Establishing a New Paradigm

by Wes Annac -

When actually looking toward the Creation of a new paradigm and the establishment of a sovereign humanity based on the concepts of peace and collective harmony, I like many others see that there is much work to be done.

We can point to the biggest problems facing our world at present and it is pertinent to do so, to raise awareness of such things.

So many aspects of this world have run rampant and are out of control and yet, you will find the most Lighted of vibrations upon the surface of this Earth if the necessary positivity is employed, as this positivity will answer to and transmute negativity not just on a personal level but a collective level.

We can look toward the biggest problems and we can as well, look to the root or core of what’s causing and feeding these problems. 

What answer do we find?

In most instances, we find that the Earth collective has remained complacent to the unjust acts continuing to be fed on this world, and those who are suffering from these acts continue to experience things that no soul should have to experience. 

We see that most people are too stuck in their conditioned Lives and beliefs and the plight of the poor and suffering is ignored and for some, not even known of in the first place.

What a lot of people don’t know is that along with coming together to bring exposure to and repair the biggest problems facing our world, we can actually answer to the mass negativity ourselves by radiating our positivity out for the entire collective consciousness to benefit from. 

It has been discussed so many times that we are Creating our reality and that the collective energy determines what happens on the world stage, so why have we not began to rally the rest of the world to come together?

I am seeing in my mind’s eye, so many things we can begin doing to formally introduce (even more than we already have) the concepts introducing the New Paradigm we wish to build and achieve. 

I see video projects, campaigns, further protests against tyranny, further social networking campaigns promoting awareness of the falsities perpetrated unto our society as well as the existence of our inner-realms of infinite intelligence and understanding and so many other potential things.

Waking Up to Reality

I ask you to join me (and plenty of others who are pioneering this work) in calling for everybody to begin understanding the importance of waking-up to the reality before their eyes.

Despite the negative things that have been and continue to be manifested and fed on this world, the realities we can find by turning within and allowing our minds to merge with our hearts will show us that the actions of the cabals in continuing to orchestrate humanity’s feeding of division, separation and hatred on a mass level will no longer have any bearing in the higher states of consciousness our planet has returned to.

Even the cabals who are not apparently “contained” know that the time of their influence is up, yet they continue to remain in denial while harassing people with influence who openly speak up against them. (1)

What we need to introduce to the entire collective of humanity is that beyond the purposeful orchestration of a lower dimensional reality meant to seem concrete and unchangeable, lay realms of perception beyond what we would perceive as possible and in these realms, humanity is infinite.

Everything is infinite in the realms of higher consciousness, and we will find enlightened souls from all different planes of consciousness as well as different planets and Galaxies who have themselves reached the higher states of consciousness humanity as a collective is reaching.

Truly, nothing can stop us from reaching the realms of full consciousness we have already begun to anchor unto ourselves and I am of the belief that this will become apparent in the future; be it in this already-magical year or at another time. 

No matter what, the resistance against tyranny and the knowledge of infinite realms and technologies beyond the current perspective of humanity will prevail and the Forces answering those who would keep us down physically, financially and spiritually, will only grow in number and influence.

Unlimited Potential

The greatest thing about this movement is that it’s not limited to certain beliefs. 

You don’t have to believe what I do about Galactic beings or the specifics of their contacts with humanity, to agree that a New Paradigm is essential to be initiated as we have identified as a sovereign collective that the way our world has been run is not the way we wish to Live, as a collective or as individuals.

We will continue to spread our Light and the truths of the higher realms we are finding within ourselves and the entirety of humanity will begin responding to the initiation of the natural and necessary New Paradigm.

Won’t you join us in Creating it and increase the already-strong momentum?

(1)-Bill Brockbrader, Tila Tequila and comedian Katt Williams would be good examples of this.

wesannac.com

aquariusparadigm.com

cultureofawareness.com

Consciousness Aware of Itself

by Shirlee Hall -

Wake Up! Isn’t it time to honor who we really are? 

 Eons of time have passed and yet, pain and suffering continue. Isn’t it time to be serious and clean the waste from the body and mind accepting that you are far greater than ever imagined?

 Wouldn’t it be a relief and a joy to speak from your own direct insight and tell your own “story”?

Many people believe they will have ample opportunities to spiritually mature in future life experiences. Perhaps, that idea is the mind’s way of dismissing its fear of a body-mind death.

 Whatever appears is bound to disappear. The death that is sorely needed is to lose the false sense of self.

The goal is to awaken to the eternal Self and be the I Am Consciousness fully awakened in form.

This Self never dies. Who were you a hundred years ago? Who will you be a hundred years from today? All questions will cease once you awaken to your highest consciousness.

Happiness is knowing and being who you truly are…consciousness aware of itself. 

AWAKEN

Awaken and stop wearing the mantle of confusion, distress, lack and limitation. Humanity thrives on heresy. To be truth you must live as the authentic light that you originally were.

Awaken and you will no longer be adorned in loneliness or pain.

Awaken and you will have a new mantle to wear; a pure mantle of beauty and understanding recognizable by its cosmic vibration.

Many are passing through the fires of alchemy. 

 You can be strong and confident in your authenticity regardless of what is happening but…it requires direct insight.

Through firsthand insight with your true Nature, you will approach the still waters of understanding and be your own savior. A fierce battle is in our midst. 

Serious challenges are one of the many methods to force us to realize that we already have freedom. We do not have to acquire it.

 Liberation is to acknowledge a faith and conviction that you always have been free. You simply have forgotten assuming your body and mind was the real you. It is not!

Humanity as a whole prevents the light, the God seed within, to live. Prevention is laziness, doubt, fear, inattentiveness, self-abuse and failing to exercise analytical thinking.

The real you is timeless! 

 It already is unlimited and totally free. It is the lack of inner knowing that has created shackles of bondage by self-limitation. Go back to Reality!

Physical life is a dream that we can control through self mastery. The greater your true understanding, the more powerful is your ability to serve others.

 Be determined to achieve mastery of the body-mind and stop the suffering once and for all.

What helps is to accept the I Am Consciousness and speak from your own experience. 

Love is the quality to BE. 

 Be one with your true Awareness which gave birth to the levels of creation and consciousness. That is all you can do. This is an ultimate state that you can consciously connect with.

Why keep punishing yourself by perpetuating a damaging dream of separation and suffering?

You can be authentic love in action as your deathless Self…the I Am Presence.

 You will recognize in a spontaneous moment of realization, when the changing of the mantle, occurs. You will feel a lightness, an inexplicable joy, a divine knowing and a loving unity that transcends description.

Perhaps, you will experience a symbolic vision as given to me. A radiant coat of light was ceremoniously offered.

A question for you. Who presented the radiant coat of light?

 Was it the I Am Consciousness that is part of me and is yet Impersonal or another intelligence and luminous being? How would you explain the purple living light creating spirals forming a Circle yesterday? Thousands and thousands of people see similar visions. 

Visions are symbolism but the point was well made and the moment realized. Light is Impersonal and available to all of us.

When the newness clothes us in Its splendor, we are becoming consciously awake. 

It is what we authentically ‘are’ that uses visuals to ‘break’ through the hard shell of our conditioned nonsense. ‘Experiences’ are still phenomenon. We must eventually move higher returning to the essence of our original ‘face’.

behealedforever.com

What the Heck Is the Matrix?

by Keith Varnum - 

The question alone invites intrigue and wonder. There are no barriers to the expression of this energy and there are no limitations for it. The limitations are in your own mind and with practice you transcend these limitations.

The Matrix goes by many names.

The Morphogenic Unified Field. The space-time continuum. The Wave. Oneness. Grace. Home.

Some scientific. Some mystical. All magical!

Why? 

Because the mere mention of the word opens doorways! Doorways that can’t be easily shut once cracked ajar. Not because you aren't able to re-seal the portal. You just don't want to.

Once someone's glimpsed the City of Light, you can't get 'em back to the farm! The game is too exciting. The adventure too electric. The journey too enticing.

The Matrix is the master blueprint of the Universe.

The energetic infrastructure of the world we live in.

Our human structures aren’t built with wood and nails. Our physical world is created with energy and beliefs. Condensed energy is the basic construction material. Our beliefs nail this energy in place. The result is the Matrix.

Find a way to enter the Matrix and you can re-construct your world!

Why would you want to do that?

Well, your daily existence may not be all that you want it to be. You might want more abundance, ease, health or joy in some aspect of your life.

How do you enter the Matrix to change your world?

This is the main purpose of all scientific and spiritual endeavor. This is the focus of every complex experiment and ancient ritual.

Cracking the entry code of the construction of the Universe is the goal of all modern technology and of all sacred tradition.

Eureka!

The scientist has found a break-in point via quantum physics! The mystic has discovered an entrance via deep meditation! And guess what, Dorothy? We aren’t in Kansas anymore!

These two vastly different approaches to the same goal bump into each other in the "middle distance." Strangers in the night. Lovers in the Light. What a surprise. Dare I say shock!

In fact, only recently have the two exploratory missions begun to recognize their similarities—in method and in result.

Time to Lift the Veil

We haven't recognized the common elements between the scientific and the spiritual methods because of the core secret nature of the Matrix itself.

The Matrix is veiled! Concealed. Hidden behind centuries of dusty and rusty beliefs!

A Matrix explorer has to see through the misleading surface appearance of the way the Matrix shows up in the explorer's world!

Once you can sense the true inner nature of life beneath the outer forms, you see the commonality of every effort to penetrate the Matrix.

You feel the unity of all approaches to understanding life. You realize the oneness of all attempts to find human happiness, health and harmony.

And you see that not only is everyone actually using the same fishing line, they’re catching the same fish! No matter how different the surface appearance of the catch.

You see all parties crossing the same finish line. No matter how distant the location in space.

You see that they all value the same bottom line. No matter how divergent their expression of success.

You see Einstein and the Elders eating the same bagel. A round symbol of the movement of all life. A representation of the essential nature of the Matrix. - A spiral of free-flowing energy!

Our intention to have a bagel focuses free-flowing life energy into condensed physical matter with the label "bagel."

The Key to Unlock Miracles

The key to merging with the Matrix is becoming fluid enough to flow into the Matrix energy field. Once there, your experience is transformed into whatever your current harmony is.

You can become this flexible and malleable by many means, modern and ancient. Your inner guidance or intuition, can lead you to the perfect portal for you!

A new very fast, sure and permanent way to enter the Matrix is via an approach called the "Matrix Energetics." process. (the way energy works in the Matrix) If you’d like to know more about this gateway, click here.

thedream.com

The River of Yes

by Nikita Gearing -

The River of Yes is about moving in harmony and peace with the flow of Spirit. It is about moving in your life with Divine guidance.

It is about the ‘Simple and Easy’ path and about living and creating from a place of effortlessness. The River of Yes is a way of being that supports Personal and Spiritual Awakening.

What is the River of Yes?

It is a state of Being, a daily choice to listen to Divine guidance. It is primarily about your personal relationship with Spirit/Source, God/Goddess, the Unlimited Divine Creator.

The River of Yes is about being present in each moment, being conscious, aware and connected with an open Heart to the Divine within.

It is living and acting from a place of Surrender to the Divine guidance and ‘Saying YES’ to listen, receive and live this Divine guidance. 

It is about allowing the Awakened place within you to inform, direct, assist and guide you as you move and create your life.

The River of Yes is about saying a personal YES to the unlimited, Eternal, Abundant, Sacred Presence within you and allow this presence to flow through you into your life and into the world.

Does Saying Yes, mean I have to say yes to everything presented to me?

Simply said, No! The River of Yes is about becoming in tune with the Divine guidance within. This is what you are saying YES to, to listen and follow this guidance, it is not about saying yes to every outside circumstance or situation. 

It does not mean that you say yes to everything presented to you in the world, however it does mean that everything you are presented with, your say YES to release your resistance and judgment and then to tune in to your Divine nature and listen to this guidance. 

It means you look at yourself, your life and the world through the eyes of the Divine and say YES to find this Sacred space within each experience you are journeying.

The River of Yes means that you are saying YES to listen and act upon Divine guidance in relationship to that which is being presented to you. It is about allowing this Conscious unlimited, Divinely connected place within you to guide you in relation to how you relate to the world.

This River of Yes is about listening to the Sacred Truth within you and following this path.

Releasing your Judgments and moving into the Flow

The River of Yes is about releasing your resistance and judgments and seeing through the eyes of God, of Peace, of Oneness.

It does not mean you agree or approve of every situation but it means you allow the situation by releasing your judgment and thus from a clear space you can ask for guidance as to how to deal with the situation. 

This then allows the healing pathways and solutions that serve you and those involved to be created.

Manifest the Life You Love

By ‘Saying Yes’ to listen, receive and surrender to this sacred Awakened place within, you allow this place to guide your actions and creations within the world, which then supports you to manifest the Life you Love and your Hearts Bliss.

The River of Yes is an understanding that within you is a place that is unlimited and connected to Source, Mother/Father God/Goddess and knows the highest path for you, and your Awakening.

The River of Yes is a way of Being and a path to living a Conscious Life, Awakened, Aware and Free.

nikitagearing.com

5 Keys To Awakening

by Leonard Jacobson -

The most fundamental key to awakening is to become more present in your life.  Then you can be unconditionally loving and accepting of yourself at the level of personality. This includes all those things you would like to change about yourself.

FIVE KEYS TO AWAKENING:

1. Identify and Own 

Jealousy, possessiveness, control, judgment, helplessness, inadequacy, blame, guilt, uncertainty, arrogance, expectation, resentment, anger, sadness, frustration, dependency, just to name a few.  

To want to change any of these qualities in yourself is a subtle rejection of them, which is not unconditional acceptance. 

Just identify and own all of these qualities, as they arise within you. Hide absolutely nothing from yourself. Own all of these things.  

Be willing to accept that at the level of mind and ego, this is who you have become. 

The more you own and accept, the more will be revealed to you. The more you are loving and accepting in this way, the more you will become grounded in watchfulness and in Presence. 

2. Allow your emotions full expression

There are many emotions from the past which you repressed, for good reason then. But they want to be released, so it is necessary to find an opportunity to release old emotions like anger and sadness.  

Once released, they will be gone forever. 

As new emotions arise, allow them full expression. If you are angry, then yell and shout, or beat up a cushion. If you are sad, then cry. 

It is important to take full responsibility for your emotional reactions. No one is to blame for them. They are coming from your past which you are projecting onto the present situation.  

Do not express your anger at the one you believe has angered you. Just beat up a cushion imagining it is the one who has angered you. 

If you are total and unconditionally loving and accepting of your anger, it will reveal its secrets to you. 

3. Confession

This has nothing to do with the Catholic idea of confession. You have not committed any sin which needs to be confessed in order for you to be absolved. There is no need for forgiveness. 

If you confess these qualities to some one who is absolutely non-judgmental and who is fully present, it helps you to own the quality to which you are confessing. 

In your confession, you are saying 

• "This is me. This is who I have become. I am possessive and controlling." or 
• "I am blaming." or 
• "I always get angry when I don't get my own way." or 
• "I will not allow myself to get too close to people because I am afraid I might be rejected." 

By confessing it and owning it, it is released and you are freed to the level of Presence, where none of these qualities exist. 

They cannot exist because they are not a part of your true nature. They exist only at the level of mind. 

4. Accept full responsibility for yourself

This will release you from the world of expectation, resentment, blame and guilt. 

It will lead you into total freedom. 

5. Let go

Dance. Lose control.

leonardjacobson.com

The Way of the Phoenix

by David Karchere -

Upon the death of the monarch in many European nations, this statement is often made: The king is dead. Long live the king. If the monarchs involved are female, the statement is modified to this: The queen is dead. Long live the queen.

These declarations address the physical death of a monarch who is head of state. But the same statement might be made related to all the little deaths that occur in the life of any individual—all the times in a person’s life when who they have known themselves to be dies in favor of the new person they are destined to become.

This is the Way of the Phoenix that rises from the ashes of what has been. 

This is the way offered by Emissaries of Divine Light. This program is offered by people that have gone past the death and the dying of the old in their lives.

Together we are part of a cycle of experience that has gone past our own collective death to rise from those ashes and fly in the air of awake consciousness.

It is a rare person who has the experience of having their old world and their old identity challenged by life to the point that who they have been dies and who is then not obsessed with the drama and the tragedy of what has passed away.

It seems so easy for most to lament what is no more, to become nostalgic about it and to resent what seems to have been taken from them.

The life of the Phoenix is never about the ashes. 

This is the story of the risen Christ—not just Jesus, but the Cosmic Christ within all people. It is the story of the spiritual reality that carries on after the death of what has been.

Yes, there is an old reality that disintegrates. But awareness can ascend and there is a state of consciousness past the veil that keeps most people earthbound, without the spiritual awareness that is natural to the Phoenix.

Under the veil, there are all the aspects of common human behavior and experience. 

There is human trying and, along with that, there is human spiritual practice and human goodness. A person ascends through that veil when that experience breaks.

Who they were as a person who is trying to become something that, in their heart, they believe they are not, dies. Ascending through the veil, they are entering the joy of the reborn king or queen who embodies the reality of the Cosmic Christ in life. 

I understand that, to many, it is not obvious what is happening for Emissaries of Divine Light. They cannot see the Phoenix flying above the veil, high in the air of spirit. But that is exactly what is happening and it is miraculous.

I think of all the remnants of the spiritual teachings that went before us, whether you call it religion or spirituality or even our own spiritual teachings from out of the past.

Some of those teachings are useful as a point of reference for the Way of the Phoenix.  The excitement is being in the fresh teaching now. And when I say teaching, I do not just mean what someone might say in a classroom.

I am speaking about participation in the evolving consciousness of Being and then having the opportunity to bring that experience to other people and invite them into it. 

The thrill is to be in that and to let the creativity, the intelligence, the inspiration of Being flow through. That is the real teaching.

There are remnants of that teaching left as we go along, and there are remnants left from enlightened teachers who went before us. Those remnants can be useful in various ways, depending upon the clarity of them and the relevance to the situation we are in. But we are here for the fresh teaching now.

I am filled with the wonder of what we have the opportunity to do and what we are bringing to the world. By its nature it uses form, but it is not a form, so it is not a religion. It is not even spirituality. It is just Being.

It becomes a spiritual teaching, or it could become a religion, but in its essence it is not all the forms it becomes.

Yet we create forms that give a context for people to be in, so that they can experience something deeper and higher themselves. But within the form, the magic is the inner thread of unfolding meaning that is within us and within all creation.

There is the wonder of Being that knows no end. 

And yet there is a veil in human consciousness. That veil includes limited religious beliefs and spiritual practices that are substitutes for the flight of the Phoenix. They may be from the East or the West.

Some of those beliefs and practices are clearer windows for the truth of Being than others.

Yet none of them are an adequate substitute for primal spirituality, which is the Way of the Phoenix.

Primal spirituality is when you die in your life and you keep going; when everything you thought your life was about dies and you keep moving and find that life did not die and you are alive and love is alive.

You are just moving into something else and it is not even about the death; it is about the continuance.

It is about the eternality of life as you are knowing it and as you are living it and the beauty and the wonder of that. And then the fact that all that you thought was so essential could die and you did not.

I am not a negative person by nature, so I am not advising anyone to go into negative experiences for the sake of doing it. I am just saying that in life there is spiritual teaching but the ultimate teacher is life itself.

Life is teaching us all the time and in that teaching, life is breaking who we have thought ourselves to be so that the greater reality of who we are can come forth and we can know that we are not that persona that broke. 

There is an inner eternal reality that is perpetually and eternally strong and beautiful and wondrous, that never breaks and that never dies and that is who we are.

We are the Phoenix.

emissaries.org

The Dark Night of the Soul

by Dillon Shelton and Ronya Banks -

Spiritual seekers, beware! 

The path to enlightenment can be both rewarding and treacherous. Many great spiritual seekers throughout time described how their spiritual practices underwent a time period(s) laden with darkness, despair, fear, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness.

This concept was originally coined the “Dark Night of the Soul” by St John of the Cross, a Spanish poet and priest in the 1500’s. References to the Dark Night can also be found in Buddhist, Kundalini, Pagan/Occult, Christian, Jewish and Islamic literatures.

"In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning." --F. Scott Fitzgerald

So, what is it? Will I experience it? Is there any way to avoid it? And, if I find myself in this stage, how can I traverse it with the least amount of suffering possible? 

 The answers to these questions follow…

The Dark Night of the Soul alludes to a stage of one’s spiritual journey wherein all familiar spiritual feelings and concepts of God and/or stable conceptual constructs drop away into obscurity, leaving the seeker in a state of profound emptiness and confusion.

This is purported to be the true beginning of the path to union in love with the Divine, and/or relinquishing the ego’s grasp.

"Puts the sensory spiritual appetites to sleep, deadens them and deprives them of the ability to find pleasure in anything. It binds the imagination and impedes it from doing any good discursive work.   

It makes the memory cease, the intellect become dark and unable to understand anything, and hence it causes the will to become arid and constrained, and all the faculties empty and useless. 

And over this hangs a dense and burdensome cloud, which afflicts the sou, and keeps it withdrawn from the good." --St. John of the Cross

If you have a daily meditation practice or other complementary contemplative practice, you need to educate yourself on the Dark Night stage.

In this case, ignorance is not bliss and can even be detrimental to your mental health. 

Britton, a researcher from Brown University’s Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, is presently studying the difficulties that frequently arise for practitioners of Buddhist meditation.

As she collects empirical evidence of many practitioners, she is appalled at how meditation practice is being marketed to the public in America: as little more than a stress-reduction or relaxation technique. But Britton argues that stress reduction and relaxation are more like side effects than what meditation actually was designed for:

“Meditation comes out of contemplative religious contexts where the goal is — however you want to call it — liberation, awakening, enlightenment; some kind of radical transformation of consciousness. 

So I don’t think that it would be surprising to hypothesize that if you practice meditation, it will actually produce some of the consequences that it was designed to produce: a radical transformation of consciousness. 

A lot of people are very surprised when their consciousness starts to change, because that’s not what they signed up for. They signed up for stress reduction“.

Many who have traversed the dark night of the soul stage will most likely tell you something like: “It really sucked. I thought I was severely depressed or losing my mind or needing anti-anxiety meds.

When I got through it, the fog lifted and I’ve had a clarity of mind and a deep presence of unshakeable peace and joy that have now become my birthright”.

Daniel Ingram, an outspoken Vipassana Meditation aficionado and Hardcore Dharma teacher has become vocal about equipping Insight Meditation practitioners with knowledge about The Dark Night of the Soul’s stages (also described in Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw’s description of the Progress of Insight).

Stages and experiential descriptions:

• Dissolution:

Meditating gets harder; concentration wanes; easy to get lost in stories and fantasies; posture can worsen; physical pain during sitting can be prevalent; Ingram calls this the ‘couch potato stage’ due to a general lack of motivation.

• Fear:

Clarity and intensity begin to return; physical distortions can be experienced on the cushion – characterized by general feelings of unease, paranoia, fear, anxiety, etc.; may experience unsettling visions.

• Misery:

Unshakable sadness and loss; the ultimate truth of the Three Characteristics (un-satisfactoriness, impermanence and no-self) is tearing down our preconceived notions of self and world; this can cause intense grief; attention continually grows more panoramic;

• Disgust:

Seemingly impossible to focus attention; easier and easier to get caught up in our ‘stories’; general feeling of disappointment, torment, and frustration with our repetitive minds and an unsatisfactory, impermanent world.

• Desire for Deliverance:

Longing for release; tendency to look for solutions in our ordinary lives to no avail; experience of hypersensitivity to an incessantly noisy mind; even more intense frustration with it all; powerful urges to renounce or go on a spiritual quest; through it all, determination to move along the path arises.

• Re-Observation:

“The Wall”; all previous stages manifest together; intense aversion to sitting; high levels of restlessness and confusion; feelings that progress is impossible; non-stop chatter in the mind; disenchantment with life, sex, money, relationships, morality, etc.; more subtle levels of emotion are experienced and can be overwhelming; rare but possible-this stage can manifest in ways very similar to mental illness; ie. Psychotic breakdowns, delusions of grandeur, clinical depression, etc….

3 Characteristics of Existence

The lessons we have to learn during the Dark Night are crucially intertwined with directly experiencing and embodying the three characteristics of existence: un-satisfactoriness, impermanence and no-self.

The grief and sadness one may feel during the Dark Night is directly correlated to the death of the ego.

 Even though Ego-death is part of what we are trying to achieve through investigative meditation, when it begins, it isn’t that easy. 

As the characteristic of no-self becomes clearer, we often mourn the loss of the “Self”.

Fortunately, not everyone has a hard time with the Dark Night. Some go through it without any troubles at all. No matter the difficulty of the territory, the Dark Night stage must simply be experienced.

“Underlying great doubt there is great satori, where there is thorough questioning there will be a thorough-going experience of awakening.” --Hakuin

Given that I, Ronya, was stuck in this Dark Night Territory for nearly two years after a Vipassana Meditation retreat, here are some tips I learned that greatly supported me and continue to help others get through this difficult period:

• Realize that you are NOT losing your mind.
• Do not run and go on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds unless you are dangerous to yourself or others…. try to meditate your way through this stage.
• Do NOT stop meditating!!!!!! No matter how hard it gets (rolling up of the mat period)!! In fact, practice more.
• Go on an intensive meditation retreat.
• Open yourself to each stage and experience everything as fully as possible.
• Mentally name & note each state/sensation…note, note, note!
• Don’t take it personally.
• Remember, everything – including this stage is impermanent and will not last forever.
• Get the support of your sangha, or spiritual group.
• Get the guidance and support from a skilled teacher in your lineage who can help you navigate the dark night.

Oftentimes in life, the greatest rewards follow our most difficult challenges. There is a beautiful light to be experienced at the end of this tunnel.

Do not fear or expect this stage. But, if you do find yourself in it, rejoice!

Entering the Dark Night is a sign that you are making progress in your spiritual practice.

Plus, as soon as you come through it, you will most likely be rewarded with a positive personal transformation, as well as the skills to deal with life’s future difficulties with much more ease and grace.

Resources: 

“The Progress of Insight” (Visuddhiñana-katha) by The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw
accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/mahasi/progress.html 

Daniel Ingram’s website; a ton of useful info here on the territory and skillfull ways to traverse it:
interactivebuddha.com/index.shtml 

Ingram’s book “Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha”, an invaluable resource for anyone on the path:
interactivebuddha.com/mctb.shtml 

Two wonderful interviews conducted by Vince Horn for the ‘Buddhist Geeks’ podcast:
buddhistgeeks.com/2011/09/bg-231-the-dark-side-of-dharma/buddhistgeeks.com/2011/09/bg-232-the-dark-night-project/ 

‘The Dark Night of the Soul’ by St John of the Cross:
catholictreasury.info/books/dark_night/index.phpccel.org/ccel/john_cross/dark_night.html 

An interesting article on one man’s interpretation of the DNoS:
beyond-karma.com/awakening/dark-night-of-the-soul/ 

A very touching account of Mother Teresa’s DN:
firstthings.com/article/2007/08/the-dark-night-of-mother-teresa-42

ronyabanks.com

Becoming One with the Oneness

by Julie Redstone - 

We do not have to ask ourselves whether we are breathing because breathing is not a concept. It is a perceived sensation and automatic action within the body.

In the same way, Oneness will become felt within the body not as an idea but as a sensation - a perception of the same degree of reality as breathing brings to our physical senses.

The doorway is open.

The passage has begun. 

Each consciousness that is willing can become more attuned to the underlying reality that is growing within human awareness.

Let love extend further beyond the limits of the smaller self and its particular likes and dislikes and you will open the door further.  

Forgive everyone and you will take another step.

This is the time of awakening. Blessings.

lightomega.org

To Be In the Body but Not of the Body

by Jeanette Amlie -

We will never be free of our identification with the body as long as we are afraid of the body. We must learn how to be in the body but not of the body in order to fully awaken during our incarnation.

Early life conditions that generate developmental and complex trauma tend to encourage the child to disassociate from the body because of distressing sensations that are not being attended to by our caregivers, for whatever reason.

This causes the conscious Soul to not fully embody and identify with the body totally. 

Over the years the pressure from this internal conflict of not feeling comfortable in our own skin compels many people to pursue spiritual practices that achieve altered, expanded and disembodied states of consciousness.

Trauma therapy sees this state as dissociation and seeks to help the individual become re-identified and grounded within the body in order to live a “normal” life. 

Spiritual practices seek to help the conscious Soul to realize that it is not a body and to regain the natural state of oneness with All That Is. 

Yet spiritual practices often fail to understand that as long as a being is afraid of their body they will never be able to totally dis-identify with it and will likely experience extreme vacillations between expanded and collapsed states.

Through directed self awareness I have been able to witness that a similar state of expansion happens with both dissociation and awakening, the difference being whether it is prompted by fear or relaxation.

The goal then is not to eliminate the expanded state but rather to uncouple it from the fear that was the early catalyst for it arising in the first place.

So what if the very experience of early life trauma primes the incarnated Soul for potential awakening? 

What if we have a greater proclivity for conscious awakening IF we are able to uncouple the experience from the survival fear that initiated it in the first place. In some instances it is facing the fear of imminent death that finally and potentially permanently breaks the link between consciousness and the survival/fear response.

Our ability to learn to calmly witness our somatic sensations, including dissociation, without judging them or getting lost in them is the doorway to uncoupling them from the fear that fuels the egoic cycles of expansion and collapse, thereby facilitating our conscious awakening.

Then we truly can be in the body but not of the body.

blueearthawakening.com