Because psychic abilities tend to show up during spiritual development, I thought it worth exploring some of his points.

“Entanglement” is a term from quantum physics that refers to “connections between distinct particles that persist regardless of distance.” For example, if the spin of one particle is changed, the other changes also, instantly, even if miles away. Einstein called this “spooky action at a distance.” This quality is turning out to be more pervasive and robust than first thought. Some scientists even suggest everything is entangled as it was all together in the big bang. That’s certainly a common idea in spiritual circles.

“Bio-entanglement” (entanglement in biology) is being explored as way to explain some aspects of living systems. There are models of quantum mechanics in brain function, for example, to explain how nerve signals travel so fast. As Radin observes, this could also help explain psychic ability.

The controversy part is related to the dogma I mentioned on the Foundation of Belief. Most science is founded in a materialist paradigm that can become dogmatic. Even quantum physicists are forever seeking particles (at massive cost) when they’re studying energy (waves). Anything non-physical that cannot be addressed by materialism may be put down to belief or superstition.

Now – I’ll certainly agree that there is no end of nonsense and charlatans about in the psi  arena. But to suggest such experiences don’t exist is to ignore much of our history. Even the history of science is full of intuitive leaps, unusual experiences, and curious beliefs.

To show how strong the negative bias is, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) considers that a belief in psi is evidence of either ignorance or mental deficiency. As Radin observes “In other words, if you’re an eccentric introvert and believe in clairvoyance and telepathy, you might have an official psychiatric disorder.“  This kind of dogma is not only non-scientific, it can be quite destructive. While this may sound harsh, pronouncements like the above are bigotry; if they don’t think like me, there’s something wrong with them.

Amusingly, Radin uses the NSF’s own data to demonstrate that the better educated are more likely to believe in psi phenomena. (a majority) He notes that higher education does tend to reduce belief in “religious paranormal” concepts (such as heaven and hell) but increase belief in psi. Many scientists have seen evidence of psi but avoid research due to career and funding issues arising from the bias. It’s right up there with cold fusion.

But we’re still debating belief. Many people believe in psi because they’ve had direct experiences of it. Funnily enough everyone, even scientists, has metaphysical experiences. The mind is metaphysical and unexplained by science (let alone self-awareness). If science doesn’t understand mind, how can it know it’s limitations?

In some of Radin’s research, he’s identified a generalized profile of people more likely to have psychic experiences. “a left-handed female who is thirty-something or younger, physically highly sensitive, suffers from chronic anxiety, is somewhat introverted, makes decisions based more on feelings than logic, practices one or more of the creative arts, engages in some form of mental discipline like meditation, is open to unconventional claims, and is interested more in possibilities than facts.” (Adam the Dreamhealer is an interesting contrast to some of this)

You may recognize someone you know. (laughs) You also may note the right brain qualities. This is related to fluid vs crystalline g (intelligence). Crystalline g is what traditional IQ tests report and relates to the left brain mode that science fosters. Culture-neutral IQ tests are more pattern-recognition based and they’ve discovered test fluid g. People who are more prone to lateral and creative thinking have stronger fluid g. Such people are not less intelligent, they just use intelligence in a different way. An artist may be poor at math but a genius at capturing the essence of someone.

“Latent Inhibition” is a term that refers to “an unconscious brain process that degrades our ability to pay attention to stimuli that have had no consequences in the past.” In other words, if it’s not deemed important or relevant, the sensory information never reaches our conscious mind. This is what allows us to stay stable and focused, to drive a car on the highway while we carry on a conversation, and so forth. We screen out the vast majority of the sea of sensory information we’re barraged with. If we haven’t learned to recognize psychic impressions, we’ll just screen all that out too.

Latent Inhibition can be illustrated with the related “Selective Attention”, where we screen out what is not related to our focus. Magicians use this all the time. A video example.

If latent inhibition is low, this can lead to mental illness as we struggle to process the flood. This is why some tend to pathologize psi. However, low latent inhibition is also associated with “openness to experience” which in turn is associated with divergent thinking and creativity. Radin observes that if the mind is strong enough, we can take in and process much more. Higher intelligence thus correlates with an ability to be more open. (potentially)

This illustrates the closeness of genius and madness plus profound spiritual shifts.

Because psi is energetic, it’s heavily influenced by emotions. If you reject it, it will tend to suppress the experience long term due to Latent Inhibition. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. For some, it can be self-preservation. Many kids learn to filter it out. Plus there’s a set of skills we need to develop. Psychics I’ve talked to typically have to learn how to turn it off, how to protect themselves from others junk, and how to keep the connection high so they don’t fall into the mud. This is where a spiritual connection can be a profound value for the open. But with a little understanding and the right approach, they sky is not the limit.

Feel the force, Luke!
Davidya

However, as I touched in Dying Awake, some things that seem eternal can turn out not to really be. When we transcend the space-time dynamics of self-awareness, we discover that all of those infinities eventually “sleep”. Awareness steps back from being self-aware, space-time collapses and creation ends. The Divine Mother sleeps.

Even the sense of eternal existence is dependent on awareness. We cannot say that something exists or doesn’t exist unless we are aware of it. When awareness ends, so too does all qualities, all expression, all sense of being.

This may sound like a barren place but in fact it is the opposite. We find ourselves in Brahman, in the Totality of wholeness. All expression arises within and is as-if contained by Brahman. Brahman is inherently alert and lively, leading to awareness and creation emerging again. Brahman also contains a memory of its “history” of experience, called Smriti and expressed as the Vedas. We could say Veda is eternal, though it may or may not be expressed.

But what does eternal mean if there is no time, no “now”, no before or after? The language for this gets very tricky as language occurs solely in space-time. We could say that everything at essence is eternal and nothing is eternal. Both are true in some ways, and neither.
Never say ever. 
Davidya

Before we go into it, the first thing to understand is that we go through a series of lifetimes, driven by past karma (cause and effect) and unresolved desires. When we awaken, non-stop samadhi (silence in activity & bliss) roasts the remaining seeds of future actions/desires and we mostly step off the “wheel” of karma. With the completion of our human life, we resolve the last of the sprouted seeds. We are thus no longer reborn. (Though I understand that if we reach some basic awakening but not a full enlightenment and have unfinished business, we may have a choice to come back and finish the job. This would be one reason why we sometimes see people awaken early and easily, picking up where they left off. We may also make the shift during death.)

In the Vedic literature, there are 6 systems of Philosophy. These are known as the upangas or darshanas. Each (except the 1st) reflects the reality of a different stage of evolution. The last of these is Vedanta or “end of the Veda”, also known as Uttara Mimamsa. The primary text is the Brahma Sutras, though sometimes people associate the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita with Vedanta due to their stories of the essence of full awakening.

Vedanta speaks of the total oneness of Brahman and on that all the highest sages are agreed. But there are 2 schools of thought about what happens after an enlightened yogis death. Both are described in the Vedas so I suggest we actually have a choice, driven in part by our history and tendencies.

One is Advaita or non-duality (without distinctions) of whom Adi Shankara is the best known exponent. He taught of a total oneness where the atma merges into Oneness with Brahman. On death of the body, any individuality or form would dissolve. The wave settles into the ocean. Totality of Oneness. (This is much deeper than the internal unity of nirvana/ Self-realization/ cosmic consciousness – this earlier stage is where ego (individual self) becomes atman(cosmic Self))

Other masters such as Ramanuja, Madhva, and Narayana speak of the transcendent space or world within Brahman. This outlook is called Dvaita or “with distinctions”(not dualism). This space within pure awareness is known as Vaikuntha Loka and is beyond all universes, humans and devas (angels). It is the first space, the first expression. We’d gain a pure light body and retain a subtle value of individuality and live with other such enlightened sages and forms of God. The ultimate heaven we could say.

As a friend observed, from that state one would have the option of returning as what the Buddhists call a Bodhisattva, an enlightened sage that may appear on occasion or for a time. Avatars (God in human form) such as Krisna reside there and may arise from there.

Ultimately though, Shankara’s is the highest truth. Some of these other masters refer to this transcendent space as eternal and the light body as absolute. However, while one may remain in this space for astonishingly long times, that space is not eternal. In a recent article on Yugas, I described some of the larger cycles of time. One cycle of Yugas is known as a Mahayuga. 1,000 Mahayugas is a day of Brahma. 100 Years of Brahma is a life of Brahma. A lifetime of Vishnu is 1,000 lives of Brahma. A lifetime of Shiva is 1,000 of Vishnus. And a time of the Divine Mother is 1,000 of Shiva. When the Divine Mother sleeps, that transcendent space is unexpressed. Now, 429 million trillion (Yukteswar) or 154 billion trillion (standard) years is a long time, but it’s not eternal.

This can also be further established with 2 other references. The story of Bhusunda the crow unusually being able to continue between creations while the great sage Vasishtha does not. And the experience of creation ending that may be part of a Unity shift. At some point, all those waves will dissolve back into the ocean. At least for a time.

Are we to dissolve or hang around awhile first? Be bliss or live bliss? Our own destination we’re not likely to know clearly until well along. We usually even forget why we’re here while in human form. But it can be amusing to consider.
Davidya

And that point is the key here. Knowledge comes from Experience, Not from Belief. But belief is a powerful filter of experience. If we lean on conceptual belief alone, we will only go as far as the story can take us. But with correct understanding, we can step into deeper layers of reality and gain experiential verification.

What has replaced religion for many has been science, a belief system of its own. While it is largely based on evidence (experience), it has a tendency to hold a physical focus and reject anything non-physical. This means it can’t address the big questions of life. In fact it tends to reduce life itself to an accidental byproduct, contrary to physical laws. This approach also lacks a moral compass and tends to give us a rather jaded perspective on life; survival of the fittest, every man for himself, and all that.

The magic is found when we can bring the 2 world-views together. Science can help us  understand who we are and how best we might live, beyond dogma. But science has to step out of its physical box to do that. Religion needs to go back to its roots and revive systematic means of direct experience. Then we can explore subjectivity objectively.

This is a more important idea than people realize. Often, when you have a discussion on metaphysical or spiritual topics, people will assume you’re arguing from a conceptual platform and will counter with their opinions & beliefs. They’ll even argue a position that is not their experience. Many forget the difference between an idea and an experience. But are concepts without experience any greater than dogmatic belief? More importantly, does growth happen through experience or belief?

It’s quite natural for the mind to develop stories about the world. It helps us understand and relate to it. The trouble is when our beliefs are based on false assumptions or are divorced from the reality of our life. Then our life is much more difficult. With direct experience of the nature of life, our stories become aligned with reality. And life becomes so much better.

The foundation of belief is experience. If you want to know something, find a way to experience it. Anything else is just a fantasy.
Davidya

The first decent is what is typically called the soul. Awareness becomes aware of itself both globally and at every point. One of those points as-if descends into the 7 chakra structure at the heart. This is called things like the flame or space in the heart or the soul.  The effect of this is that we step into a time-line or apparent sequence of experiences through the mechanism of a series of physiologies or lifetimes. We are here for Self to experience itself more completely so we descend into the process of experience itself.

The second descent happens closer to the end of this section of experiential unfoldment. The kundalini rises to the top of the head and we connect with the divine again. The divine then descends into the physiology and we experience the apparent stages of enlightenment or higher states of consciousness. Head, heart, gut and root.

The third decent happens after our awareness crosses the final veil and come to oneness, beyond even the duality of awareness aware of itself or of creator and observer. Once in awareness, that field of Totality can descend into our layers of experience, much as in the second descent. But this descent is through a much larger “pipe” and has an all-absorbing quality rather than an awakening quality. As it is not at a level where anything moves or flows, it also doesn’t really “descend” although it is experienced as if. It’s more that the ultimate nature of everything is revealed. From the descent, it grows out to absorb all in Totality.

Like, totally.
Davidya

If we really want to save the world, first we have to save ourselves. Until we heal our own wounds and find inner peace and happiness, what we mostly have to offer the world is our troubles.

When we find ourselves rooted in peace, then we can face the world as it is. Then we can give the world what it needs, just be being here. When we are peace, that is what we give.

This is not to say we should do nothing until then. But its important to understand that how we are makes the biggest difference in the world. Peace will come when enough of us are at peace.

Here are a few principles that come to mind.

1 – Meditate regularly, in a group whenever you can. Research has demonstrated that this improves the quality of life for everyone in the community. It’s also why the crime rate has been going down. Really – there’s almost 40 years of research & dozens of studies. They’ve ended wars with it.

2 – Learn to pay attention to how things feel. You have a feeling relationship with everything in your life. It’s good to be conscious of the effect it has and what you create by how you feel. Don’t resist how you feel but learn to let feelings go.

3 – Make sure you’re acting for things rather than against them. Pro-peace not anti-war. One cultures happiness, the other anger. If you spend too much time dwelling on what’s wrong, you’ll miss what’s right and you darken the world. Solutions, not problems.

4 – Be truthful, but tell the sweet truth; tell it nicely.

5 – Always act without intending harm, to anyone or anything (see above)

6 – Avoid culturing desires for things that will clutter your life or bring harm

7 – Be easy on yourself. We all make mistakes. Learn from them rather than suffer for them.

8 – Pay attention to when is enough. Enough food, enough exercise, enough work, enough money, enough TV & Internet. Life is happiest in moderation and balance.

9 – Let things go from your life that are not adding to it. Letting go is a great practice. Charity is a great cause. Especially let go of any conflicts in your life – it takes 2 to tango.

10 – Find something good to devote yourself to and give yourself to it. Follow your bliss.

11 – Love. Someone or God, but make sure you are giving love. It is the greatest gift.

Suggestions?
Davidya

As I note, I found the opening chapters more introductory. But as the book progressed, there were more and more sections relevant to this blog.

The Fear of Success (on arguing with life)(Ch.5)

Opening the Hearts Door (on Intimacy)(Ch.7)

The Endless Path (there’s more than Awakening)(Ch.9)

The Moment of Grace (not a process)(Ch.8 p.170+)

Autonomy (what I call Embodiment)(Ch.9)

Virgin Birth (second birth or awakening)(Ch.10 p.208+)

Beyond Duality 1 (letting go of Heaven)(Ch.10)

Beyond Duality II (The Great Heartbreak)

Grace is (on soft and fierce grace)(Ch.11)

True Prayer (Ch.11)

Adyashanti’s prior book End of Your World links

Near the close of Falling into Grace, Adyashanti explored what he calls “True Prayer.” After exploring how defeat became grace, Adyashanti says, “We’ve all felt moments of feeling pushed down or oppressed, but the kind of defeat I’m talking about is a true surrender, a true opening, where we know that we don’t know where to go. In that sense, it’s a true prayer, and a true prayer is a powerful thing. I often tell people, ‘When you speak a true prayer, you’d better watch out, because you’re going to get what you pray for.’ And what I mean by a ‘true prayer’ is one that is spoken, or made, when you open yourself to the entire universe, from a place of not knowing and not expecting anything in particular.”

[Update:] When we tell God or the universe what we want, we have to ask ourselves if we’re really opening ourselves to what is. Are we opening ourselves to grace? He goes on to describe his own such prayer experience and how he received everything, not always in an easy way.

While what I call Deep prayer is pure surrender, Adya’s True prayer is asking without conditions and with a profound opening. Then we’re opening ourselves to grace. I explored a similar process in 5 Step Prayer. Again – just be careful of your conditions and let it go.

“So never underestimate the power of prayer and its ability to open us to grace.”
Amen!
Davidya

“Sometimes grace is soft and beautiful. It appears as insight. It comes as a sudden understanding, or maybe just the blossoming of our hearts, the breaking open of our emotional bodies so that we can feel more deeply and connect with what is and with each other in a deeper way. Grace can also be quite fierce. There are times in life that are very, very trying. At the time, grace might be hard to recognize, but as we think back to these powerful times in our lives, we can start to see the greater gift that was received.”

“…grace is simply that which opens our hearts, that which has the capacity to come in and open our perceptions about life.”

He then goes on to describe a moment when he became completely frustrated after 4 years of ardent meditation without apparent progress. He felt exhausted and defeated and crushed. But in that utter defeat, there was a letting go. And then that moment of grace showed up.

“…right in the middle of that moment, my heart just began to flower. It was like a golden love was being poured right into my being. It was as if I could hear everything, and it was just singing with this love.”

Adya heard a voice telling him this is how he shall love. “I remember thinking, ‘I have no idea how to do that! How could I possibly love like this?’ This immensity of unconditioned love was just washing over me in waves, and I couldn’t possibly even consider how I could love in that same way, and yet, somehow I knew it was possible.”

“As time went on, I realized that I didn’t have to struggle so hard, I didn’t have to fight with life or with myself in order to open to grace. But it took many, many defeats before I could open willingly and surrender to the grace that is always there.”

As readers of this blog know, I recommend an effortless meditation. Partly, this is because it gives us the experience of inner being and is thus less likely to create such a frustration. We’re more inclined to have soft grace. However, we each tend to still have places of resistance or attachment that can bring us to such a point. If we’re unwilling to let go, circumstances can arise that may push the issue. Then we experience fierce grace.

“Grace is all around us, if we only have the eyes to see it. The good moments are grace, the difficult moments are grace, the confusing moments are grace. When we can begin to open enough to realize that there is grace in every situation, in each person we meet, no matter how easy or difficult we perceive them to be, our hearts will flower and we’ll be able to express the peace and the love that each of us has within us.”

As he reminds us by the book’s title, “We let go into grace. It’s something we fall into, like when we fall into the arms of another, or we put our head on the pillow to go to sleep.”

Soft or fierce, grace is a profound assistance on our journey. However we see it coming to us; by God, by guru, by karma, or the mystery, it is in letting go that we allow divinity to move through us. Thus grace arrives, just how it is.
Davidya

“It only requires a willingness to stop. The more we stop and the more we let go, the more our consciousness naturally opens.”

“The deeper we see into the reality of things, the more our heart opens to include everything, because if we’re really feeling into our deepest reality and truth, the heart isn’t something that would want to escape from what is here and now; rather, our hearts are already embracing everything. We can allow our hearts to be big enough to be broken.”

“My teacher called this world ‘the great heartbreak.’ When we really begin to wake up to our true nature, we become more conscious of the suffering around us. We feel the people and the events of our lives more profoundly, not less profoundly. We become more present here and now. What we see is that, even though our vision may have been expanded, even though we may have woken up not just to reality, but AS reality, still we can’t control anyone. Everything and everyone has their own life to live, and we can’t just wipe away their suffering because our hearts are open. Although we would love to have everyone wake up and be happy, part of the heartbreak is accepting this moment, this world, just as it is.”

“There is nobility and beauty even when human beings are suffering. Our hearts do not want them to suffer; we want to save them, but the heartbreak is that we can’t do that. The quality of our love, the openness of our heart, still does have a profound effect on the world and others in it.”

“But don’t ever think that your presence here – your physical, material, individual presence – doesn’t have a great impact on everyone around you, because it does. You can’t ultimately control what’s around you, but you do have a great impact. This is the gift we have to give to each other: this gift of oneness, of union, of a true open heart that comes out when our mind opens.”

“If you want to see what you truly are, open the window, and everything you see is in fact the expression of your own reality, Can you embrace all of it?”

Beautiful.
Davidya

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