SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

 SPIRITUAL PRACTICE - CONVENTIONAL 

OR UNCONVENTIONAL ?

In this blog we will discuss the more conventional Eastern, esoteric or exotic forms of practice which are the most popular but also other methods that are less conventional but practical.

It is challenging to maintain balance, harmony and equanimity in a changing world. We need to navigate our boat down the river of life keeping to the middle and not setting up camp on either side, be it sacred or profane, light or dark, good or evil, happiness or suffering. We must learn to coexist with the negative and not assimilate it but also not be attached to the positive because of its impermanence. 

“Fear itself is not a foe but acquiescing to it empowers it to be a powerful one.” Hillel

 

Spiritual practice invokes a parasympathetic relaxation response. Life is stressful and engenders a sympathetic flight of flight response. There are only two feelings – love and fear. Love connects us to Big or Spacious Mind, fear to Monkey, Narrow or survival Mind. Love empowers our inclination to do good, fear enhances the shadow or our evil inclination. Opening the heart helps us to subordinate ego to the higher Self and the shadow to our inclination to do good. 

Unskillful emotions are a property of monkey mind, ego and shadow which are fear based. Our higher consciousness connects us to the feelings of love, compassion and the empathy of spacious mind. 

We are entitled to our feelings but responsible for their expression.

 

Emotions run high – feelings run deep.
Emotions require discipline.
Feelings require nurturing.
The better one controls emotions the more one can express feelings.

 

…Through our choices and efforts we go beyond ego and Narrow Mind’s pursuits of immediate and momentary satisfactions to engage in Spacious Mind’s on-going joys in searching for spiritual fulfillment – joys found in the very quest itself. 

Narrow (Monkey) Mind concerns itself with the one percent world and so its yearnings can never be gratified in a lasting way unless spiritualized in Spacious (Big) Mind.  

 

Narrow Mind generated by Fear leads to harmful emotions such as; malice, hate, envy, anger, vengeance, and our unskillful habits, compulsions, desires and addictions.

Love and Spacious Mind connects us to our higher ideas, ideals, notions, concepts, beliefs, discriminations and discernments. Spiritual practice is about opening the heart to love. For many when it is embodied and sensory it is more powerful.

 

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

 

We can also find equanimity in the work we do at the culmination of the hero’s journey when we Incorporate. In giving service we may be in the “zone” or experience a sense of flow or  “superfluidity.”

“When you find your place, where you are, practice begins.”  Dogen

Inner practice is also key to the transcendent hero’s journey and becoming who we truly are. It is especially critical during the incorporation or integration phase of the journey, where without some method of going inward we often lose the way. 

To the yogi there are four options arising out of spiritual practice and meditation; Karma yoga - the way of service, Bhakti yoga - devotional yoga and love of God, Janna yoga - mastering the scriptures through the intellect and Raja yoga the path of the Buddha - control of the mind - the most challenging. 

 

Being in the present moment is healthful and helpful.

 

Our spirit guides live in the present moment. In order to connect with them and their “Field” of potential we require a dedicated practice to awaken the “Snake” or the Kundalini, raise our vibration and open our Third intuitive Eye. 

Some form of meditation is also how we can more efficiently navigate the ups and downs of life. Every adversity along the way can be considered a test of our karma as well as the effectiveness of our inner practice. 

When we are in a balanced, harmonious state we are more able to subordinate ego and do things for their own sake. Moreover, we can allow our "body or flesh to cleave to our soul or essence in unison." An embodied spiritual practice that is active can support this.

 

From the sound of my sighing (my state of equanimity) has my essence (soul) cleaved onto my flesh (my body.)  

The Ancestors are very much in favor of a sensory, embodied spiritual practice.

Sangomas say; “We pray by drumming, singing and dancing.”  There is a Chassidic teaching that “with song you can open the gates of heaven.”

 

From my flesh shall I behold God.
The route to God is through our senses

The soul’s conversation is not of the mind. It is best heard with the senses.

 

The soul’s fulfillment is through the experience of the senses. 

 

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 God.

The Sacred Triad of the Soul

Joy

Love-Heart

The Senses

Mind gets in the way of this Triad. 

The rational mind often gets in the way of what the heart must embrace in order to coax the soul to open.

When our practice is embodied, sensory and joyful it can be more powerful.  It is enhanced by opening the heart.

Our soul is made for joy and the more we truly love the more we will experience it and become its very essence.

 “Joy is not incidental to your spiritual practice, it is vital.”  

Rev. Nachman 

The heart must honor the mind for its understanding and the mind must follow the heart in its wisdom

Use it to support the heart’s wisdom.

The soul’s language is learned by listening with the heart. It has many sounds including that of silence. Its eloquence is universal.

 

When the heart is muffled the soul shrinks.

 

“To awaken the heart is to awaken the dormant soul.” M. Gandhi

Any practice done for its own sake, not to perform or look good, that turns us inward and that is enjoyable, regular and sustainable can be a spiritual practice. It does not have to be Eastern in origin or exotic. Unconventional practices can include playing a musical instrument, painting, walking on the beach alone and in silence. The Western mind gets bored easily so some may require more than one way of going inward. A spirit guide practice will be described later since it is more unconventional.

Frequently when I do divinations, the “bones” say the participants’ practice is lacking. More often than not when I ask what they do that is missing it is usually a way of connecting with their guides or an active, bodily oriented active, sensory practice or the use of sensory driven active imagination, rather than only prayer, journaling or passive Eastern forms of meditation. 

The ancients (ancestors, guides) would ask of you to perform good deeds, speak good words and think good thoughts in their memory.
They would want you to be a repository of their instructions, teachings and their righteous and loving ways.

It may also be a sustainable ancestral or spirit guide practice where we ask to receive for the greater good through the container or medium of an altar. We will cover these, including nature and sound as meditation  when we describe more Unconventional forms of practice. 

 

The most profound sound of all is that of silence – not the silence that is the absence of noise, of quietness but that in which we hear the longings of our heart and ponder our response.

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 Creator would like a personal relationship with each one of us. Jeremiah teaches; 

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

God is playing hide and seek but no one wants to play.  

 

The best way to get out of “Mind” notably Monkey/Narrow mind is with spiritual practice.

The lighter we tread with the mind, 

the higher the soul will soar.

Use the mind, do not let the mind use you! 

The mind must mind what the mind minds best.

 

The mind controls the heart. 

 

We choose whether its Monkey or Spacious mind which governs. We should be sure love, not fear is the controller.

The more we steep ourselves in the immediacy of the moment, the deeper we travel into the heart’s chambers.
The lighter we tread with the mind (Narrow Mind,) the higher the soul will soar.

 

Spiritual practice should open the heart chakra. We should be able to see the divinity in everyone. Even if we do not like them we can love that.

Opening the heart helps to subordinate harmful emotions to the love generated feelings of our higher consciousness.

How can we be sure our meditation is working for us? 

The most challenging chakra to open is the heart chakra or the sephirah of Tiferet in the center of the Tree of Life which is love. Our heart or a feeling of love will tell us if we are successful in our practice. Forgiveness – both of oneself and others – is key to opening the heart. Compassion, empathy and gratitude are the bi-products.

It is all about cosmic union. Go forward with forgiveness which is essential to substance and joy.  

How can you be sure? Does it serve love or acquisitiveness? Does it bring us closer to your Creator?

A deep sense of serenity and fulfillment. A state that pervades all emotions and sorrows that come our way. The mind decides.

THE PLAY OF LIGHT AND DARK #5

“For evil to triumph it is only necessary that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke

          COUNTER MEASURES AND REMEDIES                            FOR WITHIN AND WITHOUT                

 Everything is a test of our spiritual fortitude and how well we rise up to the dark challenges that confront us whether from within or without.

You are free always to change course at any time or place; if you were not, there would be no challenge, no discovery, no victory, no fulfillment.

Joseph Campbell confirms that the cave we fear to enter holds the treasure we seek, as do the Ancestors...

Your teaching is in the shadow of your experiences.

It is possible convert transgressions into merits.

Be careful of what you taste and in what you immerse. 

And as for your power what are you doing in the wrong circle!

The dark forces will use small annoyances to deter and have you quibble and complain – perhaps not overtly but within your spirit. Think of something that makes your heart sure and glad that can bring you back to equanimity. The dark forces are most helpless in the face of love and laughter.

 Anger, hatred, malice, envy and the desire for vengeance are Self-reflective (as in Higher Self) and mirror back to us.

God asks not that we struggle to overcome evil but that we seek, invite and nurture goodness. We are not here to revile and escape the world but rather to reveal and glory in its wonders. 

The best defense is no defense but rather be so strong in positive loving action and intent that there is no room for anything else.

We need to take the darkness and turn it into light. To take our suffering or that of others and make something useful out of it. This requires loving service.

If you would dispel the darkness, seek the sacred.

... What counts is to restrain the blaze in the hours of desire (or challenge) and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service...” The Talmud

 Patience in the presence of evil. Patience is not passive. On the contrary it exercises disciplined energy to act with undemanding trustfulness, steadfast intent and unrestrained willingness while awaiting hoped-for response and desired outcome. Have patience for the prospect of love.

It is good to have the patience with the darkness knowing the light will reappear. It is better to see the light behind the darkness – this is seen with the eyes of hope and imagination.

This too will pass. Hang in there.

Hold tight, hang lose, like boughs in the breeze, the wind or the gale. 

“No matter how long the night, the dawn is sure to come.”             African proverb

Find joy and gratitude in hidden recesses.

Love, laughter and song chase away the dark forces and all that is dreaded from your nights and days.

“Never yield to weariness of spirit. At times the world’s cares and distractions will intrude and the spirit will become weak. At times like this carry on and soon the spirit will become strong again. God’s spirit is always with you to replenish and renew... When you are overcome by temporary conditions which you cannot control keep quiet and wait for the power of spirit to flow back.” 24 hours a day

Music and the right sound repel dark forces. They cannot abide that a high vibration. The same is true for incense which acts as a spiritual "shower" and repels tricksters.

Sound is not just important but crucial in breaking down or chasing away resistances. Sound shatters and crumbles barriers to the mind and heart. Sound speaks to one's vibrations. 

One of the best ways to cleanse and clear oneself of the cloyingness of dark forces is to dispel or change the effects of their energy with sound. 

 

Sound shatters and crumbles resistance to the mind and heart. Sound speaks to one’s vibrations. 

Blowing the ram’s horn or a similar sound can shatter or break the attachments of the body to cravings, so the soul can come back and cleave to the flesh.

From the sound of my sighing has my essence (soul), returned to my flesh (body.)

Music with the right vibration is critical. Anything with a low vibration will attract the dark forces.

"If one should desire to know whether a kingdom is well governed, if its morals are good or bad, the quality of its music will furnish the answer.” Confucius

 

“So it came about that whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take his harp and play it with his hand and Saul would be refreshed and be well and the evil spirit would depart from him.” Samuel

 

”The incense offering is the most potent antidote against evil forces …and it is important to chant before making the incense offering for the power of song draws forth the soul of the plants and herbs be they still growing or cut and dried.”  The Zohar

One can combine all these factors while immersing in a sacred bath. Enhance the vibration of water using prayer, music or chants while burning incense and placing something sacred in the water such as a plant of spiritual power like sage or cedar. One can enhance the senses at the same time by imbibing some good wine or a piece of chocolate. You can even put a teaspoon of red wine in the water to symbolize the blood sacrifice you are making on behalf of the light.

Coherence - Numbers count.

Group meditations, healings and prayers for peace can be more powerful in a group setting. The sum of the parts becomes greater than the whole. Coherence occurs not only inside the practitioner but beyond him or her and even cosmically. 

Indigenous societies do healing rituals in community for good reason. It can help to be part of a spiritual community rather than going it alone depending on the integrity, intention and vibration of that community.

Seek help from your guides and the Creator – ask to receive.

 

“Sometimes I go about pitying myself and all the time I am being carried on great winds across the sky.” Ojibway saying

 

If you walk with your ancestors and guides you will take an abundance of powerful forces with you. They will dispel and neutralize and shed and shade the negative ones that await. Also, additional positive forces will await you there. Your power will illuminate and you will be protected.

 

Actually, no defense is needed in the face of total surrender to the Divine despite the intensity of the attack, temptation or persuasiveness.
If commitment to the light is total then the dark forces cannot prevail.

 

 

 

 

THE PLAY OF LIGHT AND DARK #4

If we ignore or discount the very real and constant threat of negative forces, we do so at our peril. We must be vigilant, a difficult task in itself because of our nature which tends to be complacent and lazy when things are going well and critical and dissatisfied when not. 

We are easily lured from the path of wonder and gratitude, straying from the way of true joy.

Look carefully to what you aspire, cherish and guard so as not to squander your gifts nor lose your heritage.

A paradox - a template for spiritual perfection

 The sacred and profane, light and the dark, good and evil, positive and negative are all part of God’s creation. Finding the middle way between the light and the dark is where our work lies - to coexist and balance the polarities but not assimilate the negative. It’s not what challenges us that counts it is what we do with it.

The dark forces do not obey the law of free will. They may seem to have an advantage but love is more powerful than fear and will prevail, although it may take longer to manifest.

If the burden were taken away the lesson would not be there, coping with it, is what is important and is what will count.

We are continually being tested -not about how much we know or how well we perform but that our trust, our love and our faith are being always tested at unexpected times in often unrecognized guises.

The higher we ascend up our energetic and vibrational hierarchy, the more active and devious the tricksters get. This has been called a Costly Compliment. Metaphorically we have enlisted in the "Spiritual Special Forces." The dark will now test us even more tenaciously. Ancient wisdom teaches us to be respectful of the dark forces but not to align with them. Its best not to offer a challenge which will cause them to up their anti. 

You are free always to change course at any time or place; if you were not, there would be no challenge, no discovery, no victory, no fulfillment.

“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems (challenges) because you need their gifts.” Richard Bach 

Sometimes the forces of light allow us to be challenged by the opposition to test our free will.

What is the difference between your experience of existence and that of a saint? The saint knows that the spiritual path is a sublime chess game with God and that the Beloved has just made a fantastic move…” Hafiz

Those still committed to and tempted by the lower energy centers – chakras or sephirot (Tree of Life) need fear little opposition from the dark since they are not on the path of transformation. Those committed to the dark will be supported by the dark. Those seeking the light will be challenged according to their progress and determination.

I was in the woods one day listening to some trees. One of them whispered to me that the higher the branches into heaven the deeper the roots into hell.

 The higher we ascend up the Tree of Life or the Chakra system the more we will be opposed. The interference will be maximal when we get close to the Crown. 

The dark forces use water to cool our desire to do good and fire to heat our desire to do evil. Our guides and ancestors use water to cool our desire to do evil and fire to heat our desire to do good.

These factors are a reproach to the dark forces and will challenge them to act out against any adversaries working in the light.

Factors that the Dark Forces cannot Tolerate

A high resolve for “Becoming” (enlightenment.)

Practitioners who have subordinated; shadow to the inclination to do good, ego to the higher Self, Narrow mind to Spacious mind and  tricksters to their guides.

A lofty purpose and commitment toward the higher Self and the light. Those who are helping others with spiritual transformation and healing and sometimes those that are receiving it.

Those with a strong spiritual practice who have secured a place in the higher vibrational realms after death.

Those who have thwarted their challenges or undone their dark arts may have to face even more taxing interference.

If you have many guides and are greatly beloved you will have many dissuaders and be greatly envied.

 

 Factors that enhance the power of the dark forces.

 

Denial of their existence so that they can work unopposed.

Fear. The only thing to fear, is fear itself. They win if we submit to fear.

Over or underestimation of their power.

Offering a challenge.

Our anger, doubt, confusion or pride.

Our abandoning hope, belief or trust when under attack.

 Impatience.

Doubt, complacency, laziness, resignation and a giving up.

The many helpers on the planet that are willing to do their work (and thus reap the benefits of their power at the expense of others.)

Never be disrespectful of the dark forces, neither underestimate their power nor over-estimate your own in dealing with them. Avoidance when possible is best.

Never offer a challenge.

Treating the dark forces respectfully is God’s own way of acknowledging them.

...Doubt, confusion and dismay are often the most telling signs that you are under attack.

Anything that deters spiritual growth that subverts belief or understanding that we have the power to reveal light you may be sure is the dark forces at work.

THE PLAY OF LIGHT AND DARK #3

DARK FORCES OUTSIDE OF US

WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY

Regarding expertise and connections; it is not maliciousness so much as envy, jealousy, arrogance and selfishness that you need beware.

Outside of us there are dark forces on the other side of the veil between the worlds. Witches and sorcerers work with these dark forces who help them to carry out their nefarious intentions. Witches differs from Wicca practitioners who work in the light. Wiccans are not Satanists as once claimed by some evangelical Christians. However, power corrupts and these powers can also be used with negative effects.           

       

Those who practice the dark arts have a heart of envy which supports their 

Evil Eye, Evil Tongue and Inclination.

One of the ten commandments warns us not to covet our neighbor or anything that belongs to our neighbor. This is an edict against an envy that can create harm. It occurs when a witch or sorcerer manipulates events spiritually to dispossess someone of something of value that the witch personally wants or a client covets. Witches have a jealous heart and an evil inclination. Many are professionals and use the dark arts for financial gain.

Witchcraft which is always from this side of the veil is often assisted by dark forces on the other side. It can deprive one of choice - the malicious intent of the witch being to control for often demonic, usually destructive and always self-serving purposes.

In extreme instances ...

When their powers seem ineffective with someone they frequently will take out their frustration in both physical and emotional harassments that demoralize, thus impairing one's effectiveness for good.

 Witchcraft and sorcery are ubiquitous and not confined to indigenous societies. As the worlds' moral compass seems to be unravelling it may be becoming more common. The techniques can now easily be learned online. It is not difficult to conscript dark forces. Witches defy the cosmic law of free will. Our guides and ancestors, however, abide by this law which seemingly gives them a disadvantage. However, malignant and malicious intentions are driven by a fear vibration which love can overcome. 

Just as our Guides help to nudge us towards the light, tricksters will try to do the opposite. Spiritual practitioners and especially shamans are only as powerful as the guides that assist them. Witches and sorcerers likewise, are only as potent as the dark forces they attract. Watch out if they are connected to what I call the "Spiritual Mafia," a higher order of danger.

The witch or sorcerer is the ‘traitor in the gates.” They do not want anyone to know their intentions so they can operate unopposed. There is no hex that cannot be reversed but one has to know they have been hexed in the first place. There is no time on the other side of the veil so that healing or hexing may not be localized in time and play out later.

Beware of those who would pretend to have a noble intent but instead have a selfish motive in spite of what appears to be a neutral intention.

When I use the word witchcraft we are not only talking about those who use occult forces to cause harm - there are others as well who may appear to be benign. Some would not appear to be sorcerers overtly but also have a heart of envy and malicious inclinations. Hence they can consciously or unconsciously invite trickster spirits into their lives. These then become allies in helping them with their harmful compulsions. There are those who have witch like powers without realizing that they have them. 

Beware also of those who act wrongfully but then make claim that their intent was good.

It is possible to negate the law of free will by having a good intention and wanting to heal. However, we first need to ask if we have permission to pray for a healing outcome. Our hope may not be in line with their intention or life path for one reason or another. Our attempt becomes more problematical if a spell is cast on that persons behalf. 

Rather we can pray for the greater good or Thy will be done which will comply with the laws of spirit. 

When we embrace those whom we would put into psychic safety, it is very important that exerting such an influence even for good purpose must be done with the knowledge and permission of the person, as it is affecting his or her free will.

Manipulating another’s free will without permission is against the cosmic law even if the intention is good.

Double blind studies have been performed to see if distant or remote healing works. The positive results are impressive and commendable. They show that distant healing works whether the patient knows about it or not or believes in it or not. Placebo's power has been discounted because the patient is unaware that this type of healing has been employed. The prayer or healing ritual bypasses the direct knowledge and belief system of the patients and works remotely though the Field on the Inner Healer. These studies have been criticized as being manipulative but the giving of consent would have negated the integrity of the study.

If distant healing works then the opposite must be true for distant hexing. The Field is value neutral and democratic like the internet. There are no double blind studies to prove this but from personal experience I know that distant hexing works whether you believe in it or not. If one believes hexing causes harm and knows one has been bewitched the spell is more powerful because of the nocebo effect (the power of belief to hurt, harm or even kill.) Moreover, if the victim feels guilty, and even at a subconscious level knows they did wrong, the hex will be more powerful still. 

 

THE PLAY OF LIGHT AND DARK #2

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.

A SUMMARY OF THE FORCES INSIDE OF US

We addressed these forces within that challenge us in last week's blog (red in the diagram. )

Our guides will attempt to help us strengthen our Good Inclination, Spacious/Big Mind and Higher Self. The dark forces will aggravate our Evil Inclination, Narrow/Monkey Mind and the Ego or little self.

The dark forces use water to cool our desire to do good and fire to heat our desire to do evil. Our guides and ancestors use water to cool our desire to do evil and fire to heat our desire to do good.

Moreover, the negative factors of others can aggravate our own. We must be careful of the company we keep.

THE DARK FORCES OUTSIDE OF US

There will be many direct quotes from the Ancestors in this blog to confirm this wisdom is not coming from me.

There are true dark forces on the other side of the veil, that is, one of spirit rather than a perverted-acting human.

The specific purpose of a true dark force is to diminish, dilute and dissuade your interest in transformation, frustrate your interactions and defeat your efforts.

The contest is fiercest when the stakes are high and so we may expect to be challenged, tempted and dissuaded in any and all manner of our weaknesses - be they physical, mental or emotional - all of which are attributes of the spirit.

The closer those that are spiritually powerful get to the Light the more likely will there be negative forces also of great power to deter them. The power of a spiritual gift is a challenge to them. They attempt to interfere, dissuade and corrupt.

Concerning intrusive ghosts or demons: High resolve is like an invitation to them who would undo it. The closer those that are spiritually powerful get to the light the more likely will there be negative forces also of great power to deter them.

The power of a spiritual gift is a challenge to them. Lack of dedication makes their work easy. Your spirit guides will be there for support and to give their own blessings and also to keep the dark forces away.

If you have many guides and are greatly beloved you will have many dissuaders and be greatly envied.

There is nothing you can think or intend that is not accessible to dark forces and that they will not attempt to corrupt.

The dark forces are also not localized in space and time and will attempt to counter what our guides are doing to help us. They also have access to our Book of Life and know the divinely inspired mission to which we have been assigned. They will attempt to sabotage this and subtly lead us away from the path of truth and light without us even suspecting that it is happening. They may offer up appealing distractions to tempt which are not evil in themselves but are not in our best interests.

The attack is often so well disguised it can even persuade us that it is our better judgment, our concern for the other.

 ANYTHING OF THE LIGHT IS A REPROACH TO THEIR LOW VIBRATION.

THE HIGHER YOU GO UP THE VIBRATIONAL HIERARCHY THE MORE INTENSE THEY GET. 

"They" can arbitrarily be described in order of intensity as ...

TRICKSTERS

DARK FORCES

"THE SPIRITUAL MAFIA"

Tricksters generally are just nuisances and can be compared to mosquitoes at your "spiritual picnic." The Dark Forces are more like bees or wasps and the Spiritual Mafia akin to rattlesnakes. If you are doing intense spiritual work you will be challenged. If you are heading for enlightenment watch out. If you are doing shamanic work by reversing sorcery, getting rid of intrusive spirits or energies or encountering them in the Field during soul retrieval you may well have to deal with the Spiritual Mafia. The more powerful your intention to do good the more visible you become to the negative forces on the other side of the veil. Those who dwell in their lower chakras will have little opposition.

A clever and insidious achievement of the dark forces is in persuading some people to disbelieve in their existence.

The dark forces cause doubts, create fears and make for insecurities. They will try to subvert our striving for spiritual growth.

They will use tactics of ridicule and doubt to play on all our disinclinations. If we allow them they can influence our thinking thus affecting our choices. 

Dark forces and tricksters know all our weaknesses be they physical, emotional, psychological, energetic or spiritual. They will work energetically on the weakest link in the chain and where we are the most vulnerable. If these result in symptoms, they usually occur somatically around the most vulnerable chakra or autonomic nervous system plexus.

Being subject to these challenges has been called a “Costly Compliment” indicating you are coming too close to the light for the Darks’comfort. This is spiritually commendable – the opposite of the dark forces’ intentions. In a sense it may mean you have enlisted in the “Spiritual Special forces” and are encountering the “Spiritual Mafia”

The power of a spiritual gift is a challenge to them. Lack of dedication makes their work easy. Your spirit guides will be there for support and to give their own blessings and also to keep the dark forces away.

The ultimate challenge is Satan or even a Lilith like persona. Jesus was tempted by the Devil while fasting 40 days and nights in the desert. The Buddha's final challenge were Mara's three beautiful daughters who tried to seduce him.  Few of us, however, will ever reach that level of vibration.

 

 

THE PLAY OF LIGHT AND DARK

The sages teach that without the sacred there is no profane and without the profane there is no sacred.

They are different sides of the same reality.

They are unique but not separate from the whole.

The play between light and dark, positive and negative, good and evil is a vital part of the human condition. There must be tension for perfection and growth. Without conflict there would be no challenge and no chance for transformation, spiritual or otherwise. The choice of which road we go down is entirely ours. Free will governs these opposite polarities. We cannot say the devil or anything or anybody else made us do it when it comes to the end of days and are confronted with our karmic record.

We could divide the play of light and dark forces into two components.

Inside the Human Condition and Outside of the Human Condition.

Factors Inside of Us

The dark side of our own nature (Shadow, an unskillful Monkey Mind and Ego) must be properly confronted - neither dismissed nor conquered but acknowledged for what it is, even valued as such. 

The closer we come to the Light the more the negative inclinations plague us. They attempt to interfere, dissuade and corrupt. They cause doubts, create fears and make for insecurities. They will try to subvert our striving for spiritual growth. The attack is often so well disguised it can even persuade us that it is our better judgment, our concern for the other. These cut us off from access to our deeper and purer selves.

It is possible to transform potential transgressions into merits. Redemption is always possible.

“S/He who still harbors an evil inclination has a great advantage. He who has no evil inclination at all cannot give perfect service. What counts is to restrain the blaze in the hours of desire and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service.” The Talmud

These negative inclinations that come from inside of us can be manipulated by the dark forces outside of us to their advantage. Our evil inclination or shadow can be aggravated by ego and monkey (Narrow) mind as well as by outside forces. Our own inner demons can be enhanced by the inner demons of those we meet. They can attack our fragile vulnerabilities. We need to be careful of negative forces that can influence us. What we touch, touch touches us, and where we immerse can pollute.

Action must continually be weighed against intent to make sure it serves honesty and purpose.

Drives toward power, acquisition, sensory pleasure and self-oriented experience are not evil in themselves but can lead to evil when they go unchecked or are put to solely selfish or wrongful use. When, however, they are controlled and properly channeled by the inclination to do good they can lead to responsible actions, to good purpose and to sanctified relationships.

“To confront a person with his own shadow (Evil Inclination) is to show him his own light.” Carl Jung

We have a dark and a light side to our nature. To make a choice, inclination for both good and evil (Shadow) must operate freely. The dark side of our nature must be properly confronted – neither dismissed nor conquered but acknowledged for what it is, even valued as such.

Our Evil Inclination or Shadow can override our Inclination to do Good when it is to the ego’s advantage. Monkey Mind - our survival mind - is linked  to a sympathetic, flight of fight response. It’s main purpose is to keep us safe. However, the dark side of Mind is also subject to our wants, desires and compulsions which can become our habits and even our addictions. This Mind, unlike Spacious or Big Mind, can also connect us to our primitive emotions such as hate, envy and the desire for vengeance which potentiate the shadow and the ego. 

...We must beware of anger and pride which are weapons of chaos, connecting us to our destructive instincts. These cut us off from access to our deeper and purer selves.

On the other hand Spacious Mind connects us to our higher consciousness, our ideas, notions, ideals, concepts, discriminations and discernments. 

Ego, Monkey Mind, our Shadow and tricksters need to be subordinated to the Higher Self, Spacious Mind, our Inclination to do Good and our Guides. Our challenge is being in a sentient body where gratification of the small self or ego can disrupt spiritual transformation.

It is not the job of our good inclination to do away with our evil inclination nor to overcome it, but rather to balance and guide so that our drives, attitudes and instincts may support our soul's purpose.

While it is true that “Evil Inclination” is a collective name given to the drives and attitudes of our baser instincts, these instincts are necessary for our physical survival and while they can interfere with our spiritual growth and closeness to the Infinite One, it is the Creator who has put within us this inclination just as it is He who put within us the inclination to do good.

Most are unaware of the wiles of the “evil inclination” who is a master of disguises all appealing to our lesser self.

His job is to make the rigors of spiritual growth seem wearisome, dull and drearily repetitive rather than exciting, adventuresome and cherishingly ritualistic.

His is an instinctual and immediate gratification which is why he can be an inner challenger of great value if you choose to appropriately engage but do not let him convince you that obstacles and difficulties need to be cleared away in order for you to transform.

Remember that good prevails by being what it is not by dispossessing, defeating or winning but rather simply by being more and more of what it is.

 

THE POWER OF THOUGHTS, WORDS, THE SUBCONSCIOUS AND IMAGINATION

“It is our duty and our joy as human beings to proceed as though there are no limits to our abilities. We are collaborators in creation.” de Chardin

ACTUALIZATION 

CONCLUSION

Intentionality is to attune, direct and aim.

 Intentions and expectations are essential to hope.

It is possible to have hope as well as an expectation and still be unattached to the outcome - to let go.

"Play in the exaltation of the possible." M. Buber

"Every morning before getting up and every evening as soon as you are in bed, shut your eyes, and repeat twenty times in succession, moving your lips (this is indispensable), and counting mechanically on a long string with twenty knots, the following phrase: ‘Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.’ Make this autosuggestion with confidence, with faith, with the certainty of obtaining what you want. The greater the conviction, the greater and the more rapid will be the results obtained." Cou'e

The Law of Attraction supports doing things for their own sake and not for reason of outcome. The object of our imagination should be for the greater good and the Higher Self and not for the ego or little self. If we imagine something for ourselves it should also serve the greater good.

We think that in the natural way of things, what we give lessens our supply. The soul does not work this way - with the soul, giving increases.

The saddest and most impoverishing notion human beings cling to is that we are limited by laws of the natural world. There is a crucial difference between being subject to, and being constrained by.

 

Our so-called laws of nature are the laws that we have contrived through our limited understandings that we mistakenly believe are exclusively operating and to be true. Shamanic adepts and others using exotic rituals can sometimes help us to see what usually cannot be seen.

"You must be willing to give up who you are, for whom you may become.” Rev Nachman

Preoccupation with the physical side of reality blocks the way to unseen reality. We should not mistake the physical for the senses as it is only with a sharply tuned, well cultivated sensory awareness (physical and intuitive) that we may perceive the unseen and come to know the unknown…

 

Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, the silence of another world awaits.

 

It is through imagining that we tap into the unknown reality where we see what seeing eyes do not and hear what hearing ears do not.

We are the makers of myth. Invent the world as you imagine it. Do not let your learning distort your knowing. Wisdom knows the necessity of information and knowledge but is not consumed by them. There are other ways of knowing other than the brain.

 

These dynamics are reinforced by the teachings of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. One should appreciate that 

“all those concerned” 

include our guides and ancestors who must abide by the law of free will and that we need to “ask to receive.” 

 

"Know what you want, 

decide when you want it, 

figure your plan of action, 

follow through on it, 

and never doubt. 

Unless an action is rightly thought out and its steps rightly planned, every stage of its performance will probably remain vague and therefore unsatisfactory for the doer and all those concerned.” Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Since there is no time on the other side of the veil between worlds,  patience, persistence and affirmation are commendable.

We are not just influences but also recipients of influences from distant places and distant times.

 

Attention to detail while imagining allows us to be very clear about what we want, in order to obtain spiritual help from our guides as well as the Creator. Gratitude for what we have should be included in the process. The more we get ourselves out of the way, the more effective we will be. 

As we meditate and imagine, we can breath in, 

the white light of our intentions

and exhale, 

the thick black smoke 

of whatever is getting in the way of our actualizing...

It can take only a moment of such consciousness to awaken to what you have searched for and sometimes even when stumbling upon have chosen to deny, distort or delay. 

This moment is called "clarity" by some, "grace" by others.  It occurs when we get out of the way of our preconceived notions and their nagging insistencies, when we are open to finding fulfillment in other ways of being - the moment of becoming aware that the source is within, not without.