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As we see in the news everyday, this is a world divided. It is polarized. Yes, we have our political divisions, so very apparent. But more fundamental than this, this world is dual by its very nature; it is a world of opposites, of positives and negatives. The positive and negative forces within atoms give rise to all form in this world. And form includes not only physical form and the physical body, but our thought forms and emotions as well.
So we have positive thoughts and negative ones; we have positive emotions and negative emotions. And instinctively we push away the uncomfortable negative, while reaching for the feel good of the positive. Of course, why would we not?!
Aah, but, but this is a trap! For spiritual law says:
everything in time shall turn into its opposite
So although we may temporarily find and relish the positive state, inevitably, at some point, our experience will flip and we will find ourselves in the opposite, negative place. With this constant flip-flopping, no wonder we often feel off balance and confused! So turns the wheel of karma as we teeter-totter between positive and negative, never coming to rest.
The good news is that there is a place in our awareness which rests outside of the dual nature of the mind and emotions, and this is our way through. This neutral witness or observer aspect of ourselves is able to view the transitory nature of life, of thoughts and emotions, with detachment. Yes, the positives and negatives of life still happen, but the neutral observer avoids assigning a value to one experience over the other and rests outside of the action, simply watching.
Then something amazing happens. Instead of riding the roller coaster between positive and negative, our inner world of swirling mind and emotions comes into balance and we begin to ground our awareness on what rests between the opposites of the world – the fullness of our true divine nature of peace, light and Presence. This is the Field Rumi writes about in his familiar poem and which I wrote about in my previous blog post.
When I mentor others and they come to me in pain or feel stuck in their lives some way, it is this witnessing place that I hold for them. In our sessions together we process and find our way back to this neutrality, anxiety is relieved and new ways of coping and perceiving are instituted.
Jesus said “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with Light.” In other words, beyond the two eyes of negative and positive is this third channel of awareness – the single eye – our neutral observer.
Begin to befriend this benevolent Presence, and as you build its strength, your reactivity to life will be lessened and you will begin to discover the treasure that is beyond even the positive – an equanimity with all of life. And the pure joy of Being.
I was mentoring with someone on Skype the other day. She has been out of work for nearly a year, and although there were interviews for jobs, no offer had manifested. And now, with Corona Virus, she was feeling intense fear and panic and a sense of scarcity. She is a sensitive soul and I could see that in addition to the emotions coming from her personal story she was picking up fear from the Collective (the overarching field of consciousness held by humanity), amplifying the intensity of her emotions.
Due to loss of income from the stay at home orders from the virus, survival issues are up for many. Even simply being told to “shelter in place” can be an emotional trigger. This uncleared shadow has its origins in our childhood, and even from ancestral memory stored in the cells of our body. Our issues of survival are bound up in the first or root chakra at the base of the spine. When it is closed down we feel fearful; we fear for our survival. We fear death, and our fear blocks our ability to perceive the divine support that is always available to us.
Emotions are vibrational frequencies, and whether they are our own or we are picking them up from others, they can be witnessed, felt and released. Opening up a closed root chakra… ah, we feel grounded again. Connected to the earth and to our core light our fear subsides and we are able to manifest what we need.
Simply approaching your fear with the intention of releasing it begins to release its grip. The witnessing presence that I wrote about in my previous blog post is your ally here. In a quiet moment, begin this process by journaling about your situation and invite your emotional body to participate. In other words, allow any emotions that are coming up to be there. Witness them without judgment. Feel them and allow them their full expression, whether anger or fear, or some, as yet, unnamed feeling. Know that are not who you are; they do not define you. Allow them to pass through the clear light of the witnessing presence that you truly are!
Over the years I’ve helped lots of people process and clear their personal shadow using specific clearing techniques, including Releasing Frozen Children. If you’d like some help with this, I’m here for you. Please click the Mentoring/Guidance link at the top of this blog for more details.
So here we are, the entire world brought to a standstill by this microscopic, but super efficient, contagion. Is this just an accident… simply our bad luck? We live in an intelligent universe, and its impetus is to evolve. For humanity this means growth towards higher consciousness, from the separateness of the individual ego to the unity of the one heart. Rather than seeing the Corona Virus as an adversary to overcome, I believe it has arrived as a wake-up call with a karmic message for humanity:
You are out of balance with nature and the earth, and you are out of balance with each other. Stop. Go inside. Be at peace with the unknown. Out of the chaos and dissolution will come a rebirth. Allow the heart to lead the way and all will be well.
As soon as we are able to grok this message, even a little, this virus will cease to be a problem. This is my prayer for the world.
In this full day seminar you will learn three unique, simple and effective techniques for clearing negativity in your life. Having trouble with a boss or co-worker? How about a spouse or a friend? Are you feeling stuck in a self destructive pattern and unable to move your life forward? Is anger or fear keeping you emotionally contract and unhappy?
Beyond our desires and fears, our anger and our pain a place of peace, equanimity and love awaits us in our hearts. The Polarities, Squares, and Triangles techniques developed by spiritual teacher Leslie Temple- Thurston and introduced in her book The Marriage of Spirit, Enlightened Living in Today’s World, show us how to get there. Based in the ancient teachings of the reconciliation of opposites, the techniques bring remarkable results with the basic tools of notebook and pencil and the willingness to surrender our confusion and contracted emotional states. In addition to a presentation of the key principles of Polarities, Squares, and Triangles, we’ll have lots of time for experiential practice; you will also have useful handouts to take home.
The seminar will be held in San Francisco at a quiet Outer Richmond district location. Suggested donation: $75. Please bring a lunch. For questions or to reserve your space you may send an e-mail to garyb@fastmail.com
In a discussion group the other day someone asked “Is there any one thing we can do on a daily basis, besides meditation, that will help us grow spiritually?” I felt into the question for a moment and the answer quickly floated into my awareness from my core: neutrality. “Yes. Practice neutrality,” I answered.
In truth, all wisdom, all inner knowing that we seek, emerges from our alignment with our spiritual core. And it is the practice of neutrality that takes us there. Neutrality naturally and effortlessly aligns our awareness/consciousness with a column of golden-white light that exists in our subtle body, or energy body. In Sanskrit it is called the shushumna, and it sits just in front of the physical spine and parallel to it, extending from head to toe and beyond – to the center of the galaxy above, as well as to the earth below. It is the gateway to higher consciousness and to the wisdom that exists outside of ego and our egoic limitations.
So it is through the practice of neutrality throughout our day, moment to moment, that silences the egoic mind with its desires and fears, its likes and dislikes, and allows our awareness to come to rest. Peace, balance, equanimity, trust, faith, and more are the states of being that we find there.
What does it mean to be neutral…practically? How do we do neutrality? As my teacher often says, to be neutral is to be neither attracted to or repulsed by anything. With our Observer as our viewing point we watch the inevitable dramas of life play out, noticing our reactivity, noticing if and how we are pushed and pulled by our thoughts and emotions. Can we hold the higher mind and simply watch what is unfolding without identifying with it? If emotion is present can we allow it to be there without being pulled into reactivity? This is neutrality and the doorway into the peace at our core in the shushumna. By resting here more and more our consciousness will ascend.
Awhile back I was on the phone and verbally assaulted by someone. I was belittled and shamed and essentially told (with many more hateful words!) that I was incompetent and worthless. When I reminded this person that their unhappiness came from the choices they have made in life and not from me, they hung up the phone! Throughout the call I was able to witness the barrage from the higher neutral mind and see that these accusations were projections coming for this person’s inner pain and disconnect. My immediate internal response was forgiveness. That said, my emotional body felt shattered, as you might guess, after such a violent assault. My reaction was to breath deeply to allow the charged energy to dissipate and to go for a brisk walk.
Do you see how I was able to remain neutral, even while my emotional body was activated? If my response had been to go into anger and blame and verbally retaliate in some way, I would have lost my neutral observer. I would have been identified with the story, and by taking a side or a position I would have created a relationship of polarity with “the other”. I would have been in egoic consciousness and had a personal issue to process and clear.
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So by making a commitment to neutrality, putting it into practice as best we can, and processing our shortcomings we strengthen our neutral observer overtime. We begin to spend more time in our core state and with the peace and balance that we find there. Our ascension in consciousness begins and grows from here.
In this eight class series beginning on February 25, 2014, the potent little book Returning to Oneness – the seven keys of ascension by Leslie Temple-Thurston will be our reference and guide.
The chakras are vortexes of spinning energy that form wheels which sit along and slightly in front of the spine. There are seven main chakras, each associated with a different area of consciousness, which effect our physical, emotional, mental well-being. When our chakra system is open and clear, the kundalini, or spiritual energy, that rises from the base chakra can flow freely up into the heart chakra and beyond, where we begin to experience ever increasing states of well-being, love, and connectedness. But, for most of us the chakras are “locked” because we have not cleared the emotional issues that each chakra represents. In the classes we will learn to work with a unique “key” that opens the lock between each of the chakras, allowing the kundalini energy to flow freely and bringing us into increasing states of unity and peace.
As an example, the third chakra, located at the solar plexus, is primarily about power issues – egoic issues of domination, control and victimhood. It’s the chakra that has “ruled” the world for the last 5,000 years, and if we look deeply enough into our own psyches we can see where in ourselves we are holding it place. The key to opening the third chakra is “view the ego impersonally.” Before each class we will read the chapter on one of the seven keys, then, in class we will discuss and process what came up for us so that we have clear understanding of how to work with it. Using guided meditation we will invite the new energy configuration to birth and grow in us.
Details about the classes in San Francisco are in the flier that I’ve attached here. For me, the circle that our group will create symbolizes the wholeness we seek individually, as well as the Oneness that we all are!
I hope you can join us!
embracingOneness Blog 