Enlightenment: Practical steps

[sepia]

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Did you find your third eye as described in post 5?

Go there often during the day.

Specially if you tend to get lost in worldly things, emotional conditions and attachements.
Do it on a sharp inhale - come back inside to a place not bigger than a pea -
maybe repeat once or twice.

After this you allow the breath to flow freely in it's natural speed and size -
even if it's very small. Trust your body, it will take what it needs.

It's like "Uuuuuuh - coming home!" What a joy.

Enter this space and get yourself comfortable.
Sometimes it is like a cave - and you sit here in silence like a golden Buddha (any Buddha-Smiley around?)
sometimes it's more like a mountain-top, the vastness of space above you,
sometimes you feel more like in a light-house...

It's the doorway, like heretogrow discribed here:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post183855

For now I would recommend you strengthen your concentration-muscle.... don't float away - specially if you are new in this field.

Just come back inside on the inhale, and on the exhale you keep the concentration, but at the same time watch the energy flowing, releasing, clearing down through your body and into the ground.

Short sequences are fine. Even if it is only 30 seconds.

But at the end of the day, take some more time and make sure that the downward flow of energy is free.


Would you like to say " I am "?
It's a very old indian Mantra - you can gently repeat it - or just feel, that you are.

[sepia]

Posted by lightblue (here)
.
...a very similar thread was started just earlier on..maybe they could be merged together...

Dear lightblue

I'm holding a seminar here and I would like to keep the quality concise. That's why the threads will not be merged.

Love to you, Sepia

[sepia]

Posted by manny (here)
dear sepia.
may i share my experience with you .
and could you tell me if i,m on the right track.
i started meditating many years ago.
self taught.so i don,t know if its right or wrong.
i often do it before going to sleep .lying down.
i often feel a pulling in my forehead(something like elastic).recently there has been a gentle pushing on my right temple.
and the elastic feeling goes across my forehead.

this sometimes happens without me even trying.as soon as my head hits the pillow.

my body temperater raises during this mediation.sometimes i start to sweat.and as soon as i finish i would cool down quickly,to normal temperature.
my breathing can become as if i feel i do not breathe.i am breathing from my stomach.
i feel as if i want to rise up(obe)but there is a weight pulling my body down.
especially at the base of the head.it becomes very heavy.
i have seen many colours in my minds eye and in the bedroom.
and sometimes at night i see streaks of colour.

is this awakening,induced meditation.
am i doing the process right.
thank you

Dear manny

Great, that you brought Meditation on a regular base, gave it a place in your live.

I get the impression that there is some blocked energy around.
(Too hot, pressure here and there, pulling...)

The exercise I just described will be helpfull for this condition. Do it for some time (5 - 15 minutes) before you lay down.

To increase the down-flow of energy - which is extremely calming, cooling and healing - please visualize your secondary Chakras in the middle of the hands and the feet as being open, so that the energy easily can leave your body.

Don't worry - there is always enough to come from your Higher Self.

[sepia]

Posted by witchy1 (here)
I do have moments where I think Im really getting it, and more recently weird things like people morphing in front of my eyes (weird), feeling light and emerged with the ether - floating almost. Intense feelings of pure love and joy. Gotta admit its kinda cool.

I love this thread, thank you so much for sharing Sepia

Stick with us, dear witchy

At the moment you are closer to ether than to the ground.
And as you say: "Gotta admit its kinda cool."
I know. But it also has it's negative sides.

I hope I can make your choice easier to really incarnate into the body. Then you can switch and can be where you want to be.

For me it is enough to be a person during daytime...
At night I prefer to be an Angel, I need to go home

[sepia]

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2. Chapter: Karma-Yoga; Bhakti-Yoga; Jnana Yoga

Meditation can be done in numerous ways. These 3 represent the three main principles.
Each of these ways can lead you to some kind of enlightenment state - but they are not identical.

Best is we travel on all of these three paths in one lifetime...
The Triad makes it complete. It is possible, trust me.

Most probably you are almost halfway through
Otherwise you wouldn't follow this thread on this forum... But nobody tells you.


A. Karma Yoga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga

This is the path of selfless action and selfless service.
Be in 'The Here and Now' and do everything with your full presence.

Concentration on the Hara (2. Chakra), in the middle of the belly below the navel, like you do in Zen-Meditation.
You watch your breath. You are an observer. If there are any thoughts you let them pass like clouds.

In order to do Karma Yoga, you don't have to sit on a pillow and to follow the Zen-rules. Zen is just one possibility.

May be you had your Karma-Yoga-Time already, or are having it again and again without knowing it?

For example

• when you play the piano, any instrument
• when you cook or clean,
• when you hike or sing,
• when you make love - *harrumph* - - - all things can be done in many different qualities...

Always choose the best, the clearest, the purest, most truthfull, the most loving way to do things and your spirituality will progress.

Making love when you are in love is - - - - - many things, - - - - - and it can be the greatest preparation for spiritual practice.

Remember how it was, when your skin touched the skin of your partner for the first time...?

The quality of your experience depends from your ability to focus and to relax at the same time...
This warm hand gently supporting your back... your neck... the lips touching for the first time...

(Careful: There is only one first time... it's most precious!)

Remember the Movie Avatar:
The plants are communicating with each other with light. Every persons steps on the roots would create a fireworks of light, hundreds of signals were runnung through the roots to other plants...
This happens in your body between the cells. A universe on its own...

Focus and relaxation - love and compassion - surrender to the highest quality of your and your partners essence - one-pointedness - let go - enjoy.

hmmm - isn't spirituality exciting?

And you know what? You don't even need a partner for that.
And you don't even need to touch yourself.
The fireworks of love is always ready to start, sometimes from the second Chakra, sometimes from the heart.
It's a divine quality - pure - eternal - be with it - enjoy -


Karma yoga is a good technique. Many good experiences possible, no doubt.
You learn to sit still, to focus, you are in the here and now.

Be careful not to get caught up in rituals.

In the best case a ritual is a stepping stone -
but very often it becomes a trap.
People stay attached to the ritual... and after some time all what's left is an empty form.

Many of the 'serious' Zen-People sit far too heavy on their pillows
to ever open up to the indescribable lightness and love of the spiritual essence.

Don't spend to many years or decades on Zen - there is much more to discover.

[TraineeHuman]

Sepia, I suggest it’s never true that we lose the effects of joyful experiences, that you’re calling “enlightenments”, on our consciousness and psyche. It only looks to use like we’ve lost them. The trouble is, we adjust ourselves, and the effects of that formerly very positive experience now become “normal”. After all, how do you really know you’ve “lost” it? How do you know it’s not still there but you ignore that it is because you filter out the things you’re most familiar with?

I prefer to talk in terms of eventually achieving happiness, of staying happy in all circumstances. This can be done, and I know quite a few people who have, and I’ve done it myself. It’s not some kind of ultimate grand liberation. But it does mean that you can enjoy eating leftovers as much as somebody else would enjoy a la carte. Not that you wouldn’t enjoy a la carte more also. (And permanent happiness is only the beginning stage of the journey to full liberation.)

Achieving happiness (or freedom from unhappiness) seems to me to be exactly what most gurus/masters mean when they say that after getting a great enlightenment experience the student must then continue working to “consolidate” it.

As I understand it, achieving that state comes precisely from accumulating enough joyful experiences. And precisely because we don’t lose their effect on us, at some point we reach a kind of “critical mass” of joy.

I’ve seen some very rare individuals who had been loved so greatly and so genuinely from childhood on, they achieved this state of permanent happiness without having to meditate at all. There are quite a few famous gurus who were so loved by their parents and teachers that they didn’t need much meditation at all before the light bulb went on.

By the way, I understand “enlightenment” is an old English word meaning to be made lighter. This fits with sayings attributed to Jesus such as: “Come to me all you who labour hard and I will give you rest. My “yolk” is easy and my “burden” is light.” If you’re happy all the time, there may be little problems to solve but underneath it all there is no problem, for you. That’s the truth, anyway. Happiness is just a matter of discovering what reality is truly like. It’s not “optimistic”, but it’s the real nature of the world.

[sepia]

Posted by TraineeHuman (here)

I prefer to talk in terms of eventually achieving happiness, of staying happy in all circumstances.

Happiness - yeah - lovely...

But there is much more to remember. Great if all falls into your lab because your parents loved you so much.

And what about the others? -

Divinity, divine consciousness - hmmmm - 'happyness' doesn't really match that.

I would like to reach out for those who are willing to do honest work.

Kind regards, Sepia

[sepia]

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B. Bhakti Yoga:

This is the path of love and devotion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_yoga
Concentration on the heart, (4. Chakra).

Bhakti Yogis and Yoginis (that's how you're called when you're on the Journey of love and devotion) see the creation as 'God' spread out in form.
So they not only serve selflessly (to overcome the Ego like in Karma Yoga) they serve out of love and devotion to any aspect of the creation.

Do/did you live Bhakti when you are/were with your kids, in your garden, in nature?

It's always there when your heart widens
because everything is beyond description -

- and every tree seems to smile at you, every insect, every tiny part or every cell of your body... You are aware that life is full of miracles and you're there in awe.


In Bhakti we often find orientation when we address to 'someone', this might be Jesus or some a great Mystic...

Oh yes, they are around... have always been in all cultures...
like points of orientation. Humans are not completely left alone!

But they have to be searched... You have to take the initiative if you want to learn from them.
They don't get involved in worldly things - but grant spiritual freedom.

To mention some of my beloved friends in Heavens:
Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi, Shri Nisargadatta...

(I'm not so familiar with too many but of course there are many more.)

Note: Their verbal teaching might not fit into your life, into your culture.
They talked to their audience at that time.

But if we meet them in our meditation - once we're able to open our heart - the highest qualities will be there for us to learn...

All these spiritual qualities are also inside of us - but it is easier to look into a mirror first.

A little note about this you also find here:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...ll=1#post94827 )

Once this love that is coming from our heart is lifted up to your spiritual love you get in touch with the most precious quality of all.

****

During Bakti we are often close to tears. Things touch easily - and the negativity in this world is hard to bear.

(We have to become 'angels', to bear this world and never loose touch with love... Some of these angels are on this Forum...)

Those who stay too long on the level of the personal heart and don't reach spiritual heart often are like little kids, a bit naive, not really on their feet not balancing it with their head...

Then it is time to lift up the concentration to third eye.


Check out your heart:

Have you been able to give love and compassion to the molecules as described here?
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...ritual-Healers

Fine - you are ready for the next step.

If not - come with us anyway.

I wish you a heartfelt day, Sepia

[witchy1]

Yeeeeessssss - exactly *big smile, with moist eyes*

[sepia]

* * * * * * * *

Please note: The Index in my first post will be adjusted
to simplify the navigation between the posts.

* * * * * * * *


C. Jnana Yoga: The path of knowledge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnana_yoga

This is what I teach.
Jnana leads us to a deep understanding on all levels.

All veils slowly desappear.
We are able to see, to know, to perceive, to understand
because this is our very nature.

The spiritual knowledge makes us strong and humble at the same time.

A little example:

I had the privilege to meet Maharaj Charan Singh (1916 - 1990), a perfect spiritual Master in India.
(The only reason I didn't mention him on my little list was because he is not very well known in the west.)

It was a huge audience, several hundred-thousand people. - The Master would walk on stage together with some other people, like a personal Secretary or maybe an Organizer...

These other people - although they were pure souls - had much more masses or surface (I don't know how to explain...) than the Master himself. There was a significant difference:

The Master seemed to be the most humble person of all of us, and still radiating great dignity and at the same time. To experience this is extremely touching...

For most people it is very difficult to recognize spiritual quality.
In our world big Egos are impressive and successful. We are used to recognize Ego-Power and charism - but Spirituality is something completely different...

* * * * * * * *

In Jnana Yoga we concentrate on the third eye. This activates pineal and pituitary gland.

Here is the seat of the consciousness, the best place to be focused during the day.

From here we can look - into the physical body
- into the world, the reality
- or into the astral universes
- and into the spiritual realms.

If the instinctive leves (first, second, third Chakra) feeling-aspect (fourth Chakra) are integrated, we can be at our best in the third eye.

[Loren]

"During Bakti we are often close to tears. Things touch easily - and the negativity in this world is hard to bear.
Those who stay too long on the level of the personal heart and don't reach spiritual heart often are like little kids, a bit naive, not really on their feet not balancing it with their head...
Then it is time to lift up the concentration to third eye". Thank you for this post Sepia . I can personally relate to this at this part of my life.I have had spiritual experiences with the " I Am" meditation that you mentioned. Love & Light. L

[DianeKJ]

I'm here too

I have many questions popping into my head as I read. I've decided against asking them for now, as I would rather flow in the moment and really open myself up to what you are sharing with us in this space.

Thank you for this~
Di

[sepia]

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Chapter 3: About sleeping and dreaming


It might sound strange but people do very different things while they sleep.

-> not even sleeping is that easy


If your third Eye is open or not makes the main difference.


A. People with a closed third eye...

About 80% of the world population - and probably 0,5% of the Avalonians have a closed third eye.

In this case the viewpoint, the focus-point sinks down during sleep and merges with the cells. These people more or less turn into a vegetable during sleep.
(Don't feel offended - it happens to me from time to time as well.)

During the R.E.M. phase they somehow surface and digest emotional issues from their physical lives. This is the original meaning of "dreaming". Means to be caught up in self-made stories.

And dream-analyzers will tell you: It's all you. The tree, the bench, the river, the other person who sits with you on this bench - it's yours because the images come from inside of you.

This might be true or not - I'm not going into this any deeper, this is the Psychologist's job.

.

B. People with an open third eye...

As soon as your third eye is open and you start doing spiritual work (in a very broad sense) you will mainly enter astral or spiritual universes while your body sleeps.

The astral Universes somehow press in on you...
while the spiritual ones give you more space and you will only reach them when you aim for them.

(The second is always pleasant so there is no urge to talk about this in detail now.)

Astral beings have their intentions, emotions, problems -
Spiritual beings are loving and don't want to pull or push you. They will always wait for you to express your free decision.

Astral beings often take us into their own cinema - you may like the movie or not.

These are the main types of 'astral movies' that you encounter. Depending from your state of being during the day you will be drawn to a different 'theater' -
(There are exceptions to this as well!)

• If you are mainly centered in your first Chakra and this one is hurt:
  - then you often have fears about your life, your health, about dying; your existence (Job, house, food, money...) the movie will be all about those issues:
  
  Someone will hunt you - you're standing on a cliff the tiger behind you - someone stole all you possessed - your house is on fire - you loose your job etc.
  .
  
• If you are mainly centered in your second Chakra and this one is hurt:
  - then you are emotional about belonging to a group, to the family, you would like everybody liking/loving you... You need a lot of reassurance from others...
  Or it is about sexuality: Your desires, you attracting others... feelings of being rejected, hurt, abused...
  
  In your dream you might be thrown out of the group, standing alone, nobody loves you, you might even be ridiculed...
  Sexuality: Well, I don't have to tell you about any sexual 'movies'... All is possible on astral level. - As long as you enjoy it, all is fine. But there can be a lot of abuse...
  .
  
• If you are mainly centered in your third Chakra and this one is hurt:
  You are a fighter, sometimes you win - often you loose.
  (That's a rule, it's not only about you. If you fight against 10 people only one can win, and all the others want to have their turn as well - sooner or later - maybe in another lifetime. Law of Karma: you will meet your oponent again...)
  You are busy to show how brilliant you are. You create a golden surface over you Ego and try to polish it every day.
  

  (Very demanding - better let go of it.
  As humans we are never perfect. As beings we have always been and will always be.)

  Okay back to topic.
  If centered in the third Chakra you will fight even more on astral plane. And believe me, there will always be one stronger than you. Those who don't have bodies fight with different means...

The real solution is the work on the topics of these three Chakras. Once they are enlightened one cannot take you into these cinemas.
This work we will start in the next chapter.


Solutions that I can offer at this moment

• Before you go to sleep clean up your day. (You might call it Psycho-Hygienic)
  
• Find love inside of you - or calmness, serenity...
  
• Of course the best is to feel spiritual, unconditional love inside of you.
  
  This changes your vibration in a way that you are no longer detectable for astral beings. -
  .
• Give yourself a program: "I wake up when I'm drawn into an astral cinema!"
  
• Once you wake up, you can then consciously finish your dream.
  
  
  Remember what Morpheus said to Neo? (MATRIX)
  
  "Some laws can be bent, some can be broken!"
  
  
  This is it!
  Do it in an awake state. This is your training.
  Soon you will be able to do it in your dreams (lucid dreaming).
  Then it will no longer be necessairy, because you will no longer have this kind of dreams.
  
  - If the tiger is behind you - spread your wings and fly.
  - If someone follows you and wants to shoot you - all right - turn around, spread your arms, say: "Do it!" - Be aware that you don't have a physical body to protect. Nothing will happen.
  - If you run behind the train - not needed. You can place yourself where you wanted to go right away.

Have fun finishing your dreams in the most pleasant possible way.

[Icecold]

If the tiger is behind you - spread your wings and fly.
- If someone follows you and wants to shoot you - all right - turn around, spread your arms, say: "Do it!" - Be aware that you don't have a physical body to protect. Nothing will happen.
- If you run behind the train - not needed. You can place yourself where you wanted to go right away

I do all these things. I have gotten to a stage where if something like this occurs, I burst out laughing in my dream.

Lucid dreams, the ones I have had are like cinema and bind to memory. They are rare and beautiful lessons.

[sepia]

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It feels appropriate to change the sequence a bit.

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Chapter 4: Chakras: Overview. Personal chakras, astral and spiritual levels.


Our personal Chakras are manifestations within your body
and represent a spiritual or astral quality of consciousness.

This means before these bodies existed an extremely long time ago, or just before we incarnated or after we have left a body, these realms, these universes always exist.
(To be more precise: only the spiritual realms are unperishable...)

Most often 'dead people' will more or less continue to do what they did on earth within the astral spheres - (very similar to what I described above on dreaming.) They just get involved into similar games as they played here on earth.

For those who are longing for love the spiritual spheres might be accessible for a certain time. But all will return as long as attachment are existing as long as there is unsolved Karma.
Karma can have such a strong 'magnetic' force that there is not much choice of where to incarnate...

But all can be solved in this very life.

Free beings also sometimes chose to come back into this game again... -
But more often they choose to offer their love and wisdom and assist all those who want to get free - with no exception. (They are certainly not the ones who punish...)

* * * * * * *

The following model I have created over 10 years ago.
It represents a two-dimensional overview about a complex reality. -
It's just a model not more, not less. But some of the logic becomes obvious.




Please click to enlarge.
More information here: http://www.http://ruth-huber.ch/en/b...rinciples.html

[sepia]

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Chapter 4 B: How the chakras and the realms relate to eachother

The instinctive Chakras relate to the astral realms:

First Chakra relates to level 7
Second Chakra relates to level 8
Third Chakra relates to level 9

The next three Chakras relate to the spiritual realms, to your higher self

forth Chakra relates to level 10: means the personal love and unconditional love are closely related.
fifth Chakra relates to level 11
sixth Chakra relates to level 12: In the third Eye we have an overview over this level of existence, on level 12 we have the complete spiritual overview.

And here you reach the Essence, the numinous

If we withdraw in the deepest meditation every attachment and lean towards the numinous within us we might be overwhelmed by an indescribable bliss...
and if we allow it we will merge into the numinous...

The "I" will die - for some seconds or minutes or hours - (duration doesn't make any difference).

And we will be 'reborn' knowing who we truly are and where we come from.

[Nortreb]

Marvelous information in sizeable chunks for absorption, Sepia

Thanks for sharing.

[sepia]

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Chapter 4 C: Personal Chakras 1 - 6 in different qualities


Every single Chakra can be enlightened.

But at the beginning of our work they might be in many different states:

• The Chakra can be in use (by you) - or not.
  It is well possible, that one or even two or three of these tools have not yet been 'taken' by the owner of the body, so there is 'nobody at home'.
  .
• If we have taken the tools, means we are present in a Chakra
  - it can still be almost empty - or it can have too much energy -
  so we are either in need or in overflow
  .
• A Chakra can be relaxed or tight
  .
• Often a Chakra is wounded
  .
• Sometimes Chakras are overpopulated
  which means that other beings have taken a seat in one of the Chakras...
  It's better to free these beings and become a proper owner of this body and of all the energetic centers.
  (At the moment "freeing beings" cannot be our issue - but by deciding, that you take this body for yourself you are all ready in a stronger situation and get more space.)
  

My definition of an enlightened Chakra is the following:

• We have experienced many different qualities and we found ways to really heal these wounds (not to just brush the issue under the carpet)...
  .
• ...and finally we find yourselves in a balanced or even blissfull, relaxed quality.
  We are fully aware of your inner richness and are self-sustaining.

Of course we are social beings and exchange with others on all levels, this is our nature as humans.

But we are not emotionally dependent.

And now it is really time to get practical

[Rocky_Shorz]

Enlightenment is Wisdom and comes from removing the veils around you...

Like all of our fearful leaders...

[sepia]

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Chapter 5 A: Practical work with the first Chakra

The first Chakra has instinctive Quality:
Survival and existence are the topics here.

It is a male center, willing to fight or flight: The Adrenaline helps us to react by reflex -
only later on we will think also.
Thinking is not first Chakra's task.

Wether a person runs or fights depends from training, age, emotional or mental conditioning...
For some a spider is enough to run for others even a crododile wakes up fighting instincts.
This center is there to protect our body.

During birth this Chakra is definitely active - but should be able to relax later on.

Note: Many people love adrenaline pulsating through their system: I'm not going into this, because it doesn't support spiritual Meditation.


Exercise for the first Chakra

Sit solid on your chair or pillow - and in this body.
As a spiritual being that you are you slip right into this suit.

Inhale into your third eye - hold for some seconds - exhale and visualize the energy running down through your body and into the ground. Repeat until you feel the ground under your feet and the flow of energy through the system. (5 minutes maybe. I prefer short sequences to stay playful.)

Be aware, that the lower part of your body is building a bowl,
fill it with energy, fill it with your presence. (Keep the focus in the third eye.)

If you perceive a relaxed solidness everything is fine.

If it tingles it is in survival-mode and might need some calming work.

Maybe you are able to communicate to this chakra, that it is safe at the moment (I hope you are...) and that you as a being take responsibility.
For the long-term questions of survival you better use your head!

If you say: "This is my body" - "This is my life" - does it ring true? Have you taken it?
Are you willing to look after your body?
Are you willing to take responsibility for your existence?

-> or do you delegate the responsibility? Should others take care?

As far as you are able to do so, you should take this responsibilities yourself.
This is a source of great strength.
This is how you get on your own ground and are no longer standing on someone else's ground.

This center will be quiet and solid when we feel safe.

For every person this means something completely different.
So find out, what you need to feel safe - and still know, that you will die one day.

With my best wishes, Sepia