Active Dreaming: Exploring the Vivid Dreamscape

It is possible to enter a lucid dream directly from waking. Usually this entails lying down, relaxing, and allowing the body to fall asleep while the mind stays awake. Difficulties include falling asleep along with the body, or the body staying awake with the mind. Decoupling body and mind so that the latter can stay awake while the body falls asleep is difficult but possible.

The Process of Sleep

To enter normal sleep we begin by letting our thoughts wander until they turn into daydreams that either dissolve into oblivion along with our self-awareness and volition or else spontaneously evolve into hypnagogic imagery (short vivid hallucinations) that eventually cohere into a full-blown three dimensional dreamscape.

Whether drifting off takes us into oblivion or into a vivid dreamscape can depend on how far we are into our nightly sleep cycle. Early in the cycle, sleep tends to consist of delta brainwave activity and no REM (rapid eye movement), which indicates consciousness is off elsewhere. Most likely the soul is running its astral errands while the body does its repairs. Later in the cycle after these tasks are out of the way, or when taking a nap, the delta stage is replaced by immediate onset of hypnagogic andREM activity after mental relaxation. But these are passive dreams since lack of lucidity in them implies impaired volition.

Why are dreams so much more vivid than imagination? Because the images are being projected by the subconscious, not the conscious mind. Why do we lose self-awareness when we go to sleep? Because as we let our thoughts wander, the subconscious starts to influence our consciously projected internal images (imagination, visualization, daydreaming, mind chatter) while the conscious mind takes on a more passive and self-obliterating role. Not long after that, the subconscious takes over the role of projector and that is when mere mental images become virtual realities. The trade-off is that we have already abandoned ourselves by the time the dream projection kicks in.

We can understand the various states of internal imagery as being the result of either the conscious subconscious either directing or projecting these images:

Active dreaming: conscious directs while subconscious projects.

Passive dreaming: subconscious directs and projects.

Daydreaming: subconscious directs while conscious projects.

Visualizing: conscious directs and projects.

Inducing lucid dreams from a waking state therefore requires that the conscious mind retain its awareness and volition while the subconscious is given free reign to begin projecting the dreamscape. The prerequisite is total relaxation of the body, usually done in a step-wise fashion from head to toe, either by focusing on relaxing a particular body region, or tensing and releasing that region. A good exhausting workout that leaves you wiped out can also accomplish this.

Watching Phosphenes

One method of keeping your mind awake while falling asleep involves watching the phosphene images behind closed eyelids. These are the glowing blobs of static noise patterns that always fill our vision but are more easily noticed in the dark. Unlike passive dreaming, this keeps one’s visual faculties active and focused on real sense impressions instead of turning within and getting lost in consciously projected daydreams or visualizations.

Active Dreaming - Exploring the Vivid Dreamscape 2

Why is this important? Because notice that in dreams your “eyes” are focused on an environment existing “outside” you, seemingly as real as anything you might see with your physical eyes while awake. Also notice that in a dream, despite both your thoughts and the dreamscape being all “in your head”, you can still imagine things internally that are separate from the surrounding dreamscape. This means that the full blown 3D dreamscape is always perceived as an external phenomenon to your five senses, than mere imagination which is internal and runs in parallel to your surroundings. So staring out into the field of phosphenes involves a similarly externalized point of focus, even though eyes are closed. In this way, one aspect of the dream experience (the external visual focus) is already established. It therefore does not take long for hypnagogic images to start up this way, although these can startle one back into full consciousness. With repeated exposure they become less startling, especially if you cultivate a calm, detached, nonplussed attitude and ease into these images without becoming self-conscious and excited, which can snap you awake.

The next issue is becoming so quickly absorbed in the phosphenes and hypnagogic images that one loses self-awareness before the subconscious is ready to begin fully projecting a dreamscape. To counter this, a second technique may be employed: quickly opening and shutting your eyes every two or three breaths. This allows enough real sense data to come in, and is so intentionally controlled, that the mind has better chances of staying alert. And yet since this involves mere movement of the eyelids, the rest of the body is not prevented from doing its thing to fall asleep. One can keep this up until the hypnagogic state kicks in, then continue watching those and the phosphenes.

Sleep Paralysis

Very soon the body falls asleep by entering sleep paralysis, which feels like a sudden sinking, melting, tingling feeling. This is not your body going numb with boredom from having lain still for an hour. Sleep paralysis comes with a release of the soul from the physical body, and that induces the sinking or melting feeling. You may also notice your breathing suddenly becoming deeper, effortless, and automatic as the parasympathetic nervous system takes over. If your mind is still highly active, your breathing restricted, and your body simply numb from lack of stimulation then you’re not in sleep paralysis. You literally have to fall asleep, but with your awareness intact.

The subconscious is then at the verge of fully projecting the dreamscape, and one has only to retain enough self-awareness throughout the onset of sleep paralysis to allow the final consciously directed nudge to kick off a dream. (After catching your body falling asleep, before a dream begins you can visualize and intend to roll out of bed and that will induce an astral projection instead of a dream). Or you can visualize something and “get into it” and that will initiate a dream.

It is the intent combined with visualization that puts the subconscious fully online, and a dream begins. Then you can do reality checks (flipping a light switch, looking for inconsistencies) or astral checks (seeing your body still in bed with correct clothes on) and lucidly go from there.

Active Dreaming - Exploring the Vivid Dreamscape

Take note that because this technique requires immediate access to REM sleep, it must be done after already having slept five or six hours, or during the day when napping. If you’ve had a long day and are beat, and crawl into a cozy bed for lights out, you’ll have a tough time retaining awareness and your brain won’t initiate heavy REM activity right away. Rudolf Steiner talked about remaining aware regardless as being a qualification for occult initiation, and that in doing so you get to witness what happens during the delta non-dream sleep. He says one visits the spirit realm and experiences things there are harmonies and colors (which is probably all that the conscious mind can decode of that experience at first, whereas the subconscious or higher mind during this experience is probably having a very involved time “up there”). But for active dreaming purposes, later in the sleep cycle or during a nap is better.

Some induction techniques start off with visualization, whereby the conscious mind directs and projects mental imagery until the subconscious takes over the role of projector. The above technique of staring into the phosphene void and looking at hypnagogic imagery that arises does not use intentional visualization until the final nudge, thereby allowing the subconscious to start projecting more easily because it does not have to wrestle that role away from the conscious. To repeat, visualization is not necessary until the final stage when the body is asleep, otherwise it might interfere with the subconscious stepping into its role as projector. You can indeed use visualization, and Steiner’s method as well as Theun Mares’ method employ that, whereby an imagined visual suddenly blooms to life when the subconscious takes over and turns it into a dream experience (Steiner himself got that technique from Goethe, who wrote of experiencing exactly such a imagination -> dream phenomenon).

Applications

Why is active dreaming important? Because it allows access to the dreaming faculty at will and is therefore more repeatable at will compared to other methods of lucid dream induction involving autosuggestion, dream signs, periodic reality checks, and so on. However it is also more difficult to implement due to having to be conscious the moment the body falls asleep. But like any activity that requires finesse, whether hitting a golf ball or parallel parking, it can be trained with practice.

When you have achieved this state, which Robert Monroe termed “mind awake, body asleep” then you are effectively on a launch platform for dreaming, astral projecting, scrying, remote viewing, healing, entity evocations, past life exploration, spirit releasement therapy, subconscious reprogramming, communicating with the higher self, etc. This state of mind, which some claim consists of theta brain waves overlapped with high frequency gamma waves, is the state from which most occult maneuvers are performed.

Mnemonic Anchoring

When the body has entered its melted tingly state, it is possible to anchor this mnemonically using some tongue position, breathing pattern, eye movement, visualized sequence of symbols, hand mudra, or command phrase. When the anchor is repeatedly associated with this state, later the anchor can be invoked to cause the body to reflexively enter the state, dramatically shortening the induction procedure. But creating the association takes much repetition. Theun Mares’ technique and the Silva Method employ such mnemonic triggers.

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Author: Montalk – Wake up World

Sacred Space – What Is It and Why Do We Need It?

In a recent conversation, a dear friend for many years asked me, “I wonder why it is that people need to hold this special view of what is sacred… why some things are sacred and others aren’t.” This is fascinating inquiry, one that invokes a number of subjects, such as the nature of healing, activism, our working definition of spirituality, and our emotional lives — all of which I hope to touch on here.

Sacred Space is time and space we set aside, or which spontaneously arises, to experience a depth, richness, and sense of meaning that usually escapes us in fast-paced everyday life when we are not as connected as we could be with our body, intuition, good thinking, compassion and empathy, and other emotions.

I imagine that many reading this article consider everything to be sacred. Some of you might even consider evil and suffering to be sacred, since the world is full of dark and light. For me, the word sacred has a definite earthiness to it, a sense of being here engaged in some ritual or activity connected with everyday life. Whereas, what is “divine” to me has more connotations with things ethereal, with a non-material influence or presence in our lives. We could say, in a sense, that what we consider sacred is a certain holiness of earthy things and what is divine is the holiness and immutability of invisible forces.

These are the loose definitions I’ll hold for this discussion, and if your meanings are different, no worries, just use your own words to substitute for what I have defined as “divine” and “sacred.” After all, I don’t mention these definitions to impose my perspectives, but for the opposite reason — so that you know what I mean, so that you can find your own meaning for what is discussed here. The point, after all, is not to get hung up on the words, but on what the words mean and the things and experience to which they point.

So, in a nutshell, we’ll consider sacred to be the presence of something “divine” in an embodied or earthy way. Yet, many of us still, unconsciously or not, hold some aspects of life to be sacred and others non-sacred. Some of us also maintain huge distinctions between what is sacred, what is spiritual, and what is not. No doubt, some of this separation has arisen from religious traditions that maintain God and Spirit to be separate from material existence, and certainly our everyday, mundane activities.

While I’m not here to tell you what is sacred and what is not, I am here to help you clarify what the word “sacred” points to in your own experience, or whatever word you might use to describe what I have called sacred, and then to consider how your perceptions, and divisions, of what is sacred might be holding you back from more richness, fulfillment, and joy in your experience.

Finding Meaning

So, let’s begin with positive sacred experiences. Popular sacred experiences might include spending time in nature, yoga and meditation practice, morning prayer, in church or a synagogue, tender love-making with your partner, a sharing circle, any kind of ritual or ceremony, or a healing session. Other sacred space moments might include feeding birds on a park bench, playing or reading with your child, watching a meaningful movie, making art, petting and cuddling with a pet, sharing deep feelings with a loved one, helping someone in need, giving someone your full attention, or saving a piece of nature.

All these experiences have something in common: we find meaning in them, and/or they make us feel good. If something isn’t meaningful to us or makes us feel not so good, we tend to push it away as non-sacred. So, either unconsciously or consciously, we tend to make a separation in our perception of reality. We separate “positive” experiences from “negative” ones, and we consider some things more meaningful than others.

Now, sometimes we consider ordinary reality less sacred not because it is inherently meaningless, but because we haven’t yet found the meaning in it. So, part of sanctifying what we consider less sacred aspects of life is finding meaning in them. This requires a change in perception and/or a change in heart. For me, this is a spiritual pursuit: finding meaning in what I have previously found meaningless by opening, or spontaneously being opened, to its wisdom. This does not mean making up stories about reality, not infusing meaning into things through denial, but finding real intellectual and emotionally honest meaning in my experience and the nature of reality. And this usually means letting both my heart and mind break open.

In particular, difficult emotions — such as anger, grief, remorse, guilt, and despair — is a domain I have found great meaning in over the years. I have found that when I stay with and welcome these difficult emotional states, they change, and change me for the better. In fact, my very welcoming them and feeling and expressing them allows them to change, allows them to truly transform me into more breadth and depth, so that I can keep my heart clear and open to the rest of life. So, all these emotions have become sacred to me, and they also allow me to experience more meaning and richness in the rest of what I consider sacred.

If we consider certain aspects of life not to be sacred, then we might hold them out of our hearts. When we hold parts of life out of our hearts we hold them away from our love and healing. Things I tend to want to hold outside of sacred are pollution, GMOs and toxic agriculture, dishonesty, and needless violence. And I confess, these are all still largely non-sacred to me because they desecrate the very fabric of life. But, if they spur more compassion, more revolution, more love, and more care for our environment, then they acquire some sacred value. And I do see that they inspire these qualities, however seemingly unnecessarily.

With this said, these industries don’t show enough transformational value, as with difficult emotional states, that I consider them worth keeping, at all. In other words, while they might elicit sacred internal moments, and sacred activism, they don’t create enough goodness in the world, and in fact, do great damage. And the good they do is only in the context of our trying to get rid of them! So, right or wrong, I do have a limit to what I consider good and “sacred.” What destroys the planet and our lives, with little redeeming value, is not sacred to me. With this said, destruction and death are natural, and sacred to me, but not when they are avoidable (largely by natural means) and go against the inherent wisdom of nature.

Love and the Sacred

So indeed, part of what is sacred relies on what we find meaningful and valuable. I find the Earth and its biosphere valuable. I find the proliferation of other species valuable. I consider clean water, soil, air, oceans, and forests valuable. So, I hold judgment over what injures these. And the sacred meaning I find in these negative influences is fighting against them and more deeply regarding as precious what they injure. I consider this gritty form of revolution part of the love revolution, as we protect what we have defined to be sacred. And since part of what fosters care for our planet involves feeling our anger and protection, our sadness and despair, these emotions increase our participation for what we love, for what is sacred. Love, then, is more than just a feel-good experience. And so is what I consider sacred.

When we can join what we consider non-sacred to what we do consider sacred, we join Yin and Yang, and we bolster the cycle of fertility and sustainability through ordinary activism, which is love in action.

For this reason, it’s important for me to keep my mind open to what I might be in denial of or blind to. For, if I misread part of reality and deem it evil when it is not — as certain religious and “spiritual” doctrines and edicts have done for too long, and I think many times in gross error — then I myself become a negative force. Discerning reality, therefore, is important to our sense of the sacred and our love. If I suddenly become aware of the great value of toxic agriculture, pollution, and mercenary greed, then I might be able to embrace these more and consider them sacred. So far, I have not found much grace, much sacredness, in these enterprises.

We can create an external space with similar qualities we want to cultivate inside us. And, we can bring qualities inside us that we want to see in the external world.

So, if you are torn up inside, find sacred space outwardly to help heal yourself inwardly. And if you are in chaos outwardly, summon your sustainable and enduring inner resources to the aid of the external moment.

Spiritualizing the Ordinary

A popular domain of the sacred is what many include in their definition of spirituality. Rituals, ceremonies, and gatherings of all sorts that we consider sacred are often held in a special space with special preparations. This has been the case for millennia in all cultures. Part of my struggle, however, has always been how to integrate the meaning and quality of attention common to these special functions and experiences into everyday experience. How to spiritualize “ordinary” life.

Indeed, many don’t even try to integrate “sacred space” in to “everyday space.” Their spiritual life is separate from everyday life. This creates a schism between what we consider sacred and what is not. I have never been satisfied with a spiritual life that does not directly and practically influence my everyday life, thereby spiritualizing the mundane.

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Author: Jack Adam Weber – Wake Up World

Short Lived – Why Constant Thinking Is Our Only Enemy

The enemy of my enemy (the mind) is my friend (pristine consciousness).

The design of all species is to function in concordance with life’s universal laws. Over eons of time a part of one of our most sensitive instruments (the memory-senses complex) took a mis-leading turn when it deceived its co-dependent partner (the pristine consciousness) into believing that the decisions being made by pristine consciousness are self-generated. This mis-understanding is easily corrected. It is the Intelligence (the mysterious expression of all that exists) – pristine consciousness affinity that will make us whole again.

The consciousness that we are presently experiencing is not our natural state. We live (for the most part) in our head (mind) where thoughts seem to be never ending. This is our foremost challenge to be resolved. The content of consciousness is mind and mind is the problem maker.

It is not possible for mind to correct what it is part of. A like thing cannot see itself. What mind cannot see, mind cannot change. Change can only come through transformation. Transformation is the seeing beyond mind. It is more apperception than perception. It is seeing through the Intelligence – pristine consciousness connection. This bonding is the prime-directive that guides human life. Our present state is more like a semi-hypnotic trance, a sort of twilight zone. What is responsible for this? Is it by natural design?

We are designed to do little thinking and only when there are utilitarian challenges. Between two thoughts there is a rest, similar to the rest that is between musical notes. Our rest is the state of being alert, aware. It has been spoken of as the state of wakefulness. We are to remain awake before, during and after responding to life’s challenges. This state was spoken of in past writingsas: “This above all, to thine own self (awareness) be true and it must follow as the night the day (constant awareness) thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Society tells us that mind is a terrible thing to waste. Mind does not see that its intrusion into the challenge-response process is responsible for its share of the break-down between brain and body’s irregular functioning. By design, it is not the function of mind to think and so have an opinion about anything. Mind is simply a uniquely marvelous and indispensable recording and storing instrument. It cannot have an opinion about its content in the similar way a home recording device can have an opinion about its content. From morning till night, why this never ending mind chattering?

When a challenge is discerned by the pristine consciousness, it will either respond or not. When there is a response, that response will be immediate. That Action or non-action in so far as the pristine consciousness is concerned, a cycle that has been fully completed.

There was a time when the pristine consciousness never had to doubt its responses to life’s challenges. During those times there were long periods of rest for both brain and body. Mind, (disguising itself as the pristine consciousness) has told us that Nature abhors a vacuum. We were told that “an idle mind is the devil’s work-shop.” Keeping busy is now considered the norm while the state of rest is seen as abnormal.

When mind does not intrude into the challenge-response process then the fully completed cycle ends and pristine consciousness remains in its awareness state. In that sense, thoughts are short lived. Mind’s sense of itself is in the constant imagery and chattering of words. When they disappear, you disappear. This is frightening to mind.

We are told that in order to end psychological suffering and act sanely, we first must quiet the mind. All efforts to end negative thinking are doomed to fail because that which is making efforts to be rid of thoughts (and only those mind doesn’t like) is another thought. It is similar to the dog chasing its tail and not seeing that it is part of itself. Thoughts vanish (both good and bad) when its modus-operandi is understood by the pristine consciousness.

Mind, in order to provide for and protect its continuous energy flow, is constantly involving itself with future goals, thereby laying the grounds for its never ending tomorrows. Without activity, mind starves. Thoughts need to be constantly fed and the energy (as food) of the pristine consciousness is what mind is always seeking. Mind’s survival depends on stealing lives (energy) and using them as surrogates for its dreams and desires. Un-knowingly pristine consciousness is making this offering by providing mind with its energy. This theft starts in the cradle and ends in the grave and all the while believing that it is our fulfillments.

Our present responses to life’s challenges are from answers previously given by others. Human beings cannot generate their own thoughts, only repeat what has been told to them by others. Choices (as free will) are just more deceptions of mind.

Living life is in the trusting (faith) between the Intelligence – pristine consciousness affinity. That life is ever-lasting. Where there is a wish to understand our present state, then that wish makes possible for the pristine consciousness to once again fall into its natural rhythm.

Mind cannot provide for that state. It is realized through the sensing of the pristine consciousness. So be watchful for life’s clarion call.

That calling is my wish for you.

WHAT IS is Intelligence, the mysterious expression of all that exists. WHAT IS is the Prime Directive, the Action arm of Intelligence that is the overseer responsible for the harmonious functioning of Nature. WHAT IS is pristine consciousness, the medium through which life expresses itself.

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Author: Harry Krueger – Wake Up World

How to Speak with the Earth and Awaken Your Consciousness

We have all heard stories of ancient civilizations – of temples, of priests, of sacrifices to the gods. We have heard stories of ancient wisdom traditions and their practices and myths. Yet, what if this cultural heritage has more to teach us than what has been discovered from an archaeological dig? What if our current interpretations – as perceived through western cultural affiliations – simply have not been sufficient to untangle the mystery of esoteric knowledge that these stories contain? What if the understanding that is truly available transcends time and space, transcends belief systems and even the structure of our own “conditioned” mind – a conditioned mind, which has been molded to receive and comply with overt and psychic messages of societal philosophy, form and function?

What if the world, as we know it, is a by-product of our conditioning? A conditioning which posits the framework of a limiting worldview upon the psyche – almost as though we were to wear a helmet with blinders connected to it; like, that which a racehorse would wear to keep out the distractions.

What if it is possible to regain this lost knowledge? What if it is possible to remember what we once knew, not from a book or a group of scholars but from the energetic field of the earth – from your own energetic field in which all wisdom from all times is contained?

What? Yes! Yes! Yes!

All wisdom from all time is contained in the energetic field of the earth – in your energetic field – in a timeless, spaceless matrix of vibration, that has even crystalized into who you are in physical form. You are a by-product of this energetic blueprint in which your very existence holds the key to a particular gateway of consciousness, through which you have the capacity to access all the wisdom contained therein.

This is Deep!

So deep, in fact, it is the birthplace of creation. The entry point into the Hunab-Ku – the Cosmic Butterfly; the Great Void; the womb of creation; the Heart of Madre Divina – the mother of existence, herself. Native traditions, the world over understood this depth, and their own materialization from “out” of the “within”. They understood their interconnectedness with life, they understood the cosmic ebb and flow of which they were a part. They understood the dance of creation, and they understood their role as custodians and travelers in and through this realm. They understood the intricate and subtle weaving together of the seen and the unseen world, which they were taught from an early age. In fact, they never forgot, since they were born into a world that remembered with them.

So, the Question Now Becomes: How Do We Remember?

The answer is a simple energetic of awareness. Where attention goes, energy flows.

We spend a lot of our attention units on making money, buying stuff, getting the perfect relationship, facebook, etc. And we receive back dividends from this attention exchange. Well, the energy matrix works on these same principles. Where we place our attention pays us dividends.

I Discovered This Process Through Sungazing — and I Was Super Surprised at What I Found!

My friend suggested that we sungaze every morning – like forever! I said, “I’m NOT a morning person – but I’ll try it for 6 weeks!” (BTW – now I AM a morning person). So, I began waking up before dawn and standing on the earth with my bare feet – looking at the sun for 30 seconds as it rose from the horizon. I held my hands down by my sides in an open position. I breathed the sunlight into my hands and into my heart and I felt the connection to the earth. Then I closed my eyes and continued to feel the connection with the sun – with its warmth, with its glow – and continued to feel the steadfastness of the earth. Note: Once I got connected to the sun, I realized that I could find its radiance even on a cloudy morning, or from bed, if I didn’t make it out of the house in time to catch it rising.

After several minutes of this connection, I sat down on the earth, placed my hands with my palms facing the ground, and began to flow energy, Love and gratitude to this vibrant, alive being – our planet. I would really feel myself connecting, all the way to the core of the Earth. I would say, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” and be present here, flowing my Love with the innocence of a child. I would do this for several minutes.

Then I would ask, where do you need my prayers? My attention would go to the ocean, or the trees, or mothers in childbirth, or the air, etc. I would then flow my energy, Love and gratitude to whatever would come up – one at a time.

How-to-Speak-with-the-Earth-and-Awaken-Your-Consciousness-FB

This Filled Me With So Much Energy That I Was Happy to Do It!

After a couple days, I started to feel an interconnectedness with all of life. After a couple weeks I started to hear the earth talking back! It was subtle at first. Just little glimpses of knowings, chills at certain moments of connection. But it evolved into complex teachings about the planetary system of our galaxy, the laws of the universe, the principles of giving, the laws of balance, thestructure of consciousness.

This is how I was taught that all wisdom was contained in the energetic field of the earth. I would often go to certain texts or ask people in certain spiritual traditions about the information that I had received. I would get confirmation after confirmation. I had the awareness that all of creation is alive – and that based on where we place our attention and focus, we can engage in conversation and hence, access the information contained therein, even if it’s with a mountain or with an eagle. When we give our energy – we enter the conversation.

This is So Important on So Many Levels!

Especially important in this time and space, with the social, economic and political climate in which we find ourselves! The earth needs us! She needs our listening, she needs our alignment, she needs our energy, she needs our responsibility, she needs our action in order for life to keep going!

Right now, humankind is in the midst of a dream, a conditioned reality – a dream created by collective belief and fed by the desire for power and control. But this dream is destroying the world that houses it! We need to wake up because a new dream is coming! It is being brought by the great messengers of the Cosmos, through our children, through our heart’s desires, through native prophesies, through a myriad of beings in the seen and the unseen world, through the planet itself!

This new dream is a dream of Love, of Peace, of Harmony, of Goodness, of Care for one another. It is a dream that is contained in a certain vibration – that we can step into instantaneously when our connection to the planet is repaired. When we give our energy, our Love, our attention, our actions, our words, our thoughts and our feelings to the service of the Earth and of one another, this repairs our connection and repairs our memory of the true nature of reality. It connects us once again with the wisdom contained in the energetic field of the planet.

We then experience directly, the wisdom of the past and the wisdom of the future. We then understand how to walk in the world without leaving a footprint. We then embrace the fragility of life and regain our role as custodians and caretakers.

We are Being Asked to Listen!

We are being asked to hear! For our own survival. So I invite you to remember! See what happens!

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Author: Karen Seva – Wake Up World

 

Does Positive Thinking Free Us From the Matrix?

On a bleak weekday of your spiritual journey you arrive home, full of stress and frustration, and open the mailbox. It is, as usual, full of advertising brochures. You are about to throw them all in the dustbin, but what you read on the cover of one of them raises your attention. You read the following:

Positive thinking makes you happy! Happy, because you can always look at yourself like you are looking at a miracle. Positive thinking is the magnet of happiness. If you think of something, you will start attracting it. If your thoughts are beautiful, you will attract beautiful things, whereas if you are looking at the world pessimistically, your whole life will be a tragedy. Change it, and you will be happy!

Yes, that is what is missing from your life: happiness!

You read the rest of the text on the page with interest, the five main points of positive thinking are:

  1. I am existing in this world in order to fulfill my mission.
  2. I achieve what I really want–I want things that are positive for me and advance me in life.
  3. In the course of my development I need practice, experience and insight.
  4. I am able to convert my negative emotions and thoughts into positive ones.
  5. I am capable of loving myself, even with my weaknesses and faults.

If you wish to experience these five points, your life will be happier, more wholesome and harmonic.

You are invigorated by what you have read, you believe that you are feeling alive, first time for several days, and the world around you is beautiful. You decide that from now on you will think positively, and with the power of positive thinking you will be able to change your life.

But is that really true?

Lets have a closer look at those positive thoughts:

I Am Existing in This World in Order to Fulfill My Mission

In order to fulfill our mission, we need to know in the first place what our mission is!

During our Spiritual Journey, our mind has set up a number of goals and objectives for us. We have often believed “yes, that is it, that is the real thing”, but finally we realized with disappointment that it was not the case. What is the guarantee that the new goal set up in front of us by our mind and positive thinking, will really change our life? We do not even have a chance to see that, as long as we seek for the mission of our life in the world of shapes and forms.

Still, this endless chase for unfulfilled desires is not entirely useless as, after a while we get tired on our Journey, and realize the futility of the eternal tread-wheel.

I Achieve What I Really Want – I Want Things That are Positive for Me and Advance Me in Life

This idea further refines the notion of our mission, as we are allegedly attracted to things that advance us on our Journey towards fulfilling our mission. Have you ever thought about whose ideas these really are, who wants to achieve advantages?

Even a brief self-analysis will reveal that these ideas are dictated by the Ego-dominated mind. As long as the glue of identification binds us to the mind on our Journey, these are in fact our own ideas, and they forge our ambitions. Where these ambitions take us is something that we have seen at the mind games. Sometimes we get so hopelessly stuck in the net of the world of shapes and forms that only the death is able to get us out of there.

But if we recognize the trap, we may even experience our disappointments on our Spiritual Journey in a way that the disappointments effectively dissolve the glue of our identifications. Positive thinking is therefore not primarily useful for us and our Ego-dominated mind, but much more so for the awakening of the Consciousness.

In the Course of My Development I Need Practice, Experience and Insight

From early infancy, we have been brought up with the concept that we are not perfect, we need to develop, we need experience and insight in order to be better and more perfect. That social conditioning is the reason why we almost all fall into the trap and we believe we are able to achieve perfection in the world of shapes and forms. The eternal law of shapes and forms is, however, that a specific form is born, it flourishes and then dies, to give its place to the new ones.

There is no place for eternal perfection in the world of forms and shapes, and we look for it in vain on our spiritual Journey. Insight and practice are necessary to the final experience that will make us recognize that perfection is not to be found in the world of the mind, in the world of forms and shapes, and it cannot be grabbed by our thoughts.

I Am Able to Convert My Negative Emotions and Thoughts Into Positive Ones

The technique of positive thinking is not able to change you. All that happens is that it suppresses the negative dimensions of your personality. Positive thinking does not mean more than relegating negative ideas, thoughts and emotions into the unconscious level of our mind. Once ideas disturbing us or others have been suppressed, we condition our conscious mind with positive thoughts.

Osho asserts that the problem with this solution is that our unconscious mind is more powerful, nine times larger than the conscious one. As soon as we relegate an idea down there, it will be nine times more powerful than it used to be. It will not be there in the old way, but it will find new manifestations.

If you suppress some negative idea or emotion, just because you find irritating, even you yourself may be aware that it is only self-deception. Deep inside you the suppressed idea of emotion continues to work, and at the conscious level of your mind you are trying to make it look nicer. On the surface you may smile, but this smile is only skin deep.

If you are able to exceed that situation, reaching beyond the mind, you will always be able to look at the process as an external observer, and realize that positive thinking levies heavy the burdens of suppressed, internal tensions on your personality. These suppressed tensions may burst out like a volcanic eruption one day.

I Am Capable of Loving Myself, Even With My Weaknesses and Faults

This love is perhaps not the unselfish love of accepting ourselves; it largely depends upon the efficiency of the implementation of the first five points. If I am successful in positive thinking, if I am able to use this method successfully in my life, I have every reason to love myself. If I am unsuccessful, the love of myself may easily turn into disappointment and despair.

The latter has, we must realize, a much greater likelihood than reaching altitudes never experienced before as a result of positive thinking. We may conquer one peak or two, but as we have discussed previously, in the world of shapes and forms not success but change is the permanent tendency.

Consciousness without Choice

As a conclusion we may say that positive thinking may render a good service to us, though not in the way we originally expected. The impossibility of implementing positive thinking in the world of forms and shapes and the failures rooted in it may shatter or quiet the Ego-dominated mind, and open up the way to the re-emergence of a new mental ability.

On our Journey, we must acquire a new Consciousness which is neither positive, nor negative; that of Consciousness, the Witness, the Spectator without having to choose. It is the Pure Consciousness, which will completely re-shape your entire life.

You will astounded to see that if you stay as a Witness in the world of shapes and forms, in the Consciousness without having to choose, as a Spectator, how intensively will something appear in your soul. Something that points beyond both positive and negative, something higher than both.

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Author: Frank M. Wanderer, Ph.D l Wake Up World

Synchronicity and the Secret of the Co-creator

Synchronicity: is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner [to the observer]. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.

If you believe synchronicity is simply coincidence, then you haven’t read any of the top experts in the field. The famous psychotherapist Carl Gustav Jung coined the term synchronicity in the 1920s to reference the alignment of universal forces with a person’s experiences.

These forces have been sought out for centuries in many spiritual traditions as a means of aligning with the “flow”. This usually takes years of disciplined meditation, study, ritual or by other means to navigate this journey toward a harmonic individuation. To some the search is inward for the self, yet for others it’s an outward search for spirituality.

My first experience with synchronicity was on March 21st at 3:03am which is the 3rd month, 3rd week, 3rd hour, 3rd minute or 3333, on the equinox and the moment of my birth. It was my alignment with the universal forces, the planet, space and time.

My awakening was also through no effort of my own and came by way of a supernatural encounter with an entity of light. It began my involvement with and research into the metaphysical nature of reality – I became “enlightened.” Because of this I have an inherent understanding of many esoteric concepts like the flow, the spirit, one-ness and even divinity.

My experiences are not entirely unique, but the way in which this window of understanding opened for me is. There was no journey, no explanation as to why – the knowledge was just revealed. Things that to many are never more than concepts and metaphors, I actually see as having real form. I’ve witnessed many paranormal phenomena unfold with me seemingly being the only connection. However, because of my earlier encounters I’ve never attributed much of it directly to myself. I’ve always sensed a presence around me. So unlike many others who seek the path, I feel that for some reason the source found me.

Being human however leaves me questioning: “Who or what is this presence?” Abilities like ESP, clairvoyance, telekinesis are all real along with the concepts of a sub-stratum or pre-space. But what is our connection?

In Jung’s book “Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle” it is subjective meaning that connects us. Without an observer (you) there is no mind, no synchronicity, no meaning. Thoughts connected to events, mind connected to movements of matter, absent of a cause (acausal). Thinking something before it happens, remote viewing, telekinesis, where do these abilities come from? Since scientists don’t accept the mind as a cause. How then do we prove any of this?

I say that we are using a flawed science because it is incomplete. Physicist, Dr. William Tiller proposes that consciousness is what’s missing from the equation. It’s the unifying integrator of all the individual constituents. Bohm says there is a hidden variable implying that neither relativity nor quantum mechanics should be accepted as a conclusive nor exclusive solution.

My research began with Carl Jung but for millennia prior to Jung man has experiencedsynchronicity. Theoretically it begins outside of our space-time in the flow where all knowledge exits and our material reality takes shape. It then unfolds into our dimension only to return back to the flow. This is described by David Bohms theory of “the implicate order.” However prior to synchronicity, ancient humanity used words like sympathy, harmony and unity.

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In the fourth century B.C., the Greek philosopher Heraclitus viewed all things as being inter-related, nothing is isolated and that all things are linked. Similarly Hippocrates said: “There is ONE common flow, a common breathing. Everything is in sympathy.” A bond – and even between inanimate objects. A form of animism or the belief that all matter has consciousness. This is a classic idea whereby separateness is an illusion.

Now what you should know is that Jung had a lifelong interest in and many experiences with the paranormal. Working with him was the Nobel Prize winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli who also had experiences with telekinesis. Catastrophic breakdowns of experimental equipment would inexplicably occur when he was around. It was often joked about, but other scientists feared his presence during experiments because it was commonly believed he was the cause. This is well known in physics as “The Pauli Effect.”

Together they helped pioneer the study of parapsychology. Others studying non-material or fringe science also advanced the field (sometimes unknowingly) by the very nature of their work. Pauli’s early work in quantum physics had a strong influence by changing how we think about matter itself.

A great example of good solid theory is Rupert Sheldrake’s “morphic fields.” He shows us how fields create relationships. Physicist David Bohm’s “Implicate and Explicate Order” as previously mentioned. Michael Talbot’s famous “Holographic Universe” or Physicist David Peat’s “Meaning and Form.” All of these hypothesize a substratum beneath our material and temporal reality. Much of quantum physics is competing theory and it’s the same with non-material science.

Consciousness itself cannot be scientifically quantified – there is no explaining it. Many believe it exists outside the brain, perhaps the Akashic field. Psi-fields, source fields, the flow, these are all conceptual dimensions bound together by abstract relationships. Where consciousness and matter are two aspects of the same thing. These are the domains of the trickster gods whereHermes and Loki conspire to fool us using mind, matter and meaning.

Although, I am in agreement with many of these theorists about some hypothetical matrix.

What is the Intelligence Behind the Curtain?

Since before recorded history humankind has recognized the existence of a greater intelligence. Ask any believer of any esoteric system and you’ll get many different answers. The spirit, God, the Goddess, Sophie, Allah, the Demiurge, The One. History’s greatest scientists came to this same conclusion. Einstein said: Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.

Max Planck the father of quantum physics said:All matter originates and exists, only by virtue of a force. We must assume behind this force is the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. Isaac Newton believed the universe was mechanical, set into motion by God and then left to run. There are others who believe that all existence is an emanation of God. Some don’t believe there is an external intelligence at all. This is not my belief!

What many of these theories and beliefs have in common, is that your own thoughts can alter the outside world in relation to you. Though, you alone are not the creator within the flow of the source field. You are simply part of the process. The biggest secret is not that there is a co-creator, but that it’s YOU! Ultimately there is a separate coordinating intelligence in control.

This is what causes events to coincide without your thoughts, like for instance, the moment of my birth: 3333. That’s why we pray or chant, recite mantras, sing praises and invoke – expecting a particular outcome. Deep down inside we’ve always known we were being watched, even in an empty room, we are never really alone. How many times do events align that seem so strange and statistically unlikely to have occurred by chance? They must originate externally. This means, that The Source or The-One controlling it all is out there and not within…

“Synchronicity is Gods way of remaining anonymous.” — Albert Einstein

Please note: This article was written using excerpts and concepts from the non-fiction book “Sin Thesis”,  written by author Robert Torres.

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Author: Robert Torres – Wake Up World

Creating Your Future – Arise Great Warrior, Arise!

Are you doing what you always wanted to do? Are you doing what you believe in? Do you live the life that was meant for you to live? From where do you seek approval? Are you looking inward?

There are millions of people around the world who eagerly wait the weekend every week, the summer vacation every year, and later on, long before the age of retirement, they fantasize about that good free time during retirement.  If you ask these people how much they like what they are doing for a living, they will typically answer that their work “pays the bills.”

On the other side of the river, there is a different community of people. When you ask them what they will do on the weekend or after they retire, they will simply state that they are already on an eternal weekend and timeless retirement, that their summer vacation and their vocation are both 365 days long every year. These people do not have to prove that what they are saying is true about themselves. Every time you meet them, they radiate joy and truth. They are content. They have time for others, not just outside their work time, but any time. Interestingly enough, all of their bills are paid and in fact, some of these people are financially rich.

The way of the heart is not limited to leading us to enjoyable and fulfilling work, it is also the way for making every major or minor decision in our lives.

Creating Your Future

You can cross the river from the cloudy, muddy and rocky shore to the shore of sunshine and green pastures. You can make that trip, just as not only famous people have done, but also as simple every-day people have done and are continuing to do every day. If you sense that there is something missing in your life, and you do not look forward to going to work when you wake up in the morning, your chosen vocation very likely does not fulfill your needs. And you can change all that.

First, there are several questions which need to be answered, because the answers will encourage and direct us towards the path we would like to be on. By examining critically the different causes which on a daily basis keep our bodies weak and tired, our minds confused and restless, and our hearts sad and fearful, we will learn how to avoid such a way of living and see the alternative, the green pastures on the opposite shore.

Next, we should examine how and with what materials we will construct our own boat to be able to cross the river. We can gain wisdom by meditating on the words of the wise people of the past. We can see how they also crossed the river, and we can be inspired by their examples.

What are the reasons why some people are so content in life while others are not? Why do some people seem happy when they are very absorbed in their work but lonely and miserable when they are away from their workplace? As for the people who are radiating timeless joy, not just at the work place but also everywhere else, were they born that way or did they become that way? How? What is the way of thinking that causes people to do work which doesn’t use their talents and which does not express their individuality, or their values and ethics? Where does this way of thinking – which enslaves people – come from? Is it possible to adopt a new way of thinking which will enable us to break loose from our enslavement?

Coming to know ourselves in order to create an enjoyable future is not a process that takes days, weeks, months, or a few years. It can take our whole life, but we should always remember that being on the right path and aiming for our distinct identity and distinct role in life is what makes us happy. Enduring and timeless joy is not found only upon reaching selfhood, it is planted and harvested in the process of trying to achieve it. You will have to act in order to place yourself on the right path towards self-realization.

From a Small Seed…

Take as an example a farmer who has just one olive seed in his hand. He looks at it, knowing it is strong and healthy, and he looks around and sees the majesty of nature. With awareness he accepts the fact that the same power that has brought him into existence has also provided the seed and the soil, the sun and the water. That is, the farmer knows himself; he knows who he is and what he has for use at his disposal. How wise that farmer is when he looks at the seed and he sees not only one, but thousands of seeds. That is imagination. Now he must take out the weeds and prepare the ground, and trusting the powers of the universe, he then buries the seed in the soil. Before he sees the grown tree and is rewarded with its precious olive oil, most likely he will often experience some fear and doubt.

How does he know if the weather will help the growth? How does he know if an animal will not eat the seed while it is in the ground? He must simply wait and believe for the best. He has no other choice but to act, and then wait. This time of waiting and wondering while the seed is buried in the ground could be the most frightening experience during the process.

Nevertheless, a farmer who knows himself and trusts other people for help if something goes wrong will enjoy the whole process, not just the olive oil he will obtain. He finds reward in every step he takes, from observing to preparing to gathering. At this point, the farmer has created his future; simply, in this case, he has produced his physical food. Finally, he will truly enjoy the product of his labor — the olives and the olive oil.

The same cycle of observing, preparing, and gathering will again take place the next year with even more joy and less fear. Now he has in his hand not just one seed but many.

It is essential to realize that this is our everyday life. We gather what we plant. If we plant in joy, we will gather it with more joy, and by knowing and trusting ourselves, the powers of the universe, and other people, we continue the cycle of planting and gathering with increasing joy and satisfaction for every new cycle of life-planning.

The Materialization of Fear

It is characteristic of our industrialized societies that it makes us lose our individuality, and so we become only a tiny part in the social machine. It is therefore of great importance that we keep in mind that such a way of living is foreign to human dignity and to our own happiness. By working just to pay our bills, we are missing the meaning of life. Sooner or later, we will have to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves, not for the sake of the machine but for our own sake, and therefore, for the sake of the whole world.

The increase in violence and environmental degradation observed in our days is the materialization of our unfulfilled hearts and unjustified fears. Only happy people, content with themselves and in harmony with others and nature, can lead the world to peace and environmental sustainability. The world needs more happy people. It needs more people who work using their talents, who earn their living by doing what they love, and are passionate about. These people have found their true self, peace, and joy. They are fulfilled and in harmony, knowing who they are and what they do in their life.

Spiritual Poverty

During my teaching experience at several colleges and universities in North America and Europe, I have met hundreds of students and I have heard their stories. The statement “I am working on this degree because of my parents” is so common and illustrates a degree of tragedy — because we should not live the unfulfilled dreams of our parents. Most of us mistakenly choose careers based on status, salary potential, or the pressure we receive from our well-meaning parents. Unfortunately, this is not usually what we are most capable of doing or what is the most fulfilling for us.

My heart goes out to all these young boys and girls who are filled with beautiful dreams and who need encouragement to fulfill them, and to all those people who already have a career but who would also like to make a transition to fulfill their dreams. I wrote these words for you.

Deciding early on the right training for the right vocation for healthy living in the future has now become even more crucial than in the past. There is an apparent trend in many work places for longer work hours, yet more people feel less secure now because many are losing their jobs overnight. But people who have realized their inner strength and unique talents can create or see opportunities for work any time, and stay above the water.

With every passing day, it is becoming more obvious that those who will have job security and peace in the future will not be those who are working for corporations; it will be those who have realized their inborn abilities and not just the skills acquired through education. As computers continue to replace more workers every day and as unemployment rises, people will be forced by the need for survival to do work much different than they were educated and trained to do. Thus it is crucial for people to become more active and decisive in seeking a personally satisfying career.

I myself had felt the urgency and had heard the clear inner voice years ago telling me to change the type of work I was doing, to go from research to teaching. I waited for many years before taking that little step onward, for reasons that each one of us would find very justifiable based on our world’s standards and fears. But our soul is eager to find full expression and to devote itself to serving others by using the gifts and talents that have been bestowed on us. Suppressing that force can lead us not only to inner turmoil and unhappiness, but even to the loss of our health. Not only was my mind in confusion and my mood bad day after day, but also my body was experiencing terrible pain. I was simply miserable all that time, trying to avoid the calling of my heart. I was in spiritual poverty and I was creating spiritual poverty for those around me.

Jumping Into The Unknown

Do we have to reach the bottom before we awaken and realize the meaning of life? It need not be that way. Quitting my role in government nuclear labs and jumping into the unknown transformed my inner life and influenced many of the people around me in a beautiful way. Searching for the truth and speaking it is our first vocation, and without it, we can never fulfill our destiny. Following the inner voice to abandon familiar waters and false security is no less than speaking the truth to the whole world and to ourselves.

The decision to work on what seemed to me as natural as breathing – teaching – was the best decision I could have made for my whole life span on this planet. To revise my career has been the most frightening experience I could ever have imagined; nevertheless, it has also been the most elevating and exciting experience that I could have possibly expected. I know that this is also true for many people who have dared to try the experiment.

The road to happiness is always the road towards the unknown. Our culture today promises security, but we know well that what we need is inner security, which comes only from knowing our true selves and from knowing our magnificent talents, potential, and abilities. The path we need to travel is not reached by receiving security from the work we do at the command of others, but instead, from the work we do at the command of our deepest yearnings for self-expression, by simply doing what we most enjoy. It is the way we can never fail.

Our motto should be, “We work for ourselves in order to serve others” instead of “We work for others in order to serve ourselves.”

After you finish reading these lines, what will you do about the calling of your heart? Will you postpone the day of your freedom? You are not alone. Ask the advice of a wise friend; it is the easiest and most inexpensive way. Or read another book on this subject. Perhaps, visit a counselor and pay attention to his/her advice. Attend a lecture or a workshop where an inspiring speaker could provide the spark you need to take the step. Usually speakers on this subject are people who have done just that in their own lives. At an early age, they may have stood up strong before family, friends and society to choose their own destiny, to do what they enjoy most, or maybe later in their life, they took the leap of faith to change careers and do what they really love. Allow them to transfer their flame to your heart so you can also take the leap of faith you need to take.

Just as a car needs to have gas in order to keep moving, you may need a good counselor, a good book, and a good friend to stand by you, inform you, and encourage you. But for a car to start moving, it needs a spark; even with the tank full of gas, it will not move without it. As important as the gas is, so is the spark. A great inspiring lecture or seminar will take you emotionally to higher places, but soon you will feel hopeless and flat again. That is why you must patiently and constantly strive for the change in your life.

Arise Great Warrior, Arise!

People without career satisfaction can hardly be in peace. It has been said that the grand total of peace in the world is the total sum of the peace of its people. For thousands of years, many cultures have used the olive branch as a symbol of peace and goodwill.

Wars will continue to take place, machines will keep breaking down, things will keep getting lost, and many people will keep becoming more fearful of the future. But butterflies will still keep moving from flower to flower, and the fragrance of basil and orange blossoms will still give inspiration to anyone of us who want to live with joy. Only happy people can lead the world to peace.

During your lifetime on this planet, you are like a warrior in a battle against all kinds of cultural barriers and spiritual wounds, which prevent you from reaching selfhood. Fear no more, for endless joy is your final end. You must “fight the good fight” in your lifetime in order for your inside to come into harmony with your outside. Therefore arise, great warrior, arise!

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Author: Andreas Toupadakis / Wake Up World