, blending them in a hybrid 7-step process. That can be useful when starting out, to get an idea of the variables, but a big process gets cumbersome in practice. What can we best use for day-to-day living?

Last night I was at a talk by Hannelore and she mentioned a simpler way that rather blended the 2 approaches. First she illustrated that if we’re asking for what we want, the subtle energy that creates is “don’t have”. It feels contracting. She instead suggests a prayer of gratitude, of thanks for already having it. Not asking, thanking.

Hannelore asks we notice what it would be like as ‘already so’ and ‘feel’ the joy of this as already a reality. If you’re a visual person, visualize it in all its detail.

If you have trouble believing you have it, you might want to start with smaller things, like a parking spot. Hannelore also suggests starting from joy. Think about what we love, then from that place, bring in the thanks. This is critical if we want the support of the universe/nature. It is through feelings that we “feed” our support team.

Finally, release it, turn it over to the universe. This step is about letting go, about surrender and trust. if we hold on to expectations of how it should show up or when, we can get in the way of it.

so:
1 – go into joy, think about what you love
2 – prayer of thanks for what you desire, visualize in gratitude
3 – release it, let it go.

If you struggle with this, pay attention to how you feel. If you feel resistance coming up, let your attention go there and allow the feelings. Don’t go into them and don’t engage a story about them. Just allow them to be experienced directly. This will help them resolve quickly and clear the old barrier. If instead your mind is throwing up barriers, you might want to explore what aspect needs attention.

Be sure not to skip the first step. Follow your bliss. It may take a little practice if you’ve not spent much time enjoying. Like Harry Potter had to dig deep to find the feeling needed for a patronus. Coming from love & joy gives power to gratitude. This process also helps avoid the ‘dark side’ of wanting, entitlement. If the desire is driven by something other than the ‘good’, it will fall away in the light of love.

Afterwards, don’t forget to Act as-if. As the sages tell us, if you want results in the world, act in the world. By doing, we create openings for opportunities to arise. As Vasishtha tells us, there is no fate or divine dispensation. What is called fate or divine will is nothing more than the self effort of the past. All action arises from the field of action itself. Hannelore expressed this by quoting Paul J. Meyer:

“Whatever you…
    Vividly imagine
    Ardently desire
    Sincerely believe
    And enthusiastically act upon
will inevitably come to pass.”

Thanks, Hannelore
Davidya

Co-Creation

You may think of “co-creation” as another one of those New Age nonsense ideas, another entitlement trap. And indeed, concepts like that can certainly be degraded into such use.

But the basic idea is sound. We have a hand in creating our experience of the world. How we respond to circumstances, what we put our attention on, and what we give our emotional energy to all contribute to our experience of life. We can have a surprisingly big impact. And this is irrespective of who we consider “we” to be. Even the detached observer is directing attention.

Post-Self Realization, there is development of finer perception and awakening of the heart on a whole new level. This leads to our appreciation of the mechanics of creation and our role in it. Then we don’t have to believe all this from indirect evidence.

But we have to remember that we’re not in this alone. For one, we are part of a whole, moving together through life. We should frame our goals accordingly. We also have a team of beings working on our behalf. And the power of our attention is greater than we know, growing with spiritual progress. The third book of the Yoga Sutras (the siddhis or powers) exemplifies what attention can do.

If we’re finding what we want is not what we’re experiencing, there are a number of reasons why this may be so.

1 – Karma, the momentum of the past. Sometimes our life turns like a slow ship at sea. Karma is a complex weave of relationships that go back long before any of us were born. Don’t try to figure it  out, just recognize this momentum. And, as the sages tell us, All arises from Self-effort. Act.

2 – Habits – similar to the above, the vasanas or inclinations cause us to respond or feed our experiences a certain way, sometimes culturing what we don’t want. This is one we can pay attention to and note how we’re feeling (giving energy). Are we dwelling on what’s wrong and why we can’t? Making excuses for our life? Listen to the stories you tell other people.

3 – Shoulds and Musts – our conceptual obligations to things being a certain way. If we’re attached to it showing up in a certain form, we may find that nothing happens until we’re willing to let our expectations go. Wish but allow it to arise in the best way. You may find what you thought you wanted you don’t or that what shows up is better.

4 – Uncertainty – If we’re not internally clear or we’re uncertain about some aspect of our goals, we’ll tend to give conflicting signals that can negate progress. We may alternate our dreams with doubts. You’ll probably find some resistance in there. Some past experience or fear is casting a shadow, or there’s a habit of feeling non-deserving. Don’t fight it. Just don’t believe it, doubt the doubt. Pay attention to the attention.

Sustained resistance may also be producing a balancing frustration. (it may seem counter-intuitive that resistance is balanced by frustration but energy works in polarities. Not all polarities are what we judge as good and bad, + & -.)

5 – Gratitude – if we’re dissing our life as it is, we’re not culturing energy that supports happiness but rather giving attention to what we don’t want. I’ve found it useful to culture gratitude. Not only for our emotional tone but for supporting those that work on our behalf. As well, Forgiveness can be a profound way of breaking logjams.

6 – Need of the time – remember that all happens in the context of the whole. It will happen for you when it’s best for the whole. Nothing personal.

7 – Dharma – that which sustains and keeps things in balance. This is closely related to the above. We may see this show up as obligations to fulfill. Again, if we cooperate with the process, it’s much smoother. But don’t try to second-guess dharma either. Just move toward your goals and see what shows up.

If something is important to us, it’s worth paying attention to how we feel about it and how we think about it. Get clear on what’s really important to you, give it your positive attention, allow it into your life, and notice your feelings around it – that’s the energy you’re giving it. Don’t fight for it. Keep your attention lose and do things you enjoy doing to keep it light. Don’t be hard on yourself – life is meant to be enjoyed!

Enjoy already!
Davidya

Nancy Shipley Rubin

Nancy Shipley Rubin is a psychic intuitive and counselor. Twice a year, she and her husband Errol come out of paradise in Hawaii to do a tour of the west coast, offering workshops and personal sessions. She also has an annual retreat.

She’s been coming here for over 25 years and some good friends have been going to their workshops for much of that time. I’ve been to several. Her primary focus is on teaching us to work more consciously with our energy system. How to open, clear and protect ourselves. She indicates most spiritual aspirants these days are clearing their heart and throat chakras on the rise to awakening.

This year however she returned to the lower 2 chakras. She calls the first and second the Vitality centre. Our culture tends to encourage closing the 2nd chakra, home to our emotions, creativity and manifesting ability. This imbalances the energy, causing illness and various other side-effects. Many spiritual people are more open upstairs but closed below. Thus the running joke about how spiritual people are always sick and broke. She used to call Vitality the Wounded centre. The emotional body is certainly where many of us carry our heaviest loads.

Their web site talks about the Vitality program and the principles around it. However, the exercises were the most profound part. For example, after learning to notice the state (open or closed) of our second chakra by feel (surprisingly distinct), we practiced interacting with closed 2nd’s. Conflict and negative feelings seemed to automatically escalate. But as soon as just one of us opened the 2nd, the energy diffused and the upset party was soothed and unable to escalate. For me, it felt almost like flushing; in the open 2nd and down and out the 1st.

Another profound exercise for me was calling a Vitality principle while being open. A great exercise in embodying one’s spiritual development.

It was fascinating to see how, when we close off to avoid feeling our unresolved emotions, we’re closing only to ourselves but not the world. Others still feel it (mostly subconsciously) leaving us open to manipulation or  relationship based on pain. Not to mention that we’re holding this in our manifesting centre. How to Call in the Yuck. And we’re blocking the richness of life itself.

Most of us have a deeply ingrained habit of keeping the 2nd closed in our culture. So it can take some practice to open and make a habit of it. This simple difference creates a very different way of seeing the world. From fear or from open safety. The mechanics of how people create their own hell become clear, as well as how great sages darshan works. Spirit embodied in the lower chakras brings the presence people so resonate with. And the simple presence of an open 2nd can be a profound healing for those nearby. All of it is automatic.

Nancy has one more workshop on this tour, in CA. Then a retreat in early May. They don’t do much publicity, just going by word of mouth so they can work with small numbers of earnest people. But they offer the kind of practical wisdom that can make a profound difference in your experience of day-to-day life, if you’re ready to make that step. Our world will be a marvelous place when such knowledge becomes commonplace.

Heaven is always open,
Davidya

Asking Well

On this blog, I’ve written articles about intention and about prayer. In intention, we’re directing our attention in a specific direction, often for a specific result or goal. In prayer, I’ve talked about how we can either be asking or surrendering. Of the two, surrendering is the superior path, Thy will be done.

The implication is that rather than asking and intending, we should be allowing. But by allowing here, I don’t mean a passive allowing. The ego likes to control things and keep them static. Under it’s influence, “go with the flow” can  become a trap of indecision, of deciding not to decide. This is inertia, tamas, anti-growth.

Happily, there is a middle ground and connection between intention and surrender. It’s called intuition.

Culturing intuition requires us to settle the dramas of the mind to hear that, at first, “still small voice.” Only it may not come to us as heard. We may see things symbolic or real in our head. We may feel things, like a nudging in the heart or gut. We may simply have a sense of knowing, like “turn here!” Or we note a combination of these. All of the senses plus mind have subtle, less-bound values. By learning to tune in to the inner nudges, we find personal guidance and safety. Some call it listening with the heart as it’s more feeling based.

Many people have intuitive hunches but are not really conscious of the process and thus can’t use it on demand.

From intuition, we can do the asking and then use intention to act on the result. Now we’re intending, but from the bigger picture, in harmony. This can be tricky until you learn to hear clearly and trust what you hear or feel. Intuition doesn’t follow logic and will prod you to do something without explanation. This is where we learn to go with the flow, to surrender, to follow what arises. And that’s how we find the magical shortcuts.

Intuition is simple and unconditional. It will never put you down or be negative or judge. That’s ego. Until we learn to differentiate, ego will often pop up to block, discount or distract us from intuitive signals. It may even play at being our “inner voice”. As we get more practiced, we learn to ignore the false signals and notice the “coincidences” that get us parking spots. Soon we’ll hear the prompts for more profound things that are important to us.

Sometimes we’ll be in a cycle where we’re more directed, with lots of signals. Other times, it’s more our choice or we’re more blocked. In any case, it’s good to be clear what’s important to you. Otherwise, results will be more general and random, cluttering your life unnecessarily. As a friend Karen put it, the angels will shower you with possibilities to see what sticks. Narrowing the range a little can actually simplify your life.

When you learn to listen, then you can ask well.
Davidya