It's just a ride: February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Shadow work

Flower of life pattern

Here's a little experiment, I discovered that you could use the flower of life pattern as a tool for shadow work : to explore your thoughts and reveal/find connexion between ideas - that you won't consciously find otherwise.

I did the exercise twice on money - it starts in the centre of the pattern - with the number 1 - then follow the sequence up to 19.

Conclusion

In both case the outcome is positive, but the path leading to it is either blissful or destructive. It shows how money is just a tool - something that facilitate changes.
It acts as a catalyst somehow forcing things to choose side.

And it's true, who could really stay neutral on the controversial topic of money ?

vive memor leti - Maria Konnikova: Unclutter Your Brain Attic Like...: So, what a researcher would do at the beginning of an experiment is to say, what is my question? And that’s exactly what Holmes does. He says, what is my goal? What do I want to accomplish? Before he ever opens a case, before he ever meets a client, he already wants to know what is it that I want to get from this meeting. And so he comes into the meeting with a prepared mindset. His attic has already been primed, so to speak, to take in certain inputs and to not allow other inputs in. This is important because attention is incredibly finite, and so we don’t have just endless resources, so we can’t pay attention to everything; we do need to be selective to what we pay attention to.

Friday, February 22, 2013

To Be in Alignment

To be in alignment

What Does It Mean to Be in Alignment?: Your emotions are the indication of whether the thought you're thinking at this moment is in alignment with the frequency of your desires and Source or out of alignment with your desires and Source. If you think thoughts which are out of alignment with Source, you feel negative emotion. If you think thoughts which are in alignment with source, you feel positive emotion. You are biochemically hardwired to go in the direction of alignment. All you have to do to stay in alignment therefore is to care first and foremost how you feel, choose to think thoughts that feel emotionally good to you and stop focusing on thoughts which feel emotionally bad to think.

Scott, Teal "What Does It Mean to Be in Alignment?." What Does It Mean to Be in Alignment? EzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Does-It-Mean-to-Be-in-Alignment?&id=7135510

Practice

This is currently my focus, and it's simple in some way, and hard at the same time.
I can feel a surge of positive emotions suddenly, to send an email to somebody, then when the computer is started, feel nothing or starting to write the mail and feeling empty.

Another thing, that happen a lot is me questioning the motivations behind my thoughts, and then I realize that many of the things I want to do are motivated by my need for acceptance, and getting approval from people. To get noticed.

After that last realization, I decided to meditate, and tried to do nothing for awhile ; waiting for things to settle down, and to see more clearly how I could be in alignment ; that's when I realized that doing nothing is a nightmare - forcing myself to stay sit for more than an hour is really hard.

I've been practicing meditation daily, every morning (more or less) around 20mn (I don't look at the watch) for about 2 years now. And the chasing of thoughts is something I'm getting better at, especially since I've been introduced to "shadow work" techniques.

But doing nothing, staying still for the purpose of just clearing the way, to let the space of "what is really important" emerges - that's something that gives me trouble ; because, there's a flow of impulses to do all sort of things, washing the dishes, cleaning this, going shopping, cooking, sorting papers, that comes jumping and bouncing like little crazy elves ...

Stillness

And then I'm thinking how do other people do ? they just don't stop - nobody stop, the entire humanity is running up and down, talking, arguing, working, traveling, agonizing, dreaming, all the time - but nobody stop -- does this have to do with the proverbial "idleness is the mother of all sins" ?

What's wrong with stillness ? it's the mother of understanding, the mother of gratitude, the mother of thankfulness. Even when we are babies, people have to come and poke us in the stomach, without even realizing it, because we like to see things moving.

Are we afraid of stillness, because it reminds us of death ?

Yesterday I was staring at a piece of marble, and suddenly for the first time I was watching it - it's like something clicked in me, before I was looking, but a few seconds later I was appreciating what was in front of me, I liked the textures, the spots of colors, the complexity of the patterns, I was present at that moment, it felt good.

It happened after I made some hypothesis on what could be my purpose in life, I retraced my life like everything was a conscious choice of me during all these past years to come to that moment. For example, I said to myself I choose my mother because she was a teacher, and my father because he was smart, then I choose to be born there, and it all pushed me into a catholic school where I was taught things that insulted my intelligence, but I choose to believed them - then it lead me to various boring jobs with no particular interest, which lead me to push everything aside, and to dig into spirituality and then to finally after all these years spent in the darkness of ignorance, to walk the path toward truth, things are starting to make sense, the light is entering. I welcome the light, I'm craving for more knowledge ...

It was like my life was built with the contrast of total immersion in ignorance and suffering and now (after 2010) knowledge and healing. It's still very much a work in progress, but I felt that way, and then I saw what was in front of me (the marble).

And now I'm seriously thinking to write a "love" letter to Teal Scott.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Teal the Catalyst

On this blog, I've mentioned in the past many guides, mind explorers, visionaries and teachers, like Byron Katie, Master Tony, Ma Nithya Sudevi, William Buhlman, Eckart Tolle, Matias de Stefano (and Alan Watts, Terence McKenna, Rudolf Steiner, etc ...)

But there's one particular person, I'd like to support a little more today - because she is like a beacon of light ; That person is Teal Scott ; also known as the "Spiritual Catalyst"

Her ideas are a breeze of fresh air :

We are all extension of source
We create our own reality just by being a match in vibration with something or someone
What we resist, persist
Core Teachings of Teal Scott: The Spiritual Catalyst
Words Of Wisdom with Teal (Feel Good Ask Teal Episode with Teal Scott)
A Message About Love - Teal Scott

Here's a compilation of many of her videos

Monday, February 11, 2013

War with the self

Unhappiness is unnatural

To be unhappy is an unnatural state of being ; this is something that has to be learned - this is a disease that parents are transmitting to their children.

You don't believe me ?

What is the benefits of being unhappy ? what's the reward ?
What are the incentives given to unhappy people ?

Being unhappy makes us happy

There's no other way to put it - we are unhappy because we want to conform.
Being happy in an unhappy society is like being oddity.
Ultimately we are free to choose between happiness and unhappiness.
Why do we choose unhappiness ? why do we believe that thought that say "if you're happy, something is going to happen that will ruin everything and then you will be unhappy"

Don't worry, be happy

Dear reader, put a smile on your face and for no reason whatsoever - choose to be happy

opt for the happiness within.

Make peace with yourself - question your thoughts, be friend with yourself.

Do "The Work" of Byron Katie.

Byron Katie: Finding Kindness & Questioning Stressful Thoughts - YouTube

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Symbolic Process

Out of body experience

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:3
King James Version (KJV)

What if being born again just mean to go out of the body ?
Reading the passage above then makes a lot more sense. The astral body during sleep leaves the physical body this is like being born again.

Blind to the spiritual

The Apocalypse of Peter -- The Nag Hammadi Library: And he said to me, "Be strong, for you are the one to whom these mysteries have been given, to know them through revelation, that he whom they crucified is the first-born, and the home of demons, and the stony vessel in which they dwell, of Elohim, of the cross, which is under the Law. But he who stands near him is the living Savior, the first in him, whom they seized and released, who stands joyfully looking at those who did him violence, while they are divided among themselves. Therefore he laughs at their lack of perception, knowing that they are born blind. So then the one susceptible to suffering shall come, since the body is the substitute. But what they released was my incorporeal body. But I am the intellectual Spirit filled with radiant light. He whom you saw coming to me is our intellectual Pleroma, which unites the perfect light with my Holy Spirit."

Science and materialism in general is creating a world of blind - putting aside the spiritual layer of life is making people unaware of a large portion of their life. But does Science has the answers to question like "What are ghosts ?" "What happen after a person die ?" "What are dreams ?" "What is enlightenment ?" "What is free will ?" ... trying to ignore spiritual matter just lead to ignorance, confusion and fear.

Back to the classic

Pythagoras Brings the Symbolic Process to the West.: Pythagoras created Western philosophy, empirical science, occult initiation, geometrical symbolism, and number theory. Most of what is generally known is gleaned from the works of Plato and the remnants of his Academy—the academic perspective. The difference is that Plato was escaping from reality into abstract idealized alternatives which fit so well with the cloistered Medieval Scholastic monks.

Look within
Know yourself
Start questioning

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Authenticity

Close your eyes

What do you see when you close your eyes ? that very question popped up during my morning meditation and I started to look after what I was seeing, and even though my first reflex was to answer "nothing, I see nothing" it wasn't entirely true - nothing is an empty word - it doesn't exist.

I am seeing something - this doesn't make sense, but I'm seeing color, shapes in a very fast manner.

This is something I'm so accustomed of that I never paid attention to, these are remnant of light that I've seen before closing the eyes obviously, or something that my brain is analyzing as "moving shadow" or some sort of blobs.

What other people think is irrelevant

Why ? because we are all one ; and we should try to think for ourselves - if my thoughts are about what another person is thinking -- then there's a tiny problem.
First, there's no way I can be sure of what this person is really thinking (unless I ask that person, and the answer will be genuine)
Secondly, why would that make a difference for me : If what I'm doing is completely in accord with what I'm supposed to do.

Basically looking around for approval is only something a newbie would do to receive acknowledgement.

But if you are living in alignment then receiving approval or critics from somebody else is completely irrelevant. At some level of mastery in any subject (art, music, dance, sport etc ...) when an individual is acting in the flow of the art he masters - the joy he receives is his only guide.

People applauding, cheering or heckling is just a hindrance at that level of play - this is just "noise" ignored by the master.

Knowing Authenticity

How to Not Care What Other People Think:

The good news is that authenticity is a learn-able skill. Like anything else, it all comes down to practice.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Start playing D&D

Back in the days

When I have been introduced to role playing games, back in the 90s - it was like I've discovered a portal to an infinities of new worlds.

I remembered listening to one guy in my class explaining with a lot of gestures the adventure he had on the week end.

Then it has became an priority for me to be initiated into that role playing experience.

First contact

But it wasn't easy, I remembered - back then the dungeon master guide (DMG), monster manual (MM) and player hand book (PHB) were a bit expensive for students, also we gathered the money and started playing with a group of people. It was really fun. But then at first, it was tough because unless you had an experienced player (usually the DM) giving instructions, we didn't know what to do ?! the engine of this game is imagination and initiative, the rest is just structure given by the rules, but when I had to prepare my first game as a DM - I felt a bit lost and kept reading and reading DMG parts that I never had to use (adventure in city, how the guild works, etc ...)

Now I guess it doesn't make much sense, with the plethora of video games ; once you've understood the character creation part and the set of keys to use - you are set for the game.

Video games killed the RPG Star

Role playing game isn't a big market now, because of the preparation time it requires, it takes a lot of work (compared to the basic video game) before you can assemble a team of players and start an adventure.

Another thing is to find a group of player that will be able to come regularly to session - otherwise it's not very enjoyable in the long run.

But since once again the motor of the role playing game is imagination and initiative ; for the connoisseurs the gratification of a good session is thousands times better than grinding on a video game. My advice is start playing D&D you'll develop a lot of very useful skills like imagination, initiative, empathy, acting, inventiveness, interactivity, organization, story-telling, entertainment, leading, and it's a good way to make friends.

Links

If anybody is interested in discovering role playing I'd recommend this page ; it gives good advices.

Some friends and I want to start playing D&D. What to buy, what to do now?
"Some friends and I want to start playing D&D. What to buy, what to do now?"

Friday, February 1, 2013

World of Illusions

What is an illusionist ?

From the excellent d20 website it's a wizard variant that has this ability to distort realities, to mass charm people into believing what he wants.

It really has no "real" power - and therefor some players are wondering why even play an illusionist compared to a mighty paladin, ferocious barbarian or skilled ranger ?

Benefits of playing an illusionist

But the fact is the illusionist is introducing really interesting new parameter in the game.
He can scare a lot of people, by creating illusion of a stone giant in the busy market place of a tiny village, then the rogue can take advantage of this situation by looting all shops.
He can make the entire party becomes invisible, he can create distractions when the party is heavily wounded and has nowhere to hide.

The illusionist can also be used as a king adviser to keep the population quiet, by creating intrigues and plot - so the king can mass-control his subjects.

An illusion is an unquestioned belief.

When a party knows that an illusionist is there - everybody is regularly making saving-throw ; that's the only way to go with these

What does that have to do with spiritual growth?

Our Ego is a master illusionist, he has this capacity of distorting realities, sending false signals, and decoy all over the place when you start to get serious in your spiritual growth.

Doing Shadow work is a nice way to avoid falling in the traps the Ego is setting.

For every thought the exercise is to ask the 4 questions (see "The Work" by Byron Katie) - is it true ? can you absolutely know that it's true ? How do you feel when you believe this thought ? How would you be without this thought ?

And perform a couple of "turn-around" to see this thought through different lights.

I spontaneously do this while I'm awake during the night, and this had an impact on the dream I had. The results are real, at first emotionally it's quite vivid.

But as far as I can see now, the emotional roller-coaster is just a physical reaction to the loss of the unquestioned belief, but it doesn't have to be the goal to look for - it feels good crying when you realize how badly you had rooted a core-belief, but the crying or laughter aren't important - the work is.

Looking for freedom is the true progress

Question your thoughts, don't be fooled