Monday, January 10, 2005
Still There: A New Beginning
Like many people, I got so caught up in holiday activities that I seemed to "lose touch" with the inner world, that place of magical connection and wonder which sustains us through all. Indeed, there were lovely visits with friends, long walks with others and our dogs in the park, evenings spent watching foreign films on DVD. But it seemed virtually impossible to find time alone to be with the inner presence.
This morning was my first time to be truly alone in quite some time. I really wasn't expecting much; indeed, I was just hoping I hadn't lost the connection irretrievably (you can't step in the same river twice, after all.) But as I was getting dressed after a long and very hot shower, I noticed something like delicate energies here and there in my body. It was still cold in the house, so I stayed where I was, in front of a warm current of air coming from the vent in my bedroom, and paid attention.
Immediately, I realized that soft energies were stirring in the root. I decided to play with them, to see what I could do with mind alone. And, voila, I discovered I could send these gentle, but quite sweet, flows of delicate bliss down through my legs, now one, now the other, with intention alone. This was new. Before,I had been able to move the energies by rotating my eyes or flexing my fingers, but this movement occurred in utter stillness. I thought of the Zen masters who can direct the energies into their big toe just by thought, and wondered if I was moving toward a similar level of ability.
Then, I used mental intention to open the chakras, one by one, and felt a kindling of soft bliss in each. I went as far as the sixth, but did not attempt to open the crown; perhaps that will come later. In any event, I felt like this experience marked a new stage in my development.
It occurred even though I had not been doing any sort of practice, no meditation or movement or chi gong or deep listening to music. It emerged on its own, as if the processes continue within, even when we are not conscious of them. They will rise into awareness at the proper moment, when we are ready.
Now, one may ask, what difference does all this make? How is making consciousness move through the body as energetic awareness going to help the world with its many critical problems? My answer is this: if we are, as many of us are convinced, undergoing a widespread spiritual awakening, an opening of the planetary energetic body as part of humanity's emergence onto a new stage of evolution, such experience is one more aspect of this common process . Our bodies are becoming much more than a physical container. We are becoming beings of infinitely subtle sensibility and capacity. We are literally being made new.
We are like scientists observing an experiment taking place in our own bodies. The new and the novel continue to unfold and never cease to capture our interest. The process continues, no matter where our attention falls or what activities preoccupy us.
And, for me, it is a welcome salute from an old friend, a signal saying, "Hi, guess what, I'm still there, still your guide, still your companion, on this amazing journey you have chosen to take."
And my guess is that I am not the only one "reconnecting" at this time.
This morning was my first time to be truly alone in quite some time. I really wasn't expecting much; indeed, I was just hoping I hadn't lost the connection irretrievably (you can't step in the same river twice, after all.) But as I was getting dressed after a long and very hot shower, I noticed something like delicate energies here and there in my body. It was still cold in the house, so I stayed where I was, in front of a warm current of air coming from the vent in my bedroom, and paid attention.
Immediately, I realized that soft energies were stirring in the root. I decided to play with them, to see what I could do with mind alone. And, voila, I discovered I could send these gentle, but quite sweet, flows of delicate bliss down through my legs, now one, now the other, with intention alone. This was new. Before,I had been able to move the energies by rotating my eyes or flexing my fingers, but this movement occurred in utter stillness. I thought of the Zen masters who can direct the energies into their big toe just by thought, and wondered if I was moving toward a similar level of ability.
Then, I used mental intention to open the chakras, one by one, and felt a kindling of soft bliss in each. I went as far as the sixth, but did not attempt to open the crown; perhaps that will come later. In any event, I felt like this experience marked a new stage in my development.
It occurred even though I had not been doing any sort of practice, no meditation or movement or chi gong or deep listening to music. It emerged on its own, as if the processes continue within, even when we are not conscious of them. They will rise into awareness at the proper moment, when we are ready.
Now, one may ask, what difference does all this make? How is making consciousness move through the body as energetic awareness going to help the world with its many critical problems? My answer is this: if we are, as many of us are convinced, undergoing a widespread spiritual awakening, an opening of the planetary energetic body as part of humanity's emergence onto a new stage of evolution, such experience is one more aspect of this common process . Our bodies are becoming much more than a physical container. We are becoming beings of infinitely subtle sensibility and capacity. We are literally being made new.
We are like scientists observing an experiment taking place in our own bodies. The new and the novel continue to unfold and never cease to capture our interest. The process continues, no matter where our attention falls or what activities preoccupy us.
And, for me, it is a welcome salute from an old friend, a signal saying, "Hi, guess what, I'm still there, still your guide, still your companion, on this amazing journey you have chosen to take."
And my guess is that I am not the only one "reconnecting" at this time.
