Kundalini Splendor

Dear Dorothy,

We all realize how valuable the process of meditation is. The benefits are tremendous, and the importance of meditation in your journey of self-awareness cannot be overstated. There are many different types of meditation available, and it is wonderful to experiment with all of the different meditation aids available. I have talked before about the insight timer app that allows you to time aspects of your meditation as well as have music in the background. These may provide lots of enhancement and make your meditation more powerful.

However, never forget the benefit and power of the most simple meditation. That is to merely go inside and concentrate only on the breath and the loving light that you are able to connect to. Nothing beats being only with yourself, with no external stimuli. When you are alone with just you and the love of the universe then you can most clearly gain access to your higher self. When you become absorbed in this simple yet powerful way you begin to realize that there is no true distinction between your body, your higher self, the Universe or Source itself, and the loving essence that pervades the entire cosmos. Just being immersed in this love bath of your own essence is the sweetest and most beneficial meditation you can experience.

Love and Light,
Ted Murray

Note: for those of us blessed with the experience of sensuous bliss, this is the highest form of "meditation," for it brings us into intimate connection with "It" (Source, the Divine,
the Ultimate, the Goddess, God, or whatever you wish to call it.)  Each moment of such contact is a blessing, a reaffirming of "who we really are."  As Ted says, this is "the love bath of your own essence."

(image from internet)

Connection: An Awakening Experience

from the blog of Gillian Ross, author of "Consciousness v. Catastrophe" and 'Psyche's Yearning"
"Some day, after we have mastered the winds, the tides and gravity…we shall harness the energies of love."
                           Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)

Over the years my spiritual practices have become more and more finely tuned to a connection with a Divine Presence which I experience quite tangibly as the most exquisite energy of love. I would like to share with you my first powerful awareness of this Presence and its effect upon me by quoting an entry from the diary that I always keep when in retreat:

Monday July 17th 2000. I experienced today what in my words I would call a profound connection with the Beloved of my soul. Sitting in meditation the top of my head and my root chakra were pulsing. Suddenly I had the feeling that the top if my head was lifting off and then, totally unexpectedly, there was the feeling of an energy descending from above, the sweetest and most delicious energy of pure LOVE. I ceased to be little me altogether, for a few minutes anyway, and seemed to become that energy “Not I but Christ liveth in me” To be in that consciousness permanently would be my idea of enlightenment. One could just be pure love, no self-consciousness, no doubts, extraordinary, exquisite. Did I experience the descent of the Holy Spirit?

I lost the sense of oneness with this love gradually but remained sometime in its afterglow. The same happened again later, softening and embracing my whole being and again the intensity of the experience gradually declined but it left me weeping with a strange sweet blend of joy and sadness and gratitude and deep remorse for ever having doubted the reality of the Christ Consciousness. I feel different-joyousness has deepened and feels constant.

Paradoxically, an encounter with the Beloved can also awaken feelings of profound grief. Again these are experienced in the heart centre in the centre of the chest. It truly feels as though one’s heart is breaking. Like the love, it seems all encompassing and the world is full of grief. This ecstatic blend of joy and sorrow and love lingers like the after taste of some delicious fruit. I now understand so well what Joseph Campbell meant when he spoke of “participating joyfully in the sorrows of the world”.

Connecting with an inner Light and Presence has become like a daily early morning ritual for me. In my morning meditation it is as though I am plugging myself in to a non-physical energy above my head that recharges my batteries and lights me up for the day. The experience is always one of heart opening and is a constant source of wonderment to me.

I like to think that I am connecting with the Self or the Christ Consciousness or the Divine Beloved of the mystics but who knows, maybe it is just a passing angel relatively low key in the spiritual hierarchy. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is its impact upon me. As Jung said:

"No one can know what Ultimate things are… we can nevertheless take them as we experience them and if such experience helps to make life healthier, more beautiful, more complete and more satisfactory to yourself and those you love, you may safely say: this is the grace of God. (1958:105)"

For myself I know that I would never have been blessed with such a sublime experience had I not taken up a disciplined practice of meditation. The winds of Grace are blowing in abundance but you have to hoist your sails to catch them. Having said that, I would also like to make the point yet again that mystical experiences are probably a great deal more commonplace than we realize, especially these days. In her book Love’s Alchemy, spiritual therapist Sky speaks of the strange familiarity and normality of mystical experience:

Nothing can describe the feeling of pure aware being. All I can say is that it is an unspeakably wondrous space of peace and happiness, quietly so, beyond any mental conceptualization. If I locate the feeling in my body, it is around my heart, and yet not restricted to the heart, or indeed, to the confines of my body. It is familiar and yet mysterious. It is utterly normal and yet so special. Even when the mind is active, there is the achingly sweet sense of Presence, always present, like breathing even when I am most unaware. (2003:135)

I can identify with that curious feeling of familiarity. Whenever I have experienced that sense of Presence there is a sense of perfection. It was as though this was the only consciousness that could ever be. And when it left me, I thought that it would be the easiest thing in the world to reconnect with. Not so of course. I was exiled again. Not completely however. The taste of the Beloved lingers as a backdrop to my world of the relative. My diary entry goes on to reflect on the naturalness of the experience:

Is the energy of my “connection” in principle equivalent to the oxygen which organisms learnt to metabolize it in the primordial swamp and which transformed life on earth?

A strange thought indeed but what I was suggesting was that my experience of mystical connection is a part of our natural evolution. It is the energy of transpersonal consciousness. Whether we realize it or not I believe Grace touches us all at some stage in our lives–an exquisite experience of beauty or love or joy that leaves us feeling richer in our humanity. What I am saying here however (and it is the core message of the entire book) is that these experiences of the Transcendent need not be so fleeting. The sublime mystical experience that I am calling “connection” can be awakened to enrich every conscious moment. What is more, it is becoming increasingly obvious that if we don’t recognize this and begin to put in place the skilful means of attaining it, we will muff our cue in the drama of evolution with dire consequences for ourselves and our planet.


Mystical connection is everything. Without it we are nothing more than good or bad puppets, victims of our conditionings and our samskaras.

One of my favourite stories as a child was Pinocchio. I realize now that in many ways it is another Psyche and Eros story. The Blue Fairy is Pinocchio’s Divine Beloved. She constantly took pity on Pinocchio and rescued him from the consequences of his selfish excesses. Pinocchio, like Psyche, had to endure many hardships before becoming mature enough to be the recipient of Divine Grace. Both stories speak of the awakening power of love: “Love is the pain of being truly alive” (Joseph Campbell). The blossoming of Pinocchio’s love for his “father” Geppetto was the turning point for Pinocchio. It connected him to his love for the Fairy and in return she bestowed upon him the gift of being fully human:

"How ridiculous I was when I was a marionette! And how glad I am that I have become a real live boy. "(Collodi 1942: 96)

In simple terms, all our spiritual practices are about making us less like a puppet and more like a human being.

To be able to simply “be” in that Presence, even fleetingly, is to truly know what it means to embody the Transcendent. To be able to carry the Light of that Presence into everyday consciousness is our most precious gift to the world. It is not a question of words or knowledge. It is an energy event and it will “make the crooked places straight”.

(The above is an excerpt from Gillian’s book "Psyche’s Yearning.")

Andrew Harvey has a new course from Shift:

Mystic among mystics, prophet among prophets, visionary of truth, beauty and wisdom, Andrew is offering a new webinar through Shift network that may be the most important one he has yet presented.  This course contains the distillation of his many years of exploration and discovery of the divine path, the way to access our common transformational process of becoming the "divine human," as we become the recipients of a saving grace to help us survive in this time of turmoil and confusion.  He  relies heavily on the wisdom and joy of such celebrated poets as Kabir and Rumi, whose verses have inspired innumerable audiences through the ages.  The Shift package also includes a free audio recording of his earlier noted web course on 'The Way of Passion,"devoted to Sufism and the extraordinary poems of Rumi.  Another bonus of this present course is a video recording of the recent dialogue that he and I shared on the topic of Kundalini as a major vehicle for the massive spiritual transformation now occurring worldwide.


from The Shift Network:

Who can describe God’s form? . . . Who can tell God’s secret?

It’s clear why mystic teacher Andrew Harvey read these lines by 15th-century poet Kabir in the first class session of his 10-week course, The Alchemy of Awe…

Kabir’s words, pouring forth from a heart aflame with wonder, awe, and reverence, capture the essence of Andrew’s program. Kabir goes on to say...

"The highest cannot be described and cannot be seen, but it can be lived. Why give your life for anything less?"

As Andrew explains in the following 7-minute snippet from Tuesday’s class, “What Kabir is proclaiming with such force, such precision, and such subtlety, is that the ultimate experience of God is of a no-thing beyond thought, beyond any possible religion, concept, or dogma — a vast, infinitely spacious awareness that is the source of everything…"

Listen here to discover more:

Kabir: A Mystical Poet Aflame With Wonder, Awe, and Reverence with Andrew Harvey

"The promise of these sacred teachings," says Andrew, "is that you can walk the path that Kabir did… and live the alchemy of awe until you turn into the gold of embodied divine humanity."

With his signature passion and eloquence, Andrew explains that “awe is the natural response to the unfathomable splendor of a divine universe created out of an unknowable mystery…”

"In fact," he says, "just one moment of feeling awe wash over you can initiate the deepest imaginable adventure — the adventure to understand the depths of who you really are...

What’s more, awe connects you more deeply to your humility, compassion, and wisdom — qualities that are sorely needed in today’s world."

And that’s why Andrew states so emphatically that a lack of awe is like a lack of oxygen to the soul.

Andrew is quick to emphasize that awe is not just something that happens to you; you don’t have to wait for awe to unexpectedly overcome you. You can actually infuse the transformative power of awe into your daily spiritual practice.

In this way, you can learn to live in virtually a perpetual state of grace and expanded sense of oneness with all that is.

To discover how to live with a heightened sense of wonder and awe — and how to open a portal to ever-greater transformation — click here to get all the details about The Alchemy of Awe.


Phil Bolsta
In joy,

Phil Bolsta
Community Transformation Team
The Shift Network



P.S. Andrew’s Rumi course FREE with your registration — a $297 value!

Because Andrew’s new Alchemy of Awe program is all about expanding your heart and entering into a state of real reverence for life, we’re including Andrew’s entire 7-session course on Rumi at no additional cost when you register for The Alchemy of Awe.

If your heart has ever thrilled to a Rumi poem, you know that there's no more important and appropriate poet to call us into the state of awe than Rumi.

Find out more about The Alchemy of Awe — and lock in your free enrollment in Andrew’s 7-session program, Rumi and The Way of Passion — by clicking here.

(You may have to go to the Shift web site to enroll.)

Holy Wounds

"When the breeze blew from the turret, as I parted his hair,
It wounded my neck with its gentle hand, suspending all my senses."
                                                            St. John of the Cross

Not at night
but by light of day,
You came,
one for whom
I had no name,
yet I knew it was You,
the one I had waited for
 so long.

And so you wounded me
with love,
rapture so intense
I had no word
to speak it,
could not say its origin
or end.

Our rendezvous could
not be told,
but in silence
we joined
as if a god descended
to earth
and sought its mortal
counterpart.

And I lay ravished
night and day,
for time uncounted
and now am left to wonder
what that purpose was,
how it still returns,
so many days and years,
rapture unveiling my soul,
taking me into the hidden
realms
of my beginning,
my destined end.

Dorothy Walters
December 3, 2018

The Kundalini Poems: Reflections of Radiance and Joy


from Dorothy: I am delighted to announce the arrival of "The Kundalini Poems" for purchase. I am deeply indebted to Emergence Education Press for publishing this volume and in particular to Amy Edelstein, who has been a wondrous editor and support throughout this process. Such efforts keep the world alive, in the way that good thoughts create beautiful symmetrical ice configurations, as we have seen through the famous work of Emoto in this realm.

Here are two links where you can buy this book:

Here is some descriptive text from Amazon:

Dorothy Walters is widely recognized as one of today’s most ecstatic and illumined kundalini poets. Her work is simultaneously authoritative and abandoned, with the power to uplift, transport, and even awaken readers to the extraordinary splendor of the Divine. In this volume, she shares the work of her lifetime of contemplation, offering an extensive set of poems that, as she describes, arrives in a special way, “pouring forth from the Divine Source over a short period of time” during which she became simply the vessel in which they were received. Walters is convinced that universal awakening is possible and indeed is now occurring over the globe through similar transformations. It is her wish that the poems in this volume will provide inspiration and guidance to all whose hearts are opening to divine love as well as those who long for such experience.

"Of all modern visionary poets, Dorothy Walters is, to my mind, by far the wisest and most radiant...This is a magnificent book written by our wisest and most mature mystical poet. Anyone who cherishes the mystical path and who pursues with awe and humility the way of divination will find in Dorothy Walters’ poems not only radical inspiration but profound encouragement and abiding wisdom born out of the deepest experience of divine love." Andrew Harvey, author of "Turn Me to Gold, Translations of Kabir."

"Dorothy Walters, PhD, a former English professor, has brought her rare qualities of a penetrating intellect and a writer’s disciplined mind to the mystic’s path of unbounded Love, which has unfolded for her by the Divine’s power of grace and transformation, known as Kundalini in the yogic tradition. Kundalini bestows the gift of directly experiencing the Infinite, the Divine, as our true nature and the nature of all we see. For Dorothy, this exploded the conventions of her ordinary heart and mind, allowing the cascades of light to flow through as her radiant poetry. Repeatedly bathe yourself in the warmth, humor, insight, devotion, irreverence, and power of the inspired poetry that flows from Dorothy’s heart of hearts. You will see longed-for reflections of the truth of who you are." Lawrence Edwards, PhD Author of "Awakening Kundalini: The Path To Radical Freedom"

“Dorothy Walters’ luminous poems are literal transmissions of the possible for every soul who braves the peaks and valleys of the Path Within. We are extraordinarily blessed to have them. Actually, one does not read these poems. They are taken directly through the heart. Dorothy has delivered us to the gate of bliss and welcomes us home.” Claudia Helade, Ph.D., Transpersonal Psychotherapist and artist.

Please write a review for Amazon.  I would deeply appreciate it.

Regular price $ 14.95

Cover for "The Kundalini Poems: Reflections of Radiance and Joy"

Here is the cover for my new book, which will be up on Amazon and B&W as well as the wonderful publisher, Emergence Education Press, in a few days.  I will let you know when it is available to purchase.



Here is the lead poem from the book:

Seekers

What you seek was seeking you.
                                         Rumi

How is it
that when I was
looking for You,
You were seeking me also?

Silently You watched and waited.
Sometimes gave me
a brief glimpse
or taste
of who You were,
like a shy deer in the forest
that vanishes when
you turn to look.

And so I roamed,
looking here and there,
gazing at the hieroglyphs on trees
or peering into the throats of flowers for secret revelations,
listening to the waves
pounding the shore for messages,
examining books and stars,
seeking essence.

Finally I gave up my searching,
surrendered my deep desire
to stillness.
And then You gave me a kiss
that lasted forever.

(Cover image by Caroline Maniere)

Reminder:

Poetry reading Tuesday, November 27, 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Inisfree Bookstore/Cafe

On the hill

Boulder, Colorado

Dorothy Walters and Dianna V. Armencourt

Dorothy will read poems from her just published book "The Kundalini Poems."

Dianna will read poems and also excerpts from her novel in progress.

The Divine Alchemy

I came down
as a small seed
buried in earth.

I did not recall
my beginnings
nor my intended goal.

I was a particle
of some larger self,
some vaster being
choosing to shrink
and descend.

Gradually I
parted the darkness,
thrust upward,
called by the sun.

I bloomed as a wayward flower;
bewildered at such sameness surrounding,
I turned in another direction
apart from the others
who seemed to hear
some other rhythm,
another cadence
to direct their course.

When I took form as a person
I was quietly alone,
till at last the Goddess
found me,
held me in Her arms.

And then something else
arrived,
a reality vast and incomprehensible,
the Goddess unveiled.

I mated with this unknown element
until it became who I was.

And then I was given glimpses
of my original self,
what I had been elsewhere
at the beginning
of this journey,
how I flowed toward
this essence now.

Each fiber and molecule
now vibrated at a new frequency
as I expanded into yet another form,
a being who could move subtly,
ecstasy filling her veins,
 caress her own aura in bliss,
feel the sweet energies of earth
or of others as they passed by.

At last I knew my source,
the reality from which I came,
who I was fused with now
and the field of love
encompassing all.

Dorothy Walters
November 14, 2018




             

Kundalini Signs and Symptoms––Youtube presentation by Jarrod Bull

Of the many presentations on Kundalini I have found, this is one of the best. I did not realize until the end that I knew this speaker, or at least had met him some time back.

 The only reservation I have is that when he describe his visual symptoms (wavy lines and such), he implies that everyone will have them (not true). Also, he gives scant attention to bliss, which I feel is the most important aspect of all, for this is the state that tells us that we are indeed connected to the divine.  Also, he does not include a description of what happens over the years as you nervous system adjusts to the new energies and you enter a very different state of consciousness as you experience more at a very subtle level, until you find yourself feeling other people's energies or caressing your own aura in delight.

His name is Jarrod Bull.  He offers a free consultation at transformationalcoaching.co (don't know why it is co and not com)

Thanks, Jarrod.

Mirabai Starr on Andrew Harvey

"Opening to the Power of Awe"

Beloved friends and family,

What if the key to life’s greatest challenges was to approach them like a child... with curiosity, enthusiasm, inquisitiveness... and WONDER?

In the presence of awe, the mind lets go… and opens.

Yet, many of us have grown up in a culture that’s threatened by a direct experience of awe. Scientific fundamentalism sees a world stripped of enchantment and meaning. Religious systems require obedience to doctrine. Social and family systems are often rooted in fear.

In truth, awe offers us a powerful expansion of identity… a release from limited ideas of ourselves and the world…  

Awe can heal and transform YOU, according to celebrated mystic teacher Andrew Harvey, when you approach it as a spiritual practice… (It’s also essential to the planet’s survival, Andrew says!)

On Wednesday, November 14, my dear friend Andrew Harvey will show you how to access the healing medicine of awe so that you can embrace openness, flexibility, and resiliency (especially in the face of adversity).

Awe brings us to our knees, and empties us of addictive thinking and the need to control. Surrendered and humbled, we can find our rightful place within the Great Mystery…

Register now for this free event, here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/paMS/Mirabaistarr/

During Opening to the Power of Awe: The Transfiguring Path of Wonder, Radical Humility & Ecstatic Celebration, you’ll:

Understand why a direct experience of awe is essential for the evolution that’s required for humanity to survive and thrive

Discover why awe holds the key to unfreezing concepts and fixed ideas that are a barrier to your connection with divine guidance

Understand how to use the gifts of wonder to enter a portal into conscious co-creation with the Beloved

Recommit to the power of playfulness, celebration, and dance as an essential spiritual practice

Open to mystical insights from Rumi and Kabir that rekindle your connection with awe

Some of history’s greatest mystic poets, like Rumi and Kabir, have given us glimpses of the power of awe in their writings — and have pointed to wonder as the portal into a deeper relationship with the Divine.

And now, Andrew Harvey, whose teachings are rooted in Sufism, mystical Christianity, and numerous other lineages, will open this portal for YOU.

You can register here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/paMS/Mirabaistarr/

Mirabai



P.S. During Opening to the Power of Awe, Andrew will illuminate the healing power of awe as an essential practice that’s medicine for your spiritual path.

Register now for free here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/paMS/Mirabaistarr/

A downloadable recording will be provided later to all who register, whether or not you listen to the scheduled event.



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Mirabai Starr writes creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. She has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of the mystics, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich. She is the award-winning author of Mother of God Similar to Fire, a collaboration with iconographer, William Hart McNichols, GOD OF LOVE: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and CARAVAN OF NO DESPAIR: A Memoir of Loss and Transformation.  Her latest book, WILD MERCY: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, is forthcoming Spring 2019. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

Connect with me:
Website/blog:  MirabaiStarr.com
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Twitter:  twitter.com/MirabaiStarr
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Mirabai Starr · 158 Maestas Rd. · Taos, NM 87571 · USA

Adrift

Everything is beautiful and I am so sad.
This is how the heart makes a duet of
wonder and grief. The light spraying
through the lace of the fern is as delicate
as the fibers of memory forming their web
around the knot in my throat. The breeze
makes the birds move from branch to branch
as this ache makes me look for those I’ve lost
in the next room, in the next song, in the laugh
of the next stranger. In the very center, under
it all, what we have that no one can take
away and all that we’ve lost face each other.
It is there that I’m adrift, feeling punctured
by a holiness that exists inside everything.
I am so sad and everything is beautiful.

- Mark Nepo

Dear Dorothy,

We all have our unique journey and gifts to share in this amazing process of planetary transformation. This makes the journey very exciting as we meet and gather together to share our special gifts to create a beautiful tapestry that is the new world that is coming. However, there is one gift that all of us have in common. That is that we are meant to bring light and love into the planet and ground it into the earth while sharing it powerfully with all living beings.

A process that came to me a few years ago that helped me envision this is a simple 4 step breathing process. Any form of conscious breathing helps increase your energy and your connection with the Divine. This one is simply counting to 4 as you breath in, holding the breath for a 4 count, exhaling for 4 and holding for 4. Instead of counting, I use the following phrases to help me count more consciously. The inhale is: “Light flows in to me.” The first hold is: “Heart turns light to love.” The exhale is: “Love shared with the world.” The final hold is whatever affirmation works for you, perhaps something like. “I’m a child of God,” or “Thank you God for love.”

While holding I think of the heart as a transformer, taking the light and turning it into love (although they are already one and the same) and then amplifying it so it's more powerful than when it came in. I see us all as being amplifiers of God’s love, transforming it in our own unique way so it's shared in the most effective way with everyone we encounter. I hope this process will help you see yourself as an amplifier of love and encourage you to share it more and more in your own unique way.

Love & Light,
Ted

I would love to share light and love with you in a more personal way. To do that I am offering a 30 minute free coaching call to help you increase your ability to powerfully share your unique message with the world. To book your appointment just click here:https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12188355

Today's message is also on YouTube where I guide you through this breathing process in a way that will make it more powerful for you. To access that video just click here: https://youtu.be/whVPPz2CIN0

Photo: dc4a2cb1fadf40dc7e4142b786f7f449