THE TREE OF LIFE AS A WAY OF CONQUERING THE THREE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA

David Cumes

The next few blogs will help show us how the Tree of Life manages the three deadly sins. Although somewhat similar to the Chakra system the energy centers or sephirot are more complex. There are ten as opposed to the usual seven chakras. These are arranged in three columns rather than one. 

The left side is "moon" like in energy and contracts or restrains like the parasympathetic nervous system. The right is "sun" like and expands like the sympathetic nervous system. These resemble the main sun and moon "nadis" or energy channels that spiral  up the central channel of the spine  and connect the chakras. 

Left and right on the T.O.L. are integrated by the central column which embraces Will - Intention - Passion. The center holds the balance. Daat just below the crown or Keter is not a true sephira and symbolizes Faith or Grace. There are 22 pathways linking up to balance the sephirot.

As we said in the last blog each sephira also has its light and dark side we need to integrate both through their three basic horizontal triangles.

The top triangle points upward & comprises; 

Keter (Crown) - Wisdom - Understanding.

The middle triangle; 
Love - Mercy - Judgment
and

The lowest; 
Foundation (basically Ego;) 
 Non Attachment - Attachment (to objects of our desire.) 
This triangle represents similar polarities to the lower three chakras below the diaphragm.
Both middle and lower triangles point downwards.

Tension between the three sephirot of each and their respective balancing allows the seeker to move up the T.O.L. and conquer the serpent coiled around the central trunk which represents; ego, monkey mind, our evil inclination or shadow and the dark forces outside of us, also called tricksters. 

In this way we can re-enter the metaphoric Garden of Eden (Buddhism's Pure Land, Yoga's Causal Realm.) When we do this we come into direct realization that we are made in the image of the Creator ...
 "I am that I am," which is Oneness or Unity Consciousness. Duality disappears, at least for a while, and the Knower, Known and Process of Knowing become One thing. The knowledge of this truth, however, remains forever.

Tiferet the heart of the Tree represents love and requires that we conquer our fears - including guilt, self remorse/recrimination, self condemnation and shame with Universal Self Acceptance (U.S.A.) and forgiveness, empathy and compassion In addition we should strive to have an unconditional positive regard for others. We don't have to like them but we need to love their humanity and its potential. The Bushmen of the Kalahari teach that to be a good healer (or seeker) we need to love people no matter what we think of them. Namaste in Sanskrit.

What makes us contract? The Five Judgments 
or Fears mostly on the left side 

Understanding
Judgment
Attachment 
(=Self-cherishing &
Desirous Attachment)

Ego (Foundation)

Kingdom (us on earth)
 in the center.

What makes us expand? The Five Loves mostly 
on the right side of the Tree of Life

  

Keter 

the Crown is similar 

to the 7th Chakra

in the center.

Wisdom
Mercy

Love
in the center

Non-attachment
(to the objects of our desire)

Next week we will look at what ancient wisdom teaches about these polarities but as a general gestalt to meditate on here are some.

CONTRACTION

EXPANSION

Click to highlight the link then download and play

-_MP3s/._20%20Judgement.mp3

LOVE  & THE HEART AS REMEDIES FOR THE 3 DEADLY SINS 

In the previous blogs we have talked about ways to remedy ego, judgment and desirous attachment such as active and passive meditation, silence, nature, sounds and song, the breath and using the senses in other ways to connect with heart and soul.

There is no question that...

... but is also the hardest challenge we have to master. When it comes to karma we will be accountable to the extent we loved all four of the beings, not just the talking ones. The Bushmen healers say that to heal we have to open our hearts and love others no matter what we think of them. The yogis agree that of all the chakras the heart chakra is the most difficult to open. The Ancestors teach on love; "there is only one truth..."

The Creator loves us no matter what we do. Hence karma is built as a default into the soul and the law of cause and effect which determines future incarnations will allow us to perfect the soul.  One of the biggest impediments to the spiritual seeker is judgment. We do not need to judge others or ourselves but rather have compassion for their and our misdeeds since karma is relentless. When we cross the veil between the worlds there will be a spiritual tribunal on the other side to account for our souls' blemishes. 

The Ancestors teach...

and

There are ten Sephirot in the Tree of Life (Faith or Daat is not a true sephira.)

There are five sephirot denoting the five polarities where love can be expressed (designated below by a heart symbol.) The other five sephirot are called the five judgments (or fears.) There are only two basic feelings, love and fear. We need to decide what we want to embrace with our understands, judgments, attachments as well as being resident in a sentient or sensory body at Kingdom in the lowest sephira. How we balance these polarities and their triangles will determine how much we are fear versus love based and whether we contract (--) or expand (+). 

Love or Fear

It all depends where we place the two: horizontally; --; or one horizontal one vertical; +

We need understanding, judgment and attachment 

just as we need wisdom, mercy and non attachment. 

Each have their dark side and both need continuous balance and fine tuning with spiritual practice - whatever method or methods work for us. We decide whether we soar or plummet.

Our guides as well as energy or anatomy maps, spiritual awareness and truth ("the truth will set you free...") and a 

regular, sustainable, enjoyable spiritual practice or practices are all essential.

The Ancestors

Click on the link to highlight then play and if you like meditate.

-_MP3s/03_Wings_of_Love.mp3

 MEDITATING AWAY THE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA 
WITH THE SENSES

Africans say; "we pray by singing and dancing" and the Talmud teaches that "with song one can open the gates of heaven." 

The Ancestors

There are many ways to engage the five senses in meditation and there are intuitive senses beyond these five as well which will deepen if we do. Invent your own meditations - here are some ideas.

SEEING 

Candle meditation, being mesmerized by patterns on a patterned or nature screen or immersing in Nature itself.

HEARING 

Music, Chanting, Drumming, the mantra of nature's sounds. See last week's blog.

The Ancestors

TOUCHING/FEELING 

Massage, Vipassana, love making ...

SMELLING 

Aromas, Incense, Nature.

TASTING 

Something you love with intention and focus (chocolate, great wine.) So many forms of taste sensation - bitter, sweet, sour, salty, pungent, umami (the taste of glutamates such as M.S.G. an artificial one and one that makes some of us sick), coolness, numbness and a new one oleogustus - the taste of fat. Amazing what the taste buds can differentiate. Buddhists eat in silence and food becomes their meditation. We are blessed to be in a sentient body which we will lose when we pass on. We should enjoy it while we can - but responsibly.

The senses allow us to connect more deeply with the elements. As we travel up the hierarchy of chakras we see an increasing vibration from earth, to water, to fire, to air, and then to ether 

or what Kabbalah calls "Nothingness," ("Ayin,") 
the Buddhists "Emptiness."

 At the crown chakra we connect with the ether element and unity consciousness or the oneness experience or "I am that I am" in other words we "realize" we made in the image of the Creator.  We are also being breathed by the breath or wind of the Infinite One - ruach - wind, spirit, life force in Hebrew -  prana in yoga. 

The Zohar

We were all "nature bound" originally though technology has made us forget our primal hunter-gathers roots. It is not so long ago that we were wandering the savanna's completely reliant on the senses, the elements and Nature's bounty. The San Bushmen one of the last of the hunter-gatherers of the planet are able to access higher levels of consciousness through nature alone especially through the "soft" fascinations (scenes, sunsets, smells, aromas the mantra sound of the bush...) which meditate them into an alfa state (and beyond.) We can do the same with right intention.

"The Ancestors say;

"The force of the primal self manifested as love is the glory of God. Those who awaken it in others glorify him."

Each chakra element has its own vibratory connection, sound and meditation. Listen, see, smell, taste, touch, feel.
When we do this we begin to 
"hear what hearing ears do not and see what seeing eyes do not."

The Ancestors

Connecting the Senses with the Elements

Click to highlight the link then play

_MP3s/03_Earth_Sea_Sky.mp3

THE SENSORY POWER OF BREATH MEDITATION & SOUND 

IN COUNTERING 

THE 3 DEADLY SINS OF KARMA

The Ancestors

The easiest and most readily accessible form of meditation which is always available to us is our breath. We can become aware of it in an instant and this attention can initiate a parasympathetic relaxation response that balances flight or flight  and is calming. It works whether you have fear of flying and your flight is taking off or when you are in horrendous traffic. It is startling how powerful it is for patients undergoing procedures when they are told just to breath. The Lamaze method for childbirth developed by a French obstetrician is hugely helpful in managing labor. 

We are also able to hear the soft, still voice of the Creator if we are can be quiet and listen. We are animated by the breath of the Divine - this is what keeps us alive. Before we pass over to the "Elsewhere" it is this breath that is withdrawn when the "silver cord (attaching our soul to our body) is broken." The Zohar teaches and the Ancestors confirm that all four beings; Still, Growing, Wild and Talking are animated by "The Four Winds."  Wind in Hebrew is Ruach which also means spirit, life force, energy - Prana in yoga.

The Ancestors

The yoga system of Chakras reveals a hierarchy of the elements; first chakra - earth, second - water, third - fire and 
fourth or heart chakra - air.
Air changes to the finer vibrations of ether and spirit as one ascends up through the fifth and sixth to the seventh or crown chakra and beyond. 
Sound in any form can be one of the most powerful sensory forms of meditation. 
The fifth chakra is in the throat and is the energy center of the voice (and singing) as well as creative expression. Singing and chanting can be meditative. 

The Ancestors

"Divine sound is the cause of all manifestation. The knower of the  mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe."

Hazrat Inayat Khan

In nature we can find many aspects of meditative sound vibration from that of rain, to the whispering of the wind in the trees or the sound of a babbling brook and the song of the "flying beings" - natures breath or her pranayama.

The sound described above resembles very much the the description of the Music of the Spheres or the Oram Mor - the Druid term for the sacred sound of the universe. The Bushmen tell us to listen to the singing of the stars as does the Zohar.

As the ether vibration heightens at the sixth chakra the third eye opens and at the seventh we are at one with the cosmos.

Pranayama or the yoga science of breath is on its own a powerful form of meditation. The key to pranayama is the diaphragm which separates the lower three "survival" chakras from the higher chakras. Pranayama or breath meditation is a seminal way for increasing ones vibration and moving energy upwards into the higher chakras towards the crown. Patanjali stressed the importance of the phases of the breath - inspiration - expiration and breath retention or holding between as well as increasing the time intervals between and of each. He taught this as a way of attaining "cataleptic" consciousness and entering the higher Causal realms that lead us to our Atman or Self. With the breath we can be in the present moment, leave the important but spiritually inhibiting forces of ego, judgment and desirous attachment behind and move upward towards the spiritual truths and awarenesses of the higher principles of consciousness. 
There are many forms of pranayama. Thit Nat Han the acclaimed Buddhist teacher would recite the simple mantra "breathing in I know I am breathing in, breathing out I know I am breathing out." There are numerous yoga techniques but the two I recommend are Ujjayi and alternative nostril breathing which you can find online. Alternative nostril pranayama helps to balance sun and moon nadis or energy channels that spiral up the spine around the central channel. Meditation is always about balancing polarity; sun/moon, sympathetic/parasympathetic, left brain/right brain, masculine/ feminine, Yang and Yin. Sadly our Western way of living is focused around only one of these polarities and we need to balance or perish - at least spiritually.

Click to highlight the link and then play to meditate.

_MP3s/16_Spirit_Chant.mp3

THE PARADOX OF SELF-CRITICISM 

AND HANDLING PAIN AND GRIEF

Meditation - Passive/Active can help alleviate pain and grief with the power of surrender 

and 

with Awareness, also Manage Self-Recrimination more Skillfully. 

When we grew up many of us were under the impression the way we were taught at school and at home that the more we were critizised about unskillful behavior, the better we would perform next time. 

The opposite was true for many growing up during the self-esteem movement especially in California where kids were overpraised enthusiastically for doing things not deserving of much praise. Criticism was avoided if at all possible. The self-esteem movement proved to be a dismal failure and Martin Seligman the founder of Positive Psychology has described it as one of the major causes of depression in those who grew up under its influence. 

Growing up in South Africa we were exposed to the opposite - an attempt to shame and even then cane in order to achieve better performance. Both of these methods are debatable. 

Self-condemnation or severe criticism from others has a negative affect and far from encouraging us to preform better actually can put the brain in a shut down mode. This is somewhat like the other aspects of the flight or fight reaction 

viz. freezing or feigning death 

which can cause brain lock down. Unlike animals who suffer a flight or fight reaction when confronted with death - or in our case severe stress - we often cannot just "shake" it off and carry on as normal. Animals, however, do not get P.T.S.D. They avoid any post traumatic psychic effects if they survive.

Shame, guilt, remorse, debilitating self-criticism have no place in self-actualization or spiritual transformation. 

We cannot, however, enable ourselves or others by endorsing bad behavior. We should treat ourselves (and others) as if we (or they) were a close friend and practice U.S.A. - Universal Self Acceptance. Meditation can promote self love.

Nevertheless we need to acknowledge the wrong and promise ourselves to do better next time. No one is perfect. Concerning the harming of another we should correct the damage done if possible and if necessary ask forgiveness.

Also

Meditation also helps to dilute judgment of others.

The Ancestors teach

 Some of us take on what is not ours to take on, possibly from the self criticizing conditioning that we are used to.

Also guilt has no place in the healing dynamic. Some patients feel for whatever reason that they deserve not to be well and this is their punishment. 

The Inner Healer cannot function properly when there is shame or guilt.

 

Research has shown that pushing away pain is usually not as effective as surrendering and going into the pain. In other words being mindful of what is going on and experiencing the pain.  Vipassana meditation is a powerful tool for handling this. 
Experiments with two groups placing their hand in a bucket of iced water showed that those who tried to deny the pain did not persevere with the cold as long as those who were told to experience and go into the pain. Meditators were even better in tolerating the pain. F.M.R.I. studies showed activity in the pain centers of the brain in the experiencing group.
Possibly this can be compared to a TENS unit used for patients with severe pain where the spinal cord is bombarded with electrical stimuli sufficiently to alleviate the pain stimuli going to the brain. The current from the unit travels through electrodes to the skin producing a tingling sensation that reduces the perception of pain. The Gate theory suggests that the spinal cord acts as a "Gate" shutting down or opening the flow of signals from the periphery to the brain. The TENS frequencies interfere with the pain messages and help block their transmission to the brain. 
Possibly "experiencing" the pain helps "fill the receptors" in the brain's pain centers thus raising the pain threshold. 

The same can be said for grief.

The ability to surrender is a profound spiritual concept praised by all the sages. Surrender is about hope, trust, belief, faith and is fearless. It allows us to be more flexible and surrender to something much bigger that ourselves than our suffering. When we acknowledge a higher force and source it allows us to open to the Field, the Creator and our guides for love, healing and support. It allows us to stop grasping and to be non-attached. 

Surrender is not detachment it is non attachment. Detachment implies resignation and hopelessness. 

Meditation enables us to surrender and trust in hope which is,

"the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen."

The Ancestors

Click to highlight then play

_Cosmic_Meditation.mp3

PASSIVE MEDITATION - ANOTHER WAY TO MANAGE THE 3 DEADLY KARMIC SINS

"Being in the present moment" has become a cliche these days but nevertheless a vital one. The Ancestors teach...

And

When we practice we can better learn and feel how to do things for their own sake and not for any agenda or ulterior motive. Our dream consciousness will also deepen to help us on the tricky path of conscious living. We need to find the practice that suits EACH INDIVIDUAL best and this may not be the more commonly accepted passive meditation. It can be self created and not necessarily Eastern based or exotic. For some rock climbing can be an inward experience where they connect with Self.

Through meditation we come to realize the oneness rather than the duality of human existence and how to embrace the differences.

The Zohar tells us that Narrow or Monkey mind is connected to the 1% world of our reality, Spacious   

mind to the other 99% of what we may not know or not be aware. Spacious mind resides in the frontal lobe regions of the brain -confirmed in functional M.R.I. studies (F.M.R.I.) It is responsible for our goals, aspirations, ideals, concepts, discrimination and beliefs. 

Monkey or Narrow mind resides in the more primitive areas of the brain and is responsible for our survival as well as our impulses, desires, compulsions, habits and addictions. It has its rightful place.

Narrow mind, Ego, Spacious mind and our Evil Inclination (or Shadow) are always in flux with Spacious mind. To the extent that we have a regular, enjoyable, sustainable spiritual practice that brings us joy and equanimity we can shift consciousness away from the default mode of Monkey mind towards Spacious mind and higher consciousness. In this way we can control the shadow aspects of ourselves and subordinate ego to the Higher Self.

The process is spiritually experiential and unrelated to intellect

We cannot THINK OUR WAY OUT of this default mode! 

However, awareness and the truths of the laws of spirit can help us get there.

The Ancestors

Spacious mind helps us govern our dysfunctions including our dysfunctional "procedural" memory which gets turned on with stress e.g. the memory that finds the alcoholic unconsciously driving to the closest bar when times are tough (hence the need to have a sponsor to avert a crisis of procedural memory.) Meditation can help us govern negative procedural memory by alleviating stress and making it a challenge rather than a problem. Procedural memory can also be time and energy effective for instance driving home and having no conscious recollection of managing the route.

Feelings lead to emotions which can be constructive if governed by love and Spacious mind but destructive if governed by fear and Monkey mind. 

Spiritual practice allows us to be in touch with our feelings without them turning into harmful emotions. 

 Monkey mind is fear based, criticizes and judges, is egocentric and selfish, likes to separate and control and is infatuated with persona and appearances. Rather than being in the moment it projects into the past and future. If not in its rightful "survival based" place it switches off Spacious mind and becomes a recipe for suffering.

Because its basic function is associated with the flight or fight reaction it can respond to stress as if it might be a life threatening situation.  Modern day living is a template for stress. Our sympathetic nervous system responds to stress just as if we were being attacked by a lion raising our blood pressure, releasing adrenal hormones including adrenalin and cortisone which suppresses our immune response and increases our blood sugar to help give us the energy to escape the threat. This is ok on a short term but not on a long term basis. If stress is not modulated it can cause hypertension, diabetes and even autoimmune disease.  Stress busting is well and good and is an important reason for the popularity of yoga in the West today. However we need to make our spiritual practice go deeper than just surviving through the day and if necessary practice more that one method of going inward.

There are two kinds of stress - stress and eustress. Eustress is good stress and there are those who thrive on stress. Spiritual practice can help turn distress into eustress, can make a problem become a challenge - can morph the daily "shit" into manure. My personal experience is that when spiritual practice is embodied as in yoga, tai chi, chi gong, drumming, dancing and hiking or even walking on the beach or in a park it is more stress busting. 

Fascinating F.M.R.I. research has been done on Vipassana or mindfulness meditation with advanced  practitioners. Although not fully embodied and more passive in nature Vipassana involves  experiencing and feeling. It is especially helpful in certain circumstances and conditions.

Vipassana meditation or "experiencing in the present moment" has been scientifically proven to help stress as well as alleviate obsessive compulsive disorder, P.T.S.D., depression and anxiety. The U.S, armed forces have used it successfully for P.T.S.D. 

It also helps practitioners recognize and avoid falling into "procedural memory" - another example apart from the alcohol syndrome being eating disorders. It allows those who practice to "surf the urge" rather than falling prey to it, to recognize the dynamic and avert it.

In summary, spiritual practice shifts activity into the frontal lobe of the brain. It enables creative problem solving, modulates Monkey mind, creates equanimity and inner peace and allows us to cope with stress. There is also medical evidence that it lengthens the telomeres of our genes delaying aging and is healthful. 

Very experienced meditators default easily to the frontal lobe under stressful situations and have more frontal lobe activity even under normal conditions. They seem to have more neurons and neuronal connections. This allows them to manage stress, process procedural memory in a positive way and surf any dysfunctional urges rather than succumbing to them.

Research has also shown us the paradox that self condemnation far from helping us perform better is counterproductive and that experiencing pain or grief in most cases is better that pushing it away. Vipassana is ideal for this.

We will deal with this next week.

Click to highlight the link and then play

_MP3s/06_Cosmic_Meditation.mp3

.

NATURE AND ACTIVE SENSORY MEDITATION 
GOING PRIMAL

The Ancestors

Last week's blog touched on nature as an ideal sensory environment for active meditation for those of us that are so inclined. This does not have to be rely on going primitive or on seeking out wild places and "Wilderness Rapture." One can find it walking silently on a beach or in a park especially around sunrise, sunset or at night on a full moon.  It is true, however, that for some of us - the more profound the beauty - the deeper the experience.
and the Ancestors say...

But we can also find it in the "Magic of the Ordinary."

Luther Standing Bear admonishes us ...

"It was only when the white man came that wilderness existed."

For aboriginal peoples wilderness was their home and no elaborate preparation or high technology was needed to feel comfortable in Her womb. They also knew and some still know how to communicate with all "beings"besides the talking ones.

We cannot go into nature making a noise and chattering incessantly and not missing all that it has to offer. Many have left nature behind them and psychologists now have a term called the "Nature Deprivation Syndrome" which they are discovering in children where the awe, adventure and fun of nature has been substitute for by an I Pad or video game. We have forgotten who we are or where we came from and can no longer understand these words of Van der Post. Rather we go into nature as a high tech experience or exercise to keep fit, bag peaks or run rivers and take selfies while doing so rather than to connect with Self.

Van der Post was endorsing these words of the Ancestors

But we need to go in alone (or together) but in silence.

We are also still able to hear the "soft, still, silent voice" of the Creator if we pay attention. Kabbalah tells us that God is playing hide and seek with us but no-one wants to play - God loves to be loved and nature is one way to engage. 

Click to highlight the link then play the two songs

_-_MP3s/01%20Four%20Directions.mp3

-_MP3s/01_The_Four_Beings.mp3