AWAKENED LIVING NEWSLETTER Vol 8 2/15/2021

Creating Community for Those in the Spiritual Awakening Process

Feb 15, 2021

Welcome to the Awakened Living Newsletter, which I write and publish to express my perspective on spiritual awakening from many angles, offer book reviews and suggest events that may appeal to my readers. I hope to support those in awakening process to feel part of a broad and growing community around the world. Feel free to comment and email me if you have suggestions of events of interest to this group. If you subscribe (it’s free) you will receive this newsletter twice a month.

Varieties of Kundalini Experience

People come into an awakening process with very different histories and conditioning, with unique perspectives and intentions, at various ages and with various patterns of thought.

Those who are devotional for years, or those who been completely immersed in work, or others who spent some years addicted to alcohol or drugs can face very different experiences when energy activates. Various cultural influences also can impact how we open to this experience. Some have an understanding that energy arises through spiritual practice, but many do not, and so they are disarmed or frightened by involuntary movements or psychic openings. If there is a history of trauma in the body, the experience can feel very invasive and trigger early childhood memories that have been repressed. If a doctor or minister has told you this experience is evidence of mental illness or evil, then fear can be amplified, and resistance cause contraction that makes the process more difficult. If you understand it as a spiritual process, and you are open to this, the experience can move more efficiently.

In classic traditions you would not do energy or spiritual practices outside of an ashram, temple or monastery setting. Even then, practices would be slowly introduced along with discipline, a simple diet, and earth-oriented tasks like gardening or kitchen work. Under this model I have no idea if kundalini problems arose, but it seems there was much less psychological baggage to shed, and this is primarily a shedding and deconstruction process. It opens up new perspectives and potentials, but first it brings to the surface all that our minds and hearts and bodies hold that cloud our capacity to feel free and flowing in the ordinariness of life. Kundalini is our life force intensifying and moving into areas of the body where there is holding and contraction.

It is not unusual for the body to shake uncontrollably during or after times of stress, due to a release mechanism that brings us back to equilibrium. This is not a kundalini dynamic but simply the way our energy field works. Kundalini, a sanscrit word based on the root kunda, which means coiled, is an excess of energy, some would say a sacred energy, coiled at the base of the spine.

According to yogic science each of the major chakras, invisible energy vortices along the spine, hold centers where our physical, subtle and causal dynamics are interconnected. You might think of it as areas where your physical body, life force and consciousness are interwoven together. Classically kundalini awakens from the base of the spine but people can have activations of energy from the feet, the heart, the brow or the head, and a few report a downward flow of energy that initiates their experience.

When the energy originates at the base it can move up slowly, moderately, or like a geyser, and it is almost invariably a partial or incomplete awakening that settles back down into a chakra area that needs more clearing. A partial or incomplete awakening means the energy has awakened to some chakra level, or may be active in some areas of the body, but has not moved through the crown of the head in such a way that the process is fully developed. This is not a mistake, because it is a gradual process for almost everyone and even when there are glimpses or brief periods of feeling free, at peace and connected to the universe, the energy can move back down and focus more on another chakra area that needs to open completely. Often kundalini feels stuck in the throat or the head, causing strange and irritating sensations.

It is helpful to learn to balance the energy so you can use awareness to move it lower when these phenomena are uncomfortable, and to use sound, music, movement, creative activity, yoga, or other practices to open stuck areas of the body. Often psychological insight is needed for clearing. It is important to be patient with this process and to trust it because fear and contraction only prolongs any discomfort that arises. It is helpful to make friends with this energy, as a wise part of yourself that is helping you discover the Truth of your own nature, and your relationship to universal source. No one can give you this because it is not describable to the intellect, so it must be experienced directly, and that is where this process is inviting you.

That is why the word surrender is often associated with this process, but I prefer to think of it as a deep relaxation into what is, into life in all of its facets.

Events that you Might Find Interesting

Saturday, February 20, 2021 1:00 pm EST

Evidence for the Afterlife

Dr. Jeffrey Long MD – Evidence for the Afterlife: Groundbreaking discoveries from the largest NDE Study ever reported

This is a free program offered by Spiritual Awakenings International, a new organization that is free to join and has a focus of bringing together people with many varieties of spiritual experiences. The announcement above is also a link.

Dr. Jeffrey Long, M.D. has scientifically studied over 4000 Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). He will review his NDE research that found powerful evidence of the afterlife. Dr. Long will present his current groundbreaking investigation of the content of NDEs that is the largest scientific investigation of sequentially shared experiences exploring the nature of the afterlife ever reported.

The Power of Prayer, Gratitude and Forgiveness.

There is a free online conference featuring Marion Williamson, and Neal Donald Walsh and many others Feb 19-21 titled The Power of Prayer, Gratitude and Forgiveness. If the topics resonate with you go to www.tcche.org for more info and to register

Know Thyself: Psychedelics & Spirituality

with Deepak Chopra, Dr. Charles Grob, Alex Grey, Allyson Grey, Dr. Nida, Bob Thurman and friends February 18 - 21, 2021 Presented by Tibet House US | Menla Online!

While I do not recommend the use of psychedelics for spiritual awakening it is more and more common in transpersonal psychology to recognize the spiritual impact of such experiences, and many who call me have reported openings of consciousness while using substances known as entheogenics In addition, research has been opening up in the use of enthneogenics for healing PTSD, depression and other illnesses. If you have an interest in this topic or are a therapist who works with people who use psychedelics, this conference may be of interest, especially as some remarkable people are among the many presenters., including Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, and Depak Chopra.

Here is a partial description of the conference theme as described on their website: “Nearly every culture throughout history has used naturally occurring psychoactive compounds for spiritual exploration, and entheogenic experiences have scientifically documented long-term benefits, including greater satisfaction with life, improved social relationships, and a deeper connection with nature. Psychedelics allow us a temporary glimpse beyond the curtain of our ordinary perceptions, allowing for transpersonal changes in perspective and helping to clarify what is really important….

Through this conference we will strengthen our connection to the sacred by deepening our understanding of the ancient relationship between the intelligence of plant medicines and indigenous spiritualities around the world, exploring the overlap between psychedelic experiences, altered states, spiritual self-transcendence, and near-death experiences.”

Here is a link to read more. The conference fee is $250.

https://thusmenla.org/p/know-thyself-psychedelics-spirituality?fbclid=IwAR0wTdAqF7gaLsBFZuZYeCGTncJuxGj06aROrHy54AFbGivd3cuD7Vw4s1U

BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Short Path to Enlightenment: Instructions for Immediate Awakening by Paul Brunton

This book, with its seductive title for any seeker of awakening, is a collection of short notes assembled from the extensive The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, a journalist who met Ramana Maharshi in the 1930’s, and first brought attention to him in the West through his book A Search in Secret India. Brunton (1898-1981) was a British journalist and author of 11 books who was attracted to Indian mysticism, and brought forward the teachings of self-inquiry or The Direct Path after spending months near Ramana and following his path to self-realization. Adyashanti has advised “Read this book as you would a scripture or a sutra…” and I have found that each aphorism is thought-provoking, and inspiring. Sutras are designed to resonate with the unconscious Truth held in our core, and are a lovely way to stimulate silent meditation, as is this collection of Brunton’s notes.

Brunton uses the term “overself” for the reality that we are – our awakened consciousness or True Nature – Here is an example:
“Consciousness appearing as the person seeks itself. This is its quest. But when it learns and comprehends that it is itself the object of that quest, the person stops not only seeking outside himself but even engaging in the quest itself. Henceforth he lets himself be moved by the Overself’s flow.” (23-1-3)

Here are two links where you can learn more about Brunton and his experience of Ramana Maharshi and you will also find information about him on youtube.

https://www.watkinsmagazine.com/the-meeting-of-paul-brunton-and-ramana-maharshi-changed-the-course-of-spiritual-practice-in-the-west

https://www.paulbrunton.org/pb-on-ramana-maharshi.php

What is the difference between psychosis and spiritual awakening?

I am sometimes asked this question, which is a question worth an entire book. It is complex. For me the difference between psychosis and spiritual emergence has to do with intensity, negativity, duration of confusion and ability to function.

An awakening can cause one to have a vision, psychic insight, occasionally hear a voice with inner guidance or support, experience Oneness with all, and then feel anxiety or fear because of energy arising in unfamiliar ways. There can be incredible rushes of bliss or joy followed by low energy and sadness at having lost it. Awakening can also cause a high sensitivity to crowds or toxic environments, high levels of synchronicity, and bring up memories from the deep unconscious that must be dealt with, even flashes of previous lives. It can cause fear and disorientation, and especially if sleep is interrupted you will likely feel very out of control for a while. A few people may experience dark entities or terrifying visions or dreams, which can arise as the unconscious clears and the ego-structure is crumbling. Such events may indicate a shamanic lineage or connection.

If you are hearing angry voices and messages, feel afraid of people, think the tv is speaking directly to you, are entangled in dark forebodings, have never felt close to anyone and live in acute fear so that you cannot be around people, this is more likely psychotic – the mind is not functioning in a useful way and you need healing and help. In a psychosis there is a loss of a sense of witness, mental confusion and poor discrimination so behavior becomes erratic. If your mood swings are intense so that people are afraid of you, or you impulsively and periodically do things that mess up your life i.e. drugs, spending money you don’t have, stirring up fights, standing on corners and yelling at people -- you are probably struggling with a mental illness. If this happens only when you are high on drugs then it may be a drug reaction that will shift if you become sober. Otherwise, you may need psychiatric care. I am not saying all psychiatric care is done right – only that there is a need for help and protection and stability.

You may also have a spiritual insight during these times when all is out of control, and it may be there to help you and soothe you. But if you become inflated with it, then it is not of much value to you at that time and is not a true awakening, which is ultimately humbling and gets you to see all of life is as much god as you are. If all of these problems go away when you are sober and well-rested and eating right then it may be a temporary reaction to something and not a mental illness.

I have seen a psychotic person set a group home on fire, another try to seduce her young son because of a fantasy, another believed her young daughter playing softball was sending hand signals about her to evil people– there is such a thing as real psychosis. It is a hurtful state of mind.

I have known hundreds of people with unusual experiences that were misdiagnosed as psychotic and bipolar who had very stable and satisfactory lives before the awakening event happened, and were able to function well after learning how to manage the energy, ground themselves, and come to terms with the fact their spiritual awakening does not fit main stream thinking. Usually they are released quickly from hospital settings and are afterwards able to function, and in time become more alive and creative and happy.

The problem is psychiatrists usually do not know what spiritual awakening is all about as it is not in their training, and the culture is also blind to it. Therapists need a paradigm or model before they can apply it to a given situation. There are mental health professionals working to change this, generally following their own experiences. We need a broader understanding of the fluidity of consciousness, the range of human experience and finding our ground when unfamiliar and unexpected experiences arise in those who meditate, do energy work, use psychedelics, have NDE’s, or for other reasons enter into awakening consciousness.

Awakened Living