UNCONVENTIONAL FORMS OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

NATURE #2

Wilderness (or Nature) Rapture

For an inner experience we should go into nature in silence and reverence as one would do going into a temple. One cannot expect to experience the benefits with ear pods tuned into music or incessant talking. We need to surrender to silence and listen with all our senses, even taste. There is a greater appreciation driven by our thirst and effort when we really taste and enjoy water or our snack and can be in the moment with how they nourish and give pleasure.

We can connect with the Soft fascinations which include; sunsets, sunrises, moon-sets, moon-rises, the subtle smells and aromas and the sounds or mantra of the bush. When we immerse for longer periods we can entrain with the daily and seasonal cycles as well. 

"It was only when the while man came that wilderness existed."  Luther Standing Bear

Indigenous peoples were and still are a part of nature – we are apart from nature. We have to prepare and know before we go! 

When we venture into wild places we make all sorts of preparations to go out and look forward to coming back to our creature comforts. 

The force of the primal self, manifested as love is the glory of God. Those who awaken it in others and nurture the nurturers glorify Him.

When we re-encounter our original, indigenous or primal self apart from our religion, culture, education, and conditioning - this “self” can become closer to the real Self if we immerse in nature with respect and awe. Adopting some form of primal consciousness can help us to find spirit in nature.

 

“Somewhere beyond the walls of our awareness, the Esau side, the hunter-gatherer side, the seeking side of ourselves is waiting to return.” L. Van der Post

Encourage going primal – take off our shoes, even sleep around a fire on the earth to “ground” oneself or for “earthing.” Connect with the Mother’s electromagnetic field. The total experience requires shedding or peeling away the inhibitory layers of civilization with takes time.

The effects can be profound. Not only may our dreams be enhanced but we may get intuitive messages in awake time as we walk the deserts, mountains or valleys. As nature meditates us we become more congruent with our true Selves and more coherent with any fellow travelers, with the field of nature around us and the cosmic Field above us. 

 

 “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness…”  Isaiah 

Spiritual masters have frequently gone into the wilderness to Self-realize, sometimes for as much as 40 days and 40 nights. The Native American vision quest is also a way of connecting with the quest for one’s sacred work and destiny. 

The Creator wants a personal relationship with each one of us. Kabbalah teaches that God is playing hide and seek but no one wants to play. Nature is a powerful place to find one's-Self in the plethora of His/Her creative masterpiece. 

 "Play in the exultation of the extraordinary. M. Buber

Its good to remember that we are connecting with the Earth Mother archetype which is feminine, so that a more receptive feminine approach will go a long way in the experiencing.

"Search for me and you will find me. Seek me with all your heart and I will let you find me" Jeremiah

 We are all capable of hearing the soft almost silent, still voice of the Divine. We do not hear it as a trumpeting sound but rather like a whisper on the wind. Humility is key and nature facilitates it. If possible take time out on a lake, by the ocean or in the mountains for as long as you can. Five days, at least, is ideal for this immersion. It can also be in a facility that allows for your inner intention and has access to nature - a Buddhist retreat, other or even a Spa.

It will be given to you according to the measure of your humility.

This is the way we can attain Wilderness Rapture. Maslow may have called it a Peak Experience, others the Wilderness Effect. Rapture occurs when we connect with the Soft Fascinations, the Directions, their elements, the Creator, the Archangels and the Four Beings of Nature. 

The rapture might just be an alfa relaxed state of consciousness or something deeper.

Synchronicity may occur or we can experience a state of flow, fluidity or a feeling of being in the zone. 

 The equanimity can be a subtle trance like meditative effect or something as profound as the Oneness Experience or Unity Consciousness where the Knower, The Known and the process of Knowing fuse into one thing for a short period of time. In other words, if one is in the process of experiencing a sunset one becomes the sunset. 

Wilderness Rapture; What greatly differs is the vastness of the territory, variety of the forces, purity of the pristine and magnitude of the drama and majesty. The more splendid and awesome the less need for a teacher other than itself and you.

“Haze hung over the valley, light as gossamer and clouds partially dimmed the higher cliffs and mountains. This obscurity of vision but increased the awe with which I beheld it and as I looked a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being and I found my eyes in tears with emotion.” L. Bunnell (on being one of the first of a party of white people to enter Yosemite valley.)

We do not have to go into wild places to achieve the balance we need although it helps. We can also find nature wherever we happen to be, in a garden, a park, on a beach.

We need to sanctify the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. It becomes the challenge of non-attachment to outcome, receptivity and surrender. Surrender is not a giving up but a giving in to something much greater than oneself. The attitude is one of letting go, being in the flow, not grasping, not achieving, being flexible to what presents and connecting with the “Field.” This will give equanimity, inner peace, and deeper inner states of consciousness.

There are every day wonders unheard and overlooked far remote from wilderness – the sound of rain, a fallen feather, a spider’s web.

(Spider, the bridge-maker to new realms and harbinger of expanding dimensions.)

These are unheard and overlooked and seem far remote from wilderness until we realize how perception of the smallest bit of wild can connect to our higher Self. Nature reveals, inspires, encourages and shows the way.

 

“To sanctify the ordinary” is to recognize and acknowledge the sacred in every created being whether still or growing, wild or angelic or human... Learn the mystery, savor the wonder of it all. There is nothing that is empty of the divine, "to sanctify the ordinary" is not to make it holy but to be aware of it as sacred and to treat of it with our own sacredness.

 

 

UNCONVENTIONAL FORMS OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

NATURE #1

 

Behold all creation with awe - seeing into it its sacredness.

"Those of us who have spent time in wilderness are aware of the fact that there is something more to wilderness than we ourselves can express. Wilderness is an instrument for enabling us to recover our lost capacity for religious experience."
L.Van der Post

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay until sundown, for going out, 

I found, was really going in." John Muir

 Nature meditates us, when we have that intention, by being in the present moment with our surroundings.  Moreover, utilizing any form of spiritual practice as well, allows nature to meditate us even more profoundly (chanting, singing, drumming, dancing, playing a flute ...) 

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” Kahlil Gibran

For some being in nature is the best sensory meditation. Most, however, go into nature to work out, for adventure, to develop skills and almost unknowingly feel better for it but going inward usually is not their objective. Activity is based on self-mastery (mastery of the small self) and sometimes we recognize an almost militaristic language such as; bagging peaks, running rivers, conquering  mountains or I crushed that ... It is difficult to go inward with the wrong intent and receptivity. The same is true with incessant chattering or when listening to music - these shut out the connection.

“To achieve is to be externally oriented but to attain deeper effects we need to let go of the attachment to accomplish anything. Goal orientation and a deeper connection to nature are mutually exclusive in the present moment.” Dave Cumes. (Inner Passages Outer Journeys.)

 We have enough  goals and tasks and other manifestations of the "outer" at home and at work. Why take them with us into nature's sacred space? When we venture into nature we begin with an inner intention but once set, let go and immerse in all that is around us. This is the crux between balancing the inner and the outer. Receptivity and intention are everything. 

If we want to find equanimity we should avoid company that is counterproductive this state of mind. No matter how strong our intention to go inwards is, it can be sabotaged by those whose energy is outwards. Their focus is acquisitive of the latest technologies for the task at hand as well as sometimes being competitive. For others a camera gets in the way, as well as the concept of “getting to know”... what bird is that, which animal made that track? These also inhibit the experience by making us observers rather than fully immersing in the wonder. It's best to walk alone in silence, even if accompanied.

We are immersing in the Creator's temple or Garden of Eden archetype where we can begin to connect, with humility, to the signs, and metaphors that rocks, plants and power animals present to us. These are best received in a relaxed, alfa state of consciousness. The longer we are out, the more we release the impediments to transforming spiritually and we can begin to feel our-Selves again.

Here are some guidelines for the inner journey. 

Keep it simple. Take only the basic necessities. Avoid survival situations, goals and if possible time restraints. Minimize the need to know. Avoid photography unless the process is meditative and turn the smart phone off unless there is a critical need to use it. Let the wonder speak for itself.

For those taking time out for a deeper experience (five days or more,) formulating the encounter in terms of the three phases of the hero/ine's journey can be profound. Use of the Four Directions and their polarities can also enhance the journey (refer back to prior blogs or dvd's on the website.)

“May the hero/ine awaken from forgetfulness and transcend all anxiety and sorrow.”  The Upanishads

Isaiah had a vision of the Four Directions (Six, including up and down.) Each direction has its specific Being (Still, Growing, Wild and Talking,) as well as Element and Archangel, all of which are constantly being animated by the Breath of the Creator. Uriel is light, Gabriel, strength and courage, Rafael, healing and Michael lovingkindness.

We can enlist their help at any time in nature (or outside of it.)

The directions are also associated with their respective power animals. We should adopt our own which often come to us in metaphors with subtle messages. We can connect with the Four Beings of nature as follows...

To experience the still beings you must touch them, 

to experience the growing, sprouting beings you must listen to them, 

to experience the wild beings you must dance with them 

and to experience the talking beings you must feel with them.

We are all connected, some of all in each. All are spirit manifestations and exist in one another.

The fundamental notion of equilibrating the opposites is omnipresent in all beliefs. This universal truth is crucial to our understanding of how we keep balance, transcend, and heal.  

Dave Cumes

(Inner Passages Outer Journeys)

Nature is a sacred space with many doors and windows to spirit. When we go out into wild places for prolonged periods we are of necessity balancing the many polarities that nature offers; up/down, hot/cold, terrified/tranquil, exhausted /rested, hungry/satiated, thirsty/quenched, night/day, sun/moon, wet/dry... This can help us find the middle way of the Buddha

 

God’s rivers of pleasure and good are not placid waters of insipid purity. They have currents of all strengths, frequently forming into wild twists and turns alongside gentle flows, all churning and tumbling into swirling pools too deep to fathom. They are for reflecting, playing and rejuvenating and then continuing endlessly onto their source.

 

UNCONVENTIONAL FORMS OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

FINDING EQUANIMITY IN OTHER WAYS

Anything that brings us equanimity, inner balance, well-being, harmony, serenity, happiness or joy can be considered spiritual practice. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for this relaxation response. It counters the sympathetic, flight or fight, survival response which confronts us every day.

GRATITUDE AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Prayer can either be supplication and asking for something, or giving thanks which arises from having gratitude.  Mostly we ask for things when we pray. When we rather express gratitude for what we have - it becomes a stronger form of prayer. The Creator, the Field and our guides will respond more favorably to gratitude rather than a request - unless we are asking for something on behalf of others or if we are asking for ourselves in order to serve the greater good. When we express our thanks through the container of a simple ritual (lighting incense or a candle or doing any creative ritual of appreciation) it carries more traction and becomes a blessing to the Creator, our guides ... and is also an equanimity practice at the same time.

 

“Reflect on your present blessings of which every person has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all people have some.” Charles Dickens

 

“We are recipients of unearned gifts.” Robert Emmons

Your gifts are only gifts if you find them thus to be – your heart makes them so.

 

Robert Emmons and other researchers have shown the benefits of a gratitude practice. Such a practice gives promising inner results, including increased equanimity, well-being, as well as enabling our  ability to reach out to others. 

He described measurable physiological effects such as increased dopamine and serotonin - effects equivalent to taking an antidepressant. 

It also increased neuronal density in the prefrontal cortex on F.M.R.I. scans (similar findings have been found in advanced meditators.) 

Gratitude creates a positive feedback loop leading to more gratitude. Emmons regarded gratitude as a sign of emotional intelligence. 

To savor the moment is to have gratitude.

"Savor! Give yourself to the savoring ... You are only to savor it to be worthy of it..." Father Toomy

"Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures they failed to enjoy.' The Talmud

Gratitude is good for our karma too.

"Ingratitude, a horrible and unnatural crime." David Hume

Spacious (Big) Mind is about gratitude and joy. Narrow (Monkey) Mind is about survival and focusing on our basic needs. Monkey Mind is more frequently associated with our wants and ingratitude for what we do not have. If we consciously can enjoy what we have instead of focusing on our wants we enhance our ability to be grateful.

Abundance sates, then stales, then dulls interest and appreciation. Abundance has a darker side than scarcity.

Although only an approximation, Survival's Rules of 3 implies; we can live 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food and 3 months without human contact. When we were hunter gatherers we also needed fire. Today's equivalent is energy to drive our technology. These, as well as having shelter, are our basic needs. Most of us have all of them. 

My experiences with the San Bushmen hunter-gatherers taught me that in spite of their spartan, survival like conditions they were happy, joyful and grateful - often even for water alone which was always in short supply.

 Equanimity also arises out of having gratitude.

Spiritual pursuits are to be practiced with pleasure, welcomed with gratitude. 

We are to experience delight of the senses and be absorbed in joy – therein is the Creator.

The route to God is through the senses.

"With song we can open the gates of heaven." The Talmud

"We pray by singing and dancing." African wisdom

African rituals though often serious are always joyful.

"Joy is not incidental to one's spiritual practice, it is vital."  Rev Nachman

 

Be grateful and you will be happy. Happiness leads to great empowerment. Attend to your well-being, especially to happiness, the cause of which is sometimes found in hidden recesses, always in gratitude.

 Gratitude makes us happy and happiness makes us grateful - a positive feedback loop. 

Below is a summary of the gratitude practice that Emmons gave his students as part of the study.

Write a thank you note. 

Thank someone mentally (if no time to write.) 

Keep a gratitude journal of the gifts received each day.

Count your blessings. Write them down.

Pray or Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. Focus on what you are grateful for (the warmth of the sun, a pleasant sound, etc.)

Remember the good times. 

Use visual clues such as, notes, objects... to remind you of gratitude.

"Gratitude is the heart's memory." French Proverb

Buddhism teaches us to take our suffering and make something useful out of it. In helping others, we forget our own pain and with gratitude can find harmony and happiness again. Buddhists also have active gratitude expressing meditations; "I am grateful for all those who made this road I am driving on. I am grateful for all the effort that went into the food I am buying today. I am grateful for all the people who I remember and those whom I have forgotten that helped me along the way etc...

Find joy and gratitude in hidden recesses.

To forgive is to open the heart to compassion and empathy. Forgiveness is the allowing of gratitude - it catalyzes it. When we are resentful and unforgiving we hold on to our grievances rather than gratitude's potential. Forgiveness is a huge one of those hidden recesses.

There is no joy as transforming as the joy of gratitude.

Where there is gratitude there is light. 

We need to look for "Light" in terms of our finding joy, happiness, and their equivalents ...  all manifestations of inner peace as well as a gratitude practice.

"There are two ways to live one's life. One where everything is a miracle and the other where nothing is." A. Einstein 

 Gratitude is also an essential part of shamanic practice. Indigenous practices that connect us to our guides are usually done through ritual  rather than prayer alone. They can be requests for healing, cleansing, protection or asking for scripted dreams. Any receipt (or even absence) thereof can invoke gratitude.We must ask to receive but not forget to  show gratitude when we receive - or even if we do not receive. We have no idea to what extent they may be helping our daily lives and what the various adverse outcomes may have been without their help. These effects can be subtle and are often unrecognized. Even when we come up with defeat we need to be grateful - the result may have been much worse without their intervention. 

 This exchange is always ongoing. Acknowledging their participation is key. 

Paying Forward

Gratitude helps us to pay our gifts forward. Giving comes out of gratitude for what we have. Giving can be a gratitude practice because it brings joy to both the giver and the receiver. 

Although sometimes, even though no good deed remains unpunished, it is still a downpayment to our karma, garnishing the soul. Having our gifts thrown back at us sometimes is also test of our spiritual fortitude.

Any who bring joy to another give God joy. Any who act with love for the other’s good and pleasure do themselves partake in God’s rivers of pleasure and good.

S/He who wills to secure the good of others has already secured his own.” Confucius

Practice random acts of kindness. This includes kind words.

“Wherever you turn you can find someone who needs you. Even if it is a little thing, do (or say something nurturing) something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember you do not live in a world all of your own.” A. Schweitzer

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, then when?” Hillel

Giving opens, withholding closes. In giving; is to receive and to welcome the other. 

What you touch, touches you.

What you let touch you, enhances or diminishes.

We think that when we give, we create a deficit and this lessens our supply. The soul does not work this way. With the soul giving increases our supply. This fits in with the Law of Attraction which is about love and giving out the light of gratitude. 

 

Give without remembering.
Take without forgetting.
Give freely.
Receive openly.
Do all with gratitude.
It is the way of love.
It is the way of joy.

 

MORE CONVENTIONAL (MOSTLY "EXOTIC")

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES 

THE BREATH AS MEDITATION

“Kabir says; what is God, the breath within the breath.”

The flame of the Infinite One 
is the soul breath of the human.
 
Source of my power, 
the breath you have given me, 
the breath (soul, spirit) you have given me is pure.

“A river arose out of Eden forming four river and four winds (Four Breaths of the Creator.) 

They joined to form a singular spirit which animates all creation.” The Zohar

The Four Beings of nature; Still, Growing, Wild and Talking are all animated by the breath of the Divine. Each individual "wind," spirit or breath, at each's own, unique vibration and consciousness. 

 The moment this breath is withdrawn they and we will no longer exist. We are continually being breathed by the breath of the Supreme Being. When we leave the planet and the “silver cord” (King Solomon) that connects the soul to the body is broken, that breath is taken from us. 

Breath meditation allows us to connect to that small microcosmic part of us made in the image of the Divine animated by His/Her breath. Think of how desperate we become when we feel we cannot breathe and get air.

Connecting with the breath or “wind” (in Hebrew) or spirit (Moya in Zulu) can facilitate active, sensory meditation and connect us more powerfully to the breath of the Divine that is animating us. 

Pranayama – the yoga science of breath – describes many ways in which to do this. The diaphragm, the main muscle in the body for ventilating our lungs can move energy from the lower chakras into the heart and the other higher chakras above it.

 

The breath that is in all beings emanates from the sacred well spring making us one – not the same but all one.

The breath that created us is the same breath that created the worm and the stone and thus we share a oneness.

We are wrapped in the embrace of the winds; 
the mystery of the north-wind, 
the inspiration of the east, 
the clarity of the south 
and the wholeness of the west.

The sages taught that the mystery of who we are is contained
in the four winds and that without them none of creation would exist.

God’s breath is heard in quietness and felt in stillness. 
Beware the noises and clamor of ego which drown out the Divine whisper.

The Buddhist Thich Nat Han would teach breath meditation with a simple mantra; 

"breathing in, I know I am breathing in and breathing out, I know I am breathing out." 

Whatever way we do it, following the breath is a powerful technique for achieving equanimity and balance.

Other mantras he used included...

As the in-breath grows deep,
The out-breath grows slow.

Breathing in makes me calm;
Breathing out brings me ease.

With the in-breath I smile;
With the out-breath I release all tension.

Breathing in I know I am alive;
Breathing out, in this present moment.

Breathing in, there is only this present moment.
Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

I highly recommend you watch these links on Ujjayi (Victorious) breathing below which can put you in an alfa, relaxed state of consciousness very quickly. It can be used at any time and I use it frequently. It is easy to master. In the first video she unfortunately weakens the "Ocean" or "Darth Veda" breath's accentuation on the exhale by talking through it. In reality it can be louder and is easier to do on the exhale than on the inhale. Importantly, the longer the exhale the more intense the relaxation response. Lengthening the exhale comfortably is key.

The second link describes doing it during Ashtanga yoga which may not apply to you so ignore that part of it but use the technology. She describes it more succinctly. Both links are good and Ujjayi is great for finding balance in sudden, stressful situations to create a speedy relaxation response.

Ujjayi Pranayama in 3 Simple Steps - YouTubeYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch

How to Practice Ujjayi Breath in Yoga - Breathing ExerciseYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch

For those who want more information on this important technique Wikipedia has a nice review.

 

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