NATURE - THE ELEMENTS - THE BEINGS & WILDERNESS RAPTURE
AS SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION
Nature, when considered as sacred space is a preferred environment for the Hero/ine's journey. The Garden of Eden archetype holds all the polarities for finding the middle way and balancing the polarities; cold/hot, up/down, hungry/satisfied, thirsty/quenched, exhausted/rested, terrified/tranquil, night/day, sun/moon... Nature is a room with many doors and windows to spirit. It also offers possibilities for connecting with the elements, the "soft" fasciations and the non-talking beings for metaphoric messages and archetypes. This is the "yoga" of the "Eden" experience which can also occur walking in a garden, on the beach or in a park. Intention is the key.
There is a story about two Buddhists monks who were always debating one another. One of them stood in the portal of a doorway and asked his friend; "am I going in or am I going out?" His friend replied; "that depends entirely on your intention."
Dave Cumes
Wilderness rapture occurs when one goes into a nature (or on retreat) with as little between us and it, with an inner intention and for a more prolonged period (relative to the demands of life's demands.) Five days is ideal. This rapture occurs when we find equanimity and balance in a pristine environment and develop a more constant alfa brain rhythm or meditative state. One may only realize one has been in this state when one comes out of it and back to the real world when a reentry depression can occur. The sudden lack of the equanimity can be profound. This state also makes it easier to also connect with archetypes, including our own unique destiny archetype by awakening our day time insights and our dream time.
The Ancestors
When more intense this rapture may manifest as Maslow's "Peak Experience." This is in effect a mini samadhi or a state of Unity Consciousness or Oneness where the Observer (the initiate,) the Observed (say a sunset or power animal connection,) and the process of Observation all fuse into one thing.
Immersed in nature we suddenly ascend up the hierarchy of chakras and elements and are immersed - even if momentarily - in bliss. This is an unforgettable experience but unfortunately our cognitive minds usually try to rationalize it (or even later trivialize it) which takes us out of that precious moment.
Connecting with the elements and beings with chakra alignment. Ayin or Nothingness is the Oneness Experience
One cannot talk about the hero's journey without discussing some aspects of fear and stress. There are two kinds of stress; Eustress - good stress and the usual stress that causes distress. For some unique individuals challenges are eu-stressful rather than the opposite. Stress invokes a flight or fight reaction from our autonomic nervous system which also releases stress hormones from the adrenal gland. Adrenalin elevates our blood pressure and gives us the fear feeling - dilated pupils, dry mouth, racing pulse etc. Cortisone release in the long term can suppress our immune systems, our handling of insulin and glucose and can set us on the road to prediabetes if the stress goes unchecked. Sadly our modern style of living leads to an unhealthy burden on our bodies which requires we take active measures to conter it or we will more easily suffer the consequences of hypertension, atherosclerosis and even immune dysfunction. This is why meditative techniques - especially yoga, have become so popular in the west - not for enlightenment but for survival and stress busting.
The flight of flight reaction (which can also manifest as freezing or feigning death) is a primal, first chakra response that enables us to run away from a predator or invoke the other two "F's." Its not supposed to be part of our daily living.
When encountered in the Separation and Theshold phases of the hero's journey it is tailored to the reason for which it was created - self-mastery and personal growth. The army and other institutions use the response to good effect by manipulating; the time allowed for the exercise, increasing the danger and the consequences of failure, as well as keeping the participant ignorant of what is going to happen.
The causes of fear have been described as; threat to life or limb, the dark, the deep, the steep, the unknown and religious or superstitious. Interestingly, the most profound fear in groups subjected to challenging experiences especially in wild places is the threat to one's ego - to shame, possible recrimination or condemnation by the group.
If one is alone on the hero's journey the only one we are accountable to is ourselves so that a humbling and fearful experience can be profoundly helpful on the road to self transformation. One can take the journey without fearful encounters but some would say - no pain, no gain and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Others disagree.
However, there are other pathways to self-transformation and besides the archetypal hero's journey ...
Here there is a different fear paradigm the reversal of fearing the unknown but rather ...
getting to fear the known
which is holding us in a pattern of inertia, detachment, complacency and resignation. It also should involve the fear of the karmic implications of irresponsible and selfish patterns of living that our societies' mores seem more and more to embrace.
Often it takes a painful experience to alert us to this fear such as loss of a loved one, one's job or health. Getting through this can be abetted by nature but we can experience the hero/ine's journey outside of wild places, the elements and the other Beings besides ourselves.
Spiritual transformation, by going transpersonal, though often slower and less acutely focused, can be just as powerful though maybe not as dramatically noticeable. It is rather a gentle hero's journey with the same three principles of separation, threshold, incorporation that are subtle and often realized only in retrospect. Its a slow burn but has the potential to be longer lasting. Rather than going to the top of the mountain with the "helicopter" of a profound encounter and attaining the vision, it is a laborious sometimes painful walk to the top with many stumbles and backtracking along the path.
One of the challenges of the Incorporation phase of the Hero's journey is the fall - where our vision "falls" by the wayside. This can also occur on the slower transpersonal journey so one must be diligent and disciplined by not deciding to back away from the climb. The archetypal hero's journey may be more interesting if told around a campfire. Both, however, are just as valuable to self growth and are not mutually exclusive. The basic tenet of both is ...
The Ancestors
Click on the link to highlight then play and ponder
No comments:
Post a Comment